“Your Face, Your Place in History”

#PealeFaces

Baltimore, Maryland USA
All images below are simulated before project completion, (c) Lauren Muney, 2019-2022.

Please show up for your “Peale Faces” appointment:

• Your appointment is only FIVE (5) minutes

• You receive their your profile portrait to take home

• You can record their own personal story for Be Here Baltimore Stories

• You will be invited to the public celebration of the grand opening!

Record Your Baltimore Story

You can record your story at any time - now is a great time! (Click the image OR scan with your phone)

About the “Peale Faces” project:

What are silhouettes?

Silhouettes are profile (sideways) portraits. They are most often seen as a black-color profile on a light-colored background. Before photography, silhouettes were the most accessible and popular form of portraits - affordable to anyone with a few pennies, in contrast to expensive painted portraits only affordable by the rich. (More about the history of silhouettes here)

Lauren Muney cuts silhouettes freehand with only scissors; she just looks at a person and can cut a remarkable likeness. (You can see examples and video of silhouettes on the Examples page here).

Cutting silhouettes “freehand” (without drawing first) is a traditional and historical method of creating silhouette portraits. There are only about 20 people in the world who cut silhouettes freehand.

Baltimore + Silhouettes

Baltimore has a long tradition of silhouettes, including being cut at the original Peale Museum starting in 1814.

Silhouettes, by their nature, are a “democratic” portrait form. In the late 1700s, people underneath the richest citizens were discovering their own power: their power to work, earn money, and spend their money on how they wanted to present themselves.

The Peale focuses on Baltimore’s people and stories. Through these “Peale Faces” will present Baltimore people and their histories for all to see and hear. These “Peale Faces” will to stay indefinitely on the walls of the museum.

Your historical experience

Every silhouette given to the participants is mounted on a special background, designed by Lauren Muney based on an original design from the original Peale Museum in the 1800s.

Historic St. Mary’s City in St. Mary’s City, MD, allowed special use of their reconstructed ca.1720 printing press to print these backgrounds of the silhouettes.

This style of press was still in use in Baltimore and neighboring areas during the early days of the Peale Museum. (see engraving image, at right) ; HSMC’s press reconstructs the original press which stood in that spot in 1720.

Training the skilled workers of tomorrow

The physical installation will be completed with the assistance of the Peale Center’s Accomplished Arts Apprentices, who are Baltimore youth learning professional skilled museum trades.

These apprentices will also be invited to sit for their own silhouettes, connecting them to the 19th century Black silhouette artist, Moses Williams, (portrait at right, from 1804) for whom the training center is named, and to the freedom and dignity of skilled trades.

The apprentices will be learning about the history of portraiture in Baltimore and about the ingenuity of historic tradespeople and public. They will be learning about our modern community members and interacting with their “faces” as they install the portraits on the walls.

Accessible “Visual” Art

The silhouettes and the entire experience will be accessible.

Baltimore Stories

The Peale Center stewards the largest digital collection of Baltimore stories in the world about Baltimore: from neighborhoods and landmarks to social and environmental justice, education, local food, and more. Visit this link to learn more about Baltimore Stories, and this valuable oral history project in Baltimore.

This project is supported by the Maryland State Arts Council. Thank you, MSAC! For more information on the MSAC, please visit www.msac.org

Project Sponsors and Partners

Funders or providers of kind-kind donations or assistance