We recently connected with Jaz Erenberg and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jaz thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

When I was given my first opportunity to create a public mural in 2017 I had the hardest time figuring out what to paint on the wall. I felt I had been given this huge responsibility to decide what should go up on that wall, but I didn’t feel comfortable making that choice. Public artwork can be so transformative and so impactful that it has to be created in a sensitive way. I was working in a neighborhood that I didn’t live in, and wanted the piece to be accepted and welcomed into the community, so I thought the only way to achieve that was to include the community in the process. This seemed like a good direction to go in, but I had never created artwork in this way before. I decided to try becoming a constant figure in the neighborhood, I would come by before work, I was a Baltimore City Public School teacher at the time, and sit on the same corner just hoping to talk to a stranger. After a couple weeks I had made some friends, and finally figured out what the content of the mural should be.

The mural is titled What is Home? And features quotes about what home means to people living in that community. I interviewed immigrants, doctors, students, teachers and people experiencing homelessness in order to collect as many different answers to the same question- what is home? When you see all these quotes collected in one place, you begin to realize that home is not a house or shelter, home is a feeling, home is being fully accepted as you are. I am happy to say that this mural was received well by the Highlandtown community, and stands untouched today as a reminder that home is seldom just a place.

This mural shaped the way I create work in public spaces.

Jaz , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am an Afro-Latina Community Artist and Muralist based in Baltimore City, MD.

I strive to create public art that connects communities by collecting perspectives on common human ideas like home, joy and resilience. Valuing community engagement during the design and installation phases helps to reignite that sense of ownership and pride within those neighborhoods. It also ensures that, together, we are telling the unique story of each community.

My artistic style is based in how I use color, and how bright my work is. Baltimore intrinsically impacted this style, being so strong, vibrant and resilient itself. As an AfroLatina Jewish women, the colors I use and the high contrast in most of my work reflects the resilience of my many peoples’ as well as the city’s. I rely on hands to emote feelings of community. Flora and fauna often make it into my work, reflecting on local plant life and bringing in concepts that speak to life and growth.

Public art can have lasting impacts in neighborhoods and communities if they’re are engaged in the process. When a mural goes up in a neighborhood without community engagement, it can be received negatively. Residents often feel left out of the process and unseen. I specialize in working with and engaging the communities that I paint murals in. I believe that public art has a larger responsibility beyond beautification, it has a responsibility to the community it impacts on a daily basis. When a community is involved in the mural process, from design to installation, they feel seen and heard, they get to see their story proudly shown on a public stage, leaving them feeling a reignited sense of pride and ownership over their neighborhood. When residents are involved in the painting process they get to walk past it every day and say “I did that!”. A public art project like this can really change the behavior of a neighborhood; if residents can be involved in creating a large scale mural, they feel more empowered to organize themselves around picking up trash and generally being more present stewards of their neighborhood. This practice inherently builds stronger communities.

Community Centered projects can be created on so many levels, you do not have to be a community organization to make this happen, connected communities help everyone, including private and commercial clients.

Is there a mission driving your creative journey?

I see myself as the artistic conduit through which communities get to tell their their stories. When a community sees itself reflected in artwork on such a grand and public scale, attitudes and behaviors around the neighborhood change. It can take years to get a community project off the ground, but after working in collaboration and bringing a project like this to life, there is a renewed sense of pride and ownership. In Baltimore City there are to many things that happen to communities instead of with them. After working with me, communities stay cleaner for longer, and have been able to organize themselves around other neighborhood projects, creating a more connected city.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

In other careers there is a delineated path, choose profession, go to school, get job. For artists and creative entrepreneurs, especially, the path is not delineated. We have to make our own way, this can seem like a messy and winding path from the outside, but cutting a new path takes time, and it will never be that same from creative to creative.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jazerenberg.com
• Instagram: @jaz_erenberg
• Linkedin: Jaz Erenberg

Image Credits
Side A Photography
Amber Kissner