On May 22, 2021, Comacell Brown will cut the ribbon for his new mural celebrating Carr’s Beach in Annapolis with special guest Lt. Governor Boyd K. Rutherford.

The Lt. Governor has spent much of his career in public service, helping to build communities. He has served as “Associate Administrator for the U.S. General Services Administration, as Assistant Secretary for Administration for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and as Secretary of the Maryland Department of General Services.” Quote from the Lt. Governor’s website.

At the ribbon cutting, the Lt. Governor, Mayor Buckley, and other invited guests will join Comacell Brown in welcoming the public to enjoy and learn from the mural he and his team recently completed at MC3’s StageOne Lawn @ Park Place.

The mural memorializes Carr’s Beach, a historical landmark in the Annapolis community that became a major performing arts venue for Black musicians. Performances often attracted tens of thousands of people; its impact on the community was significant. Carr’s Beach hosted several notable artists including Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Ray Charles, James Brown, Little Richard, Etta James, and Aretha Franklin. Today, Carr’s Beach is rarely recognized for its integral part in Annapolis’s rich cultural history.

“It has been exciting to be able to provide art that is commemorative and to display work that people will be able to talk about for years to come is even better”, says Brown.

Comacell has created three other murals in Annapolis in the past two years: the Breonna Taylor mural at Chambers Park; the Walking Man mural on West Street; and, the George Floyd mural at the Annapolis Dock.

During the ceremony guests will be invited to enjoy performances by MC3’s resident dance company, musicians from the Londontowne Symphony Orchestra, as well as a brief historical overview of Carr’s Beach and the integral role it played in the Annapolis community.

The mural project was made possible in part by:
Severn Bank, Wiley H. Bates Legacy Center, Annapolis Art in Public Places, Four Rivers Heritage, Candra Cummings, Annapolis Heritage Commission, The Maryland State Archives, Box of Rain Program, Janice Hayes-Williams, Vince Leggett, Delegate Shaneka Henson, Dr. Eric Elston, Deni Henson, Corey Lewis, Maurice Taylor, Downtown Annapolis Partnership, D.Ward, J.Scott, L.Wright & and H. Lloyd III.