In the spring of 2022, Baltimore artist and participatory-history specialist Lauren Muney hand-created custom silhouettes(profile portraits)of Baltimore City, Maryland, residents for long-term public installation at the Peale. These faces will encircle several rooms of the historic Peale walls, giving visitors, residents and guests the opportunity to feel the Baltimore ‘family’ all around them. The exhibition will be installed in August 2022. Some sitters also contributed stories about their lives and experiences in Baltimore.
Beth (00:00): It was in the mid-fifties when my mom came into my bedroom and said, "We're going to go to Baltimore to visit Aunt Dorothy and see her new baby." Living in Cumberland, Maryland and only knowing the mountains and loving to ride trains, this was a real adventure so off we went, probably on the Capitol Limited but I'm not sure which train. We come into Camden Station and my Uncle Jack picks us up in his black Cadillac convertible. Wow. We come along the Baltimore Waterfront and for the first time I see skyscrapers, I see water, I see row houses. I see the most magical place in the whole world. I was nine-years-old at the time and it was quite a thrill.
Beth (01:07): We get to where my auntie was living at the time, which was the Canton Highlandtown area, and I spend the day with my new found cousins. We went to see Tom Sawyer at the Grand Theater on Conkling Street. We went to Sacred Heart Church and lit some candles. We went on the avenue in Highlandtown and shopped. We hung around her grandmother's house on Dean Street, we had a steady stream of relatives coming in and out. It was just wonderful. It made such an impression on me that I just held that in my heart for years and years.
Beth (01:57): My dad worked for the B&O Railroad so he got transferred to exciting places like Kaiser, West, Virginia, Dubois, Pennsylvania, McKeesport, all these exciting mining towns. One day he came home and, because the B&O and C&O had merged, said we're going to Baltimore. Well, I ran upstairs and jumped on my bed. I was so excited. I was 13 at the time and the thought of moving to Baltimore was more than I could comprehend. I was overwhelmed with joy. We did move to Baltimore and we settled in Parkville where I lived to graduate high school, get married, raise my kids, and had a nice little life. I would take the 19 and then down over to Eirman Avenue, the bus, to get to Highlandtown.
Beth (02:54): I worked at the St. James Branch of First National Bank for a while and I was always drawn to that area. After 20 years of marriage, unfortunately, I got divorced and I was in a position to pick a place to live on my own and, sure enough, I was drawn back, I had to come back to the Canton Highlandtown area and that's where I've been living ever since. I'm in my mid-seventies now living on the water, which is the highlight, and always remember that very special day, the very special day that I got to meet and love Baltimore.
Asset ID: 2022.11.01
Silhouette of Beth by Lauren Muney, Silhouettes by Hand. All rights reserved.
