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London's latest sculpture trail has bounded into town — and this one's for the dog lovers.
Paws on the Wharf sees 25 sculptures of guide dogs scattered around Canary Wharf and the wider Tower Hamlets area — each painted by an artist with a uniquely colourful coat.
Five of the artists — Angela Charles, Alex Devlin, Kevin Gavaghan, Sian Healey and Clarke Reynolds — are visually impaired themselves. Children from Ben Jonson Primary School also won a competition to have their design come to life.
The trail is the result of a collaboration between charity Guide Dogs (The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association) and Wild in Art — and is intended to raise awareness of sight loss, and celebrate the bond between guide dogs and their owners.
The step-free trail — which stretches 5.5 kilometres, and can be explored using this map [pdf] — is free to enjoy. With each dog you find, there's a QR code to scan, so you can learn more about its tail tale.
Guided sensory tours of the trail, lasting 90 minutes, are also being offered while the sculptures are up, otherwise there's the option to access the trail through the cutting-edge NaviLens app — which enables people with sight loss to visit the trail independently.
Various events take place alongside the sculpture trail, including a launch day (28 March), family fun day (12 April) and a guide dogs 'takeover day' (24 April).
After the trail closes on 17 May 2024, the sculptures will be auctioned off to raise money for Guide Dogs.
Paws on the Wharf is around Canary Wharf/Tower Hamlets until 17 May 2024.
