Baltimore’s future comes with a handle

You can turn the future by hand. At the Inner Harbor, three rotating drums show the waterfront twenty-five, fifty and a hundred years from now. Twelve collaborative artworks by thirty-one apprentices have joined the National Aquarium’s display. The project was introduced to the public on 10 October.^[1][2][4]

Before making the images, participants worked with conservation and education staff to explore the harbour’s history and restoration. Their imaginations had something to work with: a particular place, a past, living things. A useful constraint can open more doors than the grand, vague instruction to invent tomorrow.^[1][2]

Baltimore Youth Arts describes its studio programme as paid training: creative time is work. We have not seen the pay terms for this particular project. Still, the choice deserves attention: taking young people seriously enough to give them a project, deadlines and a visible place in the city.^[3]

The pictures guarantee neither cleaner water nor a municipal decision. They do something smaller and valuable: give people an idea to argue with. You can stop, look at it, prefer another future. Something you can turn invites an answer. Our follow-up question is what happens to those ideas once the panels are in place.^[1]