“I can’t wait to see what people do next,” Stevenson said. When they are put out next winter, officials will use GIS mapping to inform the public of salt box locations. This year, they stayed out year-round because the pandemic affected staffing. Typically, they are collected every spring and re-installed throughout the city each winter. She hopes to incorporate student designs in future “art boxes.”Ī city inventory this month of the salt boxes revealed there are 775 citywide.

“People are getting a ton of joy out of seeing art in the world.”Īmes even created a worksheet for kids to design their own salt box. “Hopefully, we can spread some Baltimore joy,” Ames said. City officials are even talking about opening it up to a competition. The boxes can be decorated with a 17×23-inch board and a few drywall screws.Ī spokesman with the DOT says the department is behind the creativity, so long as artists keep it clean. “I was honored, even though my mother always said, ‘Fool’s name in fool’s places always appear in public places.’”Įlected officials are involved in the art-making, like Councilman Ryan Dorsey and the art-inspiration. “The only thing I would give the one artist who did the great famous shot of Divine in the dress with the gun… is put a circle and a line across the gun, because I don’t like guns pointed at anybody, especially on Eastern Avenue,” Waters said. Iconic film director John Waters is honored with a pair of salt boxes, one with his likeness and another with the Divine character from his films. His public map now plots locations of “art boxes” for people to enjoy the community art project. “Once you notice them, they’re kind of everywhere.” “There’s a bunch of them around and they’re just an iconic Baltimore thing,” Atkinson said. People either want to be part of a thing and create it or they want to be part of it and have it in front of their house or their neighborhood.”Ītkinson has long been interested in salt boxes and began plotting them on a map years ago. “This mundane, everyday thing that just sits there not really calling attention to itself and now people are calling attention to it,” artist Bill Stevenson said. Since then, Ames has decorated several other salt boxes and inspired a movement of other Baltimore artists to do the same. “There’s a bunch of them around and they’re just an iconic Baltimore thing.” “In theory, this is graffiti, right? This is defacing public property,” Robert Atkinson, who runs on Instagram said. “I was really afraid to put the first box up because I’m a rule-follower,” Ames said.īut, the City’s Department of Transportation, which is responsible for maintaining and filling the salt boxes, approved of the modification.

In December, Ames, whose Twitter handle refers to the type of jewelry and artwork for which she’s known, decorated a salt box in Hampden using china.Īmes says she was unsure how the city would react to her addition to the box on Roland and 36th.

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