BOPA, in collaboration with the Baltimore City Department of Planning, has commissioned Baltimore artist LaToya D. Peoples for the Edgecombe Wayfinding Project.
For this project, Peoples will create new and unique wayfinding path markers along Pall Mall Road, an important connector between Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School and Edgecombe Circle Elementary School in the Park Heights community of Baltimore City. Funding for the Edgecombe Wayfinding Project is provided by Pimlico Local Impact Aid and project management is provided by BOPA.
PROJECT BACKGROUND: The Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPSS) closed Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in 2020. Students in elementary grades have been zoned to Edgecombe Circle Elementary School, while students in the middle grades can now attend Pimlico Elementary/Middle School. The Baltimore City Department of Planning engaged the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts to work with BCPSS, community stakeholders, and multiple city agencies to design an installation of community art “wayfinding” projects to improve connectivity within the community. The project aims to highlight the safe walking routes along the Pall Mall Road corridor between Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School and Edgecombe Circle Elementary School, and local resources.
Project goals include, but are not limited to, the installation of public wayfinding art to contribute toward community building, traffic calming, beautification, public safety, and neighborhood pride throughout the students’ main walking route. The focus area for wayfinding art installation is Pall Mall Road (3800-4500) to Edgecombe Circle Elementary School.
A Request for Qualifications (RFQ) was issued in November 2020 seeking a professional artist or artist team to design and produce this site-specific public artwork.
ABOUT LATOYA D. PEOPLES
LaToya D. Peoples (LDP) is a multidisciplinary artist, educator, and entrepreneur working in the realms of visual art, public/community arts and design. Her work focuses on figuration, natural elements, color, and pattern, as a way of exploring identity, and history. She carries these themes over to her mural and sculptural installation work, creating transformative pieces guided by youth and community engagement. Her commissioned works live in the collections of University Maryland Medical Center, UMS School of Virology, Denver Urban Arts & Venues, Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts, and Baltimore Department of Parks and Rec.
Peoples has also worked as an educator and coordinator for visual arts programming in Pennsylvania and Maryland. She has served youth and adults through teaching partnerships with the Baltimore City Public School System, National Museum of Ceramic Art, Arts Everyday, Jubilee Arts Center, Enoch Pratt Free Library and the McDonogh School. Learn more by visiting LaToya D. Peoples’ website.
MORE INFORMATION: To learn more about the Edgecombe Wayfinding Project, please contact Chris Brooks, Community Arts and Special Projects Manager, at cbrooks@promotionandarts.org.