Twinbrook Community Recreation Center Annex Mural

Past to Promise was designed by artist LaToya Peoples for the annex building at Twinbrook Community Recreation Center as an initiative of the Art in Public Places Program. Installed in 2025 after two years of community engagement, the mural celebrates Twinbrook’s rich history and diversity with three figures representing the past, present, and future.

A young child holds an ear of maize juxtaposed with a native textile pattern representing the Piscataway, the original inhabitants of Rockville, and their connection to and stewardship of the land. An older man also holds a red geranium, a flower used to honor and memorialize veterans and associated with determination. A woman holds a daffodil, one of the first flowers to bloom in spring and a symbol of rebirth and potential.

The background depicts an idealized scene inspired by the two streams of Twinbrook and the Higgins farm and honors the enslaved people who once lived there. The background also depicts the classic Cape Cod-style homes built after World War II, when many veterans settled in Twinbrook after returning from the war.

The native plants and flowers include black-eyed Susans, winterberry holly, Allegheny spurge, blue flag iris, hydrangea, and purple coneflower. They represent the natural beauty and diversity of Maryland and connect back to stewardship of the land through conservation of these native plants. Monarch butterflies flutter about the composition, symbolizing the change and evolution that Twinbrook has undergone throughout the ages.