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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A Conversation About the Arts in Maryland
Tuesday, April 10th : 6-7:30pm
Maryland Art Place
218 West Saratoga Street : 21201
A Conversation About the Arts in Maryland with PG County Executive Rushern Baker and Elizabeth Embry, Candidates for Maryland Governor and Lieutenant Governor
Also: a Sneak Preview of: Out of Order!!
Hosted by Rushern Baker IV and Mary Ann Mears
Please RSVP w/ Jibran Eubanks at 240-472-3144 or [email protected]
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Reflections of Baltimore: We, Too, Are MICA | Opening Reception
Wednesday, April 11th : 5:30pm
Reginald F. Lewis Museum
830 East Pratt Street : 21202
You are cordially invited to our Opening Reception for Reflections of Baltimore: We, Too, Are MICA on Wednesday, April 11th at 5:30pm.
Reflections of Baltimore: We, Too, Are MICA
Six MICA Students Create Imagery on Life and Love in Baltimore.
Our living, breathing contemporary art space that allows new Baltimore based artists to bring their trending and cutting edge work to the masses in our galleries. Every month we will display NEW work from names you NEED to know. Visit us often to see the artists design their exhibitions, hang their work and celebrate being part of the collection. Follow their progress and process via Lewis social media at @lewismuseum on Instagram and Twitter.
This is an interactive and innovative component to our Reflections gallery on our 2nd Floor. We reflect the community … We reflect you … Reflections of Baltimore.
Featured:
Tyler Ballon
Mark Fleuridor
Drew Gray
Moses Jeune
Destiny Belgrave
Monica Ikegwu
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Baker Finalists Showcase | Opening Reception
Wednesday, April 11th : 6-9pm
The Peale Center
225 North Holliday Street : 21202
An exhibition of works by Finalists in the 2018 Baker Artist Awards, April 11–May 6
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:
In the Visual Arts category:
Laura Amussen, Noa Heyne, Christine Neill, Rachel Rotenberg, Susan Waters-Eller
In the Interdisciplinary Arts category:
Erick Antonio Benitez, Abraham Burickson, Jeffrey Gangwisch, Fred Scharmen, Stewart Watson
Following the opening, self-guided visits are free, by appointment, on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 12-6pm, and Sundays from 10-4pm. Book your visit here: https://calendly.com/
ABOUT THE BAKER ARTIST PORTFOLIOS:
The Baker Artist Portfolios were created to support artists and promote Greater Baltimore as a strong creative community. The online portfolios are open to artists working in all disciplines who live and work in Baltimore City and its five surrounding counties. The portfolios expose area artists’ work to regional, national and international audiences. The site has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of art lovers, critics, gallery owners, academics, and leaders in creative business in nearly every country around the globe.
The portfolios and associated awards were established by the William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund and are a program of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance.
View all of the portfolios at www.BakerArtist.org
For more information on the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance, please visit www.BaltimoreCulture.org
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Tanaka Terukazu on Japanese Metalwork
Thursday, April 12th : 3-4pm
Baltimore Museum of Art
10 Art Museum Drive : 21218
Please join us for an in-depth talk with Mr. Tanaka Terukazu (translated by Louise Cort, Curator for Ceramics, Freer|Sackler galleries) on Japanese metalwork designs.
Mr. Tanaka is known for his mastery of fusing gold, silver, and copper alloys in his signature forms and luminous surfaces. He will present and discuss his metalworking techniques and Frances Klapthor, BMA Associate Curator of Asian Art, will provide some historical context on Japanese metal artistry as seen in a selection of sword guards (tsuba) and small knives (kogatana) in the BMA collection.
Find us in the BMA Commons. This event is FREE and open to the public.
[Image: Tanaka Terukazu. Ornamental box, Glistening River. Japan, Tokyo, 2005. Collection of Shirley Z. Johnson.]
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Zone: David Humphrey
Opening Friday April 13th 6-9pm
April 13- May 31
St. Charles is thrilled to announce David Humphrey’s upcoming solo exhibition Zone featuring recent paintings on vinyl. In Zone street side observations conjure figurative hallucinations through gestural paint.
These new paintings on printed vinyl are David Humphrey’s way to collaborate with photos taken on a smartphone while pacing through his daily routine. The images are mostly from his neighborhood in Long Island City, which is rapidly converting from light manufacturing to glassy residential high-rises. One of the remaining business’ he passes every day is an awning and sign manufacturer that prints inexpensive banners for Humphrey to besmirch with acrylic paint. Piles of garbage, construction debris or dirty curbside snow become associative springboards for Humphrey’s animating imagination. His painted marks erase, vandalize or conscript elements of the printed photos to make new narratives, as if to awaken stories lying dormant in the detritus of urban space.
www.stcharlesprojects.com, St. Charles 2701 N Charles St.
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Authenticity, the 25th Annual MICA Benefit Fashion Show
Friday, April 13th : 9pm + Saturday, April 14th : 8pm
MICA Brown Center, Falvey Hall
13o1 West Mount Royal Avenue : 21217
The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) presents Authenticity, the 25th Annual Benefit Fashion Show, a runway-style showcase of student-designed fashion that will take place Friday, April 13, 9 p.m., and Saturday, April 14, 8 p.m., at MICA’s Falvey Hall, 1301 W Mt. Royal Ave.
Organized by Architectural Design B.F.A. student Brandon Brooks (director) and Art History, Theory & Criticism B.F.A. student Cynthia Fang (assistant director), Authenticity features 16 individual fashion lines created by 20 designers representing the College’s Fiber, Painting, Illustration, General Fine Arts, Graphic Design and Interdisciplinary Sculpture programs, among others.
Sponsored by MICA’s Center for Identity and Inclusion, the Annual Benefit Fashion Show raises money for the College’s diversity programming and scholarly initiatives for students.
“It has been 25 years since the Benefit Fashion Show began as a program of MICA’s Black Student Union,” said Clyde Johnson, MICA’s associate dean at the Center for Identity and Inclusion. “Since then, the fashion show has grown to encompass the College’s larger diversity and inclusion initiatives, and is one of the year’s most anticipated events on campus.”
The theme of Authenticity was conceived to highlight the idea of being genuine to oneself, and the designers contribute to this conversation with fashions that speak to the nature of their identities.
“With this year’s historic milestone, we are celebrating, honoring and contemplating the show’s authentic roots. The designers represented in Authenticity expand upon the original mission of the fashion show as a place to celebrate identity and diversity. We are thrilled for the audience to enjoy our designers’ candid and forthright take on their definition of authenticity,” Brooks and Fang said in a statement.
Select fashion lines include:
- HUĀSE by General Fine Arts B.F.A. student Kelly Zhong showcases a contemporary perspective on East Asian identity. Eschewing dragon patterns, oriental symbols or porcelain motifs, Zhong opts for a color palette consisting of soft pastel and neutral colors to highlight the range of skin tones and features of her models.
- DE Colores by Fiber B.F.A. student Diana Eusebio addresses colorism and appropriation of Hispanic and Afro-Latino culture. Inspired by Manta, a traditional woven textile native to Peru, DE Colores celebrates the racial diversity of Latin American artisans.
- Nice Time by Illustration B.F.A. students Shelby Slayden and Kayleigh Efird explores the sincerity of childhood memories and their influence on adult personalities. The collection serves as a memoir to commemorate the awkward intimacy of growing up and a celebration of adolescence.
- Towards a Means of Production by Interdisciplinary Sculpture B.F.A. student David Correa is a collection of designs that satirizes and questions the relationship between two social classes through mixed media elements including fashion, sculpture and digital media.
Full artist statements and details about individual designs are available upon request.
Celebrity photographer Derek Blanks ’00 (Illustration) worked with students to organize a professional fashion shoot for the show’s lookbook, and his photographs of the student designs will be on display in the Brown Center lobby during the show.
Tickets are available in person at the MICA Store or online at store.mica.edu. General admission is $20. Student admission with a valid ID is $7 on April 13 and $15 on April 14.
Each designer has also donated two garments from their lines to a silent auction the night of the fashion show, which will raise money for the Center for Identity and Inclusion’s Diversity Grant Fund. Thirty percent of all auction sales will benefit the fund. Bidding instructions will be provided during intermission and after the show.
Participating designers include Sarina Angell, Courtney Banh, Andrea Barnes, Dani Brodsky, Chris Chapa, David Correa, Kayleigh Efird, Karryl Eugene, Diana Eusebio, Will Grimm, Shanna Hollis, Rheagen King, Maddy Lavosky, Cathy Lin, AJ Oehm, Shelby Slayden, Chaahat Thakker, Robin Vuitch, Nick Weihe and Kelly Zhong.
Image: From left to right, designs by Sarina Angell, Nick Weihe and Will Grimm.
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Nia Hampton: Drapetomania | Opening Reception
Friday, April 13th : 6-9pm
Waller Gallery
2420 Calvert Street : 21218
Waller Gallery is pleased to present its first show and Nia Hampton’s first solo exhibition. The exhibition is an expansive documentation of the artist’s photography within Afro-Latino communities.
Drapetomania was once a medical diagnosis used to explain why enslaved Africans ran away from the plantation. This was a racist and fabricated diagnosis of the human imperative to flee servitude. In her first solo exhibition, Nia Hampton shows the results of her own bout of “drapetomania” after graduating college and moving to Brazil. She captured the following on her journey through South America: environmental racism, African spiritual practices, femicide, black Brazilian feminism, haircut culture, and Love.
Nia Hampton is a writer, filmmaker, photographer, teacher, and producer born and raised in Baltimore. Her videography and production has been featured in Al Jazeera America and film festivals in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Johannesburg. Her written work has been featured in Vice, VillageVoice.com, City Paper, Dazed Digital, AFROPUNK, True Laurels, Genius.com, Paste Magazine, Griots Republic and Hysteria Zine.
Hampton will be giving two artists talks free of charge on April 21st and May 19th. These events will act as a more in-depth conversation about her work and share her knowledge with a wide ranging audience. We will have a closing event featuring a performance on May 25th.
Waller Gallery is a multidisciplinary art gallery focusing on art created by people of color. Conceived in 2017, by curator and scholar Joy Davis, Waller Gallery has a vision to support artists in Baltimore, the US, and globally through exhibitions, programming, and collaborative projects.
The gallery considers all forms of art including design, social practice, craft, and digital art. We are passionate about engaging with artists at any stage of their practice. Notwithstanding the current political assault on artists, especially queer and poc artists, we stand with them and will continue the tradition of black owned businesses in Baltimore.
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Spark | Opening Reception
Friday, April 13th : 6-9pm
Harborplace Pavilion, 1st Floor
Inner Harbor : 21202
A collaboration between UMBC and Towson University, the Spark Gallery will feature a variety of light-based work. Organized by Ginevra Shay, Spark will be on display during the festival and featured as a stop on the BGE Light Art Walk for the first time.
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:
Kyohei Abe (Towson)
Bradley and deCarvalho (UMBC)
Lynn Cazabon (UMBC)
Cathy C. Cook (UMBC)
Phil Davis (Towson)
Josh Demonte (Towson)
Liz Donadio (Towson)
Eric Dyer (UMBC)
Jenn Figg (Towson)
Carrie Fucile (Towson)
Susan Mann (Towson)
Jenee Mateer (Towson)
Lisa Moren (UMBC)
Ryan Murray (Towson)
Tim Nohe (UMBC)
Corrie Francis Parks (UMBC)
Sarah Sharp (UMBC)
Ryan Shelley (Towson)
Nahid Tootoonchi (Towson)
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Out of Order | KIDOOO
Friday, April 13th : 7-10pm
Maryland Art Place
218 West Saratoga Street : 21201
Maryland Art Place (MAP) announces the return of its Annual Spring Benefit & Silent Auction, Out of Order (OOO). Out of Order celebrates its 21st year on Friday, April 13, 2018, from 7 – 10 pm.
This iconic fundraiser will take place at 218 West Saratoga Street, MAP’soriginal home, located in Baltimore’s Bromo Tower Arts and Entertainment District. OOO is one of the most celebrated annual events among the Baltimore arts community. The evening provides a one-night-only opportunity for collectors new and established to acquire contemporary art at unbelievably low silent auction prices.
Out of Order provides a unique opportunity for artists of all genres and experience levels to hang their work in a salon-style exhibition. MAP expects over 400 guests to filter in and out of this year’s exhibition. Artists and art patrons will mix and mingle while enjoying music, artwork, libations, and light fare. Last year, MAP showcased over 275 artists during OOO, and welcomed 30 youth artists to KIDOOO!
For Out of Order’s 21st Anniversary, MAP is back with KIDOOO, celebrating art of all ages with an accompanying youth-driven exhibition. KIDOOO will take place in tandem with MAP’s annual OOO on April 13, 2018 on the 2nd floor in the MAP Member Gallery. KIDOOO was created as an opportunity for young artists to exhibit their work in a major arts venue, expanding MAP’s services to students in elementary, middle school and high school level arts classes. KIDOOO encourages young artists, ages six to sixteen, to participate.
Tickets to Out of Order are on sale now for $40 pre-sale on MissionTix and $45 at the door. All tickets include free entry to KIDOOO.
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Light City 2018
Saturday, April 14th – April 21st
Baltimore Waterfront
Inner Harbor to Inner Harbor East
The Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA) announces details for the third annual Light City, the nation’s first free large-scale light, music and innovation festival powering social change. The theme for 2018 is “More Love, More Lights!” as Light City expands to three weekends with Neighborhood Lights April 6-8, the Light City art and music festival April 14-21and the Labs@LightCity social innovation conference April 18-21. The light of Light City spreads to touch even more Baltimore neighborhoods through expanded Neighborhood Lights and Brilliant Baltimore programs and a new “Eye on Charlie” initiative. In addition, Labs@LightCity, the festival’s social innovation conference, generates a glowing ecosystem of ideas and learning during the day, before the bright lights and live entertainment make Baltimore shine at night. Light City is fully accessible, free and open to all.
The festival returns to Baltimore’s waterfront (from the Inner Harbor to Harbor East) Saturday, April 14 through Saturday, April 21, 2018. Festival hours are from 7pm-11pm Sunday through Thursday, and 7pm-midnight on Friday and Saturdays. Light City’s BGE Light Art Walk transforms the harbor’s brick-lined promenade to an interactive playground with awe-inspiring light art installations, performances, concerts, a fun-filled family zone and special moments including an opening night parade and a closing night fireworks finale. Plus, the festival’s food and beverage offerings are proudly 100% local, reflecting Baltimore’s burgeoning cuisine scene. All of the 21 light installations on display are brand new to Light City, with distinguished artists hailing from Belgium, China, Canada, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Virginia and Illinois. Ten of the distinguished artists are from Baltimore. The artists were selected by a panel consisting of six jurors: Cecilia Alemani, Christopher Bedford, Alessandra Caggiano, Kimberly Drew, Lance Fung and Julia Kaganskiy. Many of the artworks have overarching themes related to topics such as sustainability, marine life, Baltimore history, social justice, healthy waterways, transformation and relationships. A complete listing of the artworks featured in this year’s festival can be found here: [lightcity.org/lightartpage]
Other entertainment along the BGE Light Art Walk includes interactive, illuminated strolling and pop-up performances and a full schedule of live concerts and DJ sets on two stages. On the Light Up the Night! Concert Stage at the Inner Harbor Amphitheater, headlining acts include Grand Master Flash on Saturday, April 14 at 10pm; G. Love & Special Sauce Friday, April 20 at 10:30pm; and Kimbra Saturday, April 21 at 10:30pm. On the new Club Light City Stage presented by Morgan State University, house, dance and hip hop DJs perform along with local talent such as TrillNatured, Mighty Mark and DJ LoveGoddess.
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2018 CityLit Festival
Saturday, April 14th : 9-5:30pm
University of Baltimore
11 West Mount Royal Avenue : 21201
CityLit Project announces its 15th CityLit Festival, a free daylong celebration of literary arts on Saturday, April 14, 2018 from 9:00am – 5:30pm at the University of Baltimore’s William H. Thumel, Sr. Business Center at 11 W. Mt. Royal Avenue. This year’s schedule is designed to challenge and encourage readers and writers to explore different genres, to connect with members of a burgeoning community of writers, and to take a deep dive into words and books.
Acclaimed writers include The New Yorker staff writer and former editor of the Paris Review Philip Gourevitch, author of the riveting work, We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories of Rwanda, who will discuss his forthcoming work You Hide That You Hate Me, I Hide That I Know. Gourevitch returns to investigate Rwanda’s unique and profoundly thought-provoking experiment in national reconstruction, grappling with the burdens of betrayed humanity and forgiveness. In a 90-minute master class titled “The Way Things Feel,” poet Yrsa Daley-Ward, of mixed West Indian and West African heritage, will read from her poetry collection bone, said to be written like “holding truth in your hands,” and her forthcoming work, The Terrible: A Storyteller’s Memoir. Poet-turned-novelist Elizabeth Acevedo debuts one of the most anticipated young adult novels of 2018 with her first work of fiction, Poet X, about “finding your own voice.” Joanne Gabbin, founder of the nation’s first academic center for Black poetry, Furious Flower Poetry Center celebrates with Abdul Ali, Lauren K. Alleyne, and Tony Medina who join CityLit for a vibrant poetry experience.
Over 75 writers will be represented in 20 sessions devised to disrupt the norm, spark action, and inspire creativity. Programs include We Wear the Mask, Lock & Load: Armed Fiction, Find A Way (inspired by the op-ed piece coined by Diana Nyad in the New York Times and the #MeToo Movement), straight talk with publishing professionals, Screenwriting 101, Playwriting 101, new poetry and fiction releases, Funding & Advocacy for Writers, and a three-year compilation of the laudable speaker series Listen to Your Mother.
The Literary Marketplace will consist of literary organizations and authors from across the region with magazines, books, and information on literary programs. Tabling registration information is open now on a first come, first served basis through CityLit’s website at www.citylitproject.org.
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Damsels in Distress- Black Edge Wall Sculpture by Anna U. Davis | Opening Reception
Saturday, April 14th : 4-6pm
Galerie Myrtis
2224 North Charles Street : 21218
Galerie Myrtis is pleased to present its first solo exhibition by graphic mixed-media artist Anna U. Davis. In “Damsels in Distress – Black Edge Wall Sculptures” Davis critically examines issues of sexual harassment and gender inequality. By combing black and white ink, and acrylic paint to contoured birch plywood, Davis creates sculptural figures that explore misogynistic behavior and investigates the physical and emotional impact through her personal lens.
The opening reception will be held on Saturday, April 14, from 4:00 – 6:00 pm. The exhibit runs from April 14th through June 9th. Visit website for programming information. www.GalerieMyrtis.net
“We only see the top of the iceberg. What lurks beneath, are stereotypes highly steeped in tradition, culture and religious beliefs. These stereotypes are holding women back from reaching their full potential. It will take all of us to change this pattern. Men have to take action, instead of sitting on the sidelines and accepting the sexist behavior that occurs in daily interactions. Men need to speak up and show by example their disapproval of these attitudes. Women should empower each other and not undermine each other. We are not enemies, even though I have witnessed the repeated interaction between women that reinforce the very things that keep us down. Women are so often portrayed and treated as victims in need of rescuing, hence the title of the show “Damsels in Distress.”
– Anna U. Davis
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MICA GRAD SHOW III | Opening Reception
Saturday, April 14th : 5-8:30pm
MICA, Riggs & Leidy Gallery
131 West North Avenue : 21201
MICA’s Office of Graduate Studies is delighted to announce GRAD SHOW III, featuring students from the MFA, Community Arts, LeRoy E. Hoffberger, Mount Royal School of Art, Photographic and Electronic Media, and Rinehart School of Sculpture. MICA GRAD SHOW III will be on view April 13th – April 29th in Riggs and Leidy Gallery, Lazarus Center. Opening Reception, Saturday, April 14th, 5PM – 8:30PM.
Visit micagradshow.com for a complete schedule of exhibitions, film screenings, public programs, and student-curated installations throughout Baltimore city.
