A series of tarped signs has been standing near some of Catonsville's most significant spots along Frederick Road in recent days, waiting to be revealed. The covers are set to come off: a new public art project called Signs of People features 10 towering yellow silhouettes of real Catonsville residents, each one pointing toward a historic site tied to their own story.
According to WMAR 2 News, the project is presented by the Baltimore County Arts Guild and designed to work as a wayfinding system, guiding residents and visitors to places they might otherwise walk past without a second glance. Each sign stands roughly 12 feet tall, per Baltimore Fishbowl, though an earlier description of the project put the height closer to 14 feet. The signs were scheduled to be revealed to the public in the Catonsville Arts District on Saturday, October 10, from 1 to 4 p.m., with an opening ceremony at the Catonsville Clubhouse, the outlet reported.
The project was created by Eva Salmerón and Ciro Márquez, siblings who were commissioned through a national competition, and fabricated by Kyle Miller, per WMAR 2 News. Salmerón conducted the interviews with featured residents while Márquez designed the signs themselves, which include each person's voice, story and quotes alongside historical information about the site they point toward.
A Two-Year Process Rooted in Community Input
Getting to this point took time. The community-engagement process behind the signs included 249 community members and took two years, according to the same Baltimore Fishbowl report. From that process, the artists selected the residents portrayed on the signs from a pool of 43 nominees put forward by the community, as Patch noted.
Each sign includes two sidewalk-level plates, Patch reported: one with a photograph of the resident, quotes from their story, historic text and a photo of the site, and a second with a map of related sites. Monica Herber, executive director of the Baltimore County Arts Guild, said the goal is simple: “We want people to slow down and discover places they may have passed a hundred times without knowing the story behind them,” per Patch.
Pointing Toward Ten Pieces of Catonsville's Past
The signs point to ten places along Frederick Road and Winters Lane, Patch reported, including the Old Catonsville High School, the Albert Smith House, the Remus Adams Blacksmith Shop, the Heidelbach Grocer and Butcher — also known as the Fishmonger's Daughter — a fire station on Frederick Road, the Catonsville Health Center, the Catonsville Post Office, Salem Lutheran Evangelical Church, the Winters Lane neighborhood and Greenwood Electric Park. Greenwood Electric Park historically served as a social center for Catonsville's Black community, according to Baltimore Fishbowl's earlier reporting on the project.
One of the residents featured on a sign is Phyllis King, according to WMAR 2 News. King grew up at Grace AME Church on Winters Lane and discussed the desegregation of Catonsville Middle School; she is described as a community activist and educator who participated in the desegregation of Catonsville. Her sign stands on Winters Lane in front of Grace AME Church and includes a plaque describing the street and its historic African American community.
'The History of This Area Can Be Explained to Everyone'
King said the signs can help explain the area's history to everyone, per the station's report. King also operates the Samuel and Ida Torsell Mini-Museum of Winters Lane, which collects stories and preserves artifacts and photographs depicting the life and experiences of the African American Winters Lane Community, according to the Catonsville Arts District.
Monica Herber, executive director of the Baltimore County Arts Guild, said the signs will help visitors connect more deeply with the people featured and their stories, per the same account. Once the tarp coverings come down, the plan is for Signs of People to become a permanent fixture throughout Catonsville.
Part of a Broader Push for Wayfinding in Catonsville
Signs of People fits into a larger wayfinding effort in the Catonsville Arts District that has leaned on community feedback to shape public art, signage and landmarks. The Neighborhood Design Center has partnered with the Baltimore County Arts Guild on that broader initiative, which in 2024 held a virtual kickoff meeting introducing the project and launching a public survey, according to the Neighborhood Design Center.
The approach echoes efforts elsewhere in the region. In Baltimore, a separate wayfinding project has used signage to direct visitors to African American cultural heritage sites, with organizers describing it as the first phase of a multi-phase plan, according to CBS Baltimore. In Catonsville, the hope is that the bright yellow figures lining Frederick Road and Winters Lane will do something similar — turning a familiar walk into a lesson on the neighbors and landmarks that shaped the town.
