A painting of Ellicott City recovered during the flood will be sold Friday to benefit recovery efforts.
Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman will unveil the painting, which officials said has water marks from the flood and serves as “a long-standing reminder of this historic event and the community's resolve to rebuild.”
The painting will be displayed in the George Howard Building in Ellicott City and then permanently placed downtown.
The painting was created by artist and Ellicott City native, Deanne Lenehan-Cunningham, in 2008. It sat on the floor of her studio and shows the feet of sitting water that flooded in that fateful night.
The painting is still breathtakingly vibrant, just light brown water spots lightly dusting the bottom half. The painting itself shows the view of train station and Main Street through a white paned window.
When asked what Lenehan-Cunningham hopes people see when they look at her painting, she responded, "A lot of things, the history, places that they recognize, the vibrancy of the town, the history and hopefully the future that will hopefully come back."
Kittleman announced business owners and residents will be able to go back down to Main Street from 7 a.m to 7 p.m. starting September 17th to get their businesses and buildings ready for the opening, September 20th at 5 p.m.
At the opening there will be no traffic allowed down the street, only pedestrian access.
"Please don't just come to Ellicott City just to gawk. These folks are still putting back the pieces of their lives and we need to show them some courtesy and respect for what they're going through," Kittleman said.
Kittleman outlined a plan for the recovery process, including a water shed study that will take 3 months, then plan ideas that will come six months from now. Implementation will start in about a year.
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