MT. WASHINGTON, Md. — Baltimore County is looking for community input for the next 1 1/2 weeks to help design a COVID-19 memorial in the Mt. Washington area.
Residents can send in poems or inscriptions that will be featured on a "mending wall" at the memorial at Lake Roland Park off of Falls Road. The county says more than 2,000 Baltimore County residents have died from the disease since March 2020.
The county chose artist James Dinh, of studiofolia in California, from more than 70 proposals. The memorial is estimated to cost about $120,000.
We are looking for community input to help design a COVID-19 memorial at Lake Roland Park. The installation will feature a “mending wall” with inscriptions to help visitors reflect on the impact the pandemic has had on our lives and each other. pic.twitter.com/T7FcVnZk4v
— Baltimore County (@BaltCoGov) January 23, 2023
Renderings of the memorial show a circular, stone design with a bench. The studio wrote about the memorial:
"With no beginning or end, the circle is a non-hierarchical shape that is often used as a symbol for continuity, wholeness, the cycles of life, the earth, among others. By extension, it can represent community or family. The COVID-19 pandemic in many ways fractured these 'circles' by taking lives, separating families, and causing barriers to be put in place both physically and psychologically, out of necessity and fear. The design will not only acknowledge the pandemic’s toll but also proclaim life’s precious continuity by creating an inclusive space that will welcome people of all backgrounds and abilities to come to rest, contemplate, or engage..."
The memorial will be located just north of the Lake Roland dam, near a pavilion and Paw Point Dog Park.
Residents can make their submissions to publicart@baltimorecountymd.gov, with “COVID-19 Art” as the subject, until 4:30 p.m. Feb. 3. The poem/inscription can be in the email body or in an attached PDF. Include your name, contact information, title(s) of piece(s) & word count.
