FHN + Stanton Center Youth + James Houlcroft
July 28-31, 2019
Annapolis, MD

During the summer of 2018, a county representative asked FHN to paint a mural between a county-owned parking lot and the St. Anne’s Cemetery near downtown Annapolis. A 50-foot wall was erected for the project and plans for the mural began. It wasn’t until the summer of 2019 that we were given the green light to proceed, and FHN Teaching Artists engaged youth from the nearby Stanton Community Center for the collaborative effort. Through this mural, we pay respect to the St. Anne's Cemetery with a nod to the Netherlandish art genre known as vanitas - a symbolic work of art showing the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death - celebrating both the beauty and impermanence of life, and to the old Star Theater, which once occupied this very location from 1926 until 1965.

The project grew from a vanitas-inspired concept rendering by local artist and FHN co-founder, Julia Gibb, which includes depictions of native species. The design evolved during a sketch session with Australian street artist, James Houlcroft, who was recruited to help guide the vision. We incorporated some history of the Star Theater, the only African-American movie theater in Anne Arundel County during its time; a tribute to Levin's Store, which was located on the next block, along with a portrait of store owner Joseph “Jake” Levin; and a 1920’s era map of this location. Research for the project included a visit to the Maryland Hall of Records for period maps of the site as well as interviews with Anna Greenberg who lived above the old Star during her childhood and whose father bought and transformed the theater during the roaring twenties.