Large mural unveiled meant to slow down traffic
By Ja Nai Wright
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BALTIMORE, Maryland (WMAR) — If you drive down North Patterson Park or Madison street and get to the area where the two roads meet, you will notice a bright new mural painted on the side of a home.
There are three large rabbits running at full speed down Madison street, but it’s not just a beautiful piece of artwork.
“I think murals are a great way to add beauty to a space, but it’s also a great opportunity to address issues in your community that you might need help with, and for us, we needed help with traffic,” says Jiri Cruz.
To debut the mural, the homeowners, Michael Gatty and Matthew Frey, opened their home up to the community, and dozens of people stopped by to get a closer look.
Neighbors in the area say they are always concerned about the traffic, especially on Madison Avenue.
They say people will speed, and there have been a number of accidents on the road.
“We’re hoping that they just raise awareness and encourages dialogue and conversations about traffic safety and keeping our community safe,” says Jiri.
It’s why the mural is there—to get people to slow down.
“I’ve gotten a lot of comments from people saying, ‘like, oh, I drive by here every day at work and I noticed it’ and like, so that’s really cool, so it definitely is being seen, which is really cool,” says Bridget Cimino, the mural artist.
Michael Gatty says one day he came home to a note on his front door asking to paint a traffic-calming mural on the side of his home.
He says it was the perfect idea and a benefit to the neighborhood.
“Rabbits, just kind of conceptualize all of that, and I don’t know if you can’t help look at them and think, Oh, they’re cute,” says Michael.
He also says he is honored the artwork is on the side of his home.
“This thing will be up there for a long time, and so let’s take a second and celebrate because there’s enough aggravation going on in our daily lives that it’s important to mark the times that you can to say okay, today’s a good day,” he says.
Bridget Ciminoalso says she is willing to do more projects like this one in the future.
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