BmoreArt’s Picks presents the best weekly art openings, events, and performances happening in Baltimore and surrounding areas. For a more comprehensive perspective, check the BmoreArt Calendar page, which includes ongoing exhibits and performances, and is updated on a daily basis.
To submit your calendar event, email us at [email protected]!
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Blaqstarr’s “Moan Her Lease Her” Release Event
Tuesday, March 8th : 7-10pm
EMP Collective
307 West Baltimore Street : Baltimore 21201
Come join Invisible Majority* and Blaqstarr* for the local release of his new single and accompanying coloring book “MOAN HER, LEASE HER”. The project explores the universal yet taboo world of sex work.
Enjoy live music + art, refreshments + exclusives during the night.
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This Filthy World by John Waters
Tuesday, March 8th : 7pm
Falvey Hall, MICA
1301 West Mt. Royal Avenue : Baltimore 21217
sold out 🙁
John Waters, one-of-a-kind Baltimore film director, screenwriter, author, actor, stand-up comedian and visual artist will perform his gloriously eccentric one-man show “This Filthy World,” at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). The long-running performance often changes, but is centered around Waters’ life, work and perspectives on the world.
The performance is part of a MICA series focusing on race, diversity and inclusion. Waters’ perspective is tailor-made for a series such as this. One reviewer of Waters’ show called him “a figurehead [for the] angry, subversive, creative and funny.” At a time when Baltimore is confronting its racial and cultural past and exploring what an inclusive and just community looks like, the city’s creatives are uniquely positioned to inform, influence and improve current and future conditions.
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Arts Every Day Open House + Photography Exhibition with Devin Allen
Wednesday, March 9th : 6-8pm
Motor House
120 West North Avenue : Baltimore 21201
On Wednesday, March 9th from 6-8 p.m. at The Motor House (120 W North Avenue), Arts Every Day will host an open house and photography exhibit featuring the collaborative work of photographer Devin Allen and students at Windsor Hills Elementary/Middle School. This event kicks off a yearlong series of events celebrating the tenth anniversary of Arts Every Day and its commitment to helping teachers and students succeed together by integrating arts into Baltimore City’s classrooms.
The exhibition event and open house will feature a panel discussion with Devin Allen and his team of student photographers. “These are Baltimore City school students who are building self-confidence as they explore their world through the clarity of the camera lens,” says Arts Every Day Executive Director, Julia Di Bussolo, “We believe that the arts should reach every student, in every school, every day. Arts Every Day is proud to support this exciting collaboration with Devin Allen.”
Light refreshments, a photo booth, and tours of Arts Every Day’s new home at The Motor House will also be available.
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Studio Surfing: A Residency Panel Discussion with Paul Rucker
Wednesday, March 9th : 7-9pm
The Creative Alliance
3134 Eastern Avenue : Baltimore 21224
Whether you are a student, emerging, mid-career, or established artist, there is an artist residency program somewhere in the world perfectly suited to your needs. Studio Surfing is a discussion for artists interested in the nomadic world of short and long-term residencies. The Creative Alliance’s own residency program, located in an urban community arts center, is a lease-based 1 – 3 year program for artists of any discipline. Residencies can take many forms and last for any amount of time. Artists can spend several weeks to months away from home with or without a stipend. A small number of artists are able to string together residencies, effectively hopping, or surfing, from opportunity to opportunity. During this special evening with experts who will share information about visual, literary, and performing arts residencies, Paul Rucker, a Creative Alliance resident and veteran of numerous international residencies, will lead a discussion covering the types of residencies available, and considerations to make when deciding to catch the residency wave.
Rucker will be joined by Mark Masuoka, former Executive Director for the international Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts (and current Executive Director at the Akron Art Museum), Flannery Patton, Director of Member Services and Communication for the international organization, the Alliance of Artists Communities, and painter Michael Owen, who recently started his own residency program, “HOME” in the heart of Highlandtown. Each panelist brings a unique perspective on life as a resident artist and will have an opportunity to discuss his or her organization’s program and answer questions from the audience.
This event is generously supported by Bowie & Jensen, LLC and Brookshire Suites as part of the programming for the Resident Reunion Group Exhibition, a survey of the Creative Alliance’s residency program since its inception in 2003. The Resident Reunion Group Exhibition is on view through March 19, 2016.
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Baltimore Symphony Orchestra: A Century of Sound
Wednesday, March 9th : 6:30pm
Pratt Central Library
400 Cathedral Street : Baltimore 21201
The author of Hutzler’s: Where Baltimore Shops and Baltimore’s Bygone Department Stores: Many Happy Returns explores the 100-year history of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra: A Century of Sound is a celebration of the first one hundred years of Charm City’s treasured cultural institution. BSO oboist and author Michael Lisicky chronicles the organization from its humble beginning as the nation’s only municipally-funded symphony to its present status as one of the country’s greatest orchestras. The book features over 200 photographs, several interviews with past and present musical luminaries and an introduction by pianist Leon Fleisher.
Michael Lisicky is a nationally-recognized East Coast department store historian and expert. He is the author of several bestselling books, including Hutzler’s: Where Baltimore Shops, Remembering Maas Brothers and Baltimore’s Bygone Department Stores: Many Happy Returns. He has been featured in Fortune, The Boston Globe and The Washington Post, and on CBS Sunday Morning. He resides in Baltimore, and is an oboist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
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Talking Shop: Art + Activism, Eddie Conway + Tania Bruguera
Thursday, March 10th : 7pm
Walters Art Museum
600 North Charles Street : Baltimore 21201
Art + Activism, moderated by Board Trustee Lionel Foster, will pair artist Tania Bruguera, based in New York, New Haven, and Havana, and Baltimore-based producer and author Eddie Conway. The panel will explore the ways in which activism manifests through the art, cultural, and political work of two prolific individuals.
Talking Shop, our 2015 Speaker Series, partners acclaimed artists and professionals from various disciplines to discuss the nexus of art, science, medicine, technology, politics, and more. Where are the intersections of these practices? How can society utilize these disciplines in collaboration as catalysts for creative thinking? Each evening will begin with short presentations by the invited participants which will set context for moderated group discussion. Talking Shop is made possible with generous support from The Aaron and Lillie Straus Foundation. This series is free and open to the public. Each panel will begin promptly at 7pm, doors close at 6:45pm.
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At Your Service + April/March Exhibits – Opening Receptions
Friday, March 11th : 6-8pm
Baltimore Clayworks
5707 Smith Avenue : Baltimore 21209
As Linda Arbuckle, our juror has assembled a robust and vibrant cast of artists for At Your Service. Vessels to fill every day domestic tasks or those for more elaborate rituals will fill the gallery.
The exhibition At Your Service celebrates the serving vessel: platters, pitchers, trays or ewers, etc. Objects that hold their beauty when empty and flourish when laden with food.
The notion of service can conjure thoughts of drudgery, but more often a feeling of purpose, assisting others or even sacrifice. Ceramics artists have been making serving objects for thousands of years. These can be humble platters or an elaborate dessert stand. Utilitarian vessels perfectly designed to accommodate olives or Grandma’s famous deviled eggs. These dishes do more than merely present or hold food; they bring families, friends and communities together. They contain nourishment, companionship and stories.
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2016 New African Film Festival March 11–18
AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center
AFI Silver is proud to host the 12th annual New African Film Festival, co-presented by AFI, Africa World Now Project and afrikafé. This year’s festival showcases the vibrancy of African filmmaking from all corners of the continent.
African Marketplace March 12, 1:00–7:00
New this year, AFI Silver hosts an African Marketplace on Saturday, March 12, presented by Fenton Street Market. From 1:00–7:00 p.m., ticketholders* can shop local vendors selling African home goods, clothing, books and art in the atrium lobby. Vendors are still being added to the marketplace; early confirmations include pan-African book seller Tutu’s Storybooks, African textile clothing designer Ankara Streets by Jess, Ethiopian painter and fine artist Fetun Amedie, jewelry and housewares artists South African Bazaar Craft Cooperative and pan-African home goods, accessories and apparel merchant Ode Studio ODE.
*A ticket to a film is required to visit the African Marketplace.
No passes accepted.
- Opening Night: LAMB – Ethiopia
- NECKTIE YOUTH – South Africa
- BEATS OF THE ANTONOV – Sudan
- CUCKOLD – South Africa
- FIFTY – Nigeria
- PRICE OF LOVE – Ethiopia
- EYE OF THE STORM – Burkina Faso
- SEMBENE! – Senegal
- Double Feature: BLACK GIRL (1966) w BOROM SARRET – Senegal
- MADAME COURAGE – Algeria
- MORBAYASSA – Guinea
- AISHA – Tanzania
- SUGARCANE SHADOWS – Mauritius
- THINGS OF THE AIMLESS WANDERER – Rwanda
- KATUTURA – Namibia
- CRUMBS – Ethiopia
- THE BODA BODA THIEVES – Uganda
- THEY WILL HAVE TO KILL US FIRST – Mali
- RAIN THE COLOR BLUE WITH A LITTLE RED IN IT – Niger
- THE CURSED ONES – Ghana
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The Creative Process with Steve Bleinberger
Saturday, March 12th : 1:30-4pm
The Creative Alliance
3134 Eastern Avenue : Baltimore 21224
Learn how one’s innate creativity can be nurtured and cultivated so as to maximize its potential. This all important “creativity factor” is often overlooked in classes that focus only on technique. Creativity as applied to any medium has the potential to make any work “better.” Award-winning watercolor painter Steve Bleinberger offers tips and techniques on concept development and how they can help make your next creation even better. All welcome.
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BROS Swanktacular Fundraiser
Saturday, March 12th : 7pm
The Zion Lutheran Church
400 East Lexington Street : Baltimore 21202
7:00 Doors
8:00 Opening Remarks
8:15pm: Bosley’s solo lounge set
9pm: Tiny & Tara’s Wedding! The main event
10pm: Afterparty Starts – $10 at the door
10:15pm: Bobby E. Lee & the Sympathizers
11pm: Bond St. District
11:45pm: DJ Equipment Dance party
12:01am: Last Call
12:30am: You don’t have to go home but…
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Changing the Subject Experimental Printmaking – Opening
Sunday, March 13th : 2-6pm
New Door Creative
1601 St. Paul Street : Baltimore 21202
Changing the Subject: The Women Artists of the Experimental Printmaking Institute
March 10th – April 2nd, 2016
The exhibition features work by EPI visiting artists, and offers a broad range of technique, media and style produced as original prints by renowned women artists.
Opening Reception: Sunday, March 13, 2-6 PM
Featured Artists: Emma Amos, Holly Brigham, Nanette Carter, Elizabeth Catlett, Veronica Ceci, Cheryl Edwards, Audrey Flack, Jana Van Hasselt, Grace Hartigan, Robin Holder, Kumi Korf, Lyn Lindemier, Maryann Miller, Karima Muyeas, Faith Ringgold, Priscilla Romero, Alison Saar, MichelleTalibah, Kay WalkingStick, Joyce Wellman
