Healthy Harbor makes Baltimore alleys places of safety, beauty and social change

In old industrial cities like Baltimore, alleys have a well-earned reputation as magnets for trash and crime. The Healthy Harbor Alley Makeover Project takes a new approach using art, conversation and brainstorming as way to bring people together to come up with solutions, both big and small, to redefine what a space can be. The approach is called “placemaking” and it’s taking the neighborhood by storm. Four alleys have already seen improvements since the beginning of this project last year. Residents in the Patterson Park neighborhood have decided that alleys can be places for beauty, greenery and community building.

On Saturday, June 18, 2016, one block in the Patterson Park neighborhood takes Alley Makeovers to the next level adding gates and a greening element. Also, the biggest street mural yet -- a 4800-square-foot water-themed mural that will be painted on the ground. In addition, to increase the beauty, health and environmental sustainability of the alley, large pots filled with blooming native plants, attracting butterflies and birds, will be fixed around the alley.

“We have a special neighborhood and a very special block,” says Robbyn Lewis, community leader and past vice president of the Patterson Park Neighborhood Association. “We’ve planted a lot of trees! And done hundreds of clean ups over the years, but the alley remains a persistent source of trouble.”

“When residents take the lead and are able to leverage the many wonderful environmental and arts based organizations in Baltimore who share similar visions, a project like this blossoms,” says the Healthy Harbor initiative’s Community Coordinator Leanna Wetmore. “Local artists and residents will work together to create a flowing river through the alley that culminates into a beach scene. Patterson Park sits on the edge of the Harris Creek Watershed, a historic piped stream that runs from Clifton Park to the outfall in Canton. Most people don’t know they live on top of a stream and that their behavior can have a direct impact on the water quality of the Harbor.”

“Alleys are the last frontier for environmental and social change in Baltimore. We can remake our city, renew social bonds and heal our wounds by creating healthier, happier public spaces that welcome people of every color, race and creed, said Lewis.

The Alley Arts & Greens project is made possible with generous support from the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts and MECU, as well as Waterfront Partnership’s Healthy Harbor Initiative, Parks & People Foundation, Devon Creek Foundation and individual residents’ donations.