GROW
GGI + Shore Walls Mural Festival
A mural celebrating the growth of people, opportunity and community in Downtown Salisbury.
Salisbury, Maryland
Large-Scale Exterior Mural
Shore Walls 2026
GROWTH IS ABOUT MORE THAN BUILDINGS
Created during the inaugural Shore Walls mural festival, GROW transformed a highly visible wall into a colorful celebration of what it means for a community to grow.
The mural features a child nurturing a plant surrounded by flowers, foliage and a rising sun. Together, these elements represent the care, imagination and collective effort required to create a place where people and ideas can thrive.
CREATING A GATEWAY INTO DOWNTOWN SALISBURY
Located near the Riverside Drive traffic circle, the wall sits along a major route into Downtown Salisbury. Its scale and visibility created an opportunity to turn an ordinary building exterior into a welcoming visual landmark.
As a developer helping shape Salisbury’s built environment, GGI wanted to support a project that reflected its connection to the city and contributed something meaningful to the community around it.
The mural needed to speak to growth without limiting that idea to construction or physical development. It needed to recognize that communities also grow through creativity, opportunity, relationships and investment in future generations.
NURTURING WHAT COMES NEXT
At the center of the mural, a child carefully tends to a growing plant. The image represents possibility, responsibility and the importance of nurturing the people and ideas that will shape the future.
The surrounding flowers and foliage bring movement and color across the wall, while the rising sun suggests a new beginning. Each element contributes to a larger message: meaningful growth does not happen by accident. It happens when people choose to invest their time, resources and care into a place.
The finished design is hopeful, approachable and easy to understand from both the street and sidewalk.
FROM CONCEPT TO LARGE-SCALE INSTALLATION
WALS developed the creative direction and mural design around the shared themes of growth, community investment and possibility.
The project required us to translate the original artwork across a large exterior surface while preserving the clarity, color and emotion of the design. Our mural team worked together throughout the installation to prepare the surface, establish the composition and build the image through layers of color and detail.
Because the mural was produced during Shore Walls, visitors could watch the artwork develop in real time and experience the mural-making process as part of the festival.
INVESTING IN THE IDENTITY OF A PLACE
GGI’s support helped make it possible to create a major public-facing artwork that extends beyond the walls of its property.
By investing in the mural through Shore Walls, GGI contributed to a larger effort to strengthen Downtown Salisbury’s identity, support working artists and make public art more accessible to the community.
The partnership demonstrates how businesses and property owners can use their spaces to contribute to the cultural life of a city while creating something distinctive and memorable.
A NEW DOWNTOWN LANDMARK
GROW turned a prominent exterior wall into a recognizable gateway to Downtown Salisbury.
The mural brings color and energy to a heavily traveled area while communicating an optimistic message about the city’s future. Its location allows drivers, pedestrians, residents and visitors to experience the artwork as part of their everyday movement through Salisbury.
More than a decorative addition, GROW represents the impact that thoughtful collaboration between artists, businesses and community partners can have on the way a place looks, feels and is remembered.
PROJECT DETAILS
Project: GROW
Client and Project Partner: GGI
Festival: Shore Walls
Location: Downtown Salisbury, Maryland
Creative Direction: Brandon Bell
Mural Design: Brandon Bell + Basta + Kayla Allen
Muralists: Brandon Bell, Kayla Allen and Basta
Services Provided: Creative direction, mural design, large-scale installation, placemaking and festival coordination
COULD YOUR PROPERTY CONTRIBUTE SOMETHING MEANINGFUL TO THE COMMUNITY?
WALS works with businesses, developers, municipalities and organizations to transform visible walls and shared spaces into meaningful public-art experiences.
From identifying the right opportunity and developing the concept to coordinating artists, equipment and installation, we can guide the project from its earliest idea through completion.
HAVE A WALL OR PUBLIC SPACE IN MIND?
Whether you are planning a single mural, improving a commercial property or exploring a larger placemaking initiative, WALS can help turn your idea into a project that feels connected to its location and meaningful to the people who experience it.