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Art, Energy, and Possibility: An Interview with Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake

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The New York / Baltimore Disconnect

Just after the Cultural Town Hall Meeting on Wednesday, October 15, I was granted a few minutes to talk to Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake about the arts in Baltimore. Although she has been portrayed in a number of wildly different ways in the local press (based on fact and fiction), I found the mayor to be receptive to arts-based ideas, appreciative of what artists do in this city, and passionate about the city of Baltimore.

Like most of us would be, she was also exhausted from a long day and ready to get home to her daughter before bedtime. I mention that only because I think we, as artists and citizens, often put unrealistic expectations on our public figures. We expect them to have the answers to our problems, project our conspiracy theories on them, rather than understanding that we are each just unique individuals who serve a common goal. In a mutually respectful relationship, we all have our limits and right to a private life.

My goal in sitting down with the mayor was not to rehash the policy and funding questions asked during the public meeting. It was not to grill her about the decisions that BOPA or other city organizations have made on arts funding in the past year. Let’s face it, most of those decisions are made by many different people who work for city government and the role of the arts is one of thousands of issues that are part of the every day reality of responsibly governing a city. Although for many of us, art is our whole life and we give everything to it, there’s a larger world that can get along pretty well without us.

I appreciate that Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake took the time to sit down with me, and see it as the gesture that it is: an opportunity for her to speak directly to the artists in this city, to show that they are valued.

BmoreArt: Thanks so much for sitting down with me. I think that, especially after the Cultural Town Meeting, our readers are curious to get to know you a bit more.

Stephanie Rawlings-Blake: I think I seem more interesting than I am.

[laughter]

BmoreArt: We can work on that. [laughter] Growing up in Baltimore City, can you tell me about the way the arts or arts institutions made an impact on you?

SRB: Growing up, I studied art in elementary school, so I had an appreciation for different artists from a very early age and loved museums. Wherever I’ve been in the world, I’ve always looked for an opportunity to visit museums. You know, I think in Baltimore it is almost an embarrassment of riches. When you look at a city like Baltimore and the size of the city, and then you look at the size of our collection and the amount of philanthropy around art, we’ve got a lot going on. I mean, the Walters, I love that so much I had my reception there when I got married.

BmoreArt: I did AVAM!

SRB: Did you?

BmoreArt: I did. We did.

SRB: As far as museums, I just grew up loving them and just thinking that it was a special treat to go and to sit there and, even, as a kid, when you don’t know what the hell you’re looking at…

[laughter]

SRB: You just know it’s interesting. I like to look and then watch people experience them, experience art, and to try to figure out what they were thinking as well. I mean, everybody experiences art differently and I just grew up thinking that it was such an important part.

BmoreArt: Is this something that is important in your family as well? As a mother?

SRB: Oh my goodness, yeah. My daughter is, not necessarily into visual arts, but very very crafty and interested in personal expression. And she loves the BMA, she loves the Walters, AVAM… you know, I’m very blessed to have raised a very avid reader and someone who appreciates museums as well. And she shows off the museums to her friends… she thinks they are all hers!

BmoreArt: And they are! That’s wonderful, especially now that so many of the local museums are free. In your home, do you buy any local art or craft?

SRB: I am a public servant.

BmoreArt: So that… ?

SRB: We don’t make a lot of money.

[laughter]

BmoreArt: Oh! Well, according to Mera [Rubell] you don’t need to have a lot of money to collect. This is something that I am working on here in the city, [the awareness of collecting local art], but are there crafts or local artisans in your home?

SRB: I can tell you about the things that I like… I really like African artwork. The things that I have purchased are masks and sculptures. I also like art from the Harlem Renaissance, so I have framed posters from Aaron Douglas and that era. I really feel that if I were reincarnated from another time it would be then. When I read about the Harlem Renaissance and that creative community… the thought provoking art really spoke to me.

Mayor SRB

BmoreArt: Do you think that this is a quality that Baltimore has or is in the process of becoming?

SRB: I definitely think it is a quality that Baltimore has. I think it is a quality that … manifests itself in time. I think a lot of the things that we are doing in Baltimore are making people think. I think we won’t have a full appreciation of that for some time.

BmoreArt: I didn’t want to ask you, “What are you going to do for the arts and artists in Baltimore?” because I felt like the Cultural Town Meeting was more about that. I thought it would be great if you could articulate in your own words, what the role of the arts in a city are or how they make a city better?

SRB: So I talked a little bit about that Growing Green Initiative. I think that my job as Mayor is that healthy intersection of all of these things. For example, I know that we have a problem of vacant lots. I also know that it is very important to have sustainable green developments, for all of the reasons why that is important. I also am a strong proponent of the arts.

So when I was looking at those presentations for that Growing Green Initiative, and so many of them had a very strong arts component, I just felt like there was a glow because I was like, “Here it is.” You know, you give people that space and… I know it probably seems trite, but we are turning vacants to value and doing it through art. And I was just so energized because of that possibility. And when I take a look at what we are doing in the different arts districts and I think that there is so much more that we can do to speak Baltimore’s essence and personality through art. And not just in the districts but throughout the city.

BmoreArt: Do you think that this is a draw for people to move here?

SRB: Nobody wants to live in a dry boring place that doesn’t have any personality.

BmoreArt: I wrote something recently about why artists should buy real estate in Baltimore. After reading the stereotypical story that you read again and again about artists in New York or Brooklyn… they come into an area and rent, they renovate, they create a hub, and then are pushed out because they can’t afford it.

SRB: Unlike in Baltimore, where we give you money to move in.

BmoreArt: Yeah. [laughter] Artists or otherwise…

SRB: Anybody.

BmoreArt: Yeah.

SRB: Y’all come. [laughter]

BmoreArt: Do you have an official pitch to encourage creative people to move to Baltimore?

SRB: I think the city speaks for itself. We have a very quirky town, a very eclectic city. If you are a creative person you want to be in a place like Baltimore, where the arts are happening at all different levels from world class exhibits to underground to I don’t know what…

BmoreArt: [laughter]

SRB: You know, because I’m over forty. But it’s all happening. And it is a place where one person can make a difference, where you don’t have to be filthy rich to be involved and to lay down roots, to start a life here. It’s accessible on so many different levels so I think when you have a good product you don’t need a good pitch. We have a good product here in Baltimore. And it’s not me, it’s the community. We have great people here.

BmoreArt: I always like to tell people that in Baltimore it really doesn’t matter who you know or how much money you have, it’s just if you are willing to do the work there will be a place for you.

SRB: Definitely.

BmoreArt: You can partake in the fun.

SRB: And that’s not the same, it’s not the case in every city.

BmoreArt: No.

SRB: I mean, in so many cities you’re getting priced out before you can even get in.

BmoreArt: Right.

SRB: I mean, god knows what the artists are doing in DC.

BmoreArt: It’s crazy. Well a lot of them are living in City Arts, right? Like half of that building is filled with artists from DC that moved up here, so …

SRB: See, it’s working.

BmoreArt: [laughter] It absolutely is. Do you have any other ideas on ways to increase arts infrastructure, based on your travel or research? I thought the creative placemaking presentation tonight was actually amazing and I took a ridiculous amount of notes…

SRB: So did I! I’m very excited about it. I’m a big proponent of creative placemaking and I would love to be able to do more, but in some of the places, you know, if it’s not a grant it’s not going to happen. Because it doesn’t make sense to spend taxpayer money on places that currently don’t have a lot of use, but there’s a lot of potential.

BmoreArt: Downstairs, I liked what you said about the fact that mentorship options should be available for non-profit organizations, the same as business for-profit startups. There seems to be a hunger for that kind of business information in the art community.

SRB: Definitely. And that’s why I thought tonight was a very constructive format because I got ideas for how we can strengthen the community, not just a bitch session.

BmoreArt: Agreed. It was a pleasure to sit down and talk with you.

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