Dog Days of Ontario Culture Days: Niagara-on-the-Lake 2026

Micah Lexier’s Dog Days of Ontario Culture Days is a multi-location experience exploring the ritual and culture of dogs and their humans.
About this Event

Micah Lexier’s Dog Days of Ontario Culture Days is a multi-location conceptual art project exploring the ritual and culture of dogs and their humans. Dog Days of Ontario Culture Days consists of a pair of independent yet thematically linked components:

Guess Your Dog’s Age or Weight: A performance in which a “carnival guesser” attempts to accurately guess a dog’s age or weight. In exchange for a donation to a local dog charity, dog owners will receive a custom-minted coin as a memento of having participated in the project.

A Portrait of The Person Making a Portrait of Your Dog: A live drawing activation where visitors receive a free sketch of their dog by a local sketch artist, while a second artist sketches the first artist at work. Dog owners get to keep their sketch, while Micah Lexier keeps the second sketch, to be included in a subsequent publication.

This edition of Dog Days of Ontario Culture Days is produced in partnership with The Niagara Pumphouse Arts Centre.

Please note: We oversell these events to make sure that the greatest number of people have an opportunity to attend. Any remaining space will be opened up to those who sign up and are present on site at the event. Pet Portraits are first come, first served. Tickets do not guarantee portraits.

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Donations can be made at the event in support of The Farley Foundation, a charity that helps pets across Ontario receive essential veterinary care.

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This program is part of the Ontario Culture Days 2026 Creatives in Residence series, and is curated by Dave Dyment.

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Dog Days of Ontario Culture Days is made possible thanks to Tourism Niagara-on-the-Lake, the City of Toronto, the Province of Ontario, the Tourism Partnership of Niagara, and the Ontario Arts Council.

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and producing partners Evergreen Brick Works, Town of Oakville, The Niagara Pumphouse Arts Centre, Temiskaming Art Gallery, Waterfront BIA and Arts Council Windsor & Region.

This event is part of the Ontario Culture Days 2026 Niagara Festival Hub. To see all Niagara Hub events from September 18 - October 4, 2026, click here.

Registration policy: To help make our events available to as many people as possible, we may accept more registrations than the event’s capacity. Admission is available on a first-come, first-served basis and cannot be guaranteed once capacity is reached. We recommend arriving at least 15 minutes before the event begins.