Update: Art Unleashed has been rescheduled to Sunday, June 2, due to predicted inclement weather.

This weekend is going to the dogs! Starting with Fur Ball on Saturday night, May 18, furry friends and their doting owners will be out in full force. The formal event, which benefits Companion Animal Alliance, doesn’t conclude the weekend’s festivities, however. The next day, May 19, BREC is adding art to the equation with Art Unleashed. Open to both humans and dogs, as well as humans without dogs of their own, this special installment of Art in the Park has a larger goal of lifting up local nonprofits by bringing together people from all walks of life.

“We decided to host this free event to not only showcase BREC’s dog parks, art programs and community parks, but more importantly to bring awareness and show support for our local dog shelters, rescue agencies, pet services and small businesses,” explains Ashlyn Lambert, BREC’s special events manager. “A lot of people see BREC events as opportunities to experience a particular recreation activity or to celebrate a holiday, but bringing dogs and art together presents an opportunity for those interested in one, the other or even both to bond over things that are important to them as a community.”

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In addition to art, the event will also feature music from Ship of Fools, Your Mom Band and The Rakers, as well as a food truck roundup, crafts for humans and dogs and more.

“No, we don’t expect dogs to learn to paint or all of the art lovers to leave with a rescue dogs,” Lambert says. “But these two interests are many of people’s favorite things, so it seemed like a winning idea.”

Art Unleashed will take place at BREC’s City-Brooks Community Park from 2 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, May 19. More information for the free event is available here.

Tickets for Saturday night’s Fur Ball at Celtic Media Centre are available here. And for more information about Companion Animal Alliance, check out this story from the inRegister archives.