PICS: Iconic Silver Spring Mural 'Penguin Rush Hour' Returns Home

SILVER SPRING, MD — The iconic penguin mural that inspired the look of Silver Spring street signs and the Veterans Plaza ice rink finally made it's comeback after 12 years. Local leaders came together Wednesday morning to celebrate the unveiling of "Penguin Rush Hour" under the bridge near the Metro station on Colesville Road.

“I will say to you, I’ve heard a great deal about Silver Spring over the years,” County Executive Ike Leggett said. “We’ve done a great many things that have been important for our community. But I tell you everywhere I go, people stop and say to me ‘When are the penguins coming back?’”

The 100-foot, 25-panel mural designed by local artist Sally Callmer shows hundreds of penguins using the Metro system, holding briefcases and sitting on trains. The mural was installed below the rail system bridge on Colesville Road in 1989, and was taken down in 2005 to be restored while construction started on the Silver Spring Transit Center.

Now, a weather-proof digital reproduction of the mural will greet commuters and visitors alike.

“I’m happy to be here today to see an old friend return to its home in Silver Spring,” Silver Spring council member Tom Hucker said. "Public art in public places is so important."

When the mural was installed in the 1980s, it was only supposed to be on display for a year in the underpass at the Silver Spring Metro station. But its popularity with commuters prompted the Washington Transit Authority to buy it for permanent display.

County spokesman Patrick Lacefield said the county made an exact replica of the mural on aluminum because they didn't want to risk re-installing the original mural in fear that it would continue to deteriorate from bad weather.

The 25 original panels were brought to Dodge-Chrome, an imaging and printing company in Silver Spring, where a bar scanner was used to digitize them. The digitized images were then printed on the aluminum sheets.

The original mural, now being stored by the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, started to peel and was in need of refurbishing when it was taken down.

"I'm here in celebration of something that is unique about our community — the fact that we have such vibrancy and art, the fact that we have such strong support," Leggett said.

Photos: Cameron Luttrell/Patch