This Week: We are featuring online events that you can participate in from the comfort of your own couch plus a few calls for entry to get involved locally and nationally. Stay home, stay healthy, stay engaged in the arts.
To submit your calendar event, email us at [email protected]!
BmoreArt Newsletter: Sign up for news and special offers!
We’ll send you our top stories of the week, selected event listings, and our favorite calls for entry—right to your inbox every Tuesday.
Virtual Happy Hour: Clementine Hunter Birthday Celebration
Tuesday, January 19 • 5:30-6:30pm
presented by National Museum of Women in the Arts
On Tuesday, Jan. 19, the National Museum of Women in the Arts will celebrate self-taught artist Clementine Hunter’s birthday with a virtual happy hour. The latest in a popular series of creative ‘toasts’ to notable women artists, the event will feature artworks and stories about Hunter’s life. A local mixologist will teach participants how to craft a specialty drink in her honor.
Clementine Hunter (1887–1988) lived and worked most of her life on a cotton plantation near Natchitoches, Louisiana. She began drawing and painting in the 1940s when she was already a grandmother. Hunter painted at night, after working all day in the plantation house, and used whatever surfaces she could find, including canvas, wood, gourds, paper, snuff boxes, wine bottles, iron pots, cutting boards and plastic milk jugs. Working from memory, she recorded everyday life in and around the plantation, from work in the cotton fields to family funerals. She rendered her figures, usually Black, in expressionless profile and disregarded formal perspective and scale. Though she first exhibited in 1949, Hunter did not garner public attention until the 1970s when both the Museum of American Folk Art in New York and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art exhibited her paintings. She continued to gain local and national attention for her complex depictions of Black Southern life; Hunter was the first Black artist to have a solo exhibition at the New Orleans Museum of Art in 1986.
Registration is required. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about how to join.
Digital Cultures in the Pandemic: A Virtual Field Trip to the Peale in Second Life
Thursday, January 21 • 1pm
presented by The Peale
Join the Peale’s David London and Nancy Proctor as they chat with Prof. Tom Boellstorff at the Peale in Second Life about transition and change in the cultural sector. This chat will take place one day after the inauguration of a new President in the United States, and also during what may prove to be the period of highest COVID-19 infection. The pandemic has changed so much, and it has taken place during a time of social and political change as well. How should we think about all these transitions in the context of COVID? How do our “transitions” between the physical world and virtual worlds shape this broader sense of change? And what might not be changing in all this? Finally, how can exhibitions and cultural organizations help us understand and rethink transition in these troubled times?
This event is part of the “Virtual Cultures in Pandemic Times” project from the University of California, Irvine, and is being filmed by Bernhard Drax aka Draxtor.
Magnolia: An Intimate Conversation with Nekisha Durrett and Endia Beal Addressing Systemic Racism, Justice Reform & Gender Equality through Art
Thursday, January 21 • 6pm
presented by Cody Gallery
Register here to attend.
In collaboration with the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Cody Gallery presents Magnolia: An Intimate Conversation with exhibiting artist Nekisha Durrett and artist and Independent Curator, Endia Beal. The conversation with be held on Zoom. To attend, please click here to register.
This event will be held on the occasion of Nekisha Durrett’s solo exhibition MAGNOLIA at Cody Gallery, on view from January 21 to March 19, 2021. Durrett seeks to hold space for Black women to not only be seen, but celebrated as worthy of justice, gender parity, and inclusion in the narratives they so profoundly inform. Durrett’s work often materializes on a monumental scale through public art and installations addressing marginalized communities and their histories. In this exhibition, the artist presents a more intimate experience, calling viewers to engage with the stories and lives of 30 women murdered by law enforcement, using the Magnolia leaf as metaphor.
Nekisha Durrett (American, b. 1976) currently lives and works in Washington, DC, where she creates bold and playful large scale installations and public art that aim to make the ordinary enchanting and awe inspiring while summoning subject matter that is often hidden from plain sight. She earned her BFA at The Cooper Union in New York City and MFA from The University of Michigan School of Art and Design as a Horace H. Rackham Fellow. Durrett has exhibited her work throughout the Washington, DC, area at the US Botanic Garden, West End Library, Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, Flashpoint and Hillyer Art Galleries, and Arlington Arts Center. Nationally, she has exhibited at Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ; Diaspora Vibe Gallery, Miami, FL; Rush and Corridor Galleries, New York. Durrett has been named one of 40 Under 40 Washingtonians to Watch by Washingtonian Magazine, received multiple project grants from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and was an Artist-in-Residence at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT. Durrett was a finalist in the National Portrait Gallery’s prestigious Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition and was featured in “The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today” exhibition. Her most recent installation titled Up ‘til Now, a freestanding, solar powered sculpture that evokes the history of Washington’s landscape and architecture, can be found in the city’s Dupont Circle neighborhood. She recently completed a permanent installation on the glass-walled vestibule in the newly renovated Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in Washington and is currently in production on a wall mounted public sculpture in the Liberty City community of Miami, Florida, in collaboration with conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas.
Endia Beal (American, b. 1985) is a North Carolina based artist, curator, and author. Beal’s work merges fine arts with social injustice. She uses photography and video to reveal the often overlooked and unappreciated experiences unique to people of color. Specifically, Beal’s first monograph, Performance Review, brings together work over a 10-year period that highlights the realities and challenges for women of color in the corporate workplace. She lectures about these experiences, which also addresses bias in corporate hiring practices. Beal is featured in several online editorials including The New York Times, NBC, BET, Huffington Post, and National Geographic; she also appeared in TIME Magazine, VICE Magazine, Essence, Marie Claire and Newsweek. Her work has been exhibited in several institutions including the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University in Durham, NC; The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, MI, and Aperture Foundation in New York, NY. Beal’s photographs are in private and public collections, such as The Studio Museum in Harlem in New York, NY, Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago in Chicago, IL, and Portland State University in Portland, OR. She is a fellow of the Center for Curatorial Leadership and completed residencies at Harvard Art Museums, the Center for Photography at Woodstock and McColl Center for Art + Innovation. Beal received grants from the Magnum Foundation and the Open Society Foundation, among others. Beal holds a dual BFA in art history and studio art from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an MFA from Yale University.
The Puppet 6-Pack
Friday, January 22 • 7pm
presented by Baltimore Rock Opera Society
The Puppet 6-Pack is a brand new original collection of six short films produced by Baltimore-based artists, musicians, puppeteers, and writers. These puppet and animation-based musical masterpieces will be premiering on January 15th and 22nd both as a live-streamed premiere and then On-Demand. This is top quality content by and for fans of puppets, epic rock musicals, and hilarious visionary short films.
How does this work?
Three of the films will be shown on January 15th, and three on January 22nd at 7 PM along with live interviews and Q&A with the creators of each film. Following the stream, ticket holders will be able to watch them on-demand through our Patron Portal whenever they like. The schedules for the premiere dates are:
January 22nd: No. 1 Pencil, The Feast, and Below the Thunders of the Upper Deep
Short Video Guests- Amanda Boutwell, Kim Le, Justin Sabe
Ticket Options:
You can purchase access to the individual live streams for $12 each. This includes access to on-demand following the live streams.
OR
You can purchase the Puppet 6-Pack All-Access Pass for only $25! The All-Access Pass comes with:
– Access to both the January 15th and January 22nd live stream events
– On-demand playback
– On-demand streaming of our feature-length film Holes: A Puppet Anthology featuring all six short films and spiritual sequel framing device for RATS! from the 2015 Rock Opera 6-Pack! Coming early spring 2021! (Note: access to the full film will be sent separately)
Click here to purchase the Puppet 6-Pack All Access Pass!
Here is a taste of each of the six short films. All the shows will use puppets in slightly different ways with wildly divergent moods and music:
U R Tha 1! Tresey follows the groove through a funk-filled urban odyssey! Along the way he meets a new friend from the neighborhood and goes on an exciting journey that will change the hood forever. Can Tresey and his group of funkateers bring back the funk before curfew? Put the needle to the groove, join the gang, and find out now!
No. 1 Pencil – Y’all know the No. 2 pencil. Did you know that the No. 1 pencil was capable of opening a portal to another dimension and was invented with the help of a demon? Hard rocking and tongue-in-cheek take on a tortured scientist’s quest for greatness.
On My Shoulders – What if the angel and devil on your shoulders were real, and everybody could see and hear them? For our downtrodden hero, Charlie, they very much are, and he’ll have to learn to live with them on this funky rock journey of self-acceptance.
Litmus Test – In an underground bunker in a post-apocalyptic future, a young scientist and a strange visitor engage in a debate that will decide the fate of the human colony. A visionary and searching science fiction tale.
The Feast – In the tiny village of Chowtown, the biggest is the best – therefore, the person who eats the most is elected to rule over the rest! It’s a flawless system until a stranger introduces a brand new innovation to the world – cannibalism. A stop-motion fairytale you can really sink your teeth into.
Below the Thunders of the Upper Deep – A mad submarine captain and loyal crew search out and seek to wake the Kraken. A propelling industrial soundtrack sets the mood to our Captain’s whimsical yet horrific end.
VIRTUAL AREPERA with Mercedes Golip
Saturday, January 23 • 6:30-7:30pm
presented by Washington Project for the Arts
Join us for a “Virtual Arepera,” a food-centered participatory lecture by Mercedes Golip on Saturday, January 23 from 6:30–7:30 pm ET. This is the opening event for WPA’s next project, “Notions of Exile,” curated by Fabiola R. Delgado and Faride Mereb.
Areperas are Venezuelan gathering spaces where arepas are sold 24/7 every day of the year. This virtual event reimagines Areperas, offering a guided culinary experience contextualizing Venezuelan food culture, immigration, and hybridity. The “Virtual Arepera” is free to attend and open to the public. It will be held online via Zoom in Spanglish.
The event will take place on Saturday, January 23 from 6:30 to 7:30 pm ET via Zoom. Registration is free for all who wish to attend, and for those who would like the full Arepera experience, home-made pantry boxes are available to order with locally sourced American ingredients that meld traditional Venezuelan flavors. Using the ingredients from the box, combined with a few easy-to-purchase additions, you can create your own arepas during, before, or after this event. The experience of cooking together, while apart, mirrors that of the myriad of migrants in search of familiar and nostalgic, often unreproducible flavors.
Ozone Atmosphere | Monsieur Zohore & Sandy Williams IV
Saturday, January 21 • Opening Day 12-6pm | Ongoing through February 27
@ Springsteen Gallery
What does it mean to watch something live and die in the same moment? What does it mean to be Black in America right now? In their first two-person collaboration titled Ozone Atmosphere, Monsieur Zohore and Sandy Williams IV explore disparate ideas about the inevitability of the world ending and the transitory nature of Black life. During the artists’ lifetime, concerns about depletions in the ozone layer and climate change have permeated our social consciousness, nationally and globally. In recent years the words climate, weather, and atmosphere have also been used to describe the totalizing ways that anti-Blackness circumscribes race relations within and beyond the U.S. Zohore employs humor and domestic labor to critique cultural expectations that arise from consumer-driven capitalism and his Ivory Coast parentage. In pursuit of threads that connect Black diasporic origin stories to official records and colloquial histories, Williams confronts memory, the body, and practices of resistance. By linking ozone depletion with anti-Blackness, the artists investigate how oppressive forces affect everyday gestures such as breathing and simply existing at the level of the environment and Black identity.
Thematically, contemporary culture and current events such as living through a pandemic and a new era of racial reckoning infuse the works in Ozone Atmosphere with a fleeting urgency that finds kindred expression in immateriality and impermanence. Zohore’s dragon balls live in Plexiglas boxes amid grass that will wither and die during the course of the exhibition. A reference to the Japanese animated series of the same name where the characters journey to resurrect lost loved ones, each set of Zohore’s dragon balls memorializes either one of the artist’s kin or a significant historical figure. Nearby, Williams’s wax candle sculptures and family portraits, both of which mimic the form of equestrian monuments, slowly melt and fade as his alluringly transparent backpacks mark time and memory. Within these works, bleach, fabric dye, resin, and paper towels comingle with wax and time-based media just as fact mixes with fiction in an increasingly uncertain world.
Conceptually and formally, the works pivot on perspective, duplicity, and the body as surface. The objects all change depending on the viewer’s position and presence, and all of the objects engage viewers in one obvious sense but then perform something different. Meanwhile, the artists’ manipulations of material surfaces sidestep stereotypical imaginings of the Black male body. In a gigabyte video comprised of one long shot, Williams lies in his bed naked—a revised take on the art historical tradition of the reclining nude. His miniscule, mundane movements suggest repose as well as stagnancy. Zohore’s paper towel “paintings,” on the other hand, transform the surface—the body—of the work. Canvas substrates covered in layers of paper towels imprinted with images culled from popular culture approximate paintings but they are in fact sculptures. Zohore’s half-real, half-fake birds of paradise rooted in Windex function similarly. Rather than a vibrant flowering plant in fertile soil, his birds of paradise start to bloom then die before realizing their full potential.
By focusing on the atmospheric overlaps between their work and their own Black (male) experiences, the artists compose a compelling visual dance—a duet—that extends Black conceptual art traditions to new forms of abstraction and surrealism. Looking to the stars and lucid dreaming are key to these new forms, both of which are realized in Zohore’s telescope sculpture. Engraved with a line from Langston Hughes’s 1921 poem, “Stars,” the telescope acts as a portal to the sky while the accompanying stars that Zohore purchases for victims of racial and sexual violence act as memorials. Here the sky, much like the ozone layer and Blackness, becomes a sort of skin for the artists. It is porous, able to absorb and reflect, and it is an abstraction. In Williams’s words, it occupies the “space between the Earth of our present and the projected Space-futurisms that we envision and extend beyond our bodies far into parallel universes. This exhibition is an attempt to understand our air quality, not as simple or thin-skinned, but as the complicated environment where we both breathe and ‘cannot breathe.’” Ultimately, Ozone Atmosphere constructs a new vision of identity-based art. Across media and genre, the works ebb and flow with the challenges of our time.
– Tiffany E. Barber
Calls for Entry // Opportunities
$550.00 Innovate Grants | Call for Artists & Photographers
Innovate Grant is now accepting submissions for the Winter 2021 Cycle. Innovate Grant awards (2) $550.00 grants each quarter, to one Visual Artist and one Photographer. In addition to receiving a grant award, winners will be featured and recognized on our website and join a growing community of vibrant and talented artists. For more information and to apply visit https://
Explore the work of past Innovate Grant recipients and read their interviews at https://
MICA Grassroots DesignFest 2021
registration deadline January 29
sponsored by MICA
DETAILS: The event will take virtually across two consecutive Saturday afternoons (all held online via Zoom and Mural): March 20th and March 27th 1p-4:30p. There will also be one mid-week check-in 5p-6p on Wednesday, March 24th.
EXPECTATIONS: By signing up for MICA Grassroots DesignFest, you are agreeing to donate your time at the event. Plan to log in on time for each session and remain for the full period. You are only committing to this one week, and while you are welcome to follow-up with your nonprofit partner after the event, it is not expected. Participating nonprofits understand that many projects will be prototypes, outlines, or drafts and will not be fully completed during DesignFest.
While the design team’s work will occur during the scheduled DesignFest sessions, designers may want to put in some additional design time during the week between the sessions. This is completely voluntary and not required. We understand everyone has varying schedules and availability, and each design team will divide up the work in the way that best suits the members of the team. We are committed to respecting your time, creating a dynamic and engaging event, and providing a thoughtful framework for the week. We are also excited to send you a care package of goodies and supplies ahead of the event. All participants must sign an intellectual property agreement and photo release (included below).
NEXT STEPS: By early March you will get connected with your design coach, design team and nonprofit partner. At that time, we ask that you review the nonprofit partner’s questionnaire and any existing logos, files, style guides, etc. in their Google Drive or Dropbox folder. You are encouraged to follow-up with questions and background research ahead of the event.
PLEASE NOTE: Let us know if you are unable to attend after signing up so we can plan accordingly.
Questions? Email [email protected]
Celebrating Cultures | Call for Entry
deadline January 31
sponsored by Towson Arts Collective
We are blessed with many different cultures and traditions that are integral to the fabric of our community. This show is a celebration of all our unique backgrounds and traditions.
Participating artists in this exhibition will also be able to join in a virtual Celebrating Cultures event where entrants can share about their culture and talk about the inspiration for their artwork. Visit our website for details and for the entry form.
TIME LINE
Sunday, Jan. 31 | Drop off form 12pm – 3pm
Thursday, Feb. 4 | Zoom Reception at 5pm
Wednesday, Feb. 17 | Celebrating Cultures Event via Zoom at 5pm
Sunday, Feb. 28 | Pick up from 12pm – 3pm
Photographer of the Month | Call for Entry
deadline January 31
sponsored by ITSLIQUID
ITSLIQUID Group officially presents PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE MONTH – JANUARY 2021, a competition open to all photographers of any level worldwide and established to increase and develop the art market and the dialogue between collectors, art critics, journalists and art lovers.
The winners will be featured on ITSLIQUID Platform, promoted extensively worldwide and considered for any upcoming curatorial projects of ITSLIQUID Group.
To have your images seen by more than 300.000 monthly unique visitors around the world, including leading museums, galleries, publications, collectors, curators, and more, we encourage all to take this opportunity and connect with our international audience.
Accepted Categories: Portrait, Landscape, Travel, Architecture, Macro, Fine Art, Still life, Documentary, Abstract, Fashion, Wildlife.
Images will be judged based on creativity, originality, quality of work, and overall artistic ability. Winners will be chosen based on the quality of single entry as well as quality of overall work.
2021: Business Of Arts Professional Development Mini Grant Application
deadline January 31
sponsored by BOPA
The Business of Arts Networking Series is designed to attract and cultivate emerging creatives in the city. This program provides professional guidance, performance and showcase opportunities for emerging artists in Baltimore City. The quarterly events are comprised of a combination of the following: Networking events, webinars, virtual and in person presentation, performance and showcasing opportunities, and technical support grants ( annually if funding is available). Funding for the BOA Professional Development Mini Grant is supported by The Maryland State Arts Council.
Due to the financial hardships that many have experienced since the beginning of the pandemic many artists/creatives have had to postpone efforts to help professionalize their craft. The Arts Council of the City of Baltimore is providing professional development mini grants, as a part of the Business of Arts Networking Series, to help artists/creatives pursue their professional endeavors during these challenging financial times. These one-time $300 mini grants are designed to support individual artists/creatives across various disciplines in pursuit of deepening their knowledge and strengthening their professional practice. Applicants must use the funds toward support meaningful short-term professional development opportunities they’ve been unable to pursue due to financial setbacks imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. Grants are awarded on a first come first serve basis.
WHO CAN APPLY?
Applicants must have at least 1 year of paid professional experience in a specified arts related field and be practicing in Baltimore City. Arts and cultural organizations may not apply.
These mini grants are designed to provide support for emerging and mid-career artists to pursue short-term opportunities to upgrade their knowledge and skills. These funds can be used for but are not limited to the following: short courses (non degree), certificate training, virtual conference purchases, purchase of artistic supplies and/or equipment, licensing fees, website maintenance, logo domain purchases, headshots, etc.
Applicants must be a resident of Baltimore City
FUNDS MAY NOT BE USED FOR:
Finding Santuary | Call for Entry
deadline February 6
sponsored by Visionary Art Collective
What does sanctuary mean to you? Sanctuary can be a place, a person, or perhaps even an activity that takes us out of our everyday lives and transports us to a sacred place. Many of us find sanctuary in the very act of creating art. For our upcoming online exhibit, we are looking for work that explores the notion of sanctuary, and perhaps even challenges the concept of what sanctuary can mean.
Deadline: February 6, 2021 at 11:59 PM EST
About our Guest Curator: Ekaterina Popova is an artist who believes that our entire life is a canvas and we have the power to create anything we desire. Her mission is to empower artists and give them the tools to take responsibility for their own career and find validation and success from within.
Ekaterina spent the past decade growing her painting practice and focusing on depicting the interior in a series of lush and colorful paintings. These works helped her explore and heal her relationship with the idea of “home,” which carries a wide array of emotions for humans, especially immigrants. The works have been recognized, exhibited, and published internationally. Additionally, Ekaterina is the founder of Create! Magazine, a publication for artists, makers, and artpreneurs. Visit www.ekaterinapopova.com + www.createmagazine.com
Selected artists will also be featured on Create Magazine’s blog and Instagram.
SAY IT LOUD | Call for Entry
deadline May 30
sponsored by Bmore NOMA + Baltimore Architecture Foundation + AIA Baltimore
Baltimore Architecture Foundation, AIA Baltimore, and Bmore NOMA announce SAY IT LOUD Maryland, an exhibition that will spotlight the contributions of diverse design professionals to the built environment. Created by Beyond the Built Environment, SAY IT LOUD will launch a virtual exhibition in Summer 2021 and a physical exhibition at the Baltimore Center for Architecture and Design in Fall 2021. This will be the first major exhibition at the Baltimore Center for Architecture and Design. The exhibition will be designed by Pascale Sablan, FAIA, founder of Beyond the Built Environment, and recipient of the 2021 AIA Whitney M. Young Jr. Award.
header image: Sandy Williams IV & Jack Doerner Unattended Baggage IV, 2018
This Week: Bill Schmidt and scholar Kristen Hileman in conversation at C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore School for the Arts Senior Recitals, Work Matters lecture at BMI, Rent Party at Baltimore Museum of Art, Jami Attenberg at Greedy Reads Remington, Out of Order (OOO) and more!
This week's news includes: 25th Annual Maryland Film Festival, Aubrey Plaza cast in John Waters' Liarmouth, Lena Stringari appointed Chief of Conservation at the National Gallery - with reporting from Baltimore Fishbowl, Banner, Brew, and other local and independent news sources!
This Week: Share Your Why artist talk at Motor House, free admission to Walk a Mile in My Dreams + panel discussion with Joyce J. Scott at the BMA, Revolution in our Lifetime roundtable discussion at The Peale, Station North Art Walk, Sprung reception at Waller Gallery, and more!
This week's news includes: NPG acquires Stephen Towns' painting of Joyce J. Scott, CityLit festival returns, Pride Center Reporting Controversy, and Cassils leads a Trans Solidarity Art Action on the National Mall, and more!
