Baltimore-based artist, educator, and organizer Christina Delgado spent her summer creating a 200-foot mural on the E. Biddle Street Bridge in Johnston Square.
Delgado is one of three artists participating in the Neighborhood Design Center’s first-ever Build Together Summer Design Residency. The other two artists, Jaz Erenberg and Courtney Morgan, are working with communities in East Baltimore Midway and Broadway East.
Delgado’s summer-long residency will culminate with an event at 400 E. Biddle Street on October 2 from 1-4pm.
The Johnston Square Gateway Event will include a short film of Johnston Square oral stories and community footage, sidewalk chalk drawing, a free farmers market, and “community altars” that highlight important areas in the neighborhood.
Delgado’s partnership in Johnston Square is one of many recent efforts to improve conditions in the neighborhood, which has struggled with urban blight for decades.
While violent crime is trending down, the homicide rate and non-fatal shootings in Johnston Square remain well above the city’s average, according to the latest data from the city’s department of health.
In February 2020, city officials and developers unveiled the Johnston Square 2020 Vision Plan. The $160 million revitalization plan includes the creation of a park and the rehabilitation of 700 neglected properties.
One of the first steps in the revitalization plan this year was the opening of an affordable housing unit, Greenmount & Chase, in July. The building, which cost $16.6 million, has 60 affordable housing units.
In partnering with the Johnston Square neighborhood and creating the mural, Delgado hopes to “create public art that honors the people that make and have made Johnston Square a place of community,” she said in a statement.
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