Baker Artist Awards 2010 – April 7 – June 27, 2010
The BMA celebrates the Baker Artist Awards with an exhibition of sculpture, film, photography, drawings, music, and performance videos. Featured in the Museum’s West Wing for Contemporary Art are examples by the three Mary Sawyers Baker prizewinners: sculptor Richard Cleaver, filmmaker Karen Yasinsky, and classical musician Peter Minkler. The BMA’s McCall Gallery includes examples by the five Baltimore’s Choice winners: dancer and poet Amanda Theresa Fair, painter Kelly Walker, beat boxer and vocal percussionist Shodekeh, digital photographer and illustrator Steven Parke, and graphic designer and illustrator Kaveh Haerian.
This year 495 Baltimore-area artists submitted their work to the competition at bakerartistawards.org and more than 31,000 visitors from 129 countries voted online for their favorite artists. The three $25,000 Mary Sawyers Baker Prize winners are selected by private jury and the $1,000 Baltimore’s Choice Prize winners are selected from among the votes cast by people visiting the website. Additionally, the $1,000 Nancy Haragan Award, named after the founder of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance, is given to the Baltimore’s Choice Prize winner who best embodies Haragan’s dedication the area’s cultural community. This year’s winner is Shodekeh Talifero.
The Baker Artist Awards are a program of the William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund, created to honor individual artists who live and work in Baltimore City and the five surrounding counties.