Historic East Towson is one of the most historic places in central Baltimore County founded by freed-slaves from a nearby plantation in the 1850s, it is a vibrant African American neighborhood that is being impacted by noise and air pollution, and other environmental issues due to housing and real estate projects that have been developed over some decades. Developers announced plans for a residential project, Red Maples Place, on the northwestern edge of this neighborhood near Harris Hill. The project was supported by affordable housing advocates and opposed by residents who were concerned about traffic and the depletion of open space. 
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    I designed this graphic as a logo for NITIA last year. This year, Nancy Goldring, the President of the Northeast Towson Improvement Association, commissioned me to paint one of the flower boxes from the Boxes & Bloom series. Boxes & Blooms is a community project organized by Towson Creative Partnership. Goldring wanted to include a Sankofa bird to represent a message of returning and retrieving the land that is theirs. 

 

    Thank you to David Riley, Nancy Goldring, Deirdre Aikin, and everyone with the TCP.
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    Nancy Goldring and the Northeast Towson Improvement Association are hosting a Historic East Towson's Juneteenth Music Festival at Elk's Lodge on Pennsylvania Ave, in Towson, MD, on June 19th. Please click the link (to the right) to purchase tickets. All proceeds will go to the Northeast Towson Improvement Association for the Historic East Towson community and its residents.

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Please visit Future History Now to donate and learn about other youth projects.

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Design: The Artist Oliver James

Photography/Videography: Oliver James