Northern Liberties' newest dog-nitaries
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Philly artist Emily White working on her new mural, "Can I Paint That Dog?" in Northern Liberties. Photo courtesy of Emily White
Who let the dogs out? Philly artist Emily White did — and a guinea pig, too.
Why it matters: A new Northern Liberties mural is turning these loveable neighborhood pets into local dog-nitaries — but they're not getting too pig-headed about it.
Driving the news: The Northern Liberties Business Improvement District is unveiling White's mural, "Can I Paint That Dog," Friday, followed by a "yappy hour" at nearby Orianna Hill Dog Park.
The intrigue: When she was tapped to create a piece capturing the hearts — and howls — of the neighborhood, White remembered how, for five years, she'd walk her dog Mason, a scruffy-haired, mixed-breed dog, nearly every morning to that same dog park.
- As fate would have it, her mural is painted on the historic Kaplan's bakery, right across the street from the dog park.
Zoom in: White — known for incorporating realism and retro stripes into her paintings — sifted through 340 submissions (her dentist even entered her pet without White knowing) before settling on the 10 dogs, and an anonymous guinea pig — the owner didn't include pedigree info in the email — that'll now be more famous than's "Zuckerman's Famous Pig."
- One of the selected dogs, Cato, looks a lot like White's four-legged friend, who lost both eyes to glaucoma and died a few years ago.
What they're saying: White put in several 12-hour sessions, during the dog days of summer, to complete the mural before Friday's event. When she looks at it, she's reminded that anything is paws-ible.
- "It feels awesome to make other people feel like your dog is … a neighborhood beacon," she says.
Stunning state: White — who moved from Boston, interned with Mural Arts, and now runs her own studio, White Knuckle Painting — says there's fewer than a handful of dog-themed murals in Philly.
- We fact-checked her, and doggonit, she was right. Mural Arts tells Axios only four of the roughly 4,000 murals in its portfolio are dog-related.
If you go: 901 N. 3rd St., next to Liberty Lands Park for unveiling. "Yappy hour" from 5-7pm.