Artist Keith "Teachr" Biele designs puppy-themed t-shirt to support spcaLA

Keith Biele , also known as Teachr, went to art school and got a bachelor's degree in fine arts.

"I ended up doing commissioned portraits of show horses. And when I got out to SoCal, I immediately liked all the graffiti artists," said Biele.

"I used to cut stencils when I was young. Put a simple stencil on the concrete floor of the garage. Rolled the screen over it, taped it down and dab some glue on it. Let it dry, pull it up and it was like an enlarged silk screen."

ABC7 partnered with Smile South Central to identify Biele to design our first Puppy Palooza t-shirt.

"My original moniker was 'Teach Peace,'" continued Biele. "Then it became 'Learn and Teach Peace.' I decided to create something that's very peaceful, which are these dogs and cats."

Keith's logo, featuring a large dog collar with an asterisk symbolizing "teach, peace, and learn," highlights his commitment to these values. Spending much of his time on the streets, Keith not only teaches but also learns from the community around him.

"I started putting my dog and cat sculptures with my moniker out all over the place and people really liked them. In appreciation of that, I put some of them out in the streets and I would tell people where they were. And they'd be gone pretty quicky."

"I love dogs more than anything because they give unconditional love," said Biele. That enthusiasm and love are highlighted perfectly in Biele's ABC7 Puppy Palooza shirt design.

"Now, ABC7 gets in touch with me to do a design for the t-shirt for Puppy Palooza. I was honored! I couldn't say 'yes' fast enough."

ABC7 will donate 100% of its proceeds from the sale of our Puppy Palooza t-shirt to support spcaLA .

"And knowing that the t-shirts with my design are going to be sold and the proceeds are going to go to the spcaLA? You can't make my day any better than that!"

Our 2024 Puppy Palooza shirt is available for purchase at abc7.com/shop .

Click here to check out all the designs in the ABC7 Collection.