By Micah Cho
Inside Flanagan’s Irish Pub in downtown Grand Rapids, you can find food, drinks, and Nidal Kanaan’s ArtPrize entry “Blue Courage.” Photographing the Wyoming Police K-9 unit, Kanaan produced images that ArtPrize attendees will enjoy while stopping in for a quick refreshment.
“I learned quite a bit” Kanaan told the WKTV Journal. “These dogs are extremely hard working and the humans are also extremely hard working. There’s a lot of teamwork and community between them.”
The largest photograph featured in Kanaan’s entry highlights the relationship a K-9 officer has with his/her partner.
“My favorite picture is the one in the middle…” Said Kanaan. “It’s officer Ryan [Patterson] and his dog Chase. Just that eye contact between them is so powerful. And it’s not just the eye contact in the training sense that, what is my next move? What do I need to do next? But there’s a lot of love there. They are officers and partners, but they do have that human and dog bond too.”
“I would describe my relationship with my K-9 partner as a love/hate relationship,” said Officer Patterson. “They’re trained to be dominate, and with that there’s always a struggle…But it’s definitely a close relationship when you spend more time with them than you do your spouse”.
From having role models that were police officers to raising dogs for hunting, all four officers have a different story in why they wanted to be part of a K-9 unit. Officer Kelsey Eisen originally wanted to become a dog trainer. She decided to join the Wyoming Public Safety Department in hopes of pursing her passion by becoming a K-9 officer. Her dream came true a year-and-a-half ago when she was paired with her partner Dutch.
Overall, Kanaan is grateful with the time he was able to spend with the officers. A combination of the two parties created photographs that not only represent teamwork, but also love and affection between officer and K-9.
All photographs featured in Kanaan’s entry are up for sale. Proceeds go towards adoption fees for West Michigan shelters. During last year’s ArtPrize event, Kanaan was able to cover 25 adoption fees for West Michigan dogs.
ArtPrize runs through Oct. 7. All law enforcement officers and firefighters receive 25 percent off their bill at Flanagan’s during ArtPrize.
If you would like to see Wyoming’s K-9 officers in action, the police department will be hosting its annual K-9 carnival at Lamar Park, 2561 Porter St. SW, on Saturday, Sept. 22, at 10 a.m.
To learn more about Nidal’s ArtPrize entry, visit his page on the ArtPrize website, https://www.artprize.org/67259. Flanagan’s Irish Pub is located at 139 Pearl St. NW, just a couple of buildings east of the corner of Monroe Avenue and Pearl Street.
