The lower Jones Falls has been hidden below I-83 for over 50 years, overlooked and mistreated. What if we radically reimagine this river as the center of a reconnected & ecologically vibrant Baltimore?

Jones Falls 2076

Jones Falls 2076 is a speculative design project that invites Baltimore residents, artists, designers, community leaders, and creative thinkers to envision aspirational futures for the river in 2076, half a century from now. A series of public workshops, art exhibitions, discussions, and publications will encourage radical dreaming and summon collective action on the future of the Jones Falls.

Jones Falls 2076 Exhibition
October 15 – November 22, 2026
Peale Museum, Baltimore

The Jones Falls 2076 exhibition at The Peale explores alternative futures for Baltimore’s Jones Falls River, as imagined by artists, designers, writers, and community members.

Baltimore’s founding river has been hidden below I-83 for over 50 years, overlooked and mistreated. This waterway made possible the rise of Baltimore as an American industrial powerhouse. And yet it is out of sight and out of mind for many residents of the city and region. As the elevated expressway covering the Jones Falls nears the projected end of its lifespan, more and more Baltimoreans are imagining and asking for a different future for the river.

Jones Falls 2076 centers on 14 newly-commissioned speculative works that envision a radically restored and reimagined Jones Falls in the year 2076. These works reframe the Jones Falls to come half a century from now through the lens of possibility, imagining the river unburied, reconnected, repaired, and recentered as the ecological, social, and civic heart of Baltimore. The works also ask deeper questions about our relationships to the river, its human and non-human neighbors, and to future generations.

This is the second of our two exhibitions, following Confluence at AREA 405 in spring 2026, and represents a culmination of the project’s year of activities.

Jones Falls 2076 poses these questions: What futures do we want for the river at the heart of our city? And how might we get there?

→ Learn more about the exhibition, participants, and public events

→ Opening reception Oct 15, 5–7pm