Now That’s the Way to Beautify a Town.

Since early May, we’ve been taking progress photos of Dunedin artist Anna Hamilton’s dog mural. Anna is painting the mural on the east face wall of Skip’s Bar & Grill, a well-known dog-friendly neighborhood bar. Her goal is two-fold: to beautify the exterior wall of a business and to help raise money for Dunedin Dog Rescue. Every dog on the wall belongs to someone.

Anna put a simple call out to some folks in town to see if there would be an interest in having their dogs forever immortalized as a piece of art on the wall. “That mural will be there as long as Skip owns the bar,” said Anna.

People have come out in droves. While Anna paints, people have stopped to ask her if their dogs can be added. Some people yell out of their car windows, telling her they’re coming right back with a photo of their dog to be added to the wall. Some people bring photos of several of their dogs. Some of the dogs featured are beloved family pets either recently deceased, or they have been gone a long time.

“The best dog I’ve ever had has been gone for five years, and I think of him every day,” said one passerby, adding, “What better way to honor him than to have his likeness on a wall to help Dunedin Dog Rescue?”

The price to have one’s dog included on the wall depends on the size and placement. The more prominent the dog, the higher the price. Anna can be found painting almost every day and will being do so through June 20. That is when phase one of the wall will be officially completed and a celebration will take place at Skip’s with Dunedin Dog Rescue and The New Barker.

Anna is not only talented but efficient and imaginative. It is amazing to see how quickly she is able to transform a large portion of the wall in just hours. And the design of the wall comes to her as she is painting.

Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of watching her work on another project in Downtown Dunedin at Cappuccino’s Cafe and Wine Bar. Over lunch one afternoon, I watched as she transformed a plain brown wall into an Italian vineyard within the span of about an hour and a half. The perspective of the completed mural is amazing. And she created it all from her imagination. She did not have a photograph as a guideline. “I can just see it in my head,” said Anna.

She is so pleased with the response for the mural at Skip’s and she wants to do more of the same around the Bay Area, perhaps even the whole state. Right now, The New Barker is helping coordinate a similar project at Gaspar’s Grotto in Ybor City to help raise funds for Tampa Pets, the organization that has been putting on the Adoption Expos at the Fairgrounds for the last three years.

Take a look at some of the photos of Anna’s progress. We are especially pleased with the park bench.