Thurmont planning outdoor art projects program to spread kindness

Aug. 23—One day, while browsing through pictures online, Louise Schafer came across an image that stood out. It said: "Spread kindness like wildflowers."

Schafer said she always sees an abundance of sadness when she looks at the news. When she saw that picture, her mind went to spreading that message around Thurmont.

Schafer reached out to Vickie Grinder, the town's economic development manager, with ideas about creating art throughout Thurmont with the intention of spreading kindness and positivity.

Now, Thurmont's Economic Development and Main Street division is planning to begin Inspire Thurmont, a program that will encompass multiple outdoor art projects in the town.

Grinder presented Inspire Thurmont to the town's Board of Commissioners on Tuesday evening. She said the program "revolves around the art of kindness."

Grinder said art appreciation can improve people's quality of life and take people's minds off stressful things, which is why art is the program's primary focus.

Inspire Thurmont will include painting images on a wall bordering Thurmont Community Park's basketball court, creating rock gardens, installing outdoor art sculptures and setting up art kiosks throughout the town. Grinder also mentioned the possibility of placing unique artsy benches in the community park.

Possible locations for Inspire Thurmont's public art sculptures include Mechanicstown Square Park, the trolley trail, the community park and East End Park.

At the art kiosks, Grinder said residents would be able to make a piece of art and leave it at the kiosk and take a piece of art that's already at the kiosk.

Potential locations for kiosks include in Thurmont Community Park, on the Thurmont Trolley Trail and by the murals on East Main Street.

For the rock gardens, Grinder said the town would ask for submissions from residents. Similar to the kiosks, residents could take a painted rock from a garden and leave one in return.

Grinder said the Economic Development and Main Street division will also work on raising funds to create painting kits to give to residents to paint rocks if they can't get supplies themselves.

Grinder said the program is open to Thurmont community members of all ages, from young kids to older adults, who want to create art.

"This is ... mainly about artists who don't deem themselves as an artist, who like to paint," she said. "All artists that I've worked with are very kind, and they're all about the art agenda and spreading kindness."

Grinder said she, Schafer and Grinder's assistant will flesh out a strategic plan to implement Inspire Thurmont. The plan will include finalizing project sites, acquiring funding and reaching out to local artists to collaborate.

For Schafer, her first priority is to have the picture that inspired the entire project painted in Thurmont Community Park.

"I'm just trying to make things better for anybody and everybody and just ... spread kindness," Schafer said. "We've lost our values and respect, honesty. ... We need to restore them."