This week Hyattsville’s Maryland Meadworks said goodbye to its betta fish mural as it undergoes a new exterior look.
Artists from the collective Art B.L.O.C. D.C. are painting a new mural this week on the front-facing side of the meadery at 4700 Rhode Island Ave. based on a drawing by Harper Matsuyama, daughter of Meadworks owner Ken Carter.
Matsuyama’s ‘drawings can be seen on her Instagram account, where she currently has more than 20,000 followers, but for the mural she drew an anime-inspired sketch which is reminiscent of “The Little Prince” that then ART B.L.O.C. D.C. painted on the exterior.
The Hyattsville native, who grew up going to Art Works Now camps, previously won a design competition for art on a Route 1 traffic box. She studied at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, B.C.
The mural brings Matsuyama’s art full-circle, as she was first inspired to draw by doodles in her dad’s notebooks.
Hyattsville native Cory Stowers, who did the turtle mural above Nando’s in College Park and a mural at the West Hyattsville Metro, is working with Jason Philip and Gean Martinez to paint the mural based on Matsuyama’s drawing.
As part of the project, part of the castle-like turrets on the buildings will also be repaired and a new wooden Maryland Meadworks sign will be added.
The improvements are funded by a grant from the City of Hyattsville’s Commercial Facade Improvement Program., which has also funded improvements to the exteriors of Streetcar 82 Brewing Co., Franklins and Pizzeria Paradiso, among others.
