Mike Franklin’s Latest Venture Lights-Up Hyattsville

First of its Kind, Kinetic Light Mural

Adds a New Glow to the Downtown Route 1 Restaurant District

 4/9/2013 Hyattsville, MD— Be prepared to be enchanted: heading north into downtown Hyattsville on Baltimore Avenue, a new sight will greet motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. Welcome "After Dark, Hyattsville" by Liz Manicatide: a work full of bright color, fanciful characters and fantastic, dream-like imagery. The newly installed mural is the first of its kind anywhere: a permanent outdoor installation employing color-changing light that shifts the appearance of the colors and surfaces of the mural. Residents and officials eagerly await the installation of the LED lighting system, anticipated this week, as early as April 10^th or 11^th.

Mike Franklin, the owner and founder of the restaurant/brewery/general store, known as a pioneering entrepreneurial force in the Gateway Arts District, wanted to raise the bar for public art and Route 1 in general.  He can be overheard proudly declaring: “Anything worth doing is worth over-doing.” “After Dark, Hyattsville” is painted with top-quality artist's pigments on marine-grade plywood with a UV-resistant coating, and illuminated with a row of super-bright Color Kinetics lights running several different custom light show programs.

The mural was created by Boston artist Liz Manicatide, who specializes in kinetic art: it spans 40 feet in width and 12 to 14 feet in height along the south side of the general store. New neon “Franklin’s” signage, windows, and paint also graces the brewpub’s façade thanks in part to a City of Hyattsville administered Community Development Block Grant. The placemaking mural will light up the night for north-bound travelers along Route 1. “We think it will make quite a splash, and a lasting impression for this stretch of the corridor,” observed Stuart Eisenberg, Executive Director of the Hyattsville Community Development Corporation (CDC). The Hyattsville CDC is also administering a Street Art Initiative along the Route 1 Corridor incorporating the entire Gateway Arts District and Riverdale Park.  “We can only hope that other property owners in the area strive to match Mike’s impressive contribution to the street and building-scape and to the Arts in Hyattsville and the Gateway Arts District.”