Behind the Build: Event Recap and Lessons Learned

In February, the Neighborhood Design Center hosted a half-day professional development symposium unpacking the collaborative work behind Baltimore’s ambitious Inviting Light initiative.

Beyond the Build welcomed artists, designers, planners, engineers, and community leaders to the MICA Fred Lazarus IV Center. Produced by Central Baltimore Partnership in partnership with the Neighborhood Design Center and Baltimore City’s Mayor’s Office of Arts, Culture and Entertainment, Inviting Light transformed the Station North Arts District with five large-scale, light-based artworks supported by a $1M Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge award.

With four installations complete, the event offered a rare opportunity to go behind the scenes with the artists, curators, designers, engineers, and civic leaders who helped bring the project to life to explore what lessons the design and planning community can carry forward.

The afternoon featured presentations, artist conversations, breakout sessions, and a twilight walk through several of the installations.

Below are a few of the key insights that emerged.

Public Art Is Built on Relationships

One theme surfaced repeatedly throughout the day: large-scale public art projects are fundamentally collaborative.

Artists spoke about the critical role of trusted relationships with fabricators, engineers, architects, curators, and project managers in turning complex ideas into reality. Many of the Inviting Light projects were made possible by artists’ existing working relationships with key collaborators.

Those relationships allowed teams to navigate compressed timelines, technical hurdles, and permitting requirements while maintaining the integrity of each artist’s vision.

For designers and planners working in the public realm, it is clear that investing in relationships early can make ambitious projects possible later.

Technical Direction Enables Creativity

Public art of this scale sits at the intersection of artistic vision, engineering, architecture, fabrication, and municipal code. One takeaway from the technical breakout sessions was the importance of a technical director or technical lead who can translate between artists, fabricators, engineers, and permitting agencies.

Without that role, projects can stall or become compromised. With it, teams can resolve technical challenges while preserving the original artistic intent.

Speakers emphasized several practical strategies for future projects:

Rather than constraining creativity, these tools ultimately help pave the way for larger-scale projects.

Light Is More Than Illumination

Because Inviting Light centers on light-based installations, artists reflected on what it means to work with light as both a material and an experience.

Several artists described light as inherently political: what cities choose to illuminate – or leave in darkness – signals what and who is valued in public space.

Projects explored this idea in different ways. Some works transformed familiar urban lighting into playful or welcoming forms. Others reimagined lighting associated with surveillance or control, reframing it as a symbol of care, presence, or gathering.

Across projects, light became a tool not just for visibility, but for storytelling, atmosphere, and identity.

Community Engagement Is an Ongoing Process

Another important theme was the role of community engagement and storytelling in sustaining public art initiatives.

Project teams shared that engagement strategies often involved meeting residents where they were already participating in neighborhood events, partnering with local organizations, and building momentum through ongoing communication.

Marketing and storytelling were essential to maintaining excitement and ensuring that community members understood how the projects connected to broader neighborhood goals.

Engagement helped ground the work in the lived experiences of the community, ensuring that the installations resonated with the people who encounter them every day.

Artists Need Strong Institutional Support

Artists also shared their perspective on the importance of strong support systems to a public art collaboration’s success.

Strong support systems often include:

Public art projects require significant coordination and labor. Recognizing and supporting both the creative and administrative work helps ensure that projects succeed.

Building “Lovable Places”

Speakers from government and philanthropic organizations reflected on how public art contributes to broader place-based development goals.

Beyond aesthetics, thoughtful design interventions – including lighting, streetscape improvements, and cultural programming – can help create what some speakers described as “lovable places.”

These are spaces where people feel welcome, curious, and connected, and encourage communities to gather, linger, and invest in their neighborhoods.

Public art can play a powerful role in that process, especially when it is integrated with community development, cultural planning, and infrastructure investments.

Looking Ahead

Throughout the symposium, participants returned to a central idea: public art is not just an object –it’s a process.

It requires collaboration across disciplines, patience with complexity, and a willingness to experiment. When those conditions come together, public art can reshape how people experience their neighborhoods and public spaces.

As Baltimore continues to invest in creative placemaking, projects like Inviting Light offer a valuable model for how artists, institutions, and communities can work together to imagine new possibilities for the city’s public realm.

Explore the Signal Station North Lighting Guidebook Series

These publications share research, community insights, and practical strategies for creating safer, more welcoming public spaces through lighting.

Speakers and Contributors

We’re grateful to the artists, designers, and community leaders who shared their insights and experiences throughout the afternoon.

Opening Conversation

Merrell Hambleton, Baltimore Museum of Art
Derrick Adams, The Adams Design Group

Artist Panel 

Moderator: Bria Sterling Wilson, Mayor’s Office of Arts, Culture, and Entertainment

Panelists:

Featured Conversation 

Moderator: Lauren Kelly-Washington, Robert W. Deutsch Foundation

Panelists:

Breakout Sessions 

“Public Art Processes - From Artist Selection to Site Selection and Concept Development to Permits”

“Design, Engineering, Fabrication & Materials: Technical and Collaboration Considerations for Light-Based Public Art”

“Engagement, Impact and Storytelling: Measuring Success and Centering Community in Public Art”

Thank You to Our Event Partners!