BmoreArt

Catalyst Contemporary
523 North Charles Street : 21201

Catalyst Contemporary is excited to announce its Winter Fine Art Print Fair. Featuring unique, one-of-a-kind fine art prints including cyanotypes, monoprints, wood block prints, and more.

Artists Include:

Joan Cox
Maren Henson
Sanzi Kermes
Robert Langham III
Ajay Malghan
Randi Reiss-McCormack

Each print is unique and original.

Stop on by and support your local artists!

Miniature Holiday Exhibition | Opening Reception
Saturday, December 7th • 6-9pm

Merriweather District Marketing Center
10960 Grantchester Way : Columbia

The Howard Hughes Corporation® (NYSE: HHC) will host the creators of the internationally acclaimed and innovative augmented reality comic book series, Priya’s Shakti, featuring the first female Indian superhero and rape survivor at Merriweather District for the comic book series’ third installment. The new comic book, “Priya and The Lost Girls,” which focuses on sex trafficking, will be released for free during the “16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.” The 16 days begin on November 25 and are part of an international campaign to challenge violence against women and girls.

In its third edition, creators Ram Devineni, Dipti Mehta, Syd Fini, and Neda Kazemifar have chosen to celebrate its launch in the Merriweather District as Devineni was able to complete the comic book’s augmented reality artwork while taking part in the Merriweather District Artist-In-Residence (MD AIR) program. The comic book team has also partnered with Apne Aap Women Worldwide – one of the world’s leading NGOs supporting at-risk girls and women in India and the U.S. by ensuring them access to their rights and working for policy and social change.

WHAT: The launch will include a private media reception on Thursday, December 5th, as well as a full day of public programming celebrating the launch of the third installment of Priya’s Shakti augmented reality comic book series: “Priya and The Lost Girls.” The public programming will include FREE community workshops and a live podcast recording of Elevate Maryland featuring the creative team behind the comic book series.

WHO: Event speakers and distinguished guests include:
Creators of “Priya and The Lost Girls” Augmented Reality Comic Book Series
Ram Devineni, Producer & Creator
Dipti Mehta, Co-author
Syd Fini, Artist
Neda Kazemifar, colorist
Greg Fitchitt, President, Columbia, The Howard Hughes Corporation
Vanessa Rodriguez, Vice President of Marketing, Columbia, The Howard Hughes Corporation
Ami Dang, Baltimore-Native and Acclaimed Sitar Player and Music Composer (Private Event)

PRIYA’S SHAKTI PUBLIC RECEPTION – FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Saturday, December 7 – 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m
11:00 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. Community Workshop #1: Build your own female superhero
Workshop #1: Your superhero is ready to be created! The team that creates Priya’s Shakti is hosting a workshop that will show you the process of creating a superhero character and a story narrative for a comic book series. The workshop will begin with an overview of how to build a story. Once you have created your plot, bring the story to life with your own superhero protagonist. This workshop is a part of a workshop series. During the first workshop you will create your narrative and superhero character. The second workshop will take you through the process of illustrating and creating a comic strip. Upon completion, the team will show you how to create an augmented reality layer on top of the comic strip.

1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Community Workshop #2: Create your own interactive comic book series
Workshop #2: Comic books and superheroes are a global phenomenon. In this introductory workshop, we learn the basics of creating a comic book from scripting to designing. Then we add a digital layer using augmented reality which makes the artwork come to life. Open to everyone who is curious and enthusiastic about this medium. This workshop is a part of a 2-workshop series. During the first workshop you will create your narrative and superhero character. The second workshop will take you through the process of illustrating and creating a comic strip. Upon completion, the team will show you how to create an augmented reality layer on top of the comic strip. You may attend each workshop or both together. Please RSVP for each individual workshop.
4:00 p.m. – 6:00pm. Elevate Maryland Live Podcast Recording with Priya Shakti team
Live Podcast: Join the Merriweather District’s podcast partner, Elevate Maryland for a live recording interview with the creators of Priya’s Shakti. Tom and Candace will interview Ram Devineni, who recently participated in the Artist in Residence program, located in Downtown Columbia. Ram will discuss how he uses comic books as a medium to broach difficult human rights subjects, specifically gender violence and cultural stigmas. Additionally, Ram will be joined by the writer and illustrators of Priya’s Shakti.

WHERE: Marketing Center at 10960 Grantchester Way, Columbia, MD 21044.
Located in the heart of the Merriweather District, the only ground up neighborhood in The Howard Hughes Corporation’s redevelopment of Downtown Columbia.

About Priya and The Lost Girls:
The comic book integrates cutting-edge technology and was one of the first comic books to use augmented reality. By scanning the cover and pages of the comic book with the free augmented reality app — Artivve, readers can unlock exclusive content including 3D-animation, real-life stories, and other fully-immersive experiences including an eye-popping use of green-screen characters.

Inspired by ancient mythological tales, the comic book tells the story of Priya—a mortal woman and gang-rape survivor—who returns home on her flying tiger, Sahas, and discovers all the young women have disappeared in her rural village including her sister, Laxmi. She learns they were taken to an underground brothel city called Rahu ruled by a demon who gets his power through fear and entrapment of women. Priya is a female superhero of the #MeToo generation, she inspires teenagers to treat women differently — especially those who are vicitims of sexual abuse.
The comic book series was honored by UN Women as a “gender equality champion” and had over 500,000 downloads and hundreds of news stories written about it reaching millions of readers worldwide. The comic book is free worldwide in every digital format and downloadable in English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Hindi off the project’s website. Rattapallax, a literary publishing house and film production company based in New York City and New Delhi, is producing the entire project.