The Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts announce the semifinalists for the 2011 Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize. The sixth annual competition awards a $25,000 fellowship to a visual artist or visual artist collaborators living and working in the Greater Baltimore region. The Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize is held in conjunction with the annual Artscape juried exhibition and is produced by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts. The finalists and semifinalists exhibitions are presented in partnership with The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) and Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). The award announcement and reception takes place Saturday, July 9, 2011 at 7pm at the BMA, located at 10 Art Museum Drive. Artscape, America’s largest, free arts festival, celebrates its 30th anniversary on July 15, 16 and 17, 2011 on Mount Royal Avenue and North Charles Street.
Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize Semifinalists:
Ken Ashton, Washington, DC
Michael Benevento + Andrew Liang, Baltimore, MD
Baltimore Annex Theater, Baltimore, MD
Brian Patrick Miller, Baltimore, MD
Stephanie Barber, Baltimore, MD
A. Moon, Baltimore, MD
Kathryn Bell, Baltimore, MD
Louie Palu, Washington, DC
Milana Braslavsky, Reisterstown, MD
Mark Parascandola, Washington, DC
Abby Donovan, Newark, DE
Christian Parks, Cockeysville, MD
Eric Dyer, Baltimore, MD
Matthew Porterfield, Baltimore, MD
David East, Baltimore, MD
Robby Rackleff, Baltimore, MD
Linda Hesh, Alexandria, VA
Rachel Rotenberg, Baltimore, MD
Mindy Hirt, Westminster, MD
Adam T. Rush, Baltimore, MD
Brian Kain, Emmitsburg, MD
Jo Smail, Baltimore, MD
JK Keller, Baltimore, MD
Dan Steinhilber, Washington, DC
Dean Kessmann, Washington, DC
Diane Szczepaniak, Potomac, MD
J.T. Kirkland, Sterling, VA
Alessandro Valente, Lutherville, MD
Andrew Laumann, Baltimore, MD
Elena Volkova, Baltimore, MD
Magnolia Laurie, Baltimore, MD
Richard Vosseller, Vienna, VA
Christopher LaVoie, Baltimore, MD
Melissa Webb, Baltimore, MD
Joseph Letourneau, Baltimore, MD
Adam Weir, Baltimore, MD
Michael Mansfield, Washington, DC
Marty Weishaar, Baltimore, MD
Ben Marcin, Baltimore, MD
Wendy Wu, Baltimore, MD
Sebastian Martorana, Baltimore, MD
Jenny Yang, Washington, DC
Allyn Massey, Parkton, MD
Approximately six finalists are selected for the final review for the prize. Their work is exhibited in the Alvin and Fanny Blaustein Thalheimer Galleries of the BMA from Saturday, June 25 through Sunday, August 7. The fellowship winner is selected from the BMA exhibition after review of the installed art and an interview with each finalist by the jurors. The remaining finalists not selected for the fellowship will each receive a $1,000 honorarium. Artist collaborators, if chosen as the winner, receive a single $25,000 prize or $1,000 honorarium that will be equally divided among the members of the group.
Additionally, an exhibition of the semifinalists’ work will be shown in the Decker and Meyerhoff galleries of the MICA, located at 1303 West Mount Royal Avenue, during the Artscape weekend on July 15-17, 2011.
JANET & WALTER SONDHEIM ARTSCAPE PRIZE TIMELINE
Announcement of finalists Tuesday, April 19, 2011
BMA exhibition installation Monday, June 13 – Wednesday, June 22, 2011
BMA exhibition Press Preview Friday, June 24, 2011
BMA exhibition duration Saturday, June 25 – Sunday, August 7, 2011
Finalist interviews Saturday, July 9, 2011
Award announcement Saturday, July 9, 2011 at 7pm
MICA exhibition duration Friday, July 15 – Sunday, July 31, 2011
Artscape July 15-17, 2011
Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize
The Artscape prize is named in honor of Janet and Walter Sondheim who have been instrumental in creating the Baltimore City that exists today. Walter Sondheim, Jr. had been one of Baltimore’s most important civic leaders for over 50 years. His accomplishments included oversight of the desegregation of the Baltimore City Public Schools in 1954 when he was president of the Board of School Commissioners of Baltimore City. Later, he was deeply involved in the development of Charles Center and the Inner Harbor. He continued to be active in civic and educational activities in the city and state and served as the senior advisor to the Greater Baltimore Committee until his death in February 2007.
Janet Sondheim danced with the pioneering Denishawn Dancers, a legendary dance troupe founded by Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn. Later, she turned to teaching where she spent 15 years at the Children’s Guild working with severely emotionally disturbed children. After retirement, she was a volunteer tutor at Highlandtown Elementary School. She married Walter in 1934, and they were together until her death in 1992.
The 2011 Janet & Walter Sondheim Prize is supported by The Abell Foundation, Alex. Brown Charitable Foundation, The Henry and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Foundation, Charlesmead Foundation, Ellen Dankert, France-Merrick Foundation, Willard Hackerman, Legg Mason and anonymous.
For more information on the 2011 Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize, visit www.artscape.org or call 410-752-8632.
