After a long process of discussion, grant writing and collaboration, Bowmanstown Area Residents Connected will be hanging the first installment of a mural in the tunnel under Route 248.

There will be a community paint day on Tuesday from 4-7 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bowmanstown. All minors must be accompanied by an adult and masks are required for all participants. The completed mural will be hung on Wednesday.

This project, developed through the partnership of the Bowmanstown Area Residents Connected and the D&L National Heritage Corridor has been funded through the combined grants from the Pocono Forests & Waters Conservation Landscape, through the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation & Natural Resources and the Appalachian Regional Commission.

The artist, Carrie Kingsbury, owner of Promiseland Murals, has painted the mural on parachute material in her studio, then will bring it here for the community paint day.

Kingsbury has been a full-time mural painter since 1999, when she started Promiseland Murals. She has many large commercial, community and residential projects in her portfolio such as the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, Julius Silvert’s and Davita’s corporate headquarters, several restaurants, and multiple historical murals in Berwyn, Malvern and Hamburg, Pennsylvania.

She also has volunteered teaching art for a scouting program for girls since 1994. She will be teaching our local residents painting techniques as they become a part of this mural creation, where they can see their work for years to come and take pride in a community that they are a part of.

The scene will be a compilation of local flora and fauna, including endangered species, and will be done in collaboration with the Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s projected mural to create a continuity of art connected by the D&L National Heritage Corridor Trail. BARC is continuing to raise funds for the completion of the project, which will require two more panels costing $4,000 each.

For more information, please contact Kara Scott at karascott2014@gmail.com, 610-703-0029 or visit BARC’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/groups/gobarc.