Plein air paintings capture pre-flood Ellicott City
Three weeks before flood waters raged through the streets of historic Ellicott City, artists perched on its sidewalks and hillsides to paint what they saw, sights, it turned out, that in many cases may never look quite the same again.
Forming a unique composite of how the area appeared right before the disaster, the dozens of works created during the Howard County Arts Council‘s annual plein air paint out are also providing a means to help artists recover from it.
- “Caplans, Joan Eve” by Debra Howard (Howard County Arts Council)
- The same storefronts from Debra Howard’s painting after the flood. (Brian Krista/Baltimore Sun Media Group)
- Caroline Jasper of Rotunda West, Florida, originally from Ellicott City, sets up along Main Street to participate in Paint It! Ellicott City’s Quick Draw competition on July 9. (Nicole Munchel/Baltimore Sun Media Group)
- “Open,” by Caroline Jasper. (Howard County Arts Council)
- Merchants’ signs are now turned indefinitely the other way as the commercial district faces a long cleanup and recovery. (Jen Rynda /Baltimore Sun Media Group)
- Raymond Ewing of Swan Point brought an umbrella to keep cool during Paint It! Ellicott City’s Quick Draw competition on July 9. (Nicole Munchel/Baltimore Sun Media Group)
- Precious Gifts, the collectibles store Ewing was painting in front of, is seen just over three weeks later on Aug. 3, an entire block of sidewalk washed away. (Brian Krista/Baltimore Sun Media Group)
- Plein air artists near the entrance to a public parking lot and the Firehouse Museum. (John Wisor/via Howard County Arts Council)
- Road and sidewalk had totally given way in the 8200 block of Main Street. (Jen Rynda/Baltimore Sun Media Group)
- A plein air artist paints in the heat. Paint It! Ellicott City, presented by the Howard County Arts Council, Howard County Tourism & Promotion, Mat About You Gallery & Framing, Ellicott City Partnership, and the Howard County Public School System, was held three weekends before the flood. (Raymond Urena/via Howard County Arts Council)
- A man surveys damage near the railroad bridge over Main Street. (Jen Rynda/Baltimore Sun Media Group)
- An artist paints Main Street’s bend in the middle of the historic district. (Raymond Urena/via Howard County Arts Council)
- Flood damage toward the bottom of Main Street on Aug. 1. (Jen Rynda/Baltimore Sun Media Group)
- Barry Koplowitz’s painting,”Ellicott Mills Brewery,” of Ellicott Mills Brewing Company near the top of Main Street. (Howard County Arts Council)
- The brewpub and its block on Aug. 1, two days after the flood. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)
- Chris Nelson of Cumberland paints a garden of flowers along Main Street during the Quick Draw competition on July 9. (Nicole Munchel/Baltimore Sun Media Group)
- Alex Wissel of Catonsville uses oil on board for his Quick Draw piece July 9 during the Paint It! Ellicott City plein air event. (Nicole Munchel/Baltimore Sun Media Group)
- Caroline Jasper paints a scene from the top of Main Street. (Raymond Urena/via Howard County Arts Council)
- “Windows of Ellicott City” by Beth Bathe (Howard County Arts Council)
The council, whose galleries are two miles north of downtown, well out of the flood zone, is extending by six weeks its exhibit of juried works from the event, known as Paint It! Ellicott City, and will be donating its 20 percent commission on sales to a fund it established to support individual artists and non-profit arts organizations impacted by the flood. Executive director Coleen West said many artists have offered to donate their share as well. Commercial galleries are among Main Street businesses that were destroyed in the July 30 flash flood, she said.
“They’ve lost their body or work,” West said. “They can’t earn a living from the work that’s been lost.”
With access limited due to safety concerns, the council doesn’t know how the plein air festival’s non-juried pieces, displayed at a county tourism center on Main Street, made out in the flood. As Main Street rebuilds, any recovered will join the juried works in the council’s galleries, West said.
Paint It! Ellicott City is on view through Sept. 30 in Gallery I at the Howard County Center for the Arts, 8510 High Ridge Road, Ellicott City. The gallery is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays, and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays.