BERLIN – Members of the town’s historic district commission offered their support to a trio of public art initiatives underway in Berlin.
On Wednesday, the Berlin Historic District Commission (HDC) praised plans for a mural, bike rack and directional planter boxes put forth by the Berlin Arts and Entertainment Committee.
“Hats off to the committee…,” HDC member Mary Moore said. “You all have done an incredible job.”
Members of the committee approached the HDC with plans for a mural, a bike rack and planters featuring shingles advertising downtown businesses. The committee, explained member Heather Layton, was tasked with engaging the community and encouraging creative enterprises, including public art.
“Public art comes in all different ways,” Layton said.
She said the committee had worked with local shop owner and graphic designer Brian Robertson to develop a design for a mural, depicting a black and white streetscape and the message “Greetings from Berlin Maryland,” that could be placed on a building in town.
“I’m over the moon with the mural,” said Carol Rose, chair of the HDC.
She said she’d like to see it on the side of the building housing World of Toys. Layton said hadn’t received permission from the owner of the building to put it there. Robertson added that the wall there presented some concerns.
“The paint can be peeled right off,” he said.
He said that as far as surface texture, the best building to put the mural on was the William Street structure housing the Berlin Butcher Shop. Layton said she was working to get in touch with the owner of the building to see if that was a possibility.
Robertson said he expected the mural to serve as the backdrop for lots of tourists’ photos. Layton agreed.
“There’s people who travel from town to town just for murals,” she said.
HDC members agreed they liked the mural and trusted the committee to select a good location for it.
“We love this design,” Rose said.
HDC member Laura Stearns agreed.
“It’s not going to look bad anywhere,” she said.
She and her peers also praised the design of a new bike rack the committee plans to install near the corner of William and Pitts streets. The rack, which will be accompanied by a bench, features an anchor as its centerpiece.
“We’re anchored in the arts,” Layton said, adding that it was a slogan the committee had developed.
Robin Tomaselli, another committee member, outlined plans for new planter boxes to be installed throughout town that will feature a sign post with shingles advertising Berlin businesses. Tomaselli said her business, Baked Dessert Café, was funding construction of the first planter box to serve as a prototype.
“The idea is to hang shingles that act as specific wayfaring signs so businesses can opt to remove their sandwich board signs from the sidewalk,” Tomaselli said.
She added that the planters would also give merchants the chance to be creative, as shingles could be designed in all sorts of ways. She said she was planning on using a rolling pin as her shop’s shingle.
“The idea would be to encourage businesses to think creatively,” she said.
She assured the commission the planters could be filled with plants year-round, even during the winter, as evergreens and gourds could be incorporated.
Tomaselli said she believed the planters would be effective in reducing the number of sandwich signs on town sidewalks and would encourage visitors to explore the side streets. She said that the town’s existing wayfaring signs could never replace the sandwich signs because they were generic, pointing to things like “restaurants,” rather than specific businesses.
“People just don’t go down the side streets,” she said.
Rose agreed.
“Something’s needed,” she said.
Rose encouraged committee members to continue their efforts and praised the concept of directional planters.
“We all love it,” she said.
