St. Mary’s County Arts Council (SMCAC), with the support of the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) and the Southern Maryland Folklife Center (SMFC), and in conjunction with the St. Mary’s County Department of Recreation and Parks (SMCR&P) is seeking a professional public artist to create a site-specific mural design using themes and ideas from community stakeholders.

The grant is to commemorate Tulagi Place - a historic landmark from the time Lexington Park, Maryland, was created to support the community associated with the Patuxent River Naval Air Station (NAS Pax).

Tulagi Place was the commercial and community center of the “instant city” of Lexington Park. The purpose of the mural is to beautify the southern, exterior wall of the Three Notch Theater facing into the Lexington Manor Passive Park (LMPP) and to celebrate the community’s past, present, and future.

The Lexington Park community dates back to the 1940s when the post-Pearl Harbor military response resulted in the US rapidly building military installations. Previous to the arrival of the US Navy to the area, a small, rural and water-industry community already existed, but the instant expansion dramatically changed St. Mary’s County, catapulting it into industrial prosperity.

Tulagi Place was the town center where families shopped, dined and found postal and library services. Today, Lexington Park is one of the most diverse areas in St. Mary’s County, with residents who remember the area before NAS Pax River as well as populations who have settled since. Tulagi Place, once the center of commerce and community, has been sold to a developer and will be razed to make way for a Royal Farms service station. This mural will commemorate the history and important role that Tulagi Place played in the lives of Lexington Park residents throughout the years.

The Lexington Manor Passive Park is the cornerstone of the revitalization effort to improve the Lexington Park community. The park hosts festivals, events, a disc-golf course, walking paths featuring fitness stations and soon a community garden. The Passive Park is also a designated “Arts Park”, and this mural project will be one in a series of art installations intended to re- center the space as a community jewel and point of pride.

Eligibility

The Request for Qualifications is open to artists living within the state of Maryland.

Please see commission portal link for full opportunity information and application instructions. Click here for the application form.