The Walldogs are coming to make Butler a little bit brighter.

The Walldogs, muralists from around the world, will be in the city from July 28 to 31 to paint murals on the walls of several businesses.

Each mural will represent a different facet of the city’s history. The Walldogs are being brought to the city by the Butler County Historical Society.

“This is a boost to our community and it educates the public about our history, and it’s something that the community can use to encourage new residents, bring tourists, and put people on our streets,” said society executive director Pat Collins.

Vince Tavolario, whose Natili North Pizza Shoppe’s back wall will feature the postal industry via a mural of the horse drawn mail delivery, is excited for the city.

“We have some murals already, and they’re very nice,” he said. “I think it might be interesting for some people to see if they know about them. I think if they put some kind of word, some kind of PR, I think it will be interesting for people to see. I think they’ll enjoy it.”

The mural at Natili North, to be painted by Sonny Franks and Julie Mauger Bertrand, is one of 10 murals to be painted in Butler.

Butler’s prided Bantam Jeep will be painted on a wall at 123 W. New Castle St. by Michael Clark. City engineer Joe Gray owns the property, which houses Benjamin Beetle, Euphoric Ballroom and apartments.

He is excited that Walldogs will be here.

“Not all murals are worth the part,” he said. “Some of them are kind of poorly done, but this group, these Walldogs are world renowned and they do very high-end murals, very well done. So I think that this is good for Butler to have them come in and put these murals on the buildings.”

A Pullman Standard steel and rail car will be painted on a wall of the parking garage by Chris Lovelady, while just up the block two murals will be showcased on the walls of the Butler Eagle.

On the Main Street side will be a mural of Gen. Richard Butler to be painted by John Byrd, while on the West Diamond Street side will be a mural representing Armco to be painted by Nancy Bennett.

William A. “Uncle Billy” Smith will be painted on a wall of the Butler Historical Society by Jeff Lang to represent Butler’s gas and oil industry.

Smith, a Butler County native, was one of the pioneering oil drillers in Titusville, leading to that town’s and later the world’s oil boom.

Multiple food- and drink-related murals also will be painted. The old Butler Brewing Co. will be painted on a wall of the Butler Brew Works on 101 S. Main St. by Aaron Taylor.

Dale Knaak will paint a 1950s diner/drive-in mural on a wall of 117 S. McKean St., while Jill Welsh will paint a Coca Cola mural on the wall of 140 E. Jefferson St, where Lifeline of Southwest PA is.

One muralist, Bruce Greig, is without a wall for his mural of Butler County pioneer Nancy Cooper. Cooper lived in Cooper’s Cabin for 101 years, without electricity for the vast majority of her life.

The historical society operates the cabin.

The 10 murals were selected from 26 historical topics from the county. The owners of the buildings did not have a say in what will be painted on the buildings.

“It is not meant to be advertisement for any business,” Collins said. “That is why the businesses do not get to choose what goes on their building.”

Collins also said the society is looking for housing for the artists.

“We are currently hunting for people to offer rooms in their homes where these people can come and get a shower and sleep,” she said. “We need host families.”

To help, families can contact the historical society at 724-283-8116; e-mail: society@butlerhistory.com.

The murals will be kept up for 20 years. They should be painted to last for 30 to 40 years. The walls will be cleaned and primed before they are painted with paint that doesn’t fade.

The Saturday night of the Walldogs weekend an auction where paintings from the Walldogs and other artwork will be sold will be at Coleman Hall at the Tanglewood Center off Hansen Avenue.

The money raised in that auction will go to maintaining the murals should they need it.