Sunflower Village

Sunflower Village is a community garden in the Franklin Square neighborhood of West Baltimore. The Franklin Square Community Association began work in the space in September of 2010, partnering with the Civic Works Community Lot Team to transform the large rubble-filled lot into a vibrant green space. The garden design includes “Sunflower Mountain”—a raised bed planting of towering sunflowers. 

In 2012, Lot Team director Ed Miller approached Emily C-D about the possibility of incorporating art into the garden design. Emily worked with Jessie Unterhalter and Katey Truhn (as the artist trio Can Collective) on a proposal for which they were awarded a PNC Transformative Art Prize, and work on the project began that summer. The design, which celebrates sunflowers and the creative power of people, was conceptualized through a number of meetings with the community.

"The most eye-catching parts of the installation are the two three-story-tall rectangular sunflower-themed murals that face one another from opposite ends of the garden. Created with paint and a mosaic of salvaged mirror, they occupy the walls of the adjacent buildings that were left standing after the five houses that previously occupied the space were torn down. The murals are unified by strings of sunflower-seed-shaped flags held up by totem poles."

—Ashlie Flood, "Sunflower Village at Franklin Square," Community of Gardens, 2014.

For safety reasons, the artists could not allow kids to help them paint the murals except on the small area at ground level. In order to include the local youth in the project that was transforming their neighborhood, Can Collective held screenprinting workshops for children and teens to create the flags that stretch between the murals and over the garden. 

Can Collective thanks the following people and organizations for their support of the Sunflower Village project:

Ed Miller and his Lot Team for all of their volunteer sweat and labor, Scott Kashnow and Ms. Edi of the Franklin Square Community Association for doing all of the grant writing and behind the scenes work, St. Lukes’s church for lending their sanctuary as a mural materials storage space (and especially Andre for unlocking the gates at any hour of the day or night), Ms. Helen for gathering her “best kids” from the summer camp to help make the flags, and Ms. K from the Franklin Square Boys and Girls Club for the same, all of the youth who helped screenprint and paint, everyone who lent a hand in building and taking down the scaffolding, all the neighbors who said encouraging words, all the local businesses who donated in-kind materials, Dan Breen for being the most dedicated friend on the job, and Dwayne, just for being his unique self and making the sweltering painting days more entertaining!

To learn more about this project, check out the entry about Sunflower Village on the Smithsonian Gardens digital archive of American gardens.

Sunflower Village ("Pueblo de Girasoles" en español) es un jardín en el barrio de Franklin Square en la ciudad de Baltimore, EEUU. La Asociación Comunitaria de Franklin Square, en colaboración con el Equipo de Lotes Comunitarios de Civic Works, comenzó a trabajar en el terreno en septiembre de 2010 para transformar el amplio baldío de escombros en un vibrante espacio verde. El diseño del jardín incluye "La Loma de Girasoles", una agrupación de estas flores sembradas en una berma elevada de tierra.

En 2012, el director del Equipo de Lotes, Ed Miller, contactó a Emily C-D sobre la posibilidad de incorporar arte en el diseño del jardín. Emily trabajó con Jessie Unterhalter y Katey Truhn (el trío artístico Can Collective) en una propuesta por la que recibieron el Premio de Arte Transformativo de PNC, y empezaron a trabajar el proyecto ese verano. El diseño, que celebra los girasoles y el poder creativo de las personas, se conceptualizó mediante diversas reuniones con la comunidad.

“Las partes más llamativas de la instalación son los dos murales de tres pisos de altura con temática de girasoles, uno frente al otro de cada lado del jardín. Creados con pintura y un mosaico de espejos recuperados, ocupan las paredes de los edificios adyacentes que quedaron en pie tras la demolición de las cinco casas que anteriormente ocupaban el terreno. Los murales están unidos por hileras de banderas con forma de semillas de girasol, sostenidas por tótems.”

—Ashlie Flood, "Sunflower Village at Franklin Square", Community of Gardens, 2014.

Por razones de seguridad, las artistas no podían permitir que lxs niñxs les ayudaran a pintar los murales, menos en la pequeña área a nivel del suelo. Para incluir a la juventud local en el proyecto que transformaba su barrio, Can Collective organizó talleres de serigrafía para niñxs y adolescentes para crear las banderas que se extienden entre los murales y sobre el jardín.

All Work © 2025 Emily C-D