Projects 2014 - 2017

PROJECT 837  

ABOUT HOME AND HOMELESSNESS

Project 837 is an art project designed to start a conversation about definitions of home and homelessness. “Home” conjures up diverse emotions, feelings, and concepts, which are rooted in a person’s identity. More specifically, Project 837 seeks to challenge definitions of homelessness while also raising awareness about some of the realities of Baltimore’s homeless population. The number 837 refers to the square footage that would be available to individuals in Baltimore if all of the vacant housing were transformed into housing for the homeless. Partners in this exhibition include Project PLASE, which provides essential housing and support services to homeless citizens, and VisArts in Rockville, MD. This project involves artists, researchers and individuals who are interested in home and homeless issues.

This exhibition will be presented in two phases. The first phase commences on March 17th at Project PLASE. This venue is atypical for an exhibition; it will be spread over two floors of an old school building. Then the second phase begins October 14th at VisArts in Rockville; the major focus will be on workshops targeted at the local population. Project 837 will have on-going workshop programs and a lecture series with partner institutions from December 2014 until the end of the second exhibition.

ABOUT “837”

This project came from the question of why 16,000 vacant buildings with an average of 214 m2 area cannot house 4088 homeless people in Baltimore City.  If we divide the total area of all the vacant buildings in Baltimore City by the number of homeless people found therein, we get the potential space (837m2 or 9009 square feet) for one homeless person to live in. We would then give this symbolic number to artists to interpret as they see fit.