At the corner of Lombard and Gay streets in downtown Baltimore is the Baltimore Holocaust Memorial. Having driven by it many times, we decided to stop and investigate the installation and do a little research about this memorial.

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From the Monument City blog:

One of the more ominous spots in the city, the Holocaust Memorial sits just a few blocks north of the Aquarium and takes up an entire city block. In the 1970s a ninth grade Baltimore Hebrew class told their teacher, Alvin Fisher, they didn’t believe the Holocaust occurred. Mr. Fisher promptly took a proposal for a memorial to Charm City’s Jewish Counsel, hoping to erase the unfortunate misconception. They granted his wish and the site was chosen, an area downtown owned by the Baltimore City Community College.

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The memorial consists of a monolith resembling a train with a   steel gate symbolizing the internment of Jews in concentration camps. On the ground leading up to the large structure is a series of railroad tracks, tall grass growing from between the rails. At the southern end of the park a statue was erected, in 1988, that has since become the center-piece of the memorial. photo 8

Two Baltimore businessmen and philanthropists, Melvin Berger and Jack Luskin, donated funds for the monumental flame. Dedicated in memory of the Night of Broken Glass, the 1938 destruction of Jewish homes, communities and synagogues by the Nazis, the sculpture is the creation of artist Joseph Sheppard and displays the bodies of victims engulfed in fire. Sheppard also sculpted the Pope John Paul II statue near the Basilica of the Assumption.

It was constructed in 1980 at a cost of $300,000 and consisted of a grassy mound and two 80 foot blocks of  concrete. The stark scene became a haven for the city’s homeless and a plan to re-design the area was presented in 1995. Architect Jonathan Fishman was commissioned to create the empty rail yard that exists today. A plaque, it’s inscription written by author Deborah Lipstadt, was dedicated in 1997 upon completion of the project. Several Holocaust survivors attended the ceremony.

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The elephants in Druid Hill Park have arrived at last. Check out photos from yesterday’s unveiling ceremony:

Painted by ALCO

One of the baby elephants painted by ALCO

One of five elephants meandering through the park

One of five elephants meandering through the park

 

Deborah Patterson sporting her pink elephant purse

Deborah Patterson sporting her pink elephant purse

Artist Barbara Thompson in the spotlight

Artist Barbara Thompson in the spotlight

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Deborah goes through the list of dozens of people who helped make this project a reality

Deborah introduces the Elephants: a project 2 years in the making

Will Backstrom from PNC Bank describes the birth of the Transformative Art Prize

Will Backstrom from PNC Bank describes the birth of the Transformative Art Prize

Randi Vega & Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake

Randi Vega & Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake

Artist Barbara Thompson

Artist Barbara Thompson

 

Randi Vega & Will Backstrom, the masterminds behind the PNC Transformative Art Prize

Randi Vega & Will Backstrom, the masterminds behind the PNC Transformative Art Prize

Elephants Groundbreaking

The Greater Mondawmin Community Association and Artblocks, winners of the 2012 PNC Transformative Art Prize, have officially broken ground on installing 5 life-sized elephant sculptures in Druid Hill Park.

Stop by on Wednesday, June 11 at 2:30 pm for the unveiling celebration!

Forever Together / I Am Here Because Its Home by Stephen Powers

Forever Together / I Am Here Because Its Home by Stephen Powers

The first time I met Steve Powers, he climbed out of the big white BOPA family van sporting a yellow raincoat and a Guided by Voices T shirt. The world-renowned Philly-born graff-writer-turned-Fulbright-scholar was in town for a marathon of cross-city site visits and community meetings for our upcoming Love Letter to Baltimore project this fall. (Haven’t heard much about it yet? That’s because we’re still planning it!) When Housing offered up the wall space for what Steve called a “temporary forever” mural, he tacked that onto his trip.

I showed him the lift and pointed out the wall at 2454 E. Eager Street—the corner house in a row of city-owned vacants slated to be demolished later this summer.

He quickly walked passed it and all the way down Eager Street. The yellow raincoat floating behind him made him look like a mad scientist.

When he came back he asked if they were all vacant. I said they were, that we had just planned on the wall at 2454, but we could ask about the rest.

Less than 24 hours later we were signing a right of entry agreement for 35 properties; Steve ordered 10 gallons of “Ravens Purple” and a power generator for his paint sprayer and got to work. Not on painting, but on talking to the people who live next door—on Montford, on Eager, on Port—about what they love and what they hate about their city.

So began the first line of Steve ESPO Powers’s Love Letter to Baltimore: FOREVER TOGETHER / I AM HERE BECAUSE ITS HOME.

Can’t wait for the rest.

Prepping the wall for "I Am Here Because Its Home"

Prepping the wall for “I Am Here Because Its Home”

Sketching out the V in "Forever"

Sketching out the V in “Forever”

Forever Together / I Am Here Because Its Home by Stephen Powers

“Temporary is permanent and together can be forever” – Steve Powers on his temporary mural which spans from 2402-2454 E. Eager St.

 

 

 

 

Muralist, conservationist, and public art trail-blazer, Meg Saligman,  boasts some of the largest single-project murals in the country. Her 2008 Omaha mural, Fertile Ground, measures upwards of 32,500 square feet. For over 20 years, she’s been at the forefront of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program and has created work across the U.S. and as far as Africa.

Evolving Face. 2010. Philadelphia, PA. Golden exterior acrylic, non woven media, LED lights and custom steel. 6000 square feet.

Evolving Face. 2010. Philadelphia, PA. Golden exterior acrylic, non woven media, LED lights and custom steel. 6000 square feet.

On Wednesday, June 11, the Lunder Conservation Center will present a free public lecture with the artist herself at the Smithsonian American Art Museum & National Portrait Gallery in DC.

THE DETAILS:
Preserving Public Art: The Murals of Meg Saligman
Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium
8th and G Street NW, Washington D.C.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014, 6 – 7pm
Doors Open at 5:30pm
No tickets required

Can’t make it down to DC for the lecture? Stream it online at the Smithsonian’s website HERE.