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In 1992, Al Smith, Professor of Art at Howard University and an acclaimed Washington area artist, designed Community Rhythms the mural to pay homage to Romare Bearden and the city's neighborhoods, particularly the African American, Asian-Pacific, and Hispanic communities.

Smith worked with his students at Howard to execute the mural which was installed on the iron fence flanking the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, in conjunction with the opening of the exhibition Memory and Metaphor: The Art of Romare Bearden, 1940-1987, organized by The Studio Museum in Harlem. Romare Bearden is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential African American painters of the twentieth century. The opening was the occasion for a street festival that celebrated Bearden's art and highlighted the influence of music on his work.

The vibrant mural depicts artists and dancers of various ethnicities, playing instruments from all over the world. Smith likens the mural's cityscape architecture to the bass or the rhythm section of a jazz ensemble and its figures to the melody of a musical composition.

After the mural was taken down, the Museum donated it to the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities on the condition that they place it on display for public view. The U Street station fits perfectly with both the history of the neighborhood and with its redevelopment. The U Street-Cardozo area was the center of Black culture and entertainment during the early part of the twentieth century. The area has been designated an Arts Overlay District, and several performing arts groups and theaters have located in this neighborhood.

This project was made possible in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.