Staff Reports | Community Updates
“Woof!,” by Arizona-based artist Shachi Kale, is the newest addition to the Scottsdale Public Art Permanent Collection.
Found at the new Thompson Peak Dog Park, “Woof!” captures a range of expressions and activities from a variety of dogs, reflecting their playful nature, according to a press release. The artwork consists of six 5-foot-tall, 18-foot-wide aluminum panels powder-coated in bright pink, yellow and blue. Cut with a water-jet machine at Magnum Companies, Ms. Kale’s panel designs allow sunlight to cast canine shadows across the dog park landscape.
The public artwork was one of Ms. Kale’s earlier large-scale commissions. Since beginning work on “Woof!” in 2023, she has also created public art projects for the cities of Tempe, Chandler and Mesa.
“It was a joy to work with Shachi and help her out through this process,” Tanya Galin, public art manager for Scottsdale Public Art, a department of Scottsdale Arts, said. “She gives every detail the attention it deserves and wanted to make sure she was doing everything right. It was a wonderful experience to pass along all the information I have gained after years of working in public art.”
Ms. Kale is a visual artist, designer and illustrator who was born in Mumbai and has lived in Arizona for 25 years. She works in watercolors, fiber arts, printmaking and digital art and has continued to explore new artistic mediums throughout her career.
While creating “Woof!,” Ms. Kale sought to represent a variety of dogs and the ways they interact within a dog park environment. Visitors can find depictions of large dogs, small dogs, fluffy dogs and playful dogs throughout the installation.
Ms. Kale’s own dog, a rescue puppy named Wolf who was adopted after the passing of her first dog, Buzz, inspired the artwork’s title.
“When I started the project in 2023, I was excited because my dog Buzz loved dog parks and I wanted to take him when this one opened,” Ms. Kale said. “After his passing in 2025, we fostered a pair of 7-week-old puppy siblings and ended up ‘foster failing’ with one of them. We call Wolf ‘Woof’ often, and I thought it would be a nice inside secret to title the artwork after him.”
Alongside the dogs, “Woof!” incorporates imagery of plant life and mountains inspired by the Scottsdale landscape. The lines, shapes and patterns are intended to convey movement, while the colors reflect the atmosphere of the dog park and its visitors.
“A dog park is such a happy, fun, safe space for dogs and their owners,” Ms. Kale said. “And dogs come in all kinds of shapes and sizes and personalities, so they use the dog park in different ways. Some want to be social; others want to do their own thing. I wanted to explore the different kinds of dogs and activities that they might partake in at a dog park.”
