Orioles unveil new Camden Yards mural inspired by City Connect jerseys and designed by Baltimore artist – The Denver Post

When the Orioles play Friday night for the first time in their new City Connect gear, another design that makes a connection to the city will also debut: a stadium mural that captures the spirit of Baltimoreans.

“I’m kind of shocked,” Baltimore artist Shan Wallace, 32, said of the opportunity to collaborate with the Orioles on the mural in the lobby behind home plate. Camden Yards’ new work of art”[pays] tribute to…neighbourhoods, artists, ordinary people who contribute to the influence and resilience of the city,” she added.

In the mural, scattered among patches of color and darkness, there are depictions of Baltimoreans and their homes, riding bicycles, and playing hopscotch.

The unveiling of the new Birdland Murals series design coincides with the Orioles City Connect campaign, which features jerseys that appear muted on the outside but feature a hidden pop of color on the inside.

The mural project, in partnership with PNC Bank, began in 2019 and serves as a way “to amplify Baltimore’s vibrant arts community and use it as another way to connect to our city and our community, by showcasing the people and things that make Baltimore so special,” said Jennifer Grondahl, senior vice president of community development and communications for the Orioles, in a press release.

There are now six murals in Oriole Park and a seventh in Waverly. Another mural in downtown Baltimore will be completed later this summer.

Wallace, an East Baltimore native who attended Edmondson-Westside High School, has exhibited his work at the Baltimore Museum of Art and in museums and galleries across the country, as well as internationally. She also has a collection of her own murals in Baltimore, including at Lexington Market and Good Neighbor, a cafe in Hampden.

Wallace said she was first approached by Gaia, a consultant artist and muralist for the Orioles, to initiate the collaboration. After seeing the City Connect shirts, Wallace designed two digital collages in just over a week. The collages were printed and displayed on vinyl, which she says works well for the baseball stadium elements.

Wallace’s photographs, murals and other artwork center on themes of queerness, darkness and history, she said. Baltimore also serves as the setting and inspiration for his work – his Orioles mural is the latest example.

“I was just, again, thinking about those things, the little little things that make this beautiful city great,” she said.

It’s a sense of pride shared by many in Baltimore.

“We all, for the most part, really love this city,” she said. “A lot of us are attached to this city – we vote, we show up to baseball games.”

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