Dedication of Mural Project at Chesapeake Arts Center

The Reflect on Our Heritage Mural will be unveiled Wednesday, October 24 at a public ceremony from 10am-11am at the Chesapeake Arts Center at 194 Hammonds Lane, Brooklyn Park, MD. The project has been a year in the making and has included the active participation of the community. The lead artist on the project is Shawn James, an experienced mural artist and educator.

In describing the project, Ned Carey, president of the arts center board of directors, said "This project is a the result of a lot of hard work by a lot of people. We are grateful to
the students of Brooklyn Park Middle School, our community who shaped the narrative of the pieces, our volunteers who came through at critical times, and of course, our funding partners. We all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. This community and this region have some pretty broad shoulders to stand on."

The mural project consists of five, 15' x 7' panels that tell the visual story of the land, the people, and the industrial past of the Brooklyn Park region. Lead artist, Shawn James, worked with students from the Performing and Visual Arts magnet at Brooklyn Park Middle School. Joining them were a few students from Bates Middle School in Annapolis.

The mural will be mounted on the outside wall of the Chesapeake Arts Center and will be visible to travellers on Hammonds Road and to a lesser extent, from Rt. 2, Gov.
Ritchie Hwy. It is a project of the Chesapeake Arts Center, which is creating the mural in collaboration with the sixth and seventh grades of the Brooklyn Park Middle School and
the larger regional community.

Through a series of community discussions, regional historians, and presentations at BPMS, images were selected to tell the history of agriculture, technology, aviation, transportation, education and the maritime past of the area. Among the images on the panels are the old Friendship International Airport; the SS John W. Brown Liberty Ship, one of the cargo ships built at Bethelem Steel and critical to the WWII war effort; and the original Brooklyn Park High School.

For information, call CAC interim executive director, Lynda McCleary at 410-636-6597 or mcclearyllm@gmail.com

Funding for the project came from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County through a special grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, the Creston G. Tate & Betty Jane Tate Foundation, the Schuh Family Foundation, donated services of architect, Robert T. Hofmann, Helix Construction and individual donations.