Community Art for Darley Park Stage

The Neighborhood Design Center has been partnering with the Darley Park community since 2015 to create a public space on the corner of Harford Road and Normal Avenue. Originally a vacant dirt lot, this neighborhood gateway park has become a multi-generational, multi-use gathering place through the hard work of the community and partnering organizations. In the past two years the community has secured a playground, mural, and performance stage at the park.

In the design for the stage, an overhead structure was planned as a sun shade made out of sail material (see photo above). This project, funded in part by BOPA’s Transformative Arts Prize, has evolved into a community arts project, a collaboration between artist Whitney Frazier and the women’s senior group of the neighborhood. Inspired loosely by the quilts of the black women of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, the artists have been developing abstract quilt designs to be sewn into shade sails.

NDC welcomes all to see the unveiling of this art piece at the Light City event at Darley Park on April 13th at 6pm. The event will feature projected artworks by Baltimore’s own Kyle Yearwood, music by TT the Artist, and much more.

The arts group meets every week to design and create the stage sails at the local community center. Contact Whitney Frazier if you are interested in getting involved in the project, and check back for updates as the project moves forward!