Nine years ago, a few muddy brown homes in North Baltimore threw off their dreary facades and something magical happened: They got some color.
After a century of muted colors and blah-blah browns, neighbors in Charles Village began scrambling across their roofs and porches wielding paintbrushes. In came macaroni-and-cheese yellows and tangerine oranges, deep blues and screaming greens - all part of a 1998 contest to encourage residents to brighten up the neighborhood.
Today, the contest is just a memory, but the painting hasn't stopped. The neighborhood boasts well over 100 multicolored rowhouses, and some residents have changed color schemes several times. The crazy colors and oddball designs have made some homes into icons for Baltimore advertisements. And they've helped attract new residents to Charles Village.
"It's taken on a life of its own," said Steven Rivelis, who organizes social action campaigns from his wildly painted St. Paul Street office. "It's the Tom Sawyer dynamic. You know, I start painting the fence, other people start to paint."
Charles Village, roughly bounded by 22nd Street, Howard Street, University Parkway and Guilford Avenue, has never been known as a high-crime area. But in the mid-1990s, The Sun reported that crime was creeping in, "For Sale" signs were popping up and many residents were having difficulty selling their homes. "Charles Village cries for help," declared one editorial.
Enter locals Steven Rivelis, Linda Brown Rivelis, Dawna Cobb and Lisa Simeone. While relaxing over wine in 1997, they plotted how to pump energy into their neighborhood. A few Charles Village mavericks had already painted their homes in two or three bold colors. What if they could get everyone to do it?
"If people were painting their homes, they would be the same sort of people to go to the park and fix the park," Steven Rivelis said. "And if you're fixing the park, you're then going to look at the school and realize the school needed volunteers, and you're really kind of saving a neighborhood."
The contest began in 1998 when the Annie E. Casey Foundation agreed to sponsor the event. The roughly three dozen participants drew inspiration from a row of multicolored Victorian houses in San Francisco dubbed the "Painted Ladies." Judges awarded three prizes: Best Porch Front Facade ($3,000), Best Flush Front Facade ($2,000) and Best Front Door ($500).
