Artist Marshall Adams has painted over 350 murals in cities all over the United States, but thinks that his current assignment on Main St. will be one of his most memorable.
“Painting a mural this big in my hometown is pretty monumental,” he says. Adams is a Harford County native and an alumnus of St. Margaret School on Hickory Avenue and of C. Milton Wright High School ‘01.
He is currently putting the final strokes on a 1,260–square–foot mural on the north exterior wall of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office at 45 S. Main Street. The completed mural will recall the history of downtown Bel Air with an image of the old sheriff’s house and jail that occupied the same address many years ago.
In downtown Bel Air, you can see his previous murals on the exterior wall of Two Sisters Gallery (328 S. Main Street.) and in the Dark Horse Saloon. His public portfolio extends into the Baltimore Metro area in Charles Village Pub, Dave & Buster’s at Arundel Mills, Hightopps Backstage Grille in Timonium and a number of Federal Hill bars and restaurants. For a tour of murals in various other cities go to www.marshalladams.com.
Murals, he says, require an unusual combination of art and construction skills: “Luckily, my father was a bricklayer. I was often his helper, setting up and breaking down scaffolding and preparing surfaces.”
Public art, he adds, is an intriguing medium for almost everyone: “It is such a source for the imagination. Any kid can look at a mural and pretend that it is real life. My three-year-old niece just saw this mural and I explained it was like a huge coloring book. She understood that.”
Marshall Adams logs hours of historical research and sketching before embarking on a project like the Sheriff’s Office mural.
