Visit the Declaration 250 Art Exhibit at the Harford History Center

Take a walk along East Gordon Street in downtown Bel Air and discover the Declaration 250 public art exhibit, displayed on the fence beside the Harford History Center. Coordinated by the Historical Society of Harford County with support from the Maryland 250 Commission and Harford County Government, the project commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, and our nation’s 250th anniversary.

The exhibition features seven panels inspired by phrases and principles found in the Declaration, including equality, fairness, belonging, individual rights, shared community values, civic identity and civic responsibility. Local artist and Historical Society volunteer Jenna Fritz served as the project’s art director, creating an introductory panel with a cast of illustrated birds and mammals based on animals brought to America by English colonists. These characters connect the panels through a continuing story that imagines how news of the Declaration may have spread through Harford County in the summer of 1776. The panels were unveiled at the Harford History Center on July 9 and installed outdoors later that month.

Congratulations to the local artists whose works were selected by the America 250 Harford County Committee as illustrative of principles found in the Declaration of Independence: Lauren Hughes, Artkina Celestin, Deborah Harrison, Jonathan West (who designed two panels in the exhibit), Oletha DeVane, and Howard ‘Chip’ Dorsey.

The exhibit, which offers visitors an opportunity to reflect on the Declaration’s meaning and its continuing relevance in American life, is expected to remain on view through September.