Building Blocks: A Black Woman-Owned Media and Arts Hub Plants Roots in Baltimore
Since moving her business to 2220 Boston Street, Dr. Vonnya Pettigrew sees endless possibilities as she watches residents of her vibrant neighborhood in Canton, Baltimore cross her block. Owner of Root Branch Media Group, Pettigrew recently purchased an iconic building along Baltimore’s waterfront—making her the first Black woman in Baltimore history to own an entire block on the harbor.
A media mogul, visionary and entrepreneur with a strong track record in creating opportunities for youth, entrepreneurs and creatives, Pettigrew and her team set up shop in their new home with the plans and vision to transform the space into a media and arts hub for local groups and community members to branch out and grow.
Pettigrew recently purchased an iconic building along Baltimore’s waterfront—making her the first Black woman in Baltimore history to own an entire block on the harbor.
Honoring a Legacy
When Pettigrew started her own media production and communications firm in 2006, she knew she wanted to honor her family’s legacy. Her mother and father both hailed from rural South Carolina, where their respective families owned property. Her mother’s family had the naming rights to Root Branch Road, which made for a meaningful and symbolic opportunity to acknowledge her roots. With her family’s blessing, Root Branch Media Group was formed.
As the CEO and founder of Root Branch Media Group, Pettigrew and her team offer a full suite of services, including video production, creative development, motion graphics, branded content, storyboarding, casting, cinematography, photography, sound design, graphic, and web design. However, at the onset of the pandemic in 2020, Pettigrew decided to draw on her deep professional skills honed with networks like Discovery, TV One, and Charm TV to pivot and reimagine how to reach and educate schoolchildren amid shutdowns and uncertainty.
“When schools shut down, kids were sent home with packets of worksheets. I took some time to assess the situation and identify how kids could share their experiences through the lens of video,” she said.
Root Branch Media Group had a preexisting contract with the Baltimore City Public Schools to teach film, photography, and media arts to every student in the district. With schools closed, Pettigrew launched a video contest that challenged kids to shoot a 2-minute video sharing how the pandemic was affecting them. The success of this contest led to the media company’s partnership with Arts for Learning Maryland and the production of “Arts and Learning Kids,” an online learning TV show that ran from April to August 2020 and featured 105 30-min episodes for students in grades Pre-K thru 5th.
“We innovated a viable learning solution in the midst of a health crisis,” she said. “Kids could turn on the TV and watch a lesson.”
I bought this building and literally bought the block…All of us together have a piece in this movement. Together, we are building a community.
Dr. Vonnya Pettigrew
Planting Roots
Following 2020, Root Branch Media Group experienced increased demand for its mission-oriented media arts and learning services. The company quickly outgrew its 700 sq ft space. Around that time, a commercial video client of Root Branch, Barcoding, Inc., shared that they would be vacating their iconic building at 2220 Boston Street. Dr. Pettigrew engaged the CEO in negotiations, struck a lease/purchase deal, and began the hunt for financing that would align with both the Root Branch community mission and the company’s commercial objectives.
Over the last three years, Reinvestment Fund has invested $280 million—45% of our portfolio—to organizations owned or led by people of color. Dr. Pettigrew was introduced to Reinvestment Fund through her finance team with a further positive reference from her corporate attorney. The opportunity to partner with a Community Development Financial institution (CDFI) made sense, given the social dimensions of Pettigrew’s work. In December 2023, Root Branch Media Group completed the property acquisition with real estate financing from Reinvestment Fund.
“The loan allowed Reinvestment Fund to support a Black, woman-owned small business, and the acquisition of the building allows for wealth accumulation. The property that Dr. Pettigrew acquired is in a gentrifying area of Baltimore, and the Reinvestment Fund loan has made it possible for a large, highly-visible property on a major commercial corridor to be Black-owned.”
– McKenna Gosa, Reinvestment Fund, Director of Lending & Investments, Southeast.
The reimagined light industrial RBMG Building features studio spaces for video and photography, conference rooms, event space for meetings and staff retreats, offices, and training and classrooms for adults and kids to take scriptwriting, photography, and media classes. Standing for curating creatives with consciousness, The RBMG Building’s current tenants include musicians, a natural apothecary, a community-focused grounds and property-keeping enterprise, graphic designers, and fellow media producers.
Other branches of RBMG include a Cafe featuring Root Branch Press Coffee & Co; a non-profit entity, Root Branch Arts and Outreach Institute, which focuses on empowering youth, especially those belonging to communities of color, through film and media arts instruction; and Root Branch Marketplace “Small Business Saturday,” a livestream showcase for local, small businesses to amplify their brand.
The vision isn’t always about you. It’s for the greater good and helping others…There’s something special and magical about being a Black Woman.
Dr. Vonnya Pettigrew
A Building Block
Naming the property “The RBMG Building” was an intentional act by Pettigrew to make the company a household name and signature brand and Pettigrew’s vision extends beyond Baltimore. With strategic partnerships and a bold entrepreneurial spirit, she aims to scale her model of community-centered media and arts hubs to cities across the country, igniting hope and opportunity wherever she plants roots—block by block. “I bought this building and literally bought the block, ‘hashtag’ buildingblock,” she said. “All of us together have a piece in this movement. Together, we are building a community.”
As the first Black woman in Maryland to literally buy a block on Baltimore’s waterfront, she recognizes her role in Black history. “This purchase was historic, iconic and monumental. The building is on the harbor and takes up an entire block. This is textbook history,” she said.
Asked what she would say to other Black women who aspire to make a community impact: “You can do whatever your heart desires. The vision isn’t always about you. It’s for the greater good and helping others…There’s something special and magical about being a Black Woman. We’re smart, solutions-oriented, driven and just know how to get things done,” she said.
And there’s no doubt that Pettigrew will continue to help and inspire others by building blocks, one community at a time.