Editor’s note: This story, originally published at 11:47 a.m. on Nov. 8, 2024, was updated at 1:44 p.m. Nov. 8, 2024, to correct that the celebration will be held on Sunday, not Saturday.
The City of Rockville will host a street festival Sunday to celebrate the completion of a road mural focused on pedestrian safety and other traffic improvements on Beall Avenue, according to officials.
The Nov. 10 festival will run from 1 to 3 p.m. at the intersection of Gibbs Street and Beall Avenue in front of VisArts at 155 Gibbs St., the city’s public information office said in an Oct. 29 blog post.
At Sunday’s celebration, attendees can meet the mural artists, enjoy family-friendly activities and check out the artwork.
The new art installation was created by Washington, D.C.-based arts group, Chalk Riot, “an all-women and gender-expansive mural crew” that advocates for the “strategic use of sidewalk chalk as a tool for positive social change,” according to the group’s website. For the street safety project, Chalk Riot incorporated themes of native flora into the piece known as “Fern Reclamation.”
“By painting these ferns on asphalt, we invite passersby to reconsider the ground supporting our communities amidst global transformations,” Chalk Riot wrote in its artist statement about the mural. “Enlarged in vibrant colors, the murals foster appreciation for these often-overlooked plants. The design incorporates local ferns and nods to Rockville’s rich history, including its river, railroad, courthouse, and Hebron House.”
In addition to the mural, the road safety project was “paired with traffic-calming features and other safety improvements to shorten pedestrian-crossing distances on Beall Avenue,” according to the blogpost. The improvements include a new alignment between Route 355/Hungerford Drive and North Washington Street, which creates one vehicle travel lane in each direction, as well as buffered bike lanes, on-street parking and loading spaces.
The mural project stems from a $25,000 grant the city was awarded by the Bloomberg Asphalt Art Initiative in November 2023 to create the roadway safety mural. Rockville partnered with VisArt, a non-profit visual arts hub based in the city, on the project.
The Bloomberg initiative aims to fund and support “arts-driven street redesigns to improve safety, revitalize public space and engage local communities,” a Bloomberg press release announcing the grant said.
The mural of vibrant blue, green, orange and yellow leaves, vines and flowers runs along Beall Avenue in between a buffered bike lane and traffic lanes. The location is near Rockville Town Center, an integral part of the city that where there is heavy traffic as well as other attractions such as restaurants, retailers, residential buildings and offices, according to city officials.
“The asphalt art project entails implementing vibrant designs to the streetscape to highlight road improvements and encourage drivers to be more mindful of their speed,” Karyn Miller, the city’s manager of arts, culture and history told MoCo360 in November 2023.
Installation of the asphalt art began in late October, according to the city. To prepare for the art, the city repaved and re-striped Beall Avenue in September and October.
We are excited to be working on our very first Asphalt Art project thanks to a @BloombergDotOrg grant! https://t.co/NRRfv7IKhh
— Mayor Monique Ashton (@Monique4RKV) October 18, 2024
According to the Bloomberg release, the Asphalt Art initiative is inspired by the growing number of cities around the world that are using arts- and design-based solutions to improve pedestrian and street safety and create vibrant public spaces. In addition to the grant, Bloomberg provided the cities with technical consulting.
“The Asphalt Art Initiative has proven that when cities invest in these low-cost projects, streets become safer and communities become stronger,” Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and former mayor of New York City, said in the release. “The new Asphalt Art Initiative projects in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. will save more lives, inspire more imaginations, and strengthen more cities across the continent.”
The city also used $15,000 from its Art in Public Places Program to fund the project, according to the project webpage.
