February 7, 2025 • 42 mins
In this episode of The Truth in This Art, I'm joined by returning guest Tonya Miller-Hall, Senior Advisor, Office of Arts & Culture for the Mayor's Office in Baltimore City, and acclaimed multidisciplinary artist and first time guest Derrick Adams to discuss "Inviting Light," a groundbreaking public art project transforming Station North. Curated by Derrick Adams and supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, "Inviting Light" will feature five site-specific installations by renowned artists, bringing light and vibrancy to the neighborhood. We explore how this initiative will enhance the community, increase foot traffic, and revitalize Station North through the power of public art.
Don't miss this episode to learn more about "Inviting Light" and the inspiring individuals behind it!
Be sure to check out Tonya Miller-Hall's previous appearance on The Truth in This Art here
Host: Rob Lee
Music: Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard and TeTresSeis.
Production:
- Produced by Rob Lee & Daniel Alexis
- Edited by Daniel Alexis
- Show Notes courtesy of Rob Lee and Transistor
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Rob Lee (00:11):
Welcome to the Truth in Us Art, your source for
conversations joining arts,culture, and community. These
are stories that matter, and Iam your host, Rob Lee. Thank you
so much for joining me. Today,I'm discussing inviting light, a
major public art project comingto Baltimore's Station North
neighborhood in 2025. It issupported by a Bloomberg
(00:32):
Philanthropies public artchallenge grant and curated by
Baltimore's own renowned artist,Derrick Adams.
We'll explore the project'sinspiration and creation in
Station North. Today joining me,I have the senior adviser for
the mayor's office of arts andculture, Tanya r Miller Hall,
and Derrick Adams, the curatorbehind Inviting Light. Welcome
(00:54):
back to the podcast, Tanya, andwelcome for the first time,
Derrick.
Derrick Adams (00:58):
I'm Derrick Adams. I'm a multidisciplinary
artist, born and raised inBaltimore in the Park Heights
area. Living and working inBrooklyn, since, 1993.
Tonya Miller-Hall (01:11):
That's Brooklyn, New York.
Derrick Adams (01:13):
Yeah. Brooklyn, New York. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah.
Yeah. For guys in Brooklyn andBaltimore. You know, living in
Brooklyn, in New York, I've beenvery present in the creative
community in Baltimore eversince I left. I've never
disconnected from Baltimore as acity, as my base. I'm constantly
(01:35):
in dialogue with the creativecommunity in Baltimore, have
been since I left.
And I've, been currently, forthe past few years, engaged in
strengthening the creativecommunity in many different
capacities, from nonprofitendeavors, Charm City Cultural
Cultivation, with Zora's Den,the Last Resort Artist Retreat,
Black Baltimore DigitalDatabase, now working with the
(01:58):
mayor's office on Bloomberginviting light, which, is in
collaboration with the, the artadvisor for the mayor, which is
Tanya Miller here. And amongmany other things that we've
been engaged in creatively,building the creative community
and beyond in the city, and I'mhappy to be here, in
(02:19):
conversation with you too. Thankyou.
Tonya Miller-Hall (02:21):
Yep. Hi. I first of all, thank you, Rob,
for inviting us. I am TanyaMiller Hall. I'm the senior
adviser for arts and culture.
My role, I am the culturalleader for the city of
Baltimore. I this is the firsttime this is first time in a
long time since the nineties,there's been a cultural leader,
(02:44):
sitting within the mayor'soffice at a cabinet level
position. And so I'm just reallyexcited, that our current
administration, had the thevision to appoint me to this
position and certainly now justworking through lots of
infrastructure, things to buildthe creative the creative
(03:07):
economy for the city ofBaltimore.
Rob Lee (03:10):
Thank you. Thank you. We we have illustrious guests
here. I love this. I love this.
So going into it, going intoinviting light, could you, maybe
we could start off with Derekand and and go down to Tanya.
Could you give us a glimpse intothe core concept behind the
project? And I have a few othersort of, like, follow-up
(03:30):
questions to that, but I atleast wanna start with the core
concept.
Derrick Adams (03:34):
Well, from the creative side of, Dividing
Light, which is the mayor,initiative that's part of
Bloomberg's, funded project is,basically, we won a really major
competitive competition from allthe cities across The US, to,
(03:55):
receive this amazing award, tohelp, you know, develop certain
areas in our communities,specifically the the area
surrounding, the Art Districtsurrounding Charles Charles
Street, North Avenue, to reallythink about how to bring light
into the community in a waythat's not dealing with the
(04:17):
ideas relating to surveillanceor other areas that are
associated with light or theidea of, bright spaces, in
cities like Baltimore, workingclass cities. Usually, light is
something that is brought in, ina way to, to, I guess, expose
certain things in theneighborhood that you may feel
(04:39):
are being done in the dark, youknow, on a more negative side.
But on the more creative, morecommunity building side, this
project was presented, andestablished to think about
integrating light as a form ofwelcoming, community, members,
(05:00):
to feel more comfortableengaging, with each other in
that community and the idea thatlight could also be a source of
help or light could be a sourceof, like illumination, you know.
So, I was brought in as thecurator for the project, which I
(05:24):
was excited to be a part of,mainly because you know I always
think about opportunities likethis where we could extend these
these amazing projects to localartists in Baltimore And, out of
the five artists who werechosen, four of them are
(05:48):
Baltimore residents. I believeone of them is a Baltimore
resident born and raised. Theothers have been in Baltimore
since graduating from art schoolor at least, undergrad or
graduate education in Baltimore,and they consider themselves as
a part of the community. They'reengaged in other activities in
(06:08):
the community beyond thisproject. And the only person is
only one person within thiscohort who is not from
Baltimore, but they were chosenmainly because their practice is
a community based practice.
Their practice is a socialpractice that engage with
communities, across the world,internationally. And, so, adding
(06:32):
this fifth person was also,essential to kind of broaden the
conversation about where we areas Baltimoreans and where we're
going on a more nationalinternational scale, because we
do also have internationalcommunities within the city. And
so this was more of a way ofkind of thinking about the
future of the city andbroadening the relationship that
(06:53):
we have with people who arecoming in, people who have been
there from other parts of theworld, and how Baltimore is more
of a a more expansive city thanmost people think when they
think about, inhabitants, theresidents in the city and where
they come from. And so this wasexciting project to do because
it you know, this is anotherreason that I come to Baltimore
(07:15):
often to be involved in theseconversations as we plan, this
project that's gonna start thisyear, very soon in the spring.
Rob Lee (07:25):
Tanya, do you have anything you would like to add
in there?
Tonya Miller-Hall (07:29):
No. Other than, you know, we are I should
just say echo that we won thisaward from Bloomberg's Launch
Feeds. We beat out 200 othercities. So only eight cities
were given this million dollar,grant to create sort of a public
art, practice or public arts,placemaking or such. And so just
(07:53):
wanted to do our own braggingbragging rights that we beat out
200 cities, for this one.
I would grant. Yeah.
Rob Lee (08:00):
And and definitely, we're gonna revisit that in a
moment. But I I wanna, commenton sort of the the piece around
Station North. Like, you know,this podcast was was born at
Station North back in 2019, and,you know, always is one of those
areas. It's sort of thiscreative energy that's that's
always there, that's alwayspresent. And it's been it's been
(08:22):
a few years where folks arelike, not the foot traffic isn't
there.
So when I first heard about thisproject and it happening and
then being able to do some ofthe additional research and
coming up with questions, I wassuper excited for it. From from
both your perspectives, and andand maybe it was touched on a
bit, but at least when I askedthe question, how do you
envision, like, inviting light,revitalizing, and sort of
(08:44):
bringing that extra attention tothe neighborhood? It's it's a
gem, and, you know, it's, youknow, different venues that are
there, but I think often it'soverlooked. So sort of have an
inviting light there and, youknow, sort of, the traffic that
could come there and sort ofbuilding back up and bringing
that attention back to StationNorth.
Tonya Miller-Hall (09:04):
Well, you know, Derek, what we forgot to
mention, Derek and I have knowneach other for a very long time
since we were teenagers. And soin my day, in our day, Station
North that North And CharlesCorridor was the center of the
universe. Right? So there's lotsof nightlife. It was lots of, it
was a a diverse community.
(09:24):
And so, certainly, targetingStation North as sort of the
partner in this project wasessential, because it is the
center of the city. And so if wecan use a public art project to
create a sense of place andtogetherness for the community
(09:46):
because we know that they'retransient community members just
because of the Penn Station.They're long time residents.
They're long time establishmentsthat's been there since the
eighties and nineties that arereally starting to see some
revitalization. And so thislight, project will start to,
(10:09):
again, create a sense of place,but also a sense of identity and
spark tourism, economicdevelopment, and just really,
pointing towards greaterinvestment.
From a city's perspective, youknow, that's why, you know, it's
important to bring theseprojects to to those kind of
(10:32):
communities to really sparkinvestment and opportunities for
the longtime residents andcommunity that's in that space.
Derrick Adams (10:42):
Yeah. And and what I think is so great about
both of our involvement in thisproject is that we know what it
used to be. We understand thehistory and that's the
unfortunate nature of theyounger generation being exposed
to this area now and notunderstanding the history of and
(11:02):
the richness of this particulararea within, the Black community
and, you know, and beyond. Thiswas always considered a
cultural, hub in Baltimore, andit was an area that most people
look forward to kind of,visiting during the weekend, you
know. And it was very common forpeople to drop to circle, to
(11:24):
drive up and down North Avenueonly to slow down in this
particular area of Baltimore tobe, you know, to see and be
seen.
And so I, you know, I personallywas excited because of my
knowledge of the neighborhood asit related to the history of
Baltimore. And I think thisproject has the ability to have
(11:46):
people who may have, basicallygiven up on this particular area
of Baltimore because of theplight, the blight that exists
in certain, corners of this areato really rethink about the
possibilities of of socialengagement to be reborn again in
(12:07):
this neighborhood that peoplewill feel very comfortable, you
know, with these installations,and programming around these
installations to, entice peopleto come back and think about
this area of, of, engagement.And also to also put out the
idea that maybe, you know,future business owners and
(12:28):
future entrepreneurs may evenconsider this neighborhood as a
investment area to have yourshop in and have these other
things that are happening. Wehave some of that, but I think
there's an opportunity to reallybuild this particular area in a
way that, it used to used to be,because it is a central part of
the city and a very importantpart of the city that, again,
(12:51):
like Tanya was saying, peoplewho are coming from work, who
wanna, it's such a big expansionthat's happening with Penn
Station coming up.
So thinking about all thedifferent relationships that are
happening around this project isvery important for us to
consider. So the artists and theworks that are here are not only
just about light, it's aboutalso, highlighting the creative
(13:14):
community that for the most partlive around and in this area.
And they, you know, regardlessof the way other people see this
neighborhood, the creativecommunity has been the heartbeat
and the bloodline for thiscommunity after everyone has
else has moved moved away insome ways. People who who
probably went to the suburbanarea of the Baltimore, the
(13:37):
creative community are the oneswho keep kept this neighborhood,
you know, still going, you know,with all of the small, little
pubs and bars that are aroundthere, the other little small
little creative, communitiesthat occupy different spaces.
Like, it's still thriving, but Ithink that this particular
project will give a certain,spotlight on the possibilities
(14:01):
of what this neighborhood, couldbe with more investment.
And not just economicinvestment, but creative
investment, and people lookingat this neighborhood as an
important place to occupy.
Rob Lee (14:15):
That's really well said. And, yeah, I you know,
being there, seeing it, and justhoping for something like like
like this to to bring attentionand to really have folks look at
it from another perspective ortake another look at it. You
know, again, spending a fairamount of time over there,
having friends in differentareas that are artists, that are
(14:36):
own restaurants and businesses,or even doing maybe the first
year of this podcast, like,consistently in that area. Hey.
Come on down.
You know? Come on to StationNorth. And some of the folks I'm
interviewing who, you know, werethere, you know, maybe as a DJ
in that sort of time in theeighties, like, man, this used
to be this. You don't knownothing about this. I'm like,
I'm 40, man.
I'm trying to live. There's onlylive. Yeah. So I I so going back
(15:01):
a little bit to sort of the, youknow, just the bragging part.
You know?
We we beat out some people. Wewe beat out some cities. So, you
know, 200 was the number Iheard. So in that that level of
of competition and sort of thethe press and the attention
around it, like, hey. You know,Baltimore has, like, arts and
culture.
We should be aware of that. Whatdo you what does that mean for
(15:24):
the city to that level ofcompetition to be one of eight
cities, but to beat out that200?
Tonya Miller-Hall (15:32):
Well, as the governor and the mayor always
says, you know, Baltimore isdefinitely experiencing a
renaissance. Right? And this isBaltimore's time, as the
governor loves to say, butBaltimore has always had a
robust, arts and creativecommunity. Derek and I are
(15:53):
examples of that. Certainly, wespent you know, Derek is still
in New York.
I'm I spend a large, part of myadult career in New York, and
that was where in ourgeneration, that's where kids
went to thrive. Right? But nowin this new, you know,
millennial generation and Gen z,I suppose, you know, when you
(16:21):
talk to them, they wanna stay inthe city. They wanna help grow
the city. They want to be a partof the next wave of great
cultural arts leaders.
Right? So this really does pointto that Baltimore has is a city
of artists and a city of greatthinkers and great innovators.
(16:42):
And so this project is not asurprise to us that we beat out
200 other cities. That's nosurprise. I think that people,
sleep on Baltimore and stillconsider it a a blue collar
town.
And it does have blue collar inits roots, but we have some of
the most important culturalinstitutions in the world here
(17:07):
in Baltimore City, and we'reretaining talent, you know, with
MICA and the BMA and Peabody andthe b like, all of these
cultural institutions have, youknow, gold star, artists and
musicians and, you know, bluechip artists. And so this is
(17:27):
there's no wonder that we are acity of artists and that we beat
out 200 other cities in The US.
Derrick Adams (17:36):
Yeah. I mean, the most exciting thing about being
from Baltimore, and, you know,and existing in other spaces,
the city itself is very wellknown. I think, you know, on the
global stage, people are awareof the creative, contributions
that Baltimoreans have haveadded to the ecosystem over
(17:56):
time, starting from, you know,everyone from, like a Yeebie
Blake or, you know, Kev Hollowayor, you know, Billie Holiday,
you know, or, you know, thinkingabout, so many so many people.
Tonya Miller-Hall (18:13):
Andre DeShield.
Derrick Adams (18:14):
Andre DeShield. Yeah. Andre DeShield. Exactly.
Exactly.
So there's been many, manypeople from Baltimore who have
left the city, to go abroad orto go to other cities to really
develop their craft, but also toreceive the financial support
that was always more challengingliving in a blue collar city
where art is considered more ofa leisurely activity than a
(18:38):
sustainable part of, of thefabric of a city, of our city.
You know, we've always hadartists. We've always had
creative, we have Tom Miller. Wehave people who've done many
great things and establishedcertain things. But the idea of
having the support, thefinancial support and the
community support has beenchallenging in the city where
(18:59):
there's so many other pressingneeds, economic needs that, are,
put in the forefront.
But it's been tested andanalyzed and statistically,
recorded that, you know, thecreative community is solely
responsible in many cities forbuilding the economic, growth.
(19:21):
You know, and that's somethingthat we, in Baltimore are now
considering an important way ofbuilding our city because we've
tried so many different types ofthings, in the past with the
city and this, I think, is partof the idea when they say a
renaissance. The renaissance isnot really for the creative
community, the renaissance is adiscovery from the non creative
(19:43):
community realizing that thecreative community is are the
real leaders in developing wherewe should be in the future. So I
think that it is a renaissancefor the people who may have
thought practically aboutcertain things, where art was
not necessarily at the top ofthe list. And I think that now
people are starting to realizethat art is something that can
(20:06):
reduce crime in communities, cangive young people hope, they can
give them skills withapprenticeships, you know, art
most artists who are in thesecommunities are constantly
engaging with the younger peoplein their community.
Most people I know who havesmall nonprofit in Baltimore,
they have a consistent group ofyoung, young teenagers hanging
(20:28):
out there or doing things withthem. And so just imagine if
that investment was greater, inthese communities with these
artists who are working withthese, community members, from a
young age, to adulthood. How howmuch more, we would kinda
imagine the city, if theleadership, kinda shifted or at
(20:54):
least not necessarily shifted,but broke off a little piece,
that really pushed the creativecommunity, and acknowledged them
as part of the leadership of thecity. And I think that that's
what we're doing right now. Ithink that what we've really
considered is, like, we've triedso many things.
(21:15):
Now we're trying this, and we'retrying this in a in a major way.
And that's the reason why I cometo new to back to Baltimore
really much more often than Ieven did before, to kind of just
be a part of this growth that'shappening in the city. And I
think what's really important isthe fact that some people who
(21:36):
have left Baltimore has been whowho's been, you know, doing
things outside of the city andaround the world like myself,
are the best cheerleaders forthe city because we're shining
light back onto the city fromoutside of the city, which is
encouraging people to come tothe city, to not necessarily
live in Baltimore, but somepeople have moved to Baltimore
(21:58):
who I've invited to come, butalso to invest in the creative
community of Baltimore. Becausethat's what we need. We need the
creative community to be, tohave an income, to have,
sustainability.
Those things that other majorcities like a New York or like a
LA or Miami, all the people whovisit those places don't
(22:20):
necessarily live in thoseplaces, but they spend money in
those places. And that's whathelps to build the economic
structure of these places. Andthat's what I wanna do. I do not
necessarily encouraging everyoneto move to Baltimore to change
the cultural dynamic of thecity. I'm more interested in
getting people to come andinvest in Baltimore and the
(22:41):
creative community, and they canleave and go back home, but we
need the money.
And so for me, it's all aboutbringing the money into the city
to support what we wanna do.And, you know, like the way
people come to New Orleans,everyone's not living in New
Orleans. They go to New Orleansbecause it's fun, and they like
the creative community, and theyspend thousands of dollars in
New Orleans. That's what I wantfor Baltimore.
Rob Lee (23:04):
That's that's great. And I'm going to New Orleans
soon, so definitely my eyes,like, kinda lit up. And, just as
anecdotally, when I go downthere and I they ask why I'm
here and I always visit for mybirthday, but I wear the flag.
I'm from Baltimore. And they'relike, oh, you're from Bemore.
And they really kinda light upbecause They love
Derrick Adams (23:24):
it. You know?
Rob Lee (23:24):
They know. They know what's up. So I got a couple
more questions I wanna I wannaget to here because, you know,
you I'm let letting the two ofyou cook a bit. You know? Like
you said, the conversations thatyou're continuing, it's like,
alright.
Check that one off. That'scovered. Don't wanna ask that
again. But the the thecollaborative effort of just all
the parties involved, whether itbe the the the two of you,
(23:46):
whether it be Bloomberg, can youtalk a bit about sort of how
collaboration came together, andto to celebrate this this
project, to celebrate the thelocal art and to bring or local
artists and to bring attentionto, you know, Station North?
Tonya Miller-Hall (24:03):
So we we okay. Let me start over. So the
the grant is called the mayor'spublic art challenge, and so
they're really tapped mayors ofall cities to really lean into
this public arts challenge. Andso my office, the Office of Arts
and Culture, collaborated withCentral Baltimore Partnership
(24:26):
and Neighborhood Design Center,to really work on the grant,
application. So and then CentralBaltimore partnership oversees
Station North.
So, obviously, that madecomplete sense, as sort of the
the the the governing body thatoversees the Arts District. And
(24:48):
so that's how those threepartnerships came together. Then
we started. Naturally, I tappedDerek to see if he would be
interested in serving as curatorfor the project. At that point,
we had not he had notidentified, the five artists,
which will be, revealed onFriday at our, launch event at
(25:13):
the Parkway in Station North.
But he really was instrumentalin sort of tapping into the
creative artistic community toreally identify who should be a
part of who should be a part ofthis, project. And so each of
the the partners, CentralBaltimore Partnership and
Neighborhood Design Center hasdifferent you know, we just have
(25:36):
a different scope of work interms of collaboration, but most
of it's in the weeds kindathing. And Derek really is the
architect. And then also, Ishould mention that Jose Rivera,
who is a curated curating someof the community engagement,
components, has also been a key,partner in this in this,
(26:00):
collaboration.
Rob Lee (26:02):
So so since it's kinda kinda there, you kinda queued it
up a little bit, and we'recoming up on, on Friday. So I
wanna do, like, the sort of nospoilers version of this. So so,
Derek, if you will, could youtouch on the Quarturial, the
sort of maybe that process in,you know, picking the five
artists and, like, who, youknow, sort of what went into
(26:22):
that? Again, no spoilers,obviously, but what went into
that?
Derrick Adams (26:27):
Well, we're gonna have a big press event on,
Friday, the seventh at theParkway. And so that's gonna be
the big announcement of theartist. But for me, the artist
who, you know, creating thisproject, and although this
budget may seem very large innumbers, was a project that
(26:49):
really helped to support, thecreatives who are who are have
been, chosen to, create thisproject, but also it's also
supporting other cityorganizations. You know, because
we have to work with engineers,local engineers. We have to work
with, BG and E.
(27:09):
We have to work with architects.So it's a this this, award has
really helped us to support theecosystem ecosystem of the city.
And so not only is it a projectthat is supporting the creative
community, but is also, again,creating the working community
in Baltimore. And so with theartists that were chosen, they
(27:33):
were not necessarily artists whohave worked with electricity
before. You know, that was not acriteria necessarily.
It was definitely a plus forthose who have some experience,
but it was also I would look asa curator, I was looking more
about the the ability totransform this idea of light
(27:55):
into an object that could bepart of a conversation that will
extend to a social engagementexperience for people who
inhabit this area and people whowould want to come visit this
area. So the artists who werechosen were really thinking
about light in many different,iterations, not just about the
(28:17):
mechanical application of lightas it is plugged into the ground
and a switch is turned on. Theywere thinking metaphorically
about light, spiritually aboutlight, and things that although
the any product would be anobject that has a mechanism that
turns on, the mechanism was onlya vehicle to enhance some of the
(28:40):
conceptual framework for each ofthe artists who were chosen to
engage with the community in acertain way. So light is
embedded in the sculpturalframework of these artists. So
it's everything from things thatare on buildings, across
buildings, in front ofbuildings, on top of buildings,
things that people will be ableto see, engage with, take
(29:00):
pictures with, have programmingaround that invite the community
to come into.
So it's really more of art beingused as like a lighthouse in
some ways, as a beacon. Just,acknowledging that there is
someone out there and we aretrying to draw them in. And
we're trying to draw them into awelcoming space similar to a
(29:24):
lighthouse would do on a on afoggy night. So we're thinking
about light in a way that is notjust about brightening up the
neighborhood. We're thinkingabout how to do that.
Rob Lee (29:37):
That's great. It's, you know, I I I'm thinking of so
many things and not even doingthe pun thing in my head. Like,
I was gonna say, that'silluminating. But, you know, it
is really but it really is
Derrick Adams (29:48):
But it is. You know?
Rob Lee (29:49):
It's it's spotlighting so much, and there are you know,
I wanna talk a little bit inthis this last piece, if we
will, you know, about about thekickoff and sort of what folks
can look forward to, you know,on Friday, you know, February 7.
Like, you know, I see that it's,you know, some really robust
programming and just to degreein which you will, share just a
(30:13):
little bit about what folks canexpect and just coming on down
to, Station North to check outinviting lights kickoff.
Tonya Miller-Hall (30:20):
I think I mean, the announcement is gonna
be the centerpiece of the event,announcing the artists,
announcing their work,showcasing their work. There
will be, you know, a apresentation. We have invited
some elected officials toattend. There will be music.
(30:42):
There will be nosh.
There'll be drinks, but reallycreating a very, you know,
engaging opportunity. And thisis the first this will be the
opportunity for the community atlarge. We invited we did a broad
invitation. So the community atlarge has been invited. The
Station North community, Ishould say, have been invited to
(31:04):
see what will take place intheir neighborhood.
And while we often think of thisspace as a commercial corridor,
it is also a neighborhood oflocal residents. And so we wanna
make sure that they are engagedand that they are comfortable
with what we're installing. Andthen there's the arts community,
the artists, again, electedofficials, some really cool
(31:26):
music, hopefully, a shortpresentation. And then we'll
still get to folks will get tomeet and sorta and get you know,
talk with the artist, talk withDerek, myself, sort of a bit of,
you know, conversation.
Derrick Adams (31:43):
Exactly. For questions. So as well, you know,
there will be questions, and weare prepared for those, to
answer those questions, becausethere's a lot of, you know, just
interest and understanding whatthis, award means and how does
it affect the community, which Ithink a lot of community,
(32:05):
residents are interested toknow. Because again, this is an
award that seems and sounds verylarge, but there is a breakdown
of these resources to make thishappen. And this particular
award was only, is onlyallocated for this project.
Right. So it's not like thisaward could be used for
(32:27):
something else that is a need inthe city. This was a award that
was, specifically, created forpublic art. So although there
are other things in Baltimorethat could use some of this
money, we can't give it to thembecause it's not part of the
structure of agreement with thisproject. So there are gonna be
questions about, like, oh, it'sa million dollars and maybe we
(32:49):
could give it to this.
No, we can't. Even if he wantedto, we can. This award was
designed and allocated for thisparticular reason. And the
community aspect of it issomething that we, within this
group, have decided to take onas an added element of this
grant. You know, because thisgrant was just to build this
(33:11):
these sculptures, thesestructures.
Sure. But we have another addedcommunity engagement that Jose,
Ruiz, who is a professor atBrook at, MICA, but but also a
curator of social engagement,has been brought on with us to
really think about how to usethis opportunity to grow the
community and help them tounderstand the significance and
(33:33):
the importance of having art inthe community. And this is
something where we had to applyfor an additional grant to
facilitate this thing because alot of the artists who will a
lot of the people, not justartists, but people who are, you
know, in the in the foodindustry, the, you know, the the
dance industry, the creatives ingeneral will be will also be
added to our programming throughthis additional grant that we
(33:57):
could also spread some of thelove to other creatives and
other people in the city to be apart of this, Bloomberg inviting
light, Bloomberg Philanthropyinviting light project. So we
are working really hard toreally, imagine the benefits of
this, not only as a creativeproject, but as a social
(34:20):
project.
Tonya Miller-Hall (34:21):
And I think those that's a very important
point because often,particularly working with within
government, folks will oftenpoint to why are we spending
money on public art when we canfix the holes, you know, you
know, potholes or pick collecttrash. And those things are very
important as well. But I thinkthat Derek raises a great point
(34:44):
that this particular grant wasallocated specifically for
public art. And the value ofpublic art is the transformation
of space and community. And sosometimes people don't
understand the value of that,but it does help to drive
economic and social improvement.
Rob Lee (35:04):
It's really, really great points, and and it's,
thank you for that that addedtexture there because I think
you're right. You know, a lot offolks don't get it. They see the
number. The number is thesplashy thing and then sort of,
well, you could do this. Youever think about this building?
It's just like, no. This is forthis, and it can extend much
much wider than that and can bemuch more impactful than just
(35:26):
maybe fixing this thing or whathave you. So I think, yeah, it's
really, really important.
Tonya Miller-Hall (35:30):
And it and I often I'm sorry. Just one last
point. I often like to say thatartists are workers as well,
cultural workers, and they needto get paid. Like
Derrick Adams (35:41):
Yeah. Yeah.
Tonya Miller-Hall (35:42):
You know, this space where artists can do
something for the experience orbecause it's a cool thing. I
don't know where folks think,where folks have, gotten this
understanding that artists justlike to do things because
they're making art anyway. Theymight as well just do it for
free. And artists I'm like,there's a workforce. But, you
(36:05):
know, that is a work sheet thatneeds to get paid.
And so, we need to pay theartists with what they're worth
as as Derek said, and alsosupporting the other, businesses
that are baked into thisproject, caterers, you know,
production people, lightingpeople, graphic designers,
videographers. All of thosepeople are also a part of this,
(36:28):
you know, part of this sort ofworkforce.
Rob Lee (36:32):
Yes. It's a lot of it's a lot of moving parts that go
into it, and I think it's areally, really good point and
more attention around that now,especially, you know, in 2025,
obviously. And, you know,exposure is great, but also it
doesn't buy you eggs. It doesn'tbuy you eggs right now. You
know?
Eggs are really expensive. A lotof exposure for eggs.
Derrick Adams (36:52):
Yeah. But also you need to realize, like, these
opportunities are so few and,few in Baltimore for artists.
Some of these artists, this isthe biggest opportunity for them
at this particular time in thecity. So whatever the financial
structure for this project mightbe able to sustain them for a
(37:12):
particular amount of time inBaltimore before another
opportunity comes for them to,to be able to live off of or to
exist from. So even though theseprojects seem very large and
they are great and amazing, butI want a bunch of these projects
to happen in Baltimore, not justin this particular area.
I want different areas inBaltimore to benefit from this
(37:35):
and different artists inBaltimore to benefit from this.
And so, like, you know, there'sI'm hoping there'll be
opportunities for reallydevelopment developing and
creating more public art onPennsylvania Avenue in the
historical black district. Ihope there will be opportunity
to really think about, you know,Fells Point and other areas of
Baltimore at some point whereart could just be a draw, a
(37:58):
tourist draw for people to cometo Baltimore just to see the art
around town, similar to the waythat Philly Mural Program exists
and how that has driven thecertain support in the community
and tourism in Philly, throughtheir art programs. So I think
that we are no different in alot of ways than Philadelphia or
(38:20):
even New Orleans when it comesto understanding how important
the creative community is andhow impactful they are for, you
know, visitors and viewership.And I think that this will be
the beginning of many otheropportunities for us to, to get
funding, to receive funding, tobe able to, spread this around,
(38:43):
sometimes.
And I think that this is gonnaextend into, like, and I would
love to say, into our experiencewith Artscape this year. And I
think that, you know, Artscapeis something that is I'm very
excited about and excited to bea part of. And I know that the
momentum from this is just gonnaextend beyond to what we're
(39:03):
doing with Artscape, to whatwe're gonna be doing with our
Efren, what we're gonna be doingwith all these different
creative, engagements in thecity. And I think that the wind
has picked up, and I think it'sjust gonna take off, you know,
and I'm excited about it.
Rob Lee (39:18):
It's exciting stuff. Momentum, motion is gonna be a
big, 2025 and beyond. So, youknow, I'm gonna get ready to
close out here and, you know,just invite any sort of closing
remarks and, and then I'll wrapup. So for both of you, any
closing remarks here, and, wecan close out.
Tonya Miller-Hall (39:39):
I think we covered quite a bit. I don't
have any additional remarks tomake.
Rob Lee (39:44):
K. And, Dark, did you have anything she wanted to add?
Derrick Adams (39:48):
I'm just I'm just excited for the future of the
city. You know? Again, like Isaid, I, you know, I grew up in
Baltimore. You know? I stillhave a house there.
When I when I, bought a house inBaltimore, I stay there. When
I'm in town, I I use my propertyfor, you know, engagements
similar to this to kinda drawattention to the value of the
(40:08):
city. I'm really proud of, of ofmayor Scott right now with
everything that he's been doingto support not only, this
endeavor, but just the the theyouth culture in Baltimore. I'm
very impressed by, you know,when I open up my phone, I look
at Instagram, and I see himengage with the community in a
(40:29):
way that no other mayor hasreally done in the future of in
the past history of Baltimore.And I'm looking forward to, his
role expanding, throughout thecity and really, and I'm looking
forward to seeing, you know, hisinvolvement in this project and
other projects that we have inthe pipeline.
Rob Lee (40:49):
And there you have it, folks. I wanna again thank Tanya
r Miller Hall and Derrick Adamsfor coming on to the podcast to
share a bit of insight oninviting light. And for Tanya,
for Derrick, I'm Rob Lee sayingthat there's art, culture, and
community in and around yourneck of the woods, you've just
gotta look for it.
Welcome to the Truth in Us Art, your source for
conversations joining arts,culture, and community. These
are stories that matter, and Iam your host, Rob Lee. Thank you
so much for joining me. Today,I'm discussing inviting light, a
major public art project comingto Baltimore's Station North
neighborhood in 2025. It issupported by a Bloomberg
(00:32):
Philanthropies public artchallenge grant and curated by
Baltimore's own renowned artist,Derrick Adams.
We'll explore the project'sinspiration and creation in
Station North. Today joining me,I have the senior adviser for
the mayor's office of arts andculture, Tanya r Miller Hall,
and Derrick Adams, the curatorbehind Inviting Light. Welcome
(00:54):
back to the podcast, Tanya, andwelcome for the first time,
Derrick.
Derrick Adams (00:58):
I'm Derrick Adams. I'm a multidisciplinary
artist, born and raised inBaltimore in the Park Heights
area. Living and working inBrooklyn, since, 1993.
Tonya Miller-Hall (01:11):
That's Brooklyn, New York.
Derrick Adams (01:13):
Yeah. Brooklyn, New York. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah.
Yeah. For guys in Brooklyn andBaltimore. You know, living in
Brooklyn, in New York, I've beenvery present in the creative
community in Baltimore eversince I left. I've never
disconnected from Baltimore as acity, as my base. I'm constantly
(01:35):
in dialogue with the creativecommunity in Baltimore, have
been since I left.
And I've, been currently, forthe past few years, engaged in
strengthening the creativecommunity in many different
capacities, from nonprofitendeavors, Charm City Cultural
Cultivation, with Zora's Den,the Last Resort Artist Retreat,
Black Baltimore DigitalDatabase, now working with the
(01:58):
mayor's office on Bloomberginviting light, which, is in
collaboration with the, the artadvisor for the mayor, which is
Tanya Miller here. And amongmany other things that we've
been engaged in creatively,building the creative community
and beyond in the city, and I'mhappy to be here, in
(02:19):
conversation with you too. Thankyou.
Tonya Miller-Hall (02:21):
Yep. Hi. I first of all, thank you, Rob,
for inviting us. I am TanyaMiller Hall. I'm the senior
adviser for arts and culture.
My role, I am the culturalleader for the city of
Baltimore. I this is the firsttime this is first time in a
long time since the nineties,there's been a cultural leader,
(02:44):
sitting within the mayor'soffice at a cabinet level
position. And so I'm just reallyexcited, that our current
administration, had the thevision to appoint me to this
position and certainly now justworking through lots of
infrastructure, things to buildthe creative the creative
(03:07):
economy for the city ofBaltimore.
Rob Lee (03:10):
Thank you. Thank you. We we have illustrious guests
here. I love this. I love this.
So going into it, going intoinviting light, could you, maybe
we could start off with Derekand and and go down to Tanya.
Could you give us a glimpse intothe core concept behind the
project? And I have a few othersort of, like, follow-up
(03:30):
questions to that, but I atleast wanna start with the core
concept.
Derrick Adams (03:34):
Well, from the creative side of, Dividing
Light, which is the mayor,initiative that's part of
Bloomberg's, funded project is,basically, we won a really major
competitive competition from allthe cities across The US, to,
(03:55):
receive this amazing award, tohelp, you know, develop certain
areas in our communities,specifically the the area
surrounding, the Art Districtsurrounding Charles Charles
Street, North Avenue, to reallythink about how to bring light
into the community in a waythat's not dealing with the
(04:17):
ideas relating to surveillanceor other areas that are
associated with light or theidea of, bright spaces, in
cities like Baltimore, workingclass cities. Usually, light is
something that is brought in, ina way to, to, I guess, expose
certain things in theneighborhood that you may feel
(04:39):
are being done in the dark, youknow, on a more negative side.
But on the more creative, morecommunity building side, this
project was presented, andestablished to think about
integrating light as a form ofwelcoming, community, members,
(05:00):
to feel more comfortableengaging, with each other in
that community and the idea thatlight could also be a source of
help or light could be a sourceof, like illumination, you know.
So, I was brought in as thecurator for the project, which I
(05:24):
was excited to be a part of,mainly because you know I always
think about opportunities likethis where we could extend these
these amazing projects to localartists in Baltimore And, out of
the five artists who werechosen, four of them are
(05:48):
Baltimore residents. I believeone of them is a Baltimore
resident born and raised. Theothers have been in Baltimore
since graduating from art schoolor at least, undergrad or
graduate education in Baltimore,and they consider themselves as
a part of the community. They'reengaged in other activities in
(06:08):
the community beyond thisproject. And the only person is
only one person within thiscohort who is not from
Baltimore, but they were chosenmainly because their practice is
a community based practice.
Their practice is a socialpractice that engage with
communities, across the world,internationally. And, so, adding
(06:32):
this fifth person was also,essential to kind of broaden the
conversation about where we areas Baltimoreans and where we're
going on a more nationalinternational scale, because we
do also have internationalcommunities within the city. And
so this was more of a way ofkind of thinking about the
future of the city andbroadening the relationship that
(06:53):
we have with people who arecoming in, people who have been
there from other parts of theworld, and how Baltimore is more
of a a more expansive city thanmost people think when they
think about, inhabitants, theresidents in the city and where
they come from. And so this wasexciting project to do because
it you know, this is anotherreason that I come to Baltimore
(07:15):
often to be involved in theseconversations as we plan, this
project that's gonna start thisyear, very soon in the spring.
Rob Lee (07:25):
Tanya, do you have anything you would like to add
in there?
Tonya Miller-Hall (07:29):
No. Other than, you know, we are I should
just say echo that we won thisaward from Bloomberg's Launch
Feeds. We beat out 200 othercities. So only eight cities
were given this million dollar,grant to create sort of a public
art, practice or public arts,placemaking or such. And so just
(07:53):
wanted to do our own braggingbragging rights that we beat out
200 cities, for this one.
I would grant. Yeah.
Rob Lee (08:00):
And and definitely, we're gonna revisit that in a
moment. But I I wanna, commenton sort of the the piece around
Station North. Like, you know,this podcast was was born at
Station North back in 2019, and,you know, always is one of those
areas. It's sort of thiscreative energy that's that's
always there, that's alwayspresent. And it's been it's been
(08:22):
a few years where folks arelike, not the foot traffic isn't
there.
So when I first heard about thisproject and it happening and
then being able to do some ofthe additional research and
coming up with questions, I wassuper excited for it. From from
both your perspectives, and andand maybe it was touched on a
bit, but at least when I askedthe question, how do you
envision, like, inviting light,revitalizing, and sort of
(08:44):
bringing that extra attention tothe neighborhood? It's it's a
gem, and, you know, it's, youknow, different venues that are
there, but I think often it'soverlooked. So sort of have an
inviting light there and, youknow, sort of, the traffic that
could come there and sort ofbuilding back up and bringing
that attention back to StationNorth.
Tonya Miller-Hall (09:04):
Well, you know, Derek, what we forgot to
mention, Derek and I have knowneach other for a very long time
since we were teenagers. And soin my day, in our day, Station
North that North And CharlesCorridor was the center of the
universe. Right? So there's lotsof nightlife. It was lots of, it
was a a diverse community.
(09:24):
And so, certainly, targetingStation North as sort of the
partner in this project wasessential, because it is the
center of the city. And so if wecan use a public art project to
create a sense of place andtogetherness for the community
(09:46):
because we know that they'retransient community members just
because of the Penn Station.They're long time residents.
They're long time establishmentsthat's been there since the
eighties and nineties that arereally starting to see some
revitalization. And so thislight, project will start to,
(10:09):
again, create a sense of place,but also a sense of identity and
spark tourism, economicdevelopment, and just really,
pointing towards greaterinvestment.
From a city's perspective, youknow, that's why, you know, it's
important to bring theseprojects to to those kind of
(10:32):
communities to really sparkinvestment and opportunities for
the longtime residents andcommunity that's in that space.
Derrick Adams (10:42):
Yeah. And and what I think is so great about
both of our involvement in thisproject is that we know what it
used to be. We understand thehistory and that's the
unfortunate nature of theyounger generation being exposed
to this area now and notunderstanding the history of and
(11:02):
the richness of this particulararea within, the Black community
and, you know, and beyond. Thiswas always considered a
cultural, hub in Baltimore, andit was an area that most people
look forward to kind of,visiting during the weekend, you
know. And it was very common forpeople to drop to circle, to
(11:24):
drive up and down North Avenueonly to slow down in this
particular area of Baltimore tobe, you know, to see and be
seen.
And so I, you know, I personallywas excited because of my
knowledge of the neighborhood asit related to the history of
Baltimore. And I think thisproject has the ability to have
(11:46):
people who may have, basicallygiven up on this particular area
of Baltimore because of theplight, the blight that exists
in certain, corners of this areato really rethink about the
possibilities of of socialengagement to be reborn again in
(12:07):
this neighborhood that peoplewill feel very comfortable, you
know, with these installations,and programming around these
installations to, entice peopleto come back and think about
this area of, of, engagement.And also to also put out the
idea that maybe, you know,future business owners and
(12:28):
future entrepreneurs may evenconsider this neighborhood as a
investment area to have yourshop in and have these other
things that are happening. Wehave some of that, but I think
there's an opportunity to reallybuild this particular area in a
way that, it used to used to be,because it is a central part of
the city and a very importantpart of the city that, again,
(12:51):
like Tanya was saying, peoplewho are coming from work, who
wanna, it's such a big expansionthat's happening with Penn
Station coming up.
So thinking about all thedifferent relationships that are
happening around this project isvery important for us to
consider. So the artists and theworks that are here are not only
just about light, it's aboutalso, highlighting the creative
(13:14):
community that for the most partlive around and in this area.
And they, you know, regardlessof the way other people see this
neighborhood, the creativecommunity has been the heartbeat
and the bloodline for thiscommunity after everyone has
else has moved moved away insome ways. People who who
probably went to the suburbanarea of the Baltimore, the
(13:37):
creative community are the oneswho keep kept this neighborhood,
you know, still going, you know,with all of the small, little
pubs and bars that are aroundthere, the other little small
little creative, communitiesthat occupy different spaces.
Like, it's still thriving, but Ithink that this particular
project will give a certain,spotlight on the possibilities
(14:01):
of what this neighborhood, couldbe with more investment.
And not just economicinvestment, but creative
investment, and people lookingat this neighborhood as an
important place to occupy.
Rob Lee (14:15):
That's really well said. And, yeah, I you know,
being there, seeing it, and justhoping for something like like
like this to to bring attentionand to really have folks look at
it from another perspective ortake another look at it. You
know, again, spending a fairamount of time over there,
having friends in differentareas that are artists, that are
(14:36):
own restaurants and businesses,or even doing maybe the first
year of this podcast, like,consistently in that area. Hey.
Come on down.
You know? Come on to StationNorth. And some of the folks I'm
interviewing who, you know, werethere, you know, maybe as a DJ
in that sort of time in theeighties, like, man, this used
to be this. You don't knownothing about this. I'm like,
I'm 40, man.
I'm trying to live. There's onlylive. Yeah. So I I so going back
(15:01):
a little bit to sort of the, youknow, just the bragging part.
You know?
We we beat out some people. Wewe beat out some cities. So, you
know, 200 was the number Iheard. So in that that level of
of competition and sort of thethe press and the attention
around it, like, hey. You know,Baltimore has, like, arts and
culture.
We should be aware of that. Whatdo you what does that mean for
(15:24):
the city to that level ofcompetition to be one of eight
cities, but to beat out that200?
Tonya Miller-Hall (15:32):
Well, as the governor and the mayor always
says, you know, Baltimore isdefinitely experiencing a
renaissance. Right? And this isBaltimore's time, as the
governor loves to say, butBaltimore has always had a
robust, arts and creativecommunity. Derek and I are
(15:53):
examples of that. Certainly, wespent you know, Derek is still
in New York.
I'm I spend a large, part of myadult career in New York, and
that was where in ourgeneration, that's where kids
went to thrive. Right? But nowin this new, you know,
millennial generation and Gen z,I suppose, you know, when you
(16:21):
talk to them, they wanna stay inthe city. They wanna help grow
the city. They want to be a partof the next wave of great
cultural arts leaders.
Right? So this really does pointto that Baltimore has is a city
of artists and a city of greatthinkers and great innovators.
(16:42):
And so this project is not asurprise to us that we beat out
200 other cities. That's nosurprise. I think that people,
sleep on Baltimore and stillconsider it a a blue collar
town.
And it does have blue collar inits roots, but we have some of
the most important culturalinstitutions in the world here
(17:07):
in Baltimore City, and we'reretaining talent, you know, with
MICA and the BMA and Peabody andthe b like, all of these
cultural institutions have, youknow, gold star, artists and
musicians and, you know, bluechip artists. And so this is
(17:27):
there's no wonder that we are acity of artists and that we beat
out 200 other cities in The US.
Derrick Adams (17:36):
Yeah. I mean, the most exciting thing about being
from Baltimore, and, you know,and existing in other spaces,
the city itself is very wellknown. I think, you know, on the
global stage, people are awareof the creative, contributions
that Baltimoreans have haveadded to the ecosystem over
(17:56):
time, starting from, you know,everyone from, like a Yeebie
Blake or, you know, Kev Hollowayor, you know, Billie Holiday,
you know, or, you know, thinkingabout, so many so many people.
Tonya Miller-Hall (18:13):
Andre DeShield.
Derrick Adams (18:14):
Andre DeShield. Yeah. Andre DeShield. Exactly.
Exactly.
So there's been many, manypeople from Baltimore who have
left the city, to go abroad orto go to other cities to really
develop their craft, but also toreceive the financial support
that was always more challengingliving in a blue collar city
where art is considered more ofa leisurely activity than a
(18:38):
sustainable part of, of thefabric of a city, of our city.
You know, we've always hadartists. We've always had
creative, we have Tom Miller. Wehave people who've done many
great things and establishedcertain things. But the idea of
having the support, thefinancial support and the
community support has beenchallenging in the city where
(18:59):
there's so many other pressingneeds, economic needs that, are,
put in the forefront.
But it's been tested andanalyzed and statistically,
recorded that, you know, thecreative community is solely
responsible in many cities forbuilding the economic, growth.
(19:21):
You know, and that's somethingthat we, in Baltimore are now
considering an important way ofbuilding our city because we've
tried so many different types ofthings, in the past with the
city and this, I think, is partof the idea when they say a
renaissance. The renaissance isnot really for the creative
community, the renaissance is adiscovery from the non creative
(19:43):
community realizing that thecreative community is are the
real leaders in developing wherewe should be in the future. So I
think that it is a renaissancefor the people who may have
thought practically aboutcertain things, where art was
not necessarily at the top ofthe list. And I think that now
people are starting to realizethat art is something that can
(20:06):
reduce crime in communities, cangive young people hope, they can
give them skills withapprenticeships, you know, art
most artists who are in thesecommunities are constantly
engaging with the younger peoplein their community.
Most people I know who havesmall nonprofit in Baltimore,
they have a consistent group ofyoung, young teenagers hanging
(20:28):
out there or doing things withthem. And so just imagine if
that investment was greater, inthese communities with these
artists who are working withthese, community members, from a
young age, to adulthood. How howmuch more, we would kinda
imagine the city, if theleadership, kinda shifted or at
(20:54):
least not necessarily shifted,but broke off a little piece,
that really pushed the creativecommunity, and acknowledged them
as part of the leadership of thecity. And I think that that's
what we're doing right now. Ithink that what we've really
considered is, like, we've triedso many things.
(21:15):
Now we're trying this, and we'retrying this in a in a major way.
And that's the reason why I cometo new to back to Baltimore
really much more often than Ieven did before, to kind of just
be a part of this growth that'shappening in the city. And I
think what's really important isthe fact that some people who
(21:36):
have left Baltimore has been whowho's been, you know, doing
things outside of the city andaround the world like myself,
are the best cheerleaders forthe city because we're shining
light back onto the city fromoutside of the city, which is
encouraging people to come tothe city, to not necessarily
live in Baltimore, but somepeople have moved to Baltimore
(21:58):
who I've invited to come, butalso to invest in the creative
community of Baltimore. Becausethat's what we need. We need the
creative community to be, tohave an income, to have,
sustainability.
Those things that other majorcities like a New York or like a
LA or Miami, all the people whovisit those places don't
(22:20):
necessarily live in thoseplaces, but they spend money in
those places. And that's whathelps to build the economic
structure of these places. Andthat's what I wanna do. I do not
necessarily encouraging everyoneto move to Baltimore to change
the cultural dynamic of thecity. I'm more interested in
getting people to come andinvest in Baltimore and the
(22:41):
creative community, and they canleave and go back home, but we
need the money.
And so for me, it's all aboutbringing the money into the city
to support what we wanna do.And, you know, like the way
people come to New Orleans,everyone's not living in New
Orleans. They go to New Orleansbecause it's fun, and they like
the creative community, and theyspend thousands of dollars in
New Orleans. That's what I wantfor Baltimore.
Rob Lee (23:04):
That's that's great. And I'm going to New Orleans
soon, so definitely my eyes,like, kinda lit up. And, just as
anecdotally, when I go downthere and I they ask why I'm
here and I always visit for mybirthday, but I wear the flag.
I'm from Baltimore. And they'relike, oh, you're from Bemore.
And they really kinda light upbecause They love
Derrick Adams (23:24):
it. You know?
Rob Lee (23:24):
They know. They know what's up. So I got a couple
more questions I wanna I wannaget to here because, you know,
you I'm let letting the two ofyou cook a bit. You know? Like
you said, the conversations thatyou're continuing, it's like,
alright.
Check that one off. That'scovered. Don't wanna ask that
again. But the the thecollaborative effort of just all
the parties involved, whether itbe the the the two of you,
(23:46):
whether it be Bloomberg, can youtalk a bit about sort of how
collaboration came together, andto to celebrate this this
project, to celebrate the thelocal art and to bring or local
artists and to bring attentionto, you know, Station North?
Tonya Miller-Hall (24:03):
So we we okay. Let me start over. So the
the grant is called the mayor'spublic art challenge, and so
they're really tapped mayors ofall cities to really lean into
this public arts challenge. Andso my office, the Office of Arts
and Culture, collaborated withCentral Baltimore Partnership
(24:26):
and Neighborhood Design Center,to really work on the grant,
application. So and then CentralBaltimore partnership oversees
Station North.
So, obviously, that madecomplete sense, as sort of the
the the the governing body thatoversees the Arts District. And
(24:48):
so that's how those threepartnerships came together. Then
we started. Naturally, I tappedDerek to see if he would be
interested in serving as curatorfor the project. At that point,
we had not he had notidentified, the five artists,
which will be, revealed onFriday at our, launch event at
(25:13):
the Parkway in Station North.
But he really was instrumentalin sort of tapping into the
creative artistic community toreally identify who should be a
part of who should be a part ofthis, project. And so each of
the the partners, CentralBaltimore Partnership and
Neighborhood Design Center hasdifferent you know, we just have
(25:36):
a different scope of work interms of collaboration, but most
of it's in the weeds kindathing. And Derek really is the
architect. And then also, Ishould mention that Jose Rivera,
who is a curated curating someof the community engagement,
components, has also been a key,partner in this in this,
(26:00):
collaboration.
Rob Lee (26:02):
So so since it's kinda kinda there, you kinda queued it
up a little bit, and we'recoming up on, on Friday. So I
wanna do, like, the sort of nospoilers version of this. So so,
Derek, if you will, could youtouch on the Quarturial, the
sort of maybe that process in,you know, picking the five
artists and, like, who, youknow, sort of what went into
(26:22):
that? Again, no spoilers,obviously, but what went into
that?
Derrick Adams (26:27):
Well, we're gonna have a big press event on,
Friday, the seventh at theParkway. And so that's gonna be
the big announcement of theartist. But for me, the artist
who, you know, creating thisproject, and although this
budget may seem very large innumbers, was a project that
(26:49):
really helped to support, thecreatives who are who are have
been, chosen to, create thisproject, but also it's also
supporting other cityorganizations. You know, because
we have to work with engineers,local engineers. We have to work
with, BG and E.
(27:09):
We have to work with architects.So it's a this this, award has
really helped us to support theecosystem ecosystem of the city.
And so not only is it a projectthat is supporting the creative
community, but is also, again,creating the working community
in Baltimore. And so with theartists that were chosen, they
(27:33):
were not necessarily artists whohave worked with electricity
before. You know, that was not acriteria necessarily.
It was definitely a plus forthose who have some experience,
but it was also I would look asa curator, I was looking more
about the the ability totransform this idea of light
(27:55):
into an object that could bepart of a conversation that will
extend to a social engagementexperience for people who
inhabit this area and people whowould want to come visit this
area. So the artists who werechosen were really thinking
about light in many different,iterations, not just about the
(28:17):
mechanical application of lightas it is plugged into the ground
and a switch is turned on. Theywere thinking metaphorically
about light, spiritually aboutlight, and things that although
the any product would be anobject that has a mechanism that
turns on, the mechanism was onlya vehicle to enhance some of the
(28:40):
conceptual framework for each ofthe artists who were chosen to
engage with the community in acertain way. So light is
embedded in the sculpturalframework of these artists. So
it's everything from things thatare on buildings, across
buildings, in front ofbuildings, on top of buildings,
things that people will be ableto see, engage with, take
(29:00):
pictures with, have programmingaround that invite the community
to come into.
So it's really more of art beingused as like a lighthouse in
some ways, as a beacon. Just,acknowledging that there is
someone out there and we aretrying to draw them in. And
we're trying to draw them into awelcoming space similar to a
(29:24):
lighthouse would do on a on afoggy night. So we're thinking
about light in a way that is notjust about brightening up the
neighborhood. We're thinkingabout how to do that.
Rob Lee (29:37):
That's great. It's, you know, I I I'm thinking of so
many things and not even doingthe pun thing in my head. Like,
I was gonna say, that'silluminating. But, you know, it
is really but it really is
Derrick Adams (29:48):
But it is. You know?
Rob Lee (29:49):
It's it's spotlighting so much, and there are you know,
I wanna talk a little bit inthis this last piece, if we
will, you know, about about thekickoff and sort of what folks
can look forward to, you know,on Friday, you know, February 7.
Like, you know, I see that it's,you know, some really robust
programming and just to degreein which you will, share just a
(30:13):
little bit about what folks canexpect and just coming on down
to, Station North to check outinviting lights kickoff.
Tonya Miller-Hall (30:20):
I think I mean, the announcement is gonna
be the centerpiece of the event,announcing the artists,
announcing their work,showcasing their work. There
will be, you know, a apresentation. We have invited
some elected officials toattend. There will be music.
(30:42):
There will be nosh.
There'll be drinks, but reallycreating a very, you know,
engaging opportunity. And thisis the first this will be the
opportunity for the community atlarge. We invited we did a broad
invitation. So the community atlarge has been invited. The
Station North community, Ishould say, have been invited to
(31:04):
see what will take place intheir neighborhood.
And while we often think of thisspace as a commercial corridor,
it is also a neighborhood oflocal residents. And so we wanna
make sure that they are engagedand that they are comfortable
with what we're installing. Andthen there's the arts community,
the artists, again, electedofficials, some really cool
(31:26):
music, hopefully, a shortpresentation. And then we'll
still get to folks will get tomeet and sorta and get you know,
talk with the artist, talk withDerek, myself, sort of a bit of,
you know, conversation.
Derrick Adams (31:43):
Exactly. For questions. So as well, you know,
there will be questions, and weare prepared for those, to
answer those questions, becausethere's a lot of, you know, just
interest and understanding whatthis, award means and how does
it affect the community, which Ithink a lot of community,
(32:05):
residents are interested toknow. Because again, this is an
award that seems and sounds verylarge, but there is a breakdown
of these resources to make thishappen. And this particular
award was only, is onlyallocated for this project.
Right. So it's not like thisaward could be used for
(32:27):
something else that is a need inthe city. This was a award that
was, specifically, created forpublic art. So although there
are other things in Baltimorethat could use some of this
money, we can't give it to thembecause it's not part of the
structure of agreement with thisproject. So there are gonna be
questions about, like, oh, it'sa million dollars and maybe we
(32:49):
could give it to this.
No, we can't. Even if he wantedto, we can. This award was
designed and allocated for thisparticular reason. And the
community aspect of it issomething that we, within this
group, have decided to take onas an added element of this
grant. You know, because thisgrant was just to build this
(33:11):
these sculptures, thesestructures.
Sure. But we have another addedcommunity engagement that Jose,
Ruiz, who is a professor atBrook at, MICA, but but also a
curator of social engagement,has been brought on with us to
really think about how to usethis opportunity to grow the
community and help them tounderstand the significance and
(33:33):
the importance of having art inthe community. And this is
something where we had to applyfor an additional grant to
facilitate this thing because alot of the artists who will a
lot of the people, not justartists, but people who are, you
know, in the in the foodindustry, the, you know, the the
dance industry, the creatives ingeneral will be will also be
added to our programming throughthis additional grant that we
(33:57):
could also spread some of thelove to other creatives and
other people in the city to be apart of this, Bloomberg inviting
light, Bloomberg Philanthropyinviting light project. So we
are working really hard toreally, imagine the benefits of
this, not only as a creativeproject, but as a social
(34:20):
project.
Tonya Miller-Hall (34:21):
And I think those that's a very important
point because often,particularly working with within
government, folks will oftenpoint to why are we spending
money on public art when we canfix the holes, you know, you
know, potholes or pick collecttrash. And those things are very
important as well. But I thinkthat Derek raises a great point
(34:44):
that this particular grant wasallocated specifically for
public art. And the value ofpublic art is the transformation
of space and community. And sosometimes people don't
understand the value of that,but it does help to drive
economic and social improvement.
Rob Lee (35:04):
It's really, really great points, and and it's,
thank you for that that addedtexture there because I think
you're right. You know, a lot offolks don't get it. They see the
number. The number is thesplashy thing and then sort of,
well, you could do this. Youever think about this building?
It's just like, no. This is forthis, and it can extend much
much wider than that and can bemuch more impactful than just
(35:26):
maybe fixing this thing or whathave you. So I think, yeah, it's
really, really important.
Tonya Miller-Hall (35:30):
And it and I often I'm sorry. Just one last
point. I often like to say thatartists are workers as well,
cultural workers, and they needto get paid. Like
Derrick Adams (35:41):
Yeah. Yeah.
Tonya Miller-Hall (35:42):
You know, this space where artists can do
something for the experience orbecause it's a cool thing. I
don't know where folks think,where folks have, gotten this
understanding that artists justlike to do things because
they're making art anyway. Theymight as well just do it for
free. And artists I'm like,there's a workforce. But, you
(36:05):
know, that is a work sheet thatneeds to get paid.
And so, we need to pay theartists with what they're worth
as as Derek said, and alsosupporting the other, businesses
that are baked into thisproject, caterers, you know,
production people, lightingpeople, graphic designers,
videographers. All of thosepeople are also a part of this,
(36:28):
you know, part of this sort ofworkforce.
Rob Lee (36:32):
Yes. It's a lot of it's a lot of moving parts that go
into it, and I think it's areally, really good point and
more attention around that now,especially, you know, in 2025,
obviously. And, you know,exposure is great, but also it
doesn't buy you eggs. It doesn'tbuy you eggs right now. You
know?
Eggs are really expensive. A lotof exposure for eggs.
Derrick Adams (36:52):
Yeah. But also you need to realize, like, these
opportunities are so few and,few in Baltimore for artists.
Some of these artists, this isthe biggest opportunity for them
at this particular time in thecity. So whatever the financial
structure for this project mightbe able to sustain them for a
(37:12):
particular amount of time inBaltimore before another
opportunity comes for them to,to be able to live off of or to
exist from. So even though theseprojects seem very large and
they are great and amazing, butI want a bunch of these projects
to happen in Baltimore, not justin this particular area.
I want different areas inBaltimore to benefit from this
(37:35):
and different artists inBaltimore to benefit from this.
And so, like, you know, there'sI'm hoping there'll be
opportunities for reallydevelopment developing and
creating more public art onPennsylvania Avenue in the
historical black district. Ihope there will be opportunity
to really think about, you know,Fells Point and other areas of
Baltimore at some point whereart could just be a draw, a
(37:58):
tourist draw for people to cometo Baltimore just to see the art
around town, similar to the waythat Philly Mural Program exists
and how that has driven thecertain support in the community
and tourism in Philly, throughtheir art programs. So I think
that we are no different in alot of ways than Philadelphia or
(38:20):
even New Orleans when it comesto understanding how important
the creative community is andhow impactful they are for, you
know, visitors and viewership.And I think that this will be
the beginning of many otheropportunities for us to, to get
funding, to receive funding, tobe able to, spread this around,
(38:43):
sometimes.
And I think that this is gonnaextend into, like, and I would
love to say, into our experiencewith Artscape this year. And I
think that, you know, Artscapeis something that is I'm very
excited about and excited to bea part of. And I know that the
momentum from this is just gonnaextend beyond to what we're
(39:03):
doing with Artscape, to whatwe're gonna be doing with our
Efren, what we're gonna be doingwith all these different
creative, engagements in thecity. And I think that the wind
has picked up, and I think it'sjust gonna take off, you know,
and I'm excited about it.
Rob Lee (39:18):
It's exciting stuff. Momentum, motion is gonna be a
big, 2025 and beyond. So, youknow, I'm gonna get ready to
close out here and, you know,just invite any sort of closing
remarks and, and then I'll wrapup. So for both of you, any
closing remarks here, and, wecan close out.
Tonya Miller-Hall (39:39):
I think we covered quite a bit. I don't
have any additional remarks tomake.
Rob Lee (39:44):
K. And, Dark, did you have anything she wanted to add?
Derrick Adams (39:48):
I'm just I'm just excited for the future of the
city. You know? Again, like Isaid, I, you know, I grew up in
Baltimore. You know? I stillhave a house there.
When I when I, bought a house inBaltimore, I stay there. When
I'm in town, I I use my propertyfor, you know, engagements
similar to this to kinda drawattention to the value of the
(40:08):
city. I'm really proud of, of ofmayor Scott right now with
everything that he's been doingto support not only, this
endeavor, but just the the theyouth culture in Baltimore. I'm
very impressed by, you know,when I open up my phone, I look
at Instagram, and I see himengage with the community in a
(40:29):
way that no other mayor hasreally done in the future of in
the past history of Baltimore.And I'm looking forward to, his
role expanding, throughout thecity and really, and I'm looking
forward to seeing, you know, hisinvolvement in this project and
other projects that we have inthe pipeline.
Rob Lee (40:49):
And there you have it, folks. I wanna again thank Tanya
r Miller Hall and Derrick Adamsfor coming on to the podcast to
share a bit of insight oninviting light. And for Tanya,
for Derrick, I'm Rob Lee sayingthat there's art, culture, and
community in and around yourneck of the woods, you've just
gotta look for it.
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