The Town of Bel Air’s Appearance and Beautification Committee is tasked with working with the Town government and Town Commissioners on maintaining Bel Air’s appearance through beautification projects, such as plantings and landscaping in parks, streets, municipal buildings and grounds and other public areas.

The Cultural Arts Commission works with the Town on ways to celebrate the arts in the community, such as through sponsoring cultural events and commissioning public art projects.

The missions of these two volunteer committees, to enhance the appearance and quality of life in Bel Air, have come together in the form of the Queen Anne’s Lace sculpture at the corner of South Hickory Avenue and East Pennsylvania Avenue on the grounds of the municipal parking garage.

The sculpture, which was commissioned by the CAC and fabricated by artist Matthew Harris of Perryville, was installed near the Hickory Avenue entrance to the garage in 2017. It is now the first stop on Bel Air’s Public Art Tour, a walking tour in which visitors can check out 25 different pieces of public art within the downtown core. 

Commission members wanted to install public art at the garage that would be “joyful” and remind people that life rejuvenates, as there have been a number of incidents in which people have taken their lives at the garage – the most recent death happened in May.

“That’s the purpose of art, to bring life back, to bring life to a town, [to] bring joy forth,” Kristien Foss, CAC member and past chair, said during an interview at the sculpture in July.

Queen Anne’s Lace was later moved closer to the corner of Hickory and Pennsylvania to give it greater visibility and more space to put in landscaping.

“It’s awesome,” Foss said. “The sculpture just pops; the flowers just bring it out.”

Enhancing the sculpture

The landscaping is where the ABC comes in, as the members of that committee select the plantings that go there. Committee members also select plants for other locations around town such as hanging planters on Main Street and beds in the median along South Main Street near Bel Air High School. 

The plantings in the bed around Queen Anne’s Lace, as of the summer of 2025, include yellow coleus flowers at the base of the sculpture, followed by a mass of red New Guinea impatiens in the middle and silver licorice plant, a species of shrub, around the edge, according to ABC chair Elaine Millard.

“This year, the flowers just turned out really, really well,” said Millard, who noted during an interview in August that the color scheme bears a similarity to the red, white, yellow and black color pattern on the Maryland state flag.

She also praised the sculpture, which is designed to resemble the structure of a Queen Anne’s Lace flower.

“It’s beautiful,” Millard said. “It is just a lovely, lovely sculpture.”

When the ABC orders plants for landscaping – which are then planted and watered regularly by Town Department of Public Works staff – “we do put a lot of thought into the color combinations that will look good together,” Millard said.

Committee members also consider factors such as plants that are “eye catching,” which plants can tolerate heat and dry weather in the summer, and which are best for locations that get a lot of sun versus places that are shaded.

Foss, of the Cultural Arts Commission, said she and other members care about how the Town of Bel Air looks and “what it feels like” when people walk or drive through the community.

“Your planting, your landscaping, your artwork, it adds to that experience,” she said.

Giving back by volunteering time and talents

The ABC and CAC are two of 11 boards, committees and commissions that are composed of volunteers and function as advisory bodies to the Town on a range of matters from planning to economic development, historic preservation, assisting senior citizens and people in need and many more functions. More than 70 people of diverse backgrounds bring their expertise to these bodies.

“The members of the committee are all very dedicated to making things nice,” said Millard of the ABC. “Everybody wants to contribute in some way to improve the Town; we try to make the Town a place where we are happy and proud to live.”

Millard said she believes in volunteering to show appreciation for all of the services the Town of Bel Air provides to its residents.

“People should give back,” she said. “They should contribute to the Town because everyone has something to offer.”

Foss has been on the CAC for more than 20 years. She enjoys seeing public art as well as plantings when she is out walking her dogs – she noted that the ability to walk everywhere is “a big perk” of living in Bel Air.

“Art defines a community,” she said. “It’s so important to the history of the community; it puts a stamp on the community, the Town.”

Foss said her parents and grandmother instilled in her the importance of giving back to her community by volunteering one’s time and talents.

“It makes it a home,” she said. “When you invest your time and your talents into it and then when you see other people enjoy it, that’s the best.”

Media and Public Relations Specialist David Anderson can be reached at 410-838-7181 or danderson@belairmd.org.