Why I support the Baltimore Greenway Trails Network

33rd street median

33rd street median

The Baltimore Greenway Trail Network is an exciting vision for connecting our amazing urban trails and park system into a 35-mile loop around the city. I support this vision and have been working with Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and Bikemore to communicate the many exciting traffic calming and public health benefits of the proposal. With their support, last fall I was able to collaborate with neighbors on creating a demonstration public art crosswalk at Gwynns Falls Parkway and Auchentoroly Terrace that called attention to the need for such safety and connectivity improvements.

Rails-to-Trails and the city have begun a long process of engagement to design the Baltimore Greenway Trails Network. Last night I attended the Baltimore Greenway Trails Coalition public meeting regarding their proposal for a multi use path down the middle of 33rd Street. Below are the concerns I heard, plus some facts.

  • Concern: No one tried to inform neighbors about the Greenway Trail Network plan. Fact: Rails-to-Trails has been reaching out to community associations for at least year now. I first heard about the plan in February 2016. Several meetings have been held for both 33rd Street and Gwynns Falls Parkway communities, including last night’s gathering. This is the beginning of the planning process, not the end. Nothing is approved or fully designed. Lets keep on participating!
  • Concern: A median trail will destroy the historic Olmsted plan for boulevards connecting Baltimore’s parks. Fact: over 100 years ago, the Olmsteds’ designed numerous multi-use, tree-lined paths for cities across the country. The Baltimore plan for boulevards connecting parks was never fully realized and quickly compromised by increased car traffic choking off the median green spaces from people who would like to use them. A median trail will in fact help properly realize the Olmsteds’ historic vision for Baltimore.
  • Concern: A median trail will kill trees. Fact: there are numerous examples of historic and modern trails that do not kill trees. The city’s arborist must approve any such design, and the proposal is for a pervious trail surface that will allow the trees to continue to thrive.
  • Concern: The trail will take away green space used by kids for playing. Fact: I lived on 33rd Street for five years with a bedroom overlooking the median. I never saw kids playing because the median is locked off from pedestrians by curbs and dangerous traffic. A median trail will make the space safe and accessible for kids learning to ride bikes, people traveling in wheelchairs, walkers, runners, and cyclists.
  • Concern: The trail will cause an increase in car traffic. Fact: the trail’s many bumpouts and crosswalks will help slow the dangerous traffic on 33rd while giving people more options for commuting without needing a car, thereby reducing traffic.

From 2008-2013 I lived on 33rd Street and wished we could add a path down the middle and calm traffic. In 2013 I moved to Auchentoroly Terrace and now hold similar pedestrian safety and connectivity hopes for our community. Many of my neighbors and I are excited to help support the median trail proposal for the Olmsted-designed Gwynns Falls Parkway. A multi use, center-running trail will help calm traffic and enable our many differently abled neighbors to connect with Druid Hill and Leakin Parks. I’m excited to share this vision with my friends and former neighbors along 33rd Street

— Graham (a guy who likes to hang out on median strips)

Read about the trail network from Rails-to-Trails Conservancy: https://www.railstotrails.org/our…/trail-projects/baltimore/

More facts from BikeMore: https://www.bikemore.net/news/fact-check-the-greenways-trail-network-plan-is-awesome-support-it

Spring 2017 New Public Sites Walking Tours

New Public Sites Spring 2017 tours

New Public Sites Spring 2017 tours

Get ready for an exciting spring of New Public Sites radical walking tours in Baltimore City and Arlington, Virginia. Mark your calendars to get lost on foot:

Inner Harbor Baltimore Drift banner

New Public Sites & Baltimore Heritage

I am jazzed to be offering my two most popular Baltimore tours in partnership with Baltimore Heritage. Half of all proceeds from my next Inner Harbor Baltimore Drift and Crossing the Highway to Nowhere tours will go to supporting Baltimore Heritage’s important work preserving our city’s divers built history.

Saturday, March 18, 2-4pm – Inner Harbor w/ Baltimore Heritage
$15 tickets. Click here for more info and to register.

Saturday, April 1, 2-4pm – Crossing the Highway to Nowhere w/ Baltimore Heritage
$15 tickets. Click here for more info and to register.

New Public Sites Bromo Spectacular

Bromo Spectacular! & Front

If you walk halfway from the Inner Harbor to the Highway to Nowhere, you will find yourself in the Bromo District, a vibrant and ever changing arts neighborhood and employment center. As part of the Front exhibit curated by Betty Gonzales, I am leading Bromo Spectacular!, two different tours exploring invisible public spaces and artist-led development projects along Howard Street and surrounding blocks. Both Bromo Spectacular! Tours are free. Click here for details.

Saturday, April 22, 4-6pm – Bromo Spectacular – Tunneling Revival
Meet at the Metro Station entrance at 301 N Eutaw St, Baltimore, MD 21201
Followed by Front opening reception 6-9pm at Le Mondo

Saturday, April 29, 2-4pm – Bromo Spectacular – Voids & Vistas
Meet in front of Current Space, 421 N Howard St, Baltimore, MD 21201

New Public Sites Arlington County Wandering

Arlington County Wandering

Now let’s say you got lost and end up walking fifty miles southwest. You would not only beat the DC gridlock, but also end up in Arlington, Virginia. Arlington is an impressively old yet historically suburban county now coursing with high-density, transit-oriented infill development. This is the wave of the future yall, so start looking forward to exploring and reimagining the urban and suburban spaces of Lee Highway, Courthouse, and Columbia Pike! Offered by Arlington Arts in partnership with Walk Arlington. Tours are free. Click here for details. Registration links below.

Sunday, April 30, 11am-12:30pm – Lee Highway
Meet at Langston Brown Community Center, 2121 N Culpeper St., Arlington, VA 22207

Sunday, May 7, 11am-12:30pm – Courthouse
Meet at the Courthouse House Surface Parking Lot, 2100 Clarendon Blvd., Arlington, VA 22201

Sunday, May 21, 11am-12:30pm – Columbia Pike
Meet at the Columbia Pike Farmers Market, 2820 Columbia Pike, Arlington, VA 22204

2016: Making Place Happen with People

NPS Five Points Denver - Graham speaking

NPS Five Points Denver - Graham speaking

Since going full-time for Graham Projects I’ve had the honor of investigating, activating, and improving numerous public places in Baltimore and beyond. 2016 was a great year for making place happen with inspiring people. I am thankful.

  • At the invitation of the Waterfront Partnership, Melvin Thomas and I made a 103’ long Harbor Hopscotch.
  • My New Public Sites – Five Points Denver walking tours and immersive map installation went gangbusters at RedLine’s 48 Hours of Socially Engaged Art Summit. Along the way, I was honored to share the megaphone and learn from half a dozen local speakers.
  • With support from BikeMore and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, my home street Auchentoroly Terrace got a temporary Footprints Crosswalk to help pedestrians better connect with the Druid Hill Park Farmers Market.
  • Working with an inspiring network of cultural organizers across Baltimore, I helped lead Citizen Artist Baltimore get-out-the-vote vote efforts. Bigly surprises aside, we informed local candidates of the values of our city’s diverse arts and cultural communities and educated voters on the importance of local races and ballot initiatives.
  • I was honored to be invited by Baltimore Heritage to join their board of historic and cultural preservation advocates. I’m excited to be working with them on saving Baltimore’s most meaningful places.
  • I had a fun time making water loop while redesigning Dance & Bmore’s website. May I do the same for you?
  • The Public Art for Central Avenue Streetscape project continues. Falon Mihalic and I are busy closing in on our final design for a 25’ tall, pedestrian-empowering Periscope. Stay tuned for the full announcement and renderings…

Wandering the Pike

NPS Wandering the Pike

NPS Wandering the Pike

Wandering the Pike

September 11 & 18, 2016
11am-12:30pm

Columbia Pike Farmers Market
2820 Columbia Pike, Arlington, VA 22204

Join public artist Graham Coreil-Allen to explore and reimagine the urban and suburban spaces of Columbia Pike in Arlington, Virginia on this alternative walking tour beginning at the Columbia Pike Farmers Market. All are invited to participate as we take turns sharing our insights into the history, design and uses of everyday public spaces. The former rural toll road served as an early economic lifeline connecting Washington DC to Virginia. Columbia Pike quickly grew into a booming stretch of motorist amenities at the expense of pedestrian safety and accessibility. Wander the Pike to experience firsthand how residents and leaders are helping to transform the suburban drag into an walkable main street for all. Click here for more details on the tours.

Free and open to the public. RSVP to Paul Shortt at: pshortt@arlingtonva.us.

Wandering the Pike is presented by Arlington Arts of Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of the Arlington County Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources, uses the power of the arts to transform lives and build community, and provides programs and services to create an environment that encourages excellence in the Arlington arts community.

48 Hours of Five Points Engagement

NPS Five Points Denver - Graham speaking

NPS Five Points Denver - Graham speaking

Taking place within and around RedLine‘s 48 Hours of Socially Engaged Art and Conversation, the New Public Sites – Five Points Denver walking tours and immersive gallery map installation provided a range of opportunities for learning about and activating the power of public space within a truly beautiful, challenging and inspirational neighborhood. New Public Sites is indebted to RedLine, participants, and all of the guest speakers who through their time, space and energies made our roving spaces of radical pedestrian action possible.

Click here to see photos of the tours and gallery installation!

The project was informed by a range of interviewees and guest speakers. Interviewees included Tyrone Beverly, Beverly Grant, Lyz Riley, PJ DAmico, George Perez, Hadiya Evans, Julie Rubsam, Nikki Pike, and Celia Herrera. Guest speakers who generously donated time and energy sharing their Five Points experiences and projects included Centro Humanitario organizers Nancy Rosas and Judith Marquez, Blair-Caldwell Librarian Terry Nelson, long-term resident and RTD Title-VI Specialist Shontel Lewis, Five Points Fermentation owner Asia Dorsey, and The Temple Director Adam Gordon. I would also like to thank the entire RedLine staff for their hard work making these space of collective participation possible; including Louise Martorano, Libby Barbee, Whit Sibley, Geoffrey Shamos, Robin Gallite, and Misha Fraser.

– Graham

NPS Five Points Denver

NPS Five Points Denver

NPS Five Points Denver

New Public Sites – Five Points Denver

Walking tours and map installation

Welton Wander: Wednesday, August 10, 11am-12:30pm

RiNo Drift: Thursday, August 11, 6-7:30pm

Meet at RedLine contemporary art center, 2350 Arapahoe St, Denver, CO 80205

Denver’s Five Points neighborhood is a hotbed of creativity and construction taking place among powerful sites of heritage. Learn how regular people have helped shape the history, design and current uses of public spaces around Five Points during two New Public Sites walking tours led by public artist Graham Coreil-Allen.

The New Public Sites (NPS) tours are free and open to the public as part of RedLine’s 48 Hours of Socially Engaged Art and Conversation summit. The first tour will take place on Wednesday, August 10 from 11am-12:30pm, and focus on sites of heritage and change around Welton Street. Stops will include Lawson Park, Cousins Plaza, speculative/construction sites, and the Five Points intersection itself. The second tour will take place on Thursday, August 11 from 6-7:30pm, and will investigate the positive and negative impacts of urban planning and development around the RiNo arts district. Sites will include Broadway’s triangular spaces, Sustainability Park, and The Temple.

During the tours, Coreil-Allen will recite poetic terms and definitions identifying specific types of public sites and experiences unique to Five Points. Along the way, he will also invite neighborhood experts, such as residents, workers and other stakeholders, to help identify, interpret, and activate their own public spaces. The tours will culminate with participants contributing found objects, wax rubbings and poetic writings to an immersive map installation at RedLine.

RedLine is a non-profit contemporary art center in Denver, Colorado. RedLine’s vision is to empower every person to create social change through art. Each year RedLine hosts “48 Hours of Socially Engaged Art & Conversation,” a creative summit addressing socially engaged art through talks, films, performances and participatory art. For more information about RedLine, please visit www.redlineart.org.

Click here to download the full press release.

Five Points Denver

Harbor Hopscotch

Harbor Hopscotch southeast

Harbor Hopscotch southeast

Harbor Hopscotch

All are invited to jump the Harbor Hopscotch from now through the end of summer!  Harbor Hopscotch is a 103’ long, colorful hopscotch court playfully activating a ramp entrance to West Shore Park at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. The temporary installation of teal, electric blue, and fuchsia colored spray chalk was commissioned by the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore to bring more people into the south end of this prominent public space. Pedestrians strolling on the Inner Harbor Promenade are met with a large project ground graphic inviting them to hop up the ramp leading into West Shore Park. The graphic also encourages participants to share pictures of each other jumping using the hashtag #HarborHopscotch and @waterfrontpartnership.

Click here for more pictures of this epic court of pedestrian hopscotch play!

Inner Harbor Baltimore Drift

Inner Harbor Baltimore Drift

Inner Harbor Baltimore Drift

After years of research, dozens of interviews, and months of planning, I’m excited to announce my latest New Public Sites walking tour: Inner Harbor Baltimore Drift. The general public is invited to explore invisible public spaces hidden in plain sight on this alternative walking tour of Baltimore’s most recognizable public space.

Baltimore’s Inner Harbor is a celebrated success of waterfront redevelopment, but its spectacular looks disguise a contested past and challenging present. During the Inner Harbor Baltimore Drift tour, we uncover the real stories of how powerful people, visionary plans, and community movements are still transforming the former industrial wharf into a premiere public space for all. Through poetic interpretation and participatory activities, I show how secret loading docks, coded brick patterns, environmental engineering, and forgotten monuments all reveal Baltimore’s hidden truths.

More info at newpublicsites.org. Tickets for the walking tour are $15 each. Click here to purchase tickets!

Public Art for Central Avenue!

FGLA Central Ave Announcement-1920px

FGLA Central Ave Announcement-1920px

Great news! Falon Mihalic and I won the permanent public art commission for the Baltimore Central Ave Streetscape project. We are excited to meet with the project team and neighborhood stakeholders in Baltimore starting next week. Read our full announcement below!

Public Artists Graham Coreil-Allen and Falon Mihalic won the Baltimore Central Avenue Streetscape Percent for Art commission to create a permanent work of public art on Central Avenue.

Baltimore City’s Central Avenue Streetscape project encompasses major improvements running from Baltimore to Lancaster Streets. Falon-Graham-Land-Art (FGLA) will work with the Department of Transportation, Floura Teeter Landscape Architects, and the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts to incorporate a public art project into the Central Avenue corridor.

To the Central Avenue Streetscape project, FGLA brings creative vision and public space experience, an ability to listen to and work with constituents, and local sensitivity to history, the environment and public space potential. Falon designs landscapes and public artwork rooted in local ecology and culture. Graham Coreil-Allen works on numerous socially-engaged projects that activate public spaces. Together, Mihalic and Coreil-Allen will develop a project that will be inclusive of local communities and their deep historical heritages, contribute to ecological awareness, and foster a strong visual and spatial experience for Central Avenue participants.

Previously, FGLA were national finalists in the Baltimore Red Line Art-in-Transit Public Art competition to integrate public art into the Poppleton Station transit plaza. Combining our local insight with international experience, FGLA is committed to improving Baltimore through public art placemaking, built environment know-how, green-practice expertise, and playful pedestrian design.

Follow our public art process on instagram and twitter: @falonland @grahamprojects #publicart4centralave #FGLA

Graham Coreil-Allen, Graham Projects, grahamprojects.com
Falon Mihalic, Falon Land Studio, falonland.com