You wouldn’t know this just from looking at them, but the cement pillars under the Jones Falls Expressway downtown used to have murals painted on them. For this year’s Artscape, organizers commissioned 32 artists to bring life to the pillars again. 

While there was a suggested theme of “urban oasis,” artists had a significant amount of freedom to create designs within their own style, and to interpret the theme as they wished.  

The resulting murals showcase a wide range of artistic visions, including references to Maryland plants and animals as well as personal experiences. For example, duo Chelsea Henery and Sammi Seezox, who paint under the name Ham and Cheese, included a vivid rendition of the prickly pear cactus, the only species of cactus that is native to Maryland. 

Two muralists, Sammi Seezox and Chelsea Henery, are painting plants on one of the pillars under the Jones Falls Expressway ahead of Artscape.
Sammi Seezox and Chelsea Henery create art under the name Ham and Cheese Studio. The pair have been friends for years, painting together since at least 2019.  Their mural depicts a combination of urban architecture and plant life. Several of the elements in the mural are created to look like stained glass while others are more photorealistic.  Credit: Valerie Paulsgrove

A few artists created murals that depict their vision of an urban oasis, like the view of the city from a fire escape. Other artists explore the challenges of city living, such as having to limit your gardening to the available space within and around urban residences.  

Artist Afr0delic looks up at a pillar they are painting under the Jones Falls Expressway.
Lovi is the human behind the name Afr0delic, an artist and DJ who has been making art since childhood — as a kid, they used to get in trouble for drawing all over the walls. Lovi’s inspiration for their mural was the concept of “plant and human hybridity,” as they see nature and humanity to be equal. They want to “bring out the magic in the mundane.” Credit: Valerie Paulsgrove

Aspects of surrealist, abstract, illustrative and realistic styles can be found throughout the murals under the JFX, representing a wide spectrum of creative ability. Together these murals create an artistic oasis within an area of concrete and asphalt, inviting viewers to wander through what feels like a forest of artwork, offering a small visual respite from the surrounding environment. 

For some artists, having to translate a flat image onto a surface in which only part of the image is visible at a time was a challenge. Several murals explored different ways to draw the viewer around the entire piece, with specific elements trailing around the pillar and leading to other elements within the mural.  

Hope McCorkle paints a flower on a pillar under the Jones Falls Expressway.
Hope McCorkle is a multidisciplinary artist who believes in the benefits of healing as a resource for community.  Her mural is full of native Maryland plants and insects in addition to vegetables that can be grown here. Credit: Valerie Paulsgrove
Hiro Hubbard stands next to painting he made of a large mushroom on a pillar under the Jones Falls Expressway.
Hiro Hubbard has been painting murals for about 10 years, so he has plenty of experience working large. His mural is a blend of day and night, which spiral around the pole to become one continuous image.  Highly detailed and full of vibrant colors, the piece is filled with insects, fungi, and plants to create a natural oasis within the concrete space of the location. Credit: Valerie Paulsgrove
Andy Dahl stands to the right of a pillar he painted a large silver hake fish on as a tribute to Baltimore's lake trout dish.
Andy Dahl is a painter, sculptor, and videographer. Artscape will be located  in the same location as the farmer’s market. This location inspired in Dahl memories of vendors calling out “lake trout,” Baltimore’s iconic fried fish, at the market. After looking into it, he learned that lake trout is actually made from a fish called the Atlantic hake or silver hake, which is the fish seen throughout his mural. Credit: Valerie Paulsgrove
An in-progress mural featuring bright, geometric patterns and a stylized blue heron bird.
Camila Leão grew up in Sāo Paulo Brazil, and moved to Baltimore several years ago.  She paints in a style heavily influenced by Brazilian art, made of geometric patterns with vibrant reds, blues and greens. She chose a variety of native Maryland plants and animals, such as the blue heron for her mural. Credit: Valerie Paulsgrove
Rowan Bathurst on a lift painting on a pillar under the Jones Falls Expressway.
Rowan Bathurst is a muralist and oil painter who focuses on historical artifacts as well as women’s history.  She incorporates aspects of surrealism in her work.  A friend of hers is the model for the main female figure in the painting, and on the other side of the pillar she has painted a vase that references a style made only in Maryland during the 1700s. Credit: Valerie Paulsgrove
Shawn James pouring paint into a tub while his assistant Ariel Brown is behind him mixing paints.
Shawn James has been painting murals throughout the city for many years, and is a former director of the Baltimore Mural Program. Working with Shawn was his painting assistant Ariel Brown, who was mixing paints and getting all of the equipment set up and ready. Credit: Valerie Paulsgrove
Two spray paint cans in focus on top of a piece of cardboard on a step ladder, with fifteen spray paint cans on the ground below out of focus.
Credit: Valerie Paulsgrove

Interactions between elements of nature and man-made environments are evident in all of the murals. Painter Jenn Wait mentioned that she was inspired by how nature can eventually overcome urban spaces. Her mural includes plants physically breaking through man-made objects. 

The juxtaposition of organic shapes within the geometric, hard lines and edges of the parking lot and surrounding structures adds a break of color in the visual monotony and uniformity of downtown’s architecture. 

Muralists faced a variety of challenges while creating their artworks. They spent hours painting under the highway while cars rumbled constantly overhead.

Artist Jordan Lawson stands in front of his mural featuring plants and a geometric representation of an Oriole bird.
Jordan Lawson, who goes by JLaw, created a mural using vibrant colors that depicted his idea of an urban oasis — watching the city from a rowhome balcony. A fan of the Baltimore Orioles, Jordan included a very detailed Oriole bird that takes up a significant amount of the mural, surrounded by tree branches covered in green leaves and brick buildings. Having his larger-than-life mural on a public space felt like he was “putting a stamp on the world.” Credit: Valerie Paulsgrove
Artist Jada McAliley paints a large portrait of a Black woman on a pillar under the Jones Falls Expressway.
 Jada McAliley is a MICA student who has already received multiple awards and won several arts competitions. She has been primarily working with people as her subject, and has a very dramatic aesthetic to her portraits. She was painting a mural designed by Megan Lewis, who has an additional mural on a nearby pillar. Credit: Valerie Paulsgrove
Bridget Cimino leans against a pillar she painted with carnivorous plants that are native to Maryland.
Bridget Cimino has painted over 40 murals throughout Baltimore. In her spare time, she grows a variety of carnivorous plants and the urban oasis theme gave her the chance to meld her two interests. Cimino specifically chose the two carnivorous plants that are native to Maryland, namely the sundew and the pitcher plant. Credit: Valerie Paulsgrove
A restored mural on a pillar, originally painted by artist Pontella Mason, of jazz artist Betty Carter.
Pontella Mason, who passed away in 2013, was one of the original artists to paint a mural on a pillar under the JFX. This mural is the only one that was restored to its original version. Mason, who often depicted prominent figures and everyday scenes throughout Black History, painted jazz artists Betty Carter and Charlie Parker. Credit: Valerie Paulsgrove
A paper with a mural plan on the ground with paints cans nearby and a used paint brush.
Danamarie Hosler, whose mural plan is pictured here, is a children’s book illustrator. She painted a mural on one of the pillars the first time around, and was given two pillars to paint this time. Her murals have two very different styles. One pillar is covered in a grid of bright shapes that was influenced by quilting, a community-driven art that often extends beyond one generation. The other pillar is covered in overlapping silhouettes of native Maryland plants. Credit: Valerie Paulsgrove
Saba Hamidi looking at a pillar in front of her as she paints it.
 Saba Hamidi has been a full time muralist for five years, and has been painting for longer. Her style is very fluid and whimsical, including bright colors and patterns. She often includes eyes in her pieces, so that the viewer feels the art is looking back at them. Credit: Valerie Paulsgrove
Paige Orpin painting her mural on a pillar under the Jones Falls Expressway.
Paige Orpin’s designs are usually comprised of abstract organic shapes and bright colors and have been described as dreamlike and otherworldly. To fit in with the urban oasis theme, she has added white curved lines with the outlines of leaves to represent vines. Credit: Valerie Paulsgrove
Various used paint brushes in cups and paint cans.
Credit: Valerie Paulsgrove
A flower painted on a pillar under the Jones Falls Expressway with several other murals visible in the background.
Credit: Valerie Paulsgrove
Several different murals, most featuring flowers and plants, on the pillars under the Jones Falls Expressway.
Credit: Valerie Paulsgrove
Several different colorful murals on the pillars under the Jones Falls Expressway.
Credit: Valerie Paulsgrove
Several different colorful murals on the pillars under the Jones Falls Expressway.
Credit: Valerie Paulsgrove