Shutter On The Street

Standing at the bottom of the Harborplace Amphitheater stood a thin man with a contorted balloon concoction upon his head. To his right stood a champagne bucket half filled with bills and in front of him stood a line of people anxiously awaiting their turn to request an inflated-latex sculpture. Ray Collier is a balloon bender that has been working Baltimore’s Inner Harbor for 18 years.

Ray told me that for the first few years he operated without a permit because the city wouldn’t give him an audition. He would work the harbor until they got tired of him and would throw him out, always to return the next day to sculpt again. Ray even spent 18 hours in city lock up for failing to comply with officers when he was asked to leave and came back later in the day. He raised the money for the $50 fine by receiving tips for his balloon creations. Now that he has his license, he performs freely in the harbor and draws quite a crowd with his creations.

On your next visit to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, look for the man with the crazy balloon hat and drop a few bucks in his champagne bucket and I bet he’ll bend you up something nice.