College Park is looking to add a major new mural to its main strip, continuing the trend of a growing public art scene along the Route 1 corridor.

The College Park City-University Partnership is seeking an artist or artists to add an artsy touch to the empty wall on the tan building at 7404 Baltimore Ave., above Qù Japan and next to Nando’s. 

The mural would be a “signal to residents, visitors, and other business owners that the Baltimore Avenue corridor in College Park is an interesting destination for arts, culture, and businesses,” the partnership notes.

The call for artists also says that it wants a mural “that reflects College Park history” and can help “brand” the city’s downtown. Though the best public art on the Route 1 corridor often hasn’t been too restricted.

When public art tries too hard to educate, it can end up heavy-handed, like the backs of one of those overly busy state quarters showing Lewis and Clark rowing through the St. Louis Gateway Arch.

If College Park wants to continue branding itself as modern and hip and a destination for arts and culture, it needs to let the art speak for itself like the “Nando’s Mural” next to Nando’s in College Park, created by Kilmany-Jo Liversage in 2015 in partnership with the Hyattsville CDC and its Public Art initiative.