With all this extra time spent at home, perhaps you are Kondo-ing the entire house, wall by wall, room by room, floor by floor. Neatly stacking the outdated magazines you half-read onto one corner of the coffee table, throwing out that old tiny bunch of dried, dead carnations, moving all of the ceramic vessels that have collected on one shelf over to another shelf. Perhaps you’re moving your art collection around, trying out new associations and relationships amongst the work. Maybe some of that collection is feeling a little stagnant and you find yourself desiring something new and nice, while also wanting to support the livelihood of an artist and a gallery you admire.
Look no further than the Baltimore- and DC-based galleries and artist-run spaces currently selling contemporary regional art, much of it under $500, via flat file programs and online shops. Some are auctioning work to add to a fund for artists in need, such as STABLE Arts DC, while others such as the Washington Project for the Arts and Y:ART Gallery act as a conduit between artists and their buyers online. Here is a small sampling of what you’ll find—just a few of our favorites.
Artist-run gallery based in Downtown Baltimore. Shop via website, Instagram, email [email protected] for full PDF of available works.
Arnaud Loumeau, Untitled Symmetry Drawing 3 (2009), ink and stickers on paper, 11.75 x 8.24 inches, $200 unframed $300 framed
Ariel Cavalcante Foster,
"Etlingera Elatior" (2018), linoleum cut print on fabric, 28 x 22 inches, $300
Bonnie Crawford, "Pneumonia Weaving" (2020), dental floss and monofilament, made at home while the artist recovered from pneumonia, 1 3/4 x 1 3/4 inches, $175
Vijay Masharani, "Quicker" (2017), archival digital print, 16 x 12 inches, $250
Jack Coyle, "Hellride" (2019), ink on paper, 11 x 8.5 inches, $250
Yoon Sun Shin, "Parking Garage" (2019), oil bar and oil pastel on loose canvas, 13 x 15 inches, $250 unframed
Artist-run gallery dedicated to advancing artists’ careers through solo exhibitions and studio visits. Their 2020 Flat File Program selected almost 30 artists from hundreds of applicants, all based in the MD-DC-VA corridor. Available works are viewable on their site.
Elliot Earl Keeley, “Green Rocky Road” (2018), mixed media on paper, 11 x 14 inches, $200
Sue Crawford, “Lines are Feelings Too #17” (2019), gouache on paper, 16 x 12 inches, $225
Julia Clouser, “Sea Gem Vacation #3” (2019), archival inkjet print, 24 x 18 inches, $325
Ayaka Takao, “marijuana is very illegal in japan” (2019), white and speckled clay, glaze, 8.5 x 8.5 x .5 inches, $200Margaret Rorison, “Bosque de Chapultepec” (2019), archival pigment print, 12 x 16 inches, $180
Marybeth Chew, “The Being” (2017), marker on paper, 8.5 x 11 inches, $300
Artist-centric exhibition space for emerging artists and arts leaders. Shop their Flat File featuring more than 500 works by regional artists, all 2-dimensional, 16 x 20 inches or smaller, and priced $500 and below.
Rose Jaffe, “Rain Sit” (2019), acrylic on paper, $125
Ding Ren, “Carpet in the Wild” (2018), digital C-print from 35mm film, ed. 1/10, 7 x 5 inches, $150
Maps Glover, “Stop Looking at Me” (2019), drawing on archival paper, 8.5 x 11 inches, $100
Baltimore-based gallery that specializes in 20th- and 21st-century American art with a focus on work created by African American artists. The current exhibition, Women Heal Through Rite and Ritual, includes work by Lavett Ballard, Tawny Chatmon, Oletha DeVane, Shanequa Gay, Delita Martin, Elsa Muñoz, and Renée Stout, “who look to non-Western traditions for inspiration in exploring a woman’s role as nurturer of family and community; and as traditional healer, conjure woman, and clairvoyant who dwells in both the physical and spiritual realms.” View the exhibition and find purchasing information online.
Delita Martin, “Six Persimmons” (2019), acrylic, charcoal, decorative papers, hand stitching, relief printing, 72 x 51 1/2 inches, $27,000
Tawny Chatmon, "Mother God" (2020), 24k gold leaf and acrylic paint on archival pigment print, 30 x 24 inches, $11,000
Lavett Ballard, "Kindred" (2020), collage with digital paper, acrylic and oil paint on reclaimed wood fencing, 6 x 4 feet, $7,500
Elsa Muñoz, "Controlled Burn 14 (The Stewardship of Old Medicine)" (2020), oil on panel, 40 x 54 inches, $10,000
Oletha DeVane, "Erzulie" (2012), wood, beads, fabric, glass and metal, 20 x 9 inches, $14,000
Shanequa Gay, "in praise" (2019), limited edition black and white photograph on somerset velvet, 44 x 30 inches, $1,750
Video and Photos From the Artists' Talk at BmoreArt's C+C Gallery
Both artists explore a precarious line between the sacred and the profane, subverting the visual language of sanctified relics and precious gems, in order to conjure up bizarre and beautiful planes of reality.
What to Expect When the National Council on Education in the Ceramic Arts Conference Lands in Baltimore Next Year? Baltimoreans Share their Experiences from this Year's Edition in Detroit
I’ve included some highlights from my experience of NCECA with some thoughts from others who have connections with Baltimore. These are only a fraction of what you can see and experience. If you are friends with ceramic artists, potters, or collectors the conference feels like a family reunion.
"Then, Now, and Tomorrow: CAPP New Acquisitions" Celebrates Two Decades of Collecting at the University of Maryland
The Stamp Gallery’s current exhibition Then, Now, and Tomorrow: CAPP New Acquisitions celebrates the collection’s twentieth anniversary by displaying the eight artworks selected by the 2024-2025 CAPP committee alongside older collection highlights.
