Jaz Erenberg: Muralist

Coming from a public art teaching background, muralist Jaz Erenberg spends a lot of her time considering how the community is impacted by her work and how they can impact it in return. She sources ideas for new pieces from the Baltimore locals, engaging them in the process.

“When they get to see their story, their reflection, on such a public stage, and they know that they’ve been part of it from the beginning, the whole behavior of the neighborhood changes.” 

Jaz believes that bringing people in to help bring her art to these public spaces is a great way to bridge social gaps throughout the city. 

She also believes it encourages people to want to take better care of these spaces, noting how they’re more likely to pick up stray trash in areas where the murals have been painted. 

“It’s something that’s a glaring problem now for them, right? Because they’ve been involved with something bigger, and they’ve seen such a large project go up, and they were part of it.” 

When brainstorming ideas for new murals, plants are one of the first things that Jaz thinks about. They inspire her and others in so many different ways, filling her with awe even as a child exploring the gardens around her grandparents’ home. 

“[Plants] make it easy to talk about concepts like a home and joy and health and community and, you know, being neighborly…I really think I lean on those concepts a lot to be able to use flora and fauna in the murals.” 

A film by Joshua Orozco.