Artown's Biggest Bring Your Dog Day! Get ready...

            You and Your Dog Are Invited to the

          14th Annual Art Paws

Sunday, July 20, 2014  *  10am to 5pm

McKinley Arts & Culture Center, 925 Riverside Drive

FREE ADMISSION!

RENO, Nev. – Artown has gone to the dogs!

Come July 20, thousands of revelers and their best friends will trek to Art Paws, Artown’s biggest dog-friendly event, to enjoy food, libations, great live music and a silent auction — and that’s just the two-legged set. The real treat, of course, is for those who loved the car ride. 

From portraitists and jewelers to pet psychics, more than 80 unique vendors are coming to the McKinley Arts & Culture Center this year to dote on canine guests. And they’re not the only ones. Celebrity judges will be on hand to judge contests (think “best trick” and “owner lookalike”), and Reno’s many animal lovers can hobnob and relax in each other’s company, too. Even dog-inspired art projects are part of the fun.  

A popular free one involves pups’ paw-prints tracked across paper. 

“It sounds really silly,” says event host Landess Witmer, who took the helm at Art Paws more than a decade ago, “but it’s absolutely adorable, and people frame this. Sometimes even a tail will get in there. It just celebrates how fun animals are, and how they really are a member of the family to a lot of us.”

As for the stars of the show, “it’s every breed you’ve ever seen,” she says. “They’re all there.”

“We do not have dog fights,” she adds with a chuckle. “We have people battles.” 

Actually, that only happened once.  “And it was related to our silent auctions,” Witmer explains, “because our items are too good.” 

The 14th annual “canine carnival” turned sniff-worthy social hour is also a fundraiser; all proceeds go to nonprofits for pets, with one of three beneficiaries to be picked this year by audience vote. In 2013, the US Wolf Refuge, Boxers and Buddies, and Shakespeare Animal Fund were awarded $6,000, thanks to Art Paws. 

Art Paws during the month of July is part of the 19th annual Artown festival, July 2014. The month-long summer arts festival features more than 400 events produced by more than 100 cultural organizations and businesses in locations citywide, with major funding provided by the City of Reno.

Contact:         Landess Witmer, Executive Director, 775.560.4242, landess@ArtPawsReno.com 

                         Michelle McHardy, Art Paws Coordinator, 775.722.9914, michelle@ArtPawsReno.com