The Pawnee council decides it will replaced the town hall’s “Spirit of Pawnee” mural, which has been repeatedly vandalized due to its racist undertones. When each Pawnee department is asked to propose a new mural, Leslie (Amy Poehler) becomes determined for the parks department to win, especially after she is taunted by Joe (Kirk Fox) in the sewer department. Everyone in the parks department is told to come up with a possible mural. Tom (Aziz Ansari) pays a local artist (Doug Anthony Jones) to make a painting for him, and he is initially unsatisfied with the result, a colorful abstract painting.

When presenting it to the staff, however, he suddenly experiences his first emotional reaction to a work of art. Ann (Rashida Jones), who acknowledges a lack of creative talent, presents a rendering of a park that is widely panned by the others. April (Aubrey Plaza) presents a dark and bizarre piece made of garbage she found in a dumpster. Donna (Retta) presents a version of The Last Supper with famous people from Indiana. Jerry (Jim O’Heir) presents a beautiful pointillism piece of a cathedral, but he is laughed out of the room when he accidentally calls his mural a “murinal”. Leslie proposes a picture of a historic Pawnee bakery fire, which she thinks will win because it is dark and depressing.

When the parks department casts votes for the best mural, they each vote for their own artwork. As a compromise, Leslie creates a mural using pieces of everybody’s artwork, but the result is a ugly and confusing mess. Leslie enlists the help of Mark (Paul Schneider), who draws a bland but skillful sketch of an old man feeding pigeons in the park. Mark himself admits the sketch is dull, but claims it will win because it has mass appeal. Nobody in the parks department likes it, but Leslie insists on entering it so they will win, much to everybody’s disappointment. While waiting to present the sketch, Leslie sees how much fun other departments had in making their mural, and she decides to enter the parks department’s original mural after all. The town council committee are confused by the proposal, but the parks department have fun presenting it and break into laughter. In the end, the town decides not to spend any money on a new mural and simply renames the old one “The Diversity Express”. The parks department is nevertheless proud of their work, which they hang in their office.

In a B plot, Andy (Chris Pratt) is doing well in his new job as the Pawnee shoeshiner, and Ron (Nick Offerman) pays for a shine. Ron is impressed when Andy actually eases the pain from his bunion, and he later purposes scuffs his shoe so he can get a second shine. Andy is initially flattered, but starts to grow uncomfortable when Ron returns for a third shoeshine. This time, Ron makes an involuntary noise that sounds like a sexual moan, seriously embarrassing both men. After a day of avoiding each other, Ron and Andy discuss the noise and decide it would be best to simply pretend it never happened.

“The Camel” is the ninth episode of the second season of Parks and Recreation, and the fifteenth overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC on November 12, 2009.

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