SOUTH PORTLAND — David Jordan skirted along the edge of the community room, a camera around his neck, another in his hand and another on his hip. His back against the wall, he zoomed in on a city councilor talking with a nonprofit director. Snap. 

Jordan works as a project manager for the South Portland Housing Authority, and he’s been photographing Maine’s mountains, waterfalls and shores for 40 years. 

After the ribbon-cutting event for Betsy Ross Crossing, a newly completed affordable housing community for seniors, he proudly showed visitors his “lucky shot,” an image of three lightning bolts over the Freeport harbor hanging by the entrance to the gathering space on the fifth floor.

“This building has more of my art than I do,” he said with a laugh. 

Betsy Ross Crossing, a 52-unit development, features his photographs by the elevators. Each floor is lined with paintings by local artists, including Elizabeth Fraser’s bright and expressive landscapes featuring beloved landmarks, as well as Sue Bartlett Rice’s dreamlike and vibrant scenes. 

“We’re transforming hallways into vibrant galleries,” said Mike Hulsey, the director of the South Portland Housing Authority. The fifth floor has paintings with crisp blues. The first floor features soft pinks. 

“We feel it adds to making it a home,” Hulsey said. For the past few years, the agency has partnered with local artists to fill its properties with art. 

“It’s a great opportunity to have artwork in unexpected and accessible places,” Rice said.

It was something the authority intentionally planned and budgeted for when first drafting the plans for the development. 

“Everybody deserves to have a beautiful place to come home to,” said Melanie Scamman, an interior designer responsible for placing the work in the building. “Art can often be an afterthought, but SPHA made it a priority.”

The first residents moved into Betsy Ross Crossing in late July. Now, there are 32 full units, and Hulsey hopes it will reach capacity by November. 

“It’s giving seniors in South Portland a place where they can land,” said state representative Chris Kessler. “They still have access to paths, the oceans and community at their doorstep.” 

Kessler said that South Portland has a serious housing shortage and an aging population, so a project like this one is crucial.

“It’s a shining example of our values in action,” said Mayor Richard Matthews. 

And residents like having art on their walls. Scamman recalled encountering a 92-year-old resident at Jocelyn Place, a housing development in Scarborough that was a guinea pig for the housing authority’s excitement for art-lined hallways. The woman took Scamman by the hand and led her through the halls, pointing at the paintings she liked, unaware that Scamman was the one who placed them. 

At one painting in front of the elevator, the woman paused and said “this painting is how I know I’m home.” 

In Betsy Ross Crossing, at the end of the hallway on the first floor, there’s a collage of a lobster swimming in blue. The bright reds and murky turquoises were torn from paint samples and delicately placed to form the recognizable crustacean. It’s the brainchild of Alex Smith, Scamman’s 12-year-old son and the youngest artist with work in the development.

He said that he was nervous all day at school before the ribbon-cutting ceremony, but that it felt very satisfying to see the piece that took him five months to make hanging on the wall.