CAMBRIDGE, Md. - An artist in Cambridge is bringing history to life with a new mural.
Michael Rosato has painted several murals around the eastern shore including the well-known Harriet Tubman 'Take My Hand' piece.
Back in the 1800's the Bucktown store was next to a farm where Harriet Tubman was enslaved. One day, Tubman was hit in the head with a 2lb weight by the store owner, who meant to hit an enslaved boy. The incident almost killed her and she began to have seizures.
But Rosato says those seizures were visions. "Those seizures are what started her whole journey to want to be free. She would say 'god spoke to her and told her where to go, and what to do, and how to come back. And over how many years and 70 people she came back to Dorchester County and freed her family and friends."
Rosato has big plans with the mural which will go in the Harriet Tubman Museum and Education Center in Cambridge. It will mimic the walls of the store.
"When you come in, you can experience not just the store but also we'll have virtual glasses where Harriet Tubman will come to life and the story will be told," says Rosato.
The real Bucktown store is still available for tours but not so often. Rosato say's if anything happens, "Its documenting history because if anything happens to the store we have a pretty good documentation. I'd say 80 to 90 percent real. It's 3-dimensional so when you walk in its going to look like you can take things off the shelf. Paintings like that intrigue people."
Rosato added, "You're going to be in the space. So it's all four walls of the space. Then, we're gonna have counters because in the actual Bucktown store there's two counters. This is going to become a functioning store. Because of the merchandise that the museum sells, it's going to be moved back in here so not only will you be able to look at the old Bucktown store but now you'll be able to engage and buy."
Rosato says the mural should be installed sometime in November.