Berlin — Public Art Project, Panel #1

Artist — John Donato with help from the 2nd and 3rd graders at Buckingham Elementary School

Location — Side of the Visitors Center

Berlin — America’s Coolest Small Town, according to some — welcomes visitors with a colorful multi-panel mural. The names of many local businesses (sponsors?) appear on the spines of the “books” on the train. The mural pays homage to its proximity to the ocean and to the Sacramento, Calif. mileage marker outside Ocean City on Rte. 50, with a directional sign to nearby (and faraway) attractions. There are many “in” jokes and local references painted into the cheerful scene. The other panels are just as imaginative!

*****

Crisfield — Fanciful Octopus

Artist — Olon Deshields

Location — Side of Fisherman’s Grille Restaurant, Spruce St.

This stylized octopus, decorated with turtles and fish, is enormous, taking up all of the side of a large two-story building. Painted in the blue crab capital of Maryland, it’s a strange but wonderful addition to the crustaceans in town.

“It was a night when you might expect to stray into a

dance of mermaids.”

― LM Montgomery

*****

Rising Sun — Dandelion

Artist — Unlimited Art

Location — Town Hall

The techniques used in this striking mural are reminiscent of spray-painted graffiti. The town’s name is being spread on the wind.

“What's life without whimsy?”

― Dr. Sheldon Cooper - The Big Bang Theory

*****

Salisbury — Believe

Artist — Deserea Martin and Brandon Bell of We Are Limitless Studios

Location — Delmarva Veteran Builders building, East Market Street

Here’s another take on dandelion seeds. Commissioned by Delmarva Veteran Builders, this fanciful mural was designed to inspire hope in the community. The artists’ daughter is pictured.

*****

Salisbury — Big Yellow Cats

Artist — Dominique Ramsey

Location — intersection of Rte. 50 and Mill St., at the edge of the parking lot

The Salisbury Arts and Entertainment District was created in 2016. One of the first projects undertaken by the group was transforming the drab electric boxes downtown into colorful paintings, with partners Delmarva Power and Delmarva Veteran Builders. Local artists were awarded $1,000 to do a make-over on a box, and the boxes were completed as funding was available. Twenty boxes have been completed; a directory of those and all public art in Salisbury can be found at https://www.salisburyartsdistrict.com/public-art.

In a departure from Shore-themed paintings, Big Yellow Cats was painted by Dominique Ramsey in 2019, with support from the City of Salisbury Water Department. These felines have a lot of personality!

*****

Salisbury — Cupcake

Artist — Helene English

Location — close to Church St. and N. Division St.

This is another electric box makeover in downtown Salisbury. Looks yummy!

*****

Chestertown — Chester River Bridge

Artist — Students of Radcliffe Creek School under the direction of Radcliffe Reach director Jimmy Reynolds

Location — on the side of the EastCoast Storage building at the High St. roundabout

Only one panel of this very large mural is pictured here. This section depicts the famous bridge at Chestertown over the Chester River, along with various local vessels: the replicated schooner Sultana, a skipjack, an oyster buy boat, and a modern crabbing workboat. The brown boxes (we believe) are perhaps representations of the boxes of tea thrown overboard by the colonists during Chestertown’s own tea party. Native flora and fauna abound.

The other panels depict historical and present day views of Chestertown from the river. The murals were funded by Radcliffe Reach.

The universe is not logical but whimsical.”

― Robert A. Heinlein, The Cat Who Walks Through Walls

***** 

 All photos taken by the author and her husband, Gren Whitman.



Jan Plotczyk spent 25 years as a survey and education statistician with the federal government, at the Census Bureau and the National Center for Education Statistics. She retired to Rock Hall.