The art exhibition “A Starry Night in Bel Air,” created by students at Emmorton Elementary School to help celebrate the Town of Bel Air’s 150th anniversary, has come to the Bel Air branch of the Harford County Public Library.
The display, which thematically echoes painter Vincent van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” was installed by library and Town staff on Tuesday, July 30. It can be found in the branch’s second-floor exhibit room and will be available for public viewing through August 31.
The library branch at 100 E. Pennsylvania Avenue is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
The display, which debuted at Emmorton Elementary in the spring, includes recreations of multiple landmarks on Bel Air’s Main Street downtown, such as the Harford County Courthouse, the Buontempo Bros. restaurant, Sunny Day Café, the former Boyd & Fulford drugstore, the former Main Street home of The Aegis newspaper and the Bel Air Armory.
Students and parents walked through the display during opening night on May 22. It was set up in a school hallway and resembled Main Street, with the buildings on either side along with lampposts, flowers in hanging baskets, bushes, street signs, even recreations of the fountain in front of the courthouse and the tall clock on Main Street.
The lights were turned down in the hallway, and lights from other rooms was filtered through blue paper, casting the display in a bluish hue. The display was rounded out with stars, a crescent moon and yellow and blue swirls.
All aspects of the art installation are available at the library, although the room is brightly lit. A sheet of paper, on which people can write down their favorite place to visit in Bel Air, is on the wall.
Opening night
Art teacher Carolyn Wolf, who retired from Emmorton after the 2023-24 school year ended in June, coordinated the Starry Night project. Students from kindergarten through fifth grade worked on it, starting in January.
During the opening in May, students showed their parents the artwork they contributed.
“I’m feeling good,” fourth-grader Apollo Nino said when asked his thoughts on seeing the completed project.
Apollo, who walked through the display with his father Mel, said he worked on some of the brick walls on the buildings.
Zlata Peshynska, another fourth grader, posed for a photo with her mother, Olga, by the Main Street clock on which she worked.
“I feel happy and excited,” Zlata said.
Wolf said the art installation came out of brainstorming sessions with her students on ways to educate the public about the work of van Gogh, as well as celebrate Bel Air’s 150th anniversary.
“Was there a way that we can combine the two and have people experience the sights and sounds [of Bel Air]?” she said of the concept.
Emmorton Elementary is about four-and-a-half miles south of the center of Bel Air, but Wolf has a number of connections to the Town. The landmarks included in the display are “some of my favorite places to visit,” she said.
Wolf moved to the Bel Air area in 1992 and “fell in love with this quaint little town.” Her daughter got married at the Armory, and she enjoys eating at restaurants in Bel Air.
Angela Robertson, the Town’s director of Economic Development, and Town Commissioner Steve Chizmar were on hand for the opening, along with the commissioner’s wife, Karen. Wolf showed the display to the Town officials.
“The students at Emmorton Elementary did a fabulous job capturing the feel of iconic buildings along our historic Main Street,” Robertson stated. “I was inspired by the level of detail they put into the project, and the pride on their faces as they showed their families was evident.”
She added: “Projects like this one instill a love of community in our students, and the passion and commitment from teachers like Carolyn Wolf are one of the things that make Bel Air such a great place to live.”
Chizmar also praised the students’ work.
“What a special evening at Emmorton Elementary School,” he said. “The students put a great deal of work into transforming their hallways into a "Starry Night on Main Street Bel Air."
He continued: “They were so excited and proud to show the many family members and guests their creations they have been working on since January. It was truly a sight to be seen.”
Contact Media and Public Relations Specialist David Anderson at 410-838-7181 or danderson@belairmd.org.