The Public Art Chronicles

The Public Art Chronicles

A Subway Mosaic that Moves Viewers, and Two Public Art Tragedies from a Baltimore Treasure

This month, Kathy O'Dell takes readers on a ride through, above, below, and behind Pat Alexander's beloved "Geometro" mosaic in the Lexington Market Metro station. Plus, the sad stories of two Alexander works that Baltimoreans can no longer enjoy.

On Touching COR-TEN, One Percent for the Arts, and the Effort to Label and Preserve its Legacy

Here, before us at the school, are stripped-down, geometricized versions of four individual caterpillars, poised at different moments in their movements—stretching upward toward the sky, looking ahead, or reaching toward the ground, as if scouting for fallen leaves on the brick foundation...

Two Community Organizers Were Immortalized in a Mural that Ended up on the Front Page of the New York Times as an Illustration for Baltimore's Clap-Back to Donald Trump

It takes a minute to wrench myself out of the cosmic nerve center of this 40-foot wide, 20-foot-tall mural, which Santos created in 2011, and move on to clues and cues that will help piece together the narratives that figurative murals promise to offer up... So, who are these women?

The Saga of José Martí and the Anti-Communist Plastic Surgeon who Brought Him to Baltimore, along with Spanish-Language Facebook Drama and International Dirt

In her new column, Maryland Public Art Commission Chair Kathy O'Dell deep-dives into the little-known histories behind Baltimore's oft-overlooked public art treasures. First up is Cuban sculptor Teodoro Ramos Blanco's bust of rebel and intellectual José Martí.