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Dog Owners Get Pet Portraits At Dog Park On 606 Trail

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Dog owners walked to Churchill Field Park along the new 606 trail on Saturday, to get a free portrait made of their furry friends.

To kick off the reveal of a temporary mural along The 606 – also known as the Bloomingdale Trail – free dog portraits were created by local artists with Project Onward, a nonprofit studio and gallery for artists with mental and developmental disabilities.

"Our artists are very experienced in doing portraits, and they love to meet people, and be active with the audience that they engage with, and so dog portraits just seemed like a natural," said Project Onward executive director Rob Lentz.

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Several dozen dog owners brought their pets, or photos of their dogs, to Churchill Field Playlot Park, a dog friendly park at 1825 N. Damen Av., so artists could create a portrait.

"We just got married in October, and our idea is that eventually our library will be filled with portraits with all of our dogs over time. So we're just getting the first of those two portraits with our dogs that we have now, and I thought it was a really cool cause," said Jessica Housam, who came out with her husband and two dogs.

Organizers said they had a great turnout, and hope to bring attention to the art along the 606.

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