A Meshach Browning-themed community art project will be unveiled on September 26 2020 at noon at the Deep Creek Lake Lions Club Park on 1249 Bumble Bee Rd Accident MD. The project consists of over fifty 3D-printed plaques depicting Meshach Browning which have been painted and decorated by community members and assembled into a mosaic. The production of these panels was paid for by an IMPACT GARRETT COUNTY grant awarded by the Population Health, Innovation & Informatics Unit at the Garrett County Health Department with primary funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Meshach Browning (1781-1859) was an early settler of western Maryland and a prolific hunter. His book, Forty-four Years of the Life of a Hunter, provides one of the best accounts of pioneer life in what would become Garrett County during the early 1800’s. In 2018, the Deep Creek Lake Lions Club began development of a history center themed around Browning’s life and times at their park on Bumble Bee Rd. The initial project consisted of the blazing and clearing of a 10 mile trail system as well as the development and installation of a series of interpretive panels on Browning’s history.

The plaque mosaic will join two other pieces of outdoor art as part of the historical center – life-scale sculptures of Browning in chainsaw-carved wood by Jessica Spiker and welded reclaimed metal by Joshua Sines. Plans for further development include additional outdoor art pieces, the acquisition and reconstruction of a hand-hewn log cabin, and a pioneer-themed fundraising festival-style event.

“We believe these projects not only benefit the Club by providing us with further fundraising and promotional opportunities,” said club spokesman Chris Nichols, “but also provide the County with a unique cultural, educational and tourism resource that complements many of the existing draws of the area.”

At the unveiling event on September 26th, the Club will launch its next community art piece, a reclaimed plastic bottlecap mosaic panel depicting a stylized hunter viewing a mountain vista. Attendees to the event are encouraged to collect and wash plastic bottlecaps, especially in earth tones, for mounting to the panel. The Club also has a limited supply of the 3D-printed plaques for painting and inclusion in the mosaic which can be requested by contacting the club or attending the event at the park.

For more information on the Deep Creek Lake Lions Club and the Meshach Browning History Center, contact the Club via email at [email protected], call or text 323 325 5466 of visit their website
http://www.deepcreeklions.org/MB-Trailhead.html