In March 2008, the Walters Art Museum will host the traveling exhibition Maps: Finding our Place in the World, the most ambitious American exhibition devoted to maps in over 50 years. Baltimore will host a Festival of Maps in conjunction with the Walters' show, with additional exhibitions throughout the city showcasing a wide variety of themes related to mapping and way finding.

As part of the Festival of Maps, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) will be mounting an outdoor, site-specific exhibition titled Beyond the Compass, Beyond the Square in Mount Vernon Park from March 16th through May 20th.

As an artist participating in the Beyond the Compass, Beyond the Square exhibition, I have proposed four simultaneous parades of civically minded artists, activists, and community members who will sweep the sidewalks. The parades will begin at 11am and last until 1pm. Beginning in four Baltimore neighborhoods, the participants will sweep towards Mt. Vernon Place from approximately one mile away from the square. The parading Sweep Teams will sweep the debris from the sidewalk along their route towards the approximate center of Baltimore, Mt. Vernon Place. Following each parade will be four local marching bands providing a forward rhythm and celebrating Baltimore’s cultural groups. The debris collected and brooms will be used to create a sculpture that will remain in the park until May 20th.

Form:

The resulting sculpture will be a monument of brooms seated upon a clear faced container holding the debris and added topsoil where a variety of phytoremedial plants and the notorious ailanthus will be planted. The broom monument will take the form of a bundle, referencing the fasces symbolism in the Washington Monument. This will be a memorial of those who came together in a collective effort to leave a mark by cleaning and taking responsibility for our waste. See images for models and drawings.

Methodology & Outputs:

Each Sweep Team consists of a Team Leader and Community Leader, three Collectors shoveling trash piles into mobile collection bins, and community members sweeping and encouraging others to participate. There will be extra brooms and shovels carried in a cart by a Team Care Person, who is responsible for equipment and refreshments. Following this vanguard of sweepers, a marching band from the corresponding area will provide a forward driving rhythm and celebrate the clean ground beneath their feet. A grand celebration will ensue with the convergence of these four teams in the park where the waste collected will be installed into the four Plexiglas vitrines in the southern park, each labeled for its respective route. Brooms used will be attached to a central structure and securely bundled, forming the broom fasces.

Foremost this project begins with the active engagement of the communities along the routes.  Attending neighborhood association meetings, speaking at church services, and through a network of community leaders the primary goal will be raising awareness about this event. A press kit will be distributed to the local media in order to advertise the event and encourage participation.

Exposure:

In Mt. Vernon Place alone there are approximately 200,000 visitors a month. The sculpture will be located in the southern quadrant of the park in front of the Walters Art Museum. There will be ample press for the exhibit and for the parade coordinated through MICA and the Walters.  The routes are approximately one mile long and pull from a two-mile radius of Baltimore City. The energetic rhythms of some of Baltimore’s finest and most bizarre marching bands will call attention to the streets where a parade of 20 participants. Spectators will be encouraged to participate and will be provided with extra equipment provided by the City. All sponsors will be included in exhibition materials and will have their names on a plaque near the sculpture.

Collaboration:

This is a highly collaborative project. Each team requires a minimum of ten volunteers to perform the necessary roles to keep the parades moving smoothly. The majority of these volunteers are coming from MICA, Johns Hopkins University, and University of Baltimore. The rest will come from engaged community members along the routes.

The Charles Village Community Benefits District and Neighborhood Association, Midtown CBD, Friends of Mt. Vernon, and Mt. Vernon Belvedere have shown interest. This project impacts the communities of Druid Heights, Upton, McCulloh Homes, Madison Park, Downtown, Midtown, Mount Vernon, Charles North, Middle East, Oliver, and Johnson Square. The City will play an important role by providing equipment and press for event. The ideals of Mayor Dixon’s “Cleaner, Greener Baltimore initiative” are shared and expressed by Baltimore Sweep Action Parade.

This is also a collaboration with the local area businesses to make this event possible. They will be invited to participate and be represented in the event. One way local businesses can support this event is by sponsoring “Brooms.” Each broom is equivalent to $20. The financial goal of the Baltimore Sweep Action Parade is to have 200 brooms sponsored. Another way is through inkind donations. (Please see the attached list of materials being sought for this project).

Goals: