Somerville artists Kim Mezick and Steph Koufman invite Somerville dog owners to visit them at Vernon Street Studios, 6 Vernon Street (third floor), off Central Street, this weekend and "bring the dog!" This weekend is Somerville Open Studios: May 3 & 4, Saturday & Sunday from noon to 6 pm. Visit over three hundred artists at over 200 locations in Somerville!

Also of interest to dog owners:

• Piggy’s Pet Pottery (Pottery for Pets & People by Mia Carter, inspired by her pug, Piggy) is available at Stinky's Kittens & Doggies, Too in Ball Square.


• Diana Rice, an artist specializing in portraits and landscapes, is particularly interested in the relationships that humans have with their animal companions. Her studio, Diana Rice Fine Art, is located at 14 Ibbetson Street, near Pet Spa on Somerville Avenue.

According to Somerville Open Studios:

The city of Somerville boasts to having the largest density of artists within the state. In fact, the city's web site claims to have more artists per square mile than any other city in the U.S., except New York (which does not hold a citywide open studios). The research is yet to be done, but SOS may in fact be the only citywide open studios of this magnitude in the world, where artist sites are so close together that it is considered truly pedestrian-friendly. The SOS map booklet features indexes by both artist and by artistic medium, so that event-goers can pre-select and plan ahead their marathon walking tour.