The proposed mural would adorn a wall separating the McDonald's parking lot from 40th Place NW and Glover Archbold Park, a section of Rock Creek Park. (Photo courtesy of Chuck Ludlam)

With neighborhood backing, artist seeks funding for Tenleytown mural celebrating Rock Creek Park

By Katherine Saltzman On Aug 27, 2018 Last updated Aug 26, 2018

If grant funding is awarded, Tenleytown may soon have a second public mural: A local artist is proposing to honor Rock Creek Park’s natural and social history with a colorful new artwork adorning an otherwise gloomy retaining wall across from the northern entrance to the Glover Archbold trail in a western section of Rock Creek Park.

On July 26, Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3E — which serves American University Park, Tenleytown and Friendship Heights — adopted a draft resolution supporting the mural application and recommending funding for the mural installation through the Public Art Building Communities grant, offered by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

The wall overlooks 40th Place NW and is adjacent to the parking lot of the Tenleytown McDonald’s at 4130 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Both the franchise owner and the landlord support the proposal.

One of the panels in the proposed mural features the Melvin Hazen trail in Rock Creek Park. (Design and art by Jarett Ferrier)

Though there is wide support from the community, the fate of the project will depend on grant funding from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities — whose financing also supported the first Tenleytown mural, completed in October 2017 on the corner of Grant Road and Wisconsin Avenue NW.

Jarrett Ferrier, a DC-based artist and muralist who honored Tenleytown’s history in the neighborhood’s first mural, is applying for the Public Art Building Communities grant for the Rock Creek mural.

“We have a gorgeous proposal and a big idea, a perfect location and great artist. We are competitive in every respect you can think and we hope it will happen,” said Chuck Ludlam, a Cleveland Park resident and experienced outdoorsman who initially contacted Ferrier regarding an idea for a Rock Creek mural.

In 2017, artist Jarrett Ferrier completed a previous mural about the history of Tenleytown. Located at Grant Road and Wisconsin Avenue NW on the south wall of Han Cleaners, the artwork was commissioned through a Public Art Building Communities grant by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.(Photo by Chris Kain)

Together, Ferrier and Ludlam developed the art, which includes vignettes of Rock Creek’s unique trails, nature and wildlife. It also features the park’s historical trailblazers including Charles C. Glover, who petitioned Congress in the 1890s to preserve land that is now part of Rock Creek Park, and Lansing Hoskins Beach, who coordinated the creation of Beach Drive, also in the 1890s.

“I have been working hand-in-hand to follow through with the ideas that [Chuck] gave me originally,” Ferrier said. “There would be some variation within that, but since he approached me I felt that it was important to hold through to his ideas.”

The wall for the proposed mural is 10 feet high and 140 feet long. The wall’s protruding wings provide ample space for quotes that have relevance to naturem, the park and the benefits it provides for the city, according to Ferrier.

“Rock Creek Park is a very unique urban park that really should be celebrated,” Ferrier said. “The wall we are considering is probably the best because of its proximity to a portion of Rock Creek.”

Since 2006, the grant program has supported 53 temporary and permanent public art projects in the District. The Public Art Building Communities grant provides opportunities for DC-based nonprofits, business improvement districts and DC residents to submit proposals for public artwork in their communities.

“I think [the grant program] is a really special opportunity for District residents and communities to apply for a grant that can contribute to the aesthetic, history, culture and fabric of their neighborhoods,” said Jeffrey Scott, chief of external affairs for the commission.

The application process for the Public Art Building Communities grant is a multistep endeavour that requires the artist’s design proposal and project budget as well as neighborhood input and a letter of approval from the local ANC. The commission hosts workshops while the grant application period is open for those who are interested in speaking to the project manager or discussing the application process and materials needed.

“It gives community buy-in and feedback so that [the art] becomes part of the fabric of the neighborhood,” Scott said.

Applications for the $50,000 grants are due Aug. 17, with applicants to be notified of funding decisions in early October. If funding is approved, Ferrier would start work on the mural in spring 2019. The project would take approximately 10 weeks to complete.

“I hope [the mural] will make people think more about Rock Creek and appreciate something that we have that might not be appreciated enough,” Ferrier said.