Check Out the New Murals in the Heritage Area

August 12, 2020

Lately, we’ve been excited to watch Annapolis becoming more colorful with the addition of new murals and public art.  During this time of social distancing, several new projects have helped to bring our community closer together, and even into the national spotlight.

The first is by Annapolis local artist Comacell Brown, who designed a mural dedicated to Carlester Smith, Annapolis’s legendary “Walking Man,” known for his fast-walking and trash-collecting activities along local streets for decades, stretching back some 40 years. Located on the side wall of Pinkey’s Liquors in outer West Street, this work is the first of two planned murals to be painted along West Street that will honor Smith, a community icon of sorts.

The second is the now-famous mural of Breonna Taylor painted in a former basketball court in Annapolis’s Chambers Park. Taylor was killed in March by three Louisville KY, Metropolitan Police Department officers during the execution of a no-knock warrant; her death has become a flashpoint in national demonstrations over police brutality. This 7,000 square-foot mural was planned to be so large it could be viewed by a satellite from space.  The project was led by Annapolis-based Future History Now, a non-profit art collective that creates murals with youth facing adversity in underserved communities. It was painted over the July 4 weekend by more than 40 volunteers and 10 teaching artists following a gridded plan, with social distancing measures in place.

There are also recently-added murals in Downtown’s Historic District, at the Annapolis Towne Center at Parole, and in the Greater Annapolis Design District. The mural initiative of the Design District started with a partnership with Urban Walls Brazil; twelve murals are now located in an industrial area bounded by West Street, Chinquapin Round Road, Legion Avenue, and Forest Drive. Click here to see an interactive map and read more: https://www.annapolisdesigndistrict.com/mural-map/.

 
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