New Eager Park Mural (2021)

As its first project, the Workgroup chose the highly visible north face of the former Elmer A. Henderson School, which faces the Amtrak line carrying millions of passengers annually. Working with the Baltimore Office of Promotions and the Arts, a Call for Artists was issued in October 2020 and received 19 responses. The Workgroup selected a local African-American artist, LaToya Peoples, to complete the project. The process for community engagement and design included several public virtual visioning sessions and Workgroup meetings from January 2021 through April 2021. Installation of the mural began in May 2021 and concluded in August 2021.

The mural gives reverent nods to the past while uplifting the present and providing a glimpse of the future. It conveys typical historic East Baltimore rowhome features, including bright marble stairs, a transom window, and the distinctive brick façade, with subtle themes throughout that uniquely connect back to East Baltimore.

Additionally, portraits of the following past, present, and future leaders appear in the mural:

• Darrian Alexander, a rising 9th grader and recent graduate of Henderson-Hopkins;
• Randolph Scott, a lifelong Middle East/Eager Park resident and retired Army veteran;
• SirKaeden Carr, a rising 1st grader at Henderson-Hopkins;
• Delegate Hattie Harrison, a lifelong resident and champion of East Baltimore who represented the 45th District as a State Delegate in the Maryland General Assembly from 1973 until she passed away in 2013 as the longest-serving member of the Maryland House of Delegates and the first African American woman to chair a major committee;
• Latisha Jackson, a Henderson-Hopkins teacher, and her son, Daryll Thames, a rising 4th grader at Henderson-Hopkins; and
• Sol Aloe, a rising 4th grader at Henderson-Hopkins

"In All Ways Human" Photovoice Project (2021)

Unveiled on the North Wolfe Street side of the former Elmer A. Henderson Elementary School, "In All Ways Human" is a photovoice and community engaged portrait project committed to spreading the simple and profound truth about Black boys, men, and families: We are always and in all ways, human.

Whether a toddler or a teenager, young adult or young at heart, Black boys, men, and the families that nurture them are deserving of dignity, safety, care, and opportunity. Opportunities to dream, to thrive, to make mistakes, to grow, to live, to heal, to experience joy, to love and be loved, to exist free of racial fear, and to be seen, respected and fully afforded the rights of a human being.

"In All Ways Human" is presented by the Centering Black Voices Research Lab at UNC Greensboro, Historic East Baltimore Community Action Coalition (HEBCAC),Youth Opportunity Center (YO!) and visual artist and educator Zun Lee, MD, MBA.