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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Tis the Season: 20 Best Local Handmade Holiday Craft Shows in Baltimore
by Rachel Bone
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What can Museums learn from Immersive Theater?
Wednesday, December 6: 7:30 PM – 9 PM
The Peale Center
225 N Holliday St, Baltimore 21202
Participate in an in-depth discussion about what museums can learn from immersive theater with the producers and cast members of “H.T. Darling’s Incredible Musaeum,” the immersive theater experience by Submersive Productions that is back for its second (& sadly, last) run at the Peale. Inspired by the history and architecture of the Peale, the first purpose-built museum in the US, the H.T. Darling show offers unique insights into how theater techniques can provide new ways to enliven permanent collections and attract repeat as well as new audiences. We’ll look at how the model of immersive theater can help us reimagine the museum experience and engage visitors as participants in creating it.
With your ticket to this professional development session are included drinks, nibbles, and $5 off your purchase of one or more tickets to the H.T. Darling show (subject to availability).
About H.T. Darling’s Incredible Musaeum: The Treasures of New Galapagos, Astonishing Aquisitions from the Perisphere
As a patron of the Musaeum at the Grand Opening of H.T. Darling’s new exhibit of artifacts from the planet New Galapagos, you choose your own path through the evening’s strange events. You are invited to interact with the curious inhabitants of the museum, the building, and the exhibition itself. Every experience of the show is unique and rewards multiple visits!
Please note:
Musaeum is recommended for ages 12 and above. Making the most of your experience will require you to ascend and descend at least two staircases (and more if you choose). Standing and light walking will also be necessary. Seating and gentle guidance will be available throughout the space for those who may require it. We expect the experience to last about two hours from the posted start time. Beverages and snacks will be available (donations appreciated). Restrooms will be accessible throughout the experience. Coat racks and safe storage for bags will also be available.
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MICA Art Market
Thursday, December 7th – Sunday, December 10th
MICA Brown Center
1301 West Mount Royal Avenue :: 21217
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Bitchin Bajas (Drag City) & Wume
Thursday, December 7th : 9pm
EMP Collective
307 West Baltimore Street :: 21201
Unregistered Nurse Booking presents…
Bitchin Bajas (Drag City Records)
http://
+1 more
9pm/ ALL AGES/ YE$
from P4k::
Bitchin Bajas
Bajas Fresh
DRAG CITY • 2017
8.0
by Marc Masters
Contributor
Over seven tracks that span 80 minutes, the expansive, looping, shifting synths and rhythms of Bajas Fresh mark the trio’s most diverse and ambitious record.
Cooper Crain once crystallized the Bitchin Bajas ethos with a simple question: “If you find a good loop that can hold its own musically, then why not use it?” That philosophy has served his group well for going on seven years, and has recently proven just as effective in collaboration. Through work with Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Natural Information Society, Olivia Wyatt, and Haley Fohr’s Jackie Lynn, Bitchin Bajas expanded their sound and prodded their partners to do the same. Credit the trio’s knack for finding good loops and knowing how to use them.
In particular, Bitchin Bajas know how to use a good loop for a long time. It’s easy enough to let a cycle grind away forever, hoping that repetition alone will entrance listeners. It’s also tempting to get too proactive and force sonic variety from a loop, as a pre-emptive stab at fending off boredom. Bitchin Bajas excel at finding midpoints between those default poles. They trust their loops to grow naturally but can also shift textures and vary moods to avoid predictability.
That’s why Bitchin Bajas’ music sounds best in extended durations. Their last full-length album, 2014’s self-titled two-disc set, stretched eight pieces across 77 minutes. The trio paid pretty obvious homage to their minimalist heroes—Terry Riley in particular—but lived up to that inspiration by carving their own way through familiar-sounding synth cycles and drones. On their follow-up, Bajas Fresh, Bitchin Bajas continue in long-form mode, filling 80 minutes with just seven tracks—including their longest to date, the 23-minute and 3-second “2303.” But this one is less about homage than exploration. Though no track is a radical departure, Bajas Fresh is the group’s most diverse and ambitious record so far.
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MAP Under $500 | Opening Reception
Friday, December 8th : 7pm
Maryland Art Place
218 West Saratoga Street :: 21201
Maryland Art Place invites you to join us at our fifth annual UNDER $500 affordable art sale this December! On Friday, December 8 at 7 o’clock join us for a first-come, first-served opportunity to purchase affordable and original works of art. The event will feature the work of Baltimore and surrounding area artists at a price point of $500 or less. Purchase work at any point throughout the evening and take home that night! Tickets include free admission to Spin & Sell: Print Bazaar in the MAP Underground that evening.
Featured artists include:
Maryamm Abdullah, Rachel Bone, Elizabeth Burin, Amy Boone-McCreesh, Vincent Carney, Courtney Cooper, Bonnie Crawford, Nancy Daly, Emily Dierkes, Sutton Demlong, Grace Dobrow, Teresa Duggan, Alex Ebstein, Alexis Gomez, Jeffrey Heft, Sireen Jawdat, Giulia Livi, Carmen Martini, Cara Ober, Sinem Oren, Jennifer Pizzillo, Steve Silberg, Kyle Tata, Sarah Tilton, Emily Uchytil, Anna Watson, Alli Woodhouse, Tanya Ziniewicz, and Zarina Zuparkodjaeva.
Guests can expect to mingle with other artists, collectors, patrons and general art enthusiasts at the event with an open wine and beer bar, along with light tastings with a holiday twist.
MAP will also be collecting new toys and books in partnership with Hello Nigeria, the evening of UNDER $500. These toys will be donated to the SKY Foundation (Springland Kids & Youth Foundation) in Nigeria, and Children’s Hospital D.C., Dr. Bears Closet. *Note, only new toys will be accepted.
Tickets are $25 presale and $30 at the door. Purchase tickets here – available through MissionTix!
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James Hennessey + Joshua Highter | Opening Receptions
Saturday, December 9th : 6-8pm
Creative Alliance
3134 Eastern Avenue :: 21224
When artist James Hennessey moved to Baltimore in 1965 to teach painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), he never anticipated the influence he would have on thousands of young painters who took his classes until 2002. Beyond his impressive career as a teacher, Hennessey’s success as a painter has seen his signature soft palate aesthetic and subtle depictions of mythological fables exhibited across the globe. Enduring Concerns focuses on Hennessey’s large paintings and celebrates more than 50 years of his work in Baltimore.
James Hennessey is a painter’s painter: his daily studio practice finds him methodically working his large canvases, adding and subtracting inflections of color and light, scraping and sanding away excess, and repeating as necessary to achieve his thoughtful surfaces. While his subject matter varies slightly between series, he concentrates on landscapes, interior spaces, figures, light, and atmosphere in his carefully constructed compositions. Hennessey paces himself when creating work, sometimes taking months to complete a single painting, and generally working on only one painting at a time.
The exhibition’s title, Enduring Concerns, references his steadfast consistency, and intense focus on a small number of subjects. According to Hennessey, “my work is episodic – there are clusters of paintings that fall into categories, such as ‘Windows’, ‘Irish Paintings’, ‘Italian Paintings’, and ‘Furniture’, among others.” All episodes of the artist’s illustrious time in Baltimore will be represented in this rare survey.
Joshua Highter‘s process-driven, abstract paintings focus on the intersection between observation and memory. Higher utilizes drawing, painting, and printmaking to create a richly textured surface where the visual space plays with tensions between the familiar, observed experiences, and the foreign, distant memories that are remnants these experiences.
Higher earned his MFA in painting from Indiana University, Bloomington and currently lives in Takoma Park, Maryland. Prior to moving to the DC metro area, the artist lived in Berkeley, California and spent three years teaching drawing and painting as a visiting lecturer at the University of California, Davis. Prior to moving to California, he taught drawing and painting at Herron College of Art and Design in Indianapolis. He has been an artist in residence at Root Division, in San Francisco, and at the Vermont Studio Center. He currently spends his days as “Dad,” exploring with his son Aurele, and teaches at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), Smithsonian Associates, and at the George Washington Corcoran Center for the Arts. Higher is originally from Vermont and will always call the Green Mountains “home”.
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Mind on Fire 2017 Snowball
Saturday December 9: 6:30 – 11:45 PM
EMP Collective
307 W Baltimore St, Baltimore, Maryland 21201
We’re throwing a ball! So put on your festive attire and join us!
This December 9, we’re going to host a dinner, a raffle, a performance of open scores, and DJ sets from DJ Dan Deacon and DJ Dirty Face.
At 6:30 you’re invited to join us for a meal catered by local Afghani restaurant, Maiwand Grill, with wine and live music provided by us. *Special ticketing required for this portion of the evening*
Then at 8pm we’ll be opening the doors and bringing out the whole Mind on Fire ensemble to play music by Allison Cameron (composer), Dan Deacon, Philip Glass, Jason Charney, and Will Redman!
We’ll also be holding a raffle the entire night of Baltimore businesses and artists for you to win. Music. BSO Tickets. Theatre tickets. Records. Donuts. Wine. Coffee. More!
Later that night we’ll move over the tables, put the orchestra away, and host DJ Dan Deacon and DJ Dirty Face for late night dancing!
So put on your best party outfit and join us at the Snowball!
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6:30 pm – Ticketed Dinner (seats are limited — with a special chamber music show by MoF players)
8:00 pm – General Doors Open
8:30 pm Open Scores played by MoF
Dancing to follow
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This will be the climax of our Winter Fundraiser! You can donate to us here: https://igg.me/at/
$30 Dinner (dinner includes free chamber show, wine, and a ticket to the general open score event)
Open Score event
$10 Early Bird General (November 9-November 30)
$12 General (December 1-9)
$15 At the Door
https://
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Retreat/ William Lamson/ Lu Zhang | Artist Talk and Reception
Sunday, December 10th : 2pm
Area 405
405 East Oliver Street :: 21201
Retreat features the work of Lu Zhang and William Lamson, two artists whose practices specifically focus on immersing oneself in creating a studio practice that is the process. Where site specificity becomes studio and the work transforms throughout the exhibition itself. Zhang transforms the front gallery space into an expanded series of experiments that will remain in flux throughout the course of the exhibition. Lamson features projected videos in the back gallery. Curated by Stewart Watson, AREA 405 is pleased to be a part of the process of these two exemplary artists’ work this fall.
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Mike McConnell: Cutting into Art | Artist Talk and Reception
Sunday, December 10th : 3-5pm
UMUC Arts Program Gallery
University of Maryland University College :: East Adelphi
The Arts Program at University of Maryland University College invites you to explore a new exhibition by Baltimore artist Mike McConnell. A recent resident studio artist at the Motor House in Baltimore’s Station North Arts and Entertainment District, McConnell often turns to nature for inspiration for the vivid visual stories he tells. He uses paint in a collage-like way, cutting out shapes with vibrant colors on handmade wood panels, paper, and found material. A 1975 graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art, McConnell worked as an illustrator for more than 30 years before focusing on his fine art. In 2016 he won the President’s Best of Show award for the Third Biennial Maryland Regional Juried Art Exhibition for his painting Bear Carver. He also won a 2016 Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award and was a 2017 finalist for the 13th Annual Bethesda Painting Awards.
