A Baltimore artist’s scavenger hunt gives anyone a chance to get their hands on her paintings

Zoë Inderia Austrie paints femme-forward, abstract worlds. Her gallery? Anywhere in Baltimore she sees fit.

Over the last several months, Austrie has introduced a scavenger hunt across the city as a way to share her artwork and give anyone an opportunity to pick up an original piece. The giveaway exposes people to different parts of the city and fulfills Austrie’s philosophy that art should be more accessible.

“There’s something really special about someone not necessarily seeking out art but having art find them,” Austrie said.

Austrie, 33, is originally from Alexandria, Virginia, and moved to Baltimore with her family three years ago. She has been a full-time artist since 2019, but paused her creative flow after her daughter was born about a year ago.

But the mom of three decided that her offbeat idea to share art through a scavenger hunt was a good fit for Baltimore, a city she sees as a beacon for creativity.

Austrie has never had her artwork displayed in a gallery but has sold pieces in parks and at events. She also sells prints, merchandise and original art online. Some prints and tote bags range from $18 to $90.

So far, Austrie has given away four pieces: in Hampden, Charles Village, Fells Point and Mount Vernon. She plans to place a fifth Wednesday morning, somewhere out of the rain in Hampden.

The pieces are easy to spot, at 9 by 12 inches or 12 by 16 inches. Three were original acrylic-on-canvas paintings, rich with earth tones and engaging pops of color.

She uses TikTok and Instagram, where she collectively has more than 71,000 followers, to preview her newest art and drop clues about where the piece will be. She urges people to turn on their push notifications so that they can keep up with the contest.

In one video, Austrie, sporting a pixie haircut, playfully places a piece in a new location. While some seekers follow clues through social media, others have been lucky enough to happen upon the artwork in real time and snag it.

Kiarah Stroughter, who moved to Baltimore from Oakland several months ago, met Austrie by chance at a local coffee shop and began following her on social media.

Not long after, Austrie placed a painting in Stroughter’s neighborhood of Mount Vernon. It was propped against a tree across from The Walters Art Museum.

The 22-year-old didn’t think twice about grabbing it. The piece featured a Black woman with a head wrap, hoop earrings and disproportionate facial features.

“I am really young, so if I start now I’ll have a really dope collection and stories to tell when I am older,” Stroughter said.

Stroughter also enjoyed the “you found me” note attached to the free art. In it, Austrie explains the use of her favorite muse: women.

“My work imagines spaces where women are safe to be soft, powerful, complicated, sensual, vulnerable, loud, quiet — and fully themselves,” the note reads.

Austrie said she believes that when women feel supported, it creates a ripple effect that strengthens families, communities and society as a whole.

“I think we’re the pillars of not just society but humanity,” Austrie said.

Her abstract worlds are influenced by an aspirational reality in which women can exist without apology.

Clarrissa Taylor-Jackson, who made a TikTok video about Austrie’s scavenger hunt, said she is at peace with the fact that she might never get her hands on one of those femme-forward art pieces. She’ll keep following Austrie’s work anyway.

Taylor-Jackson, a Kansas City transplant to Baltimore, loves any whiff of whimsy in Charm City, especially when it comes to the arts.

“Once I got Baltimore in my bloodstream, I just made it a point to share cool things that people wouldn’t know,” Taylor-Jackson said.

The scavenger hunt also sparks a bit of mystery as viewers try to dissect the meaning and purpose behind the art’s placement in certain locations.

Austrie tends to gravitate to places with reliable foot traffic to ensure the pieces are found. She welcomes the mystery of it all — since art is supposed to be subjective, right?

London LeGrand, a local stylist, has never found one of Austrie’s pieces but is a devout follower.

“This is a great way to get people engaged with the culture, arts and Baltimore,” he said. He came close to getting the piece in his Mount Vernon neighborhood, but he saw the video too late and couldn’t outrun Stroughter. He has since activated his push notifications.

LeGrand often refers to Austrie as a “whimsical art fairy” when he comments on her posts online. He said he appreciates how she’s contributing to a new narrative of Baltimore that’s not synonymous with “The Wire.”

Austrie holds Baltimore, the birthplace of her scavenger hunt idea, near and dear, but she could see her project expanding to nearby cities. Why not other parts of the world?

“I’m just letting this kind of grow itself,” she said.