Contribute Material For Commemorative Mosaic In Howard County By Nov. 1

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — A community-sourced mosaic has been taking shape in Ellicott City to help commemorate the community's 250th anniversary. Lisa Scarbath, a resident artist at the Howard County Center for the Arts, has been accepting contributions of small materials from the community to use as tesserae for the mosaic, items like pebbles, a broken dish, a piece of glass or a trinket. She also asked for stories from donors describing their connection to Ellicott City that she'll display alongside the finished mosaic at the resident visual artists show at the center for the arts in the spring of 2022.

Photo courtesy of Lisa Scarbath

As owner of Pieceful Designs Mosaics and a resident of Ellicott City, Scarbath wanted to find a way to "acknowledge the tragedy of the floods" in past years while recognizing the historic 250th anniversary milestone through this piece of art. She's been creating mosaics for 3.5 years and before that, she worked with traditional stained glass. At first, she was a lawyer then a professor, but has been working full time as an artist for a couple of years now. Her favorite medium is mosaic followed by sculpture, she told Patch.

Photo courtesy of Lisa Scarbath

"In February, I attended the Society of American Mosaic Artist conference and learned about a mosaic artist who brought together materials from all over the world for a single work and about others who provided hope and healing to their neighbors creating local mosaic murals. My project combines those ideas and invites the community to tell their stories by sending in bits of their own Ellicott City history to be included in the mosaic," she said.

Photo courtesy of Lisa Scarbath

Residents have until Nov. 1 to offer materials to Scarbath for inclusion in her piece, specifically small, durable and not biodegradable material.

"For example, a pebble from the driveway where they’ve lived in Ellicott City, a piece of a broken dish that reminds them of a special occasion celebrated in Ellicott City, a key or screw from a building where they’ve worked in Ellicott City or a trinket from a visit to Old Ellicott City. I will do my best to use all of the materials that I am sent. However, I may need to alter or cut them down to fit and materials will not be returned. Most importantly, participants need to include their Ellicott City 'story'– how they are connected to Ellicott City or why they think it is special – in a few sentences or pages. I will be publishing this information anonymously though I will credit all who participated in a list," she said.

Photo courtesy of Lisa Scarbath

Material and stories can be mailed or dropped off to Scarbath Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or Sunday noon to 4 p.m. at Studio 7C, Howard County Center for the Arts, 8510 High Ridge Rd.