The University of Maryland, Baltimore hopes to engage an experienced artist to create a public mural that celebrates the local history of West Baltimore where the campus is located.

Between 1997 and 2011 the University acquired three properties located between 114 – 116 N. Greene Street. The buildings were not in good condition and continued to deteriorate. They were subsequently demolished in 2018. As part of a Memorandum of Agreement with the Maryland Historical Trust, the University agreed to design and install a mural at the site to “celebrate the history of the neighborhood.”

There is a designated location for the mural on the north façade of 108 N. Greene Street (see attached Site Plan). The mural will be located in a dense urban setting so it must be durable, easily maintained and not create public safety issues. The mural should utilize enduring materials that can withstand a downtown environment with pedestrian traffic, and exposure to vehicular pollution. Night lighting of the mural wall area has been installed and is unlikely to be further expanded in the future, so please account for this in your design. Finally, the mural will be a place intended for meeting, hanging out and/or studying, and used for selfies or as a backdrop for graduation photographs.

All professional artists or artist teams residing in the State of Maryland may apply. Special consideration will be given to applicants that reside in the Baltimore region. If artists are applying as a team, the team should be declared on the Application Form, specifying a team leader to receive notifications. Artists currently enrolled in any university or college degree program are not eligible to apply. Staff, faculty, or employees of UMB are not eligible to apply.

Up to four semi-finalist artists or artist teams will be selected to develop a proposal. Each semi-finalist team will receive a $500 stipend towards preparing a site-specific mural design for presentation towards UMB’s selection of a finalist. There will be no additional funds or compensation to each semi-finalist for this effort.

The artwork project budget is $23,000 and is inclusive of all costs associated with the project, including but not limited to: artist coordination and expenses (sub-consultants, travel/lodging, printing, overhead, etc.), artwork fabrication details and specifications, artwork materials and fabrication, storage, transportation and installation, related permits, licenses, and insurance. Any expenses that exceed the contracted amount will be the artist’s responsibility. The artist will be responsible for submitting an artwork maintenance manual upon completion.

The RFQ application deadline is Monday, November 15, 2021.

Please see the PDF below for full details on the project, including photos of the site, timelines, and evaluation criteria.

Image credit: Jeff & Aisha Butler of Jazzy Studios

Baltimore-based artist Megan Lewis has been chosen to create new public artwork for the Penn-North Metro SubwayLink station. The inclusion of the artwork, which is intended to focus on the history and culture of the Penn-North community, is part of North Avenue Rising, a project that includes transportation investments across the North Avenue corridors and is supported by a U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant.  The North Avenue Rising will improve transit connectivity and accessibility along the East to West North Avenue corridor, while the investment in new artwork will improve the commuter experience within the station and provide visitors an opportunity for self-reflection.

The artwork created by Lewis will be the first new artwork commissioned for the Baltimore Metro SubwayLink system since the stations were built more than 30 years ago, and will be the first artwork by a black woman artist commissioned for Maryland’s transit system. Lewis joins the ranks of artists like Romare Bearden, Patricia Alexander, Paul Daniels, Mary Ann Mears and others who have artwork commissions located along the Baltimore Metro SubwayLink line.

The North Avenue Rising Penn-North Station project is Lewis’s first public art commission. The artist has been an active and well-regarded member of Baltimore’s arts community. A past Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance Urban Arts Leadership Fellow, Lewis began translating her work into public murals in the summer of 2015 through Art @ Work, an award-winning partnership between BOPA and Jubilee Arts. Since that time, she has been an Art @ Work teaching artist four years in a row, and has completed seven murals across the city. Her mural, Lady Liberty Please Know Thy Self, located at 1800 Baker Street, made national news when singer-songwriter Alicia Keys visited Baltimore for “Shining a Light: A Concert for Progress on Race in America” presented by A+E Networks. The artist will begin designing the artwork for the station this fall, with installation scheduled in 2020.

Meet Lewis and hear about her creative process during an artist talk on Wednesday, October 24, 2018 from 6pm to 8pm at Arch Social Club, located at 2426 Pennsylvania Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21217. The event is hosted by Cultureworks and part of BOPA’s Free Fall Baltimore.

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More information on North Avenue Rising can be found at www.northavenuerising.com.

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