A nearly eight-foot-tall mosaic sculpture called “Mother Earth” is taking shape at Milford Mill Market Square in Randallstown, and the nonprofit behind it is asking neighbors of all ages to help finish the job before the community build wraps up on Aug. 21. The piece depicts a female figure holding a solar-powered lantern aloft, dressed in a flowing gown covered in fruit and vegetable motifs meant to honor local Afro-Caribbean culture, African American heritage, and the neighborhood’s renewed access to fresh food.
As reported by CBS News Baltimore, the nonprofit Art with a Heart is inviting community members of all ages to help create the permanent public artwork. Volunteers have spent the summer contributing stained glass tiles and ceramic thumbprints to the sculpture, work that concludes this Friday, according to Baltimore Fishbowl.
From Steel Frame to Community Canvas
Before any tiles went on, the sculpture existed as a 200-pound welded stainless steel mesh and frame fabricated by sculptor Howard Connelly at his Eastern Shore studio in Cambridge, Maryland. Connelly shipped the raw steel base to Art with a Heart in Baltimore, where fiberglass layers and mosaic tile work were added, per a Facebook post detailing the build process.
The finished piece is destined for a permanent spot at Milford Mill Market Square, the shopping center at the corner of Liberty and Milford Mill roads. That site was redeveloped after a former Giant supermarket relocated, leaving nearby residents with limited fresh food access — a gap since filled by the addition of a Grocery Outlet and a Royal Farms, according to project materials from Milford Mill Market Square Public Art. Developer ARLS Properties LLC partnered with county and federal agencies to rehabilitate the plaza, a transformation Hoodline first covered in its report on the shopping center’s groundbreaking.
Federal Funds and a Community Coalition
The public art project is funded by Baltimore County using federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars set aside for commercial corridor revitalization, according to Baltimore County Community Planning. The same source outlines the coalition that selected Art with a Heart to design and build the sculpture: ARLS Properties, the Greater Randallstown Community Development Organization, Baltimore County, and the District 4 Arts and Sciences Commission all took part, with developer representatives noting that while commercial tenants bring retail, public art gives a location its community identity…