Artist Jack Pabis of Frederick is painting a colorful sky motif over the cinderblock wall on the Lee Street wall of the garages behind the Bel Air Armory.
Pabis, who was up on a scaffold painting Wednesday afternoon, said he has been working on the piece for about two weeks and the response from folks passing by has been great.
Pabis was hired by the Bel Air Cultural Arts Commission to paint the mural, according to Trish Heidenreich, the town's economic and community development director.
"The Cultural Arts Commission as part of its charge is always looking for different ways to do public art," Heidenreich said Thursday. "They have been looking to do murals in several locations, and this was a good choice because the building is owned by the town and this is the heart of the [downtown] arts and entertainment district."
Heidenreich said the mural also will dovetail with the redevelopment of the garages behind the main market into a year-long farmers market, artist spaces or small business spaces.
"We think this mural will look nice at the entrance of the back section of the armory," she said. "The long-range plan is to make the armory a complex with the park, the main building and the redeveloped back area. People will be circulating through the entrance on that side of the complex" where the mural is being painted.
Heidenreich also said the project fits the commission's budget, which is relatively small. Pabis' commission is $10,000, she said. The mural is expected to be completed in August.
The mural is across the street from Bel Air Elementary School, which last year unveiled its own Bel Air Heart sculpture, one of several Heart of Harford County sculptures around the downtown area.