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“Dogs of Aspen” photo series nets $62,000 for Friends of Aspen Animal Shelter nonprofit

Dogs pose on a chairlift for Gray Malin’s “Chairlift Pups” photo, part of his “Dogs of Aspen” series. The photo was the top-selling print on Malin’s website last year, helping generate proceeds for the Friends of the Aspen Animal Shelter.
Gray Malin
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Courtesy photo
Dogs pose on a chairlift for Gray Malin’s “Chairlift Pups” photo, part of his “Dogs of Aspen” series. The photo was the top-selling print on Malin’s website last year, helping generate proceeds for the Friends of the Aspen Animal Shelter.

Photographer Gray Malin’s “Dogs of Aspen” series has raised $62,000 for the Friends of the Aspen Animal Shelter nonprofit through proceeds from the first year of sales, according to a press release.

Malin attributes the large check to the success of the “Dogs of Aspen” series, which features elegant pups on Aspen Mountain and at The Little Nell. Online sales launched in January 2022 and proceeds from the first year were earmarked for the shelter from the get-go.

Malin said worked with The Little Nell to identify the shelter as the recipient.

“We chose the Aspen Animal Shelter for obvious reasons,” Malin said in an interview. “And you know what's so amazing about it is for me as an artist, I get to come into a small community like Aspen and make artwork, but it feels so much better … when you know you're making something that will ultimately give back to the community. Knowing that at the beginning is empowering.”

The nonprofit branch known as Friends of the Aspen Animal Shelter is headquartered at the shelter and was founded in 1999 to raise funds for the design and build of the current shelter building. The organization is now dedicated to “combating pet overpopulation and the consequences thereof,” according to its website.

Seth Sachson is the director of the Aspen Animal Shelter and the president of the Friends of the Aspen Animal Shelter.

“Friends of the Aspen Animal Shelter is ecstatic to be chosen as the beneficiary of the Dogs of Aspen photo series,” Sachson said in a press release. “This incredibly generous contribution will help us to continue to make a difference for the animals of Aspen, Pitkin County and beyond.”

In the release, Friends of the Aspen Animal Shelter board member Bland Nesbit says the donation will help fund spay and neuter clinics in our region.

In addition to the shelter’s existing program with 23 participating veterinarians, the shelter has also started sponsoring clinics in areas like the Four Corners region.

“With this incredibly generous gift from Gray Malin’s ‘Dogs of Aspen’ series in conjunction with The Little Nell, we will be

able to fund more of these special weekend clinics where as many as 100 animals can be neutered in one day,” Nesbit said in the release. “We are so grateful for this amazing gift.”

Kaya Williams is the Edlis Neeson Arts and Culture Reporter at Aspen Public Radio, covering the vibrant creative and cultural scene in Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley. She studied journalism and history at Boston University, where she also worked for WBUR, WGBH, The Boston Globe and her beloved college newspaper, The Daily Free Press. Williams joins the team after a stint at The Aspen Times, where she reported on Snowmass Village, education, mental health, food, the ski industry, arts and culture and other general assignment stories.