Final Assignment Jesse Anderson

My Childhood

The places where I feel most at home

My old home on Guilford avenue in Baltimore, Maryland has been aged by years of parties, gatherings, and life enjoyed by those inside.

The alley next to our home, which is typically covered in chalk by the kids in the neighborhood, was where I first became interested in painting.

Our iron door is still there after all these years; it acted as protection against robberies but made our home feel like a prison. 

I remember this sculpture, found in the sculpture garden outside of the restaurant Gertrude's in Baltimore, Maryland because the woman's body looked real: not like what I saw in magazines when I was in middle school. 

As a family, we were always looking up. We knew where we were socio-economically, but we always knew that money didn't determine how happy we were. 

I would spend hours in the Baltimore Museum of Art as a child; I could travel across the world by perusing the exhibits.

I would pass by this alligator, located by the restaurant called The Ritz in Baltimore, Maryland, almost every day when I came home from school.

This is my mom. She is at Robert E. Lee park, where we used to walk my dog Georgina growing up. 

This tree - while not made of bark or leaves - is made of memories. Outside the American Museum of Visionary Art, this tree was where I had my first real day with my dad. 

25th street is my home. Located by our community church, my family and I often volunteered to help those in the community who had less. 

This was my family's favorite dinner spot. The waiters and staff became part of our family.

My mother would read story after story to me in the Village Learning Place, even when she was tired from working 8 a.m.-7 p.m. everyday.

I met some of my best friends - Sophia Agnes, Charlotte Baird, and the twin Elizabeths (Elizabeth Garamond and Elizabeth "Liz" Singh) - at our neighborhood playground. 

I would always creep onto this staircase while playing hide-and-go seek with my childhood friends growing up.

My mom used to play at Power Plant Live, located in the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland, every Christmas when I was a kid. 

The Hard Rock Cafe, an urban powerhouse in Baltimore, Maryland was one of the first times I saw my mom perform.

My volunteerism with Clean Water Action Baltimore was largely inspired by seeing how polluted our city's treasure - the Inner Harbor - was.

Neon letters pierce through the sky outside of the Science Center in Baltimore, Maryland.