3 Bethesda Metro Center

The second installment of “Paint the Town” focused on the plaza area and bus bay at 3 Bethesda Metro Center.

Washington, D.C.-based artist Juan Pineda was selected to complete this public art mural. The mural will encompass the overhang above the escalator, five substantial columns and a bench at the base of the escalator that stretches along the bus terminal sidewalk.
 
Juan Pineda has been painting murals in the Greater Washington, D.C. area since the mid-1990’s. His distinct style, often characterized as urban-contemporary, can be seen in his murals at Crystal City/WeWorks, in Petworth, at Howard University, in Adams Morgan and elsewhere. 

Juan received the Proclamation Award from the City of Hyattsville for his mural, “In Memory of Freddy.” He also specializes in restoration and preservation of public work and was recognized by the The Washington Post for restoring the only remaining outdoor Latino mural in Adams Morgan entitled, “A People without Murals is a Demuralized People.”

Juan was chosen from a talented pool of 50 artists from Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia who applied for the opportunity. 

Arlington Road

Capital Crescent Trail Retaining Wall Mural

The first public art mural project organized by the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District was the Capital Crescent Trail Retaining Wall located on Arlington Road, by Bradley Boulevard and across from the Safeway grocery store.

Jessie Unterhalter and Katey Truhn are a Baltimore-based artist team striving to transform public spaces into colorful and vibrant experiences. They have been collaborating on large-scale murals, installations and sculpture since 2001.

Their colorful public art murals can be found in Baltimore, MD, Philadelphia, PA and New York City, NY. They have participated in several street art showcases, including Baltimore’s Open Walls, Atlanta’s Living Walls Conference, Rochester’s Wall Therapy, Richmond’s RVA Street Art Festival, and POW! WOW! Hawaii.

With consideration for the structural surfaces of the environment, each piece painted by Jessie and Katey are specifically designed for its location. Recently they have been making large scale textiles pieces, experimenting with traditional dying techniques and appliqué. Patterns in nature, woven textiles, and bold color combinations inspire their aesthetic.

Old Georgetown Road Parking Garage Mural

“New Day” by The Jah One

Washington, D.C.-based artist The Jah One was selected out of nearly 50 artists who applied for consideration. This project was made possible through the partnership and generosity of the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission along with the Bethesda A&E District.

Jah One started painting murals five years ago and his murals are located in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, Atlanta, Miami and more. This new mural in Bethesda is entitled, New Day and is a portrait of his mother as a way of celebrating her and everything she has done and sacrificed for their family.

According to Jah One, “Too often we honor people when they aren’t around to hear it. In a more relatable way, New Day, is about us coming out of a long historical pandemic. We lost a lot, and much has changed forever. Hopefully we spent our time in isolation thinking about what’s truly important to us and now we are focused on those things with a new, more grateful perspective on the future.”

“Paint the Town” is possible because of public and private partnerships as well as community support.

“I am proud of the work MCDOT is doing to enrich the County landscape through the arts,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “Creative partnerships like this are a wonderful way to integrate art into our daily lives. One of the fundamental purposes of art is to uplift and inspire. Coming out of a pandemic, we need that more than ever. It makes a difference. A mural can change the feel of a neighborhood.”

Woodmont Ave. Garage

Woodmont Avenue Parking Garage Mural

The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District, Bethesda Urban Partnership and Montgomery County’s Department of Transportation are thrilled to announce that Baltimore-based artist Megan Lewis was selected to complete the first mural on a public parking garage.

The mural encompasses the front and right-hand side of the Montgomery County public parking garage located at 8216 Woodmont Avenue in downtown Bethesda.

Megan Lewis is a professional multidisciplinary illustrator and mural artist. Megan has embarked on major mural projects with the Baltimore Orioles, Target, Life Wter, University of Maryland Medical System, Doritos and the Maryland Transportation Authority’s Baltimore Metro subway system. Her mural “Lady Liberty Please Know Thy Self” made national news with singer Alicia keys on A&E’s “Shining a Light: A Concert for Progress on Race in America.” She was a 2014 – 2015 Urban Arts Leadership Member of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance (UALP) and a fellow/education assistant at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum. Lewis is also a teaching mural artist and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, FL.

Community supporters who made this project possible include The Donohoe Companies, Duball LLC, Greenhill, Maryland-National Capital Parking and Planning Commission, and Stonebridge.

The Bethesdan Hotel

Alicia “Decoy” Cosnahan, formerly of Washington, D.C. created the mural, “Hummingbird” at The Bethesda Hotel.  With the support of The Bernstein Companies and the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District, Alicia and her partner worked each day, during overnight hours for three weeks from 10pm – 6am, to install this new mural.

Alicia’s art focuses on figures, not the figures alone, but their intersection with color and space. Passionate about recording her immediate surroundings with art, Alicia concentrates on the situations, people and places that form daily interaction. 

Alicia studied art in Florence, Italy and earned her Bachelor of Arts from Berry College in Mount Berry, GA. She has participated in many solo and group exhibitions as well as completed numerous murals in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and New Jersey.  In 2019 when the mural was installed, Cosnahan was an arts educator in Washington, D.C. and has been leading and working in arts education programs with local youth since 2006. 

Signal Boxes

The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District is further fulfilling its commitment to promoting downtown Bethesda as an arts destination and providing opportunities to local artists. The Signal Box Public Art Project features the artwork of 15 artists whose original works of art have been printed onto vinyl and “wrapped” onto 15 signal boxes. View photos.

Signal Box Artists: Liliane Blom, Rockville, MD; Nico Borrelli, Bethesda, MD and Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School student; Ellen Byrne, Frederick, MD; Lea Craigie-Marshall, Brunswick, MD; Rosa Cruglez, Virginia Beach, VA; Michelle Herman, Washington, D.C.; Amy Kaslow, Bethesda, MD; Alexis Limpiado, Gaithersburg, MD; Adrian Loving, Washington, D.C.; Johathan Monaghan, Washington, D.C.; Rashad Ali Muhummad, Clinton, MD; Rodrigo Pradel, Reston, VA; Francis Sullivan, Bethesda, MD; Sora Walker, Takoma Park, MD and Georgetown Day School student; Nick Zimbro, Woodbridge, VA

The Signal Box Public Art Project is a public art initiative made possible through a partnership with Montgomery County, the Bethesda Urban Partnership and the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District with generous donations from the following local organizations and individuals.

Thank you to the following supporters who contributed to the project:

• Amy Kaslow Gallery
• Avocet Towers Investors, LLC
• Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center
• Bethesda Systems
• Cherian & Catherine Thomas
• The Donohoe Companies
• EYA LLC
• The Greenhill Companies
• Host Hotels & Resorts
• Jane Fairweather Team
• Laurence Cafritz Builders
• Lerch, Early & Brewer
• Maryland State Arts Council
• Montgomery County Police