A bold funding campaign saves Area 405, a hub of art studios and workspaces in Baltimore’s Greenmount West neighborhood

Few people pass 405 E. Oliver St. It’s hard to spot, tucked on what is a side street between the Amtrak railroad tracks and Green Mount Cemetery. For the past two decades, maybe more, this enclave within the larger Greenmount West neighborhood has been ground zero for local artists. It took nearly a year and $3.8 million for a neighborhood-based nonprofit community group to bank the funds to preserve 405 Oliver St. as the industrial building it is — a place for creatives to have their artist studios and workshops.