AUSON’s canine ambassadors have been busy! They spent Oct. 15 at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art entertaining visitors for the scavenger hunt and encounters with art. The museum was providing a series of events for students themed around the importance of the arts to mental health. The program on the 15th was themed around how the artists featured in the current line-up of exhibitions looked to animals for inspiration and the important role of animals in our daily lives.
According to Dr. Morgan Yordy, assistant professor at AUSON, there were indoor and outdoor clues. For indoor clues, visitors were required to walk through the museum displays to identify various birds, cats and other animals in artwork. In the outdoor clues, “Out of the Box” Scavenger Hunt, visitors answered clues as they explored the museum grounds and outdoor sculptures. For instance, visitors were asked to identify the artist that had created larger than life depictions of five birds that were extinct in North America.
The fun part for almost everyone was to find Daisy, the four-year-old golden doodle from AUSON. The introduction said, “studies show therapy dogs can lower hormones related to stress, such as cortisone and elevate mood-inducing hormones such as serotonin and oxytocin.” Visitors were asked how they felt after meeting Daisy.
