This Week: We are featuring online events that you can participate in from the comfort of your own couch, a few in-person but socially distant receptions, plus a few calls for entry to get involved locally and nationally. Stay home, stay healthy, stay engaged in the arts.
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Washington Project for the Arts: 40th Annual Collectors’ Night Benefit Auction 2021
Ongoing through May 20
sponsored by WPA + Artsy
Washington Project for the Arts x Artsy present Washington Project for the Arts’ 40th Annual Collectors’ Night Benefit Auction. Founded in 1975 and based in Washington, DC, Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) is a platform for collaborative and experimental artist-driven projects, dialogue, and advocacy.
This year’s auction theme—Am I Altering Your Aura?—comes from the work of poet and activist Audre Lorde. WPA selected artworks based on, in part, on how well they encouraged reflection on the following quotation:
Am I altering your aura, your ideas, your dreams,
or am I merely moving you to temporary and reactive action?
—Audre Lorde, “Poetry is Not a Luxury”
Proceeds from the sale are split between the artists and WPA, so your purchase directly supports artists while also enabling WPA to continue producing important contemporary art programs—now, and into the future!
Browse lots and place bids before the auction closes on Thursday, May 20th at 6:30pm EDT.
Externalized
Ongoing through May 22
@ Julio Fine Arts
We are thrilled to be featuring an exhibition of three of our Fine Arts department seniors in the gallery from April 22 – May 22, 2021. Student artists Courtney Kenny, Kristen Richards, and Catherine Tsilionis will each present a body of work that they have developed over the whole semester as part of their Professional Practicesclass (think senior capstone). We wanted to be sure that everyone had access to this exhibition, so we will be offering a virtual exhibition concurrently to the physical exhibition. (Unfortunately, the gallery is currently only open to the Loyola community due to the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions). Please keep an eye trained on our websitefor updates on this exciting opportunity to experience and celebrate the work that our very own Loyola artists put together!
Spring Exhibitions at Hamilton Gallery
Ongoing through May 30
@ Hamilton Gallery
In Gallery I
Spring Exhibition
Works exhibited by Hamilton Gallery member artists:
Jude Asher, Loring Boglioli, Schroeder Cherry, Ron Cohn, Diane Dennis, Jessica Devilbiss, Donna DiSciullo, Jim Doran, Amy Klainer, L. Nef’fahtiti Partlow-Myrick, Lynn Poshepny, Lee Quick, Theresa Reuter, Beth Schwartz, Therese Spadaro, Grace Doyle, Bridget Z. Sullivan, Richard Sullivan, Maxine Taylor, & Alex Valnicky.
In Gallery II
State of Being: Observed and Interpreted Places and Experiences
Featuring Towson University MFA candidates:
David Calkins, Claudia Cappelle, Caroline Creeden, Grace Doyle, Katherine Nonemaker, Andrew Thorp.
BMA x NMWA Monthly Talk Show: Making Art, Making a Difference
Tuesday, May 11 • 12-12:45pm
presented by National Museum of Women in the Arts + Baltimore Museum of Art
Join us for a livestreamed monthly talk show co-presented by The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) and the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA). In this episode, educators from both museums welcome American multimedia artist Delita Martin, who creates large-scale prints onto which she draws, sews, collages and paints. Martin claims space for her subjects, particularly black women, creating a powerful presence that simultaneously highlights the historical absence of black bodies in Western art. Martin, founder and president of Black Box Press Foundation, discusses how this organization supports artists and amplifies art as a powerful form of activism.
We also explore how the quilters of Gee’s Bend, Alabama organized to advance their civil rights and the economic well-being of their community through their quilts. The related special exhibition, She Knew Where She Was Going: Gee’s Bend Quilts and Civil Rights, is on view at the BMA through August 1, 2021.
Connect + Collect: Ilana Harris-Babou and Miranda Javid | Outdoor Reception
Friday, May 14 • 7-9pm
presented by BmoreArt + Goucher College
A Partnership with Goucher College Virtual Artist in Residence
Exhibition runs May 7 – June 1, 2021
BmoreArt’s Connect+Collect Gallery
2519 North Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
A digital exhibition screening nightly in the window vide gallery from 7 to 9 pm
Curated by Alex Ebstein
Selected Works:
Miranda Javid’s Two Truths Mixtape, followed by student rotoscope projects
Ilana Harris-Babou’s Long Con, followed by student aftereffects video collage projects
BmoreArt’s Connect+Collect Gallery is happy to announce its collaboration with Goucher College to present new video work by Ilana Harris-Babou and Miranda Javid, at our outdoor, digital projection gallery located at 2519 N. Charles Street. The artists will be screening new pieces made with support from the Sherman Fairchild Foundation.
At Goucher College in their virtual Artist in Residence positions this Spring 2021 semester, Ilana and Miranda taught workshops in animation techniques relevant to their individual practices. Their work will be shown along with short videos by Goucher students who participated in these classes and created finished pieces in response to the residents’ work.
The exhibition will be on view from May 7 through June 1, 2021 and will open with an outdoor reception on Friday, May 7, 2021 from 7 – 9 pm. *Rain Date for Reception Friday, May 14th, 2021). The work is viewable entirely from the outside in the window video gallery.
Connect+Collect Mission Statement: “We believe that everyone can benefit from engaging with the arts and, specifically, from collecting the art of their place and time. Connect+Collect was designed to create opportunities for collectors to build relationships with artists based in Baltimore through studio tours, speaker series, events, gallery openings, PD for artists, and through BmoreArt Magazine. We work with artists and galleries across the city and feature exhibitions in our gallery space.”
(For more information please contact Alex Ebstein at [email protected] or Gallery Coordinator Teri Henderson at [email protected])
MICA MFAST 2020 Thesis Exhibitions | Exhibition Closing
Friday, May 14
@ VisArts
This series of exhibitions features thesis work by the Maryland Institute College of Art’s low-residency MFA (MFAST) 2020 graduate students. The class of eight students living around the world, from Baltimore to Berlin, share the unique experience of a pandemic disrupting their plans for a final in person, onsite gathering and exhibition last summer. Consequently, the period for producing their culminating works extended into unprecedented months of protests against social injustice, a presidential campaign reflecting extreme divisions in American society, and widespread uncertainty about personal and economic health.
Out of Order & KIDOOO Sneak Preview Event
Friday, May 14 • 5pm
presented by Maryland Art Place
Maryland Art Place (MAP) is pleased to announce its 2nd Virtual Out of Order exhibition event and very first, virtual KIDOOO This year marks the 24th year of MAP’s signature, spring, art auction. Using a virtual platform, Out of Order will be available to anyone on an electronic device for free!
This year OOO is open for bidding for an entire week as opposed to one evening. Participants may bid from their homes, offices, or vacations while perusing hundreds of works of art from the many talented artists throughout the state and region. You may text to bid and can expect text messages when you have been outbid throughout the auction.
In addition to the week-long online exhibition and auction, there will also be a ticketed sneak preview event on Friday, May 14 at 5 pm! This ticketed preview event will be held in conjunction with MAP’s 40th Anniversary campaign. Purchase a $30 ticket to Out Of Order and receive a MAP membership, a MAP 40th limited edition risograph print + a discount on libations from the Spirits of Mt. Vernon located at 900 North Charles Street in Baltimore city. Purchase tickets HERE. Virtual programming to be announced!
The OOO Online auction opens to the public, Saturday, May 15, running one full week through Saturday, May 22, 2021 and is FREE. The event link will be announced as “Live” on Saturday, May 15 via MAP’s website and various social media outlets and newsletters. All bids must be submitted no later than 10 pm on Saturday, May 22. The virtual exhibition can be viewed on May, 15 at 10am.
If I’m no longer here, I wanted you to Know… | Solo Exhibition featuring Tawny Chatmon
Saturday, May 15 | Ongoing through July 10
@ Galerie Myrtis, by appointment only
Galerie Myrtis is pleased to present its first solo exhibition with Tawny Chatmon, If I’m no longer here, I wanted you to Know… The show will be on view May 15-July 2021 and offer eighteen new photographs Chatmon developed featuring intimate portraits of family members and friends imbued with sentiments of love, personal ruminations, and lessons she wants to instill in her three children.
In, If I’m no longer here, I wanted you to Know… Chatmon expands her oeuvre beyond materiality of the gilded imagery and the influence of Klimt, which she has come to be known. Drawing inspiration from the Byzantine period, Chatmon adorns black bodies with semi-precious stones meticulously placed to construct a narrative on black children and dignity through cultural memory.
Chatmon’s imagery rewards the viewer who looks beyond the nuanced surface of the photographs and contours of her subjects. A deeper examination reveals allegory and iconology steeped in metaphors protesting racial and social injustice. Chatmon’s cultural and political discourse also extends to the titles of her work. In your Hoodie or White Tee sends a clear message that black boys, regardless of the clothes they wear, are human beings whose lives should be respected, preserved, and valued by society.
Chatmon’s photos emotively and melodically speak to the legacy she seeks to leave behind. She has transformed the visual to lyrical through undulating figures that sway with the rhythm of a lullaby—a mother’s love song to her children filled with memories she wants them to hold on to and life lessons to pass down through generations.
Chatmon is an award-winning photographer; among them is the People Photographer of the Year, International Photo Awards 2018 and First Place, International Photo Awards 2018.
The 2021 Variations Party
Saturday, May 15 • 12pm
@ the YNOT Lot
Here it comes…
Baltimore’s original ten-minute play festival kicks off its 17th annual project with the Variations Party on May 15th at the Ynot Lot.
Last year’s Variations Project was all-virtual, but in 2021 we’re looking forward to a SAFE return to in-person participation. This year’s theme is THE HOLIDAYS and in December we’ll present a fabulous group of world premiere short plays based on this theme — but first, somebody needs to write them! The VARIATIONS PARTY is where the whole process starts.
Join us as we spin the Wheel of Holidays, share thoughts and doodles on the Graffiti Wall, and create gobs of juicy source material on 2021’s theme!
Want to write a play? Read submissions? Audition for the production ensemble? It all starts with the Variations Party.
Safety notes:
We are capping attendance at 25% of the Ynot Lot’s capacity. Masks must be worn at all times, and physical distancing will be practiced.
Orbis Tertius -Hlaer-to-Jangr- | TIMED Opening Reception
Friday, May 14 • 6-9pm | Ongoing through June 14
@ ICA Baltimore
Orbis Tertius -Hlaer-to-Jangr- is the tangible result of the exhaustive cataloging of an illusory universe, which has overflowed towards reality due to its weight. The exhibition borrows from the short story “Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius”, by the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges, creating a visual allegory that seeks to show the exact point where his world and TLaloC’s converge.
This immersive experience invites the viewer to dive into a world that seems to have devoured the construction of the gallery itself, even transgressing its limits. Its presence bleeds through to places outside of the gallery, sometimes even opening portals to spaces never seen before.
Orbis Tertius -Hlaer-to-Jangr- is TLaloC’s fifth solo exhibition (the first in the United States) and is intended to contain the breadth of his interdisciplinary work. The exhibition contents make use of different processes and materials such as sculpture, illustration, animation, installation, neon and light artworks, which work together to create a multi-sensory and otherworldly experience.
HIDENORI ISHII Greener Deal | Opening
Saturday, May 15 • 11am-5pm
@ C. Grimaldis Gallery
C. Grimaldis Gallery is pleased to present Greener Deal, a solo exhibition of works by Hidenori Ishii. Raised in Yonezawa, Japan, Ishii creates paintings and prints that investigate personal narratives, environmental science, and global politics. Through the use of floral patterns and post-atomic materials, the artist creates connections between developing technology and the natural world.
Ishii’s MIRЯOR series explores reflection and invisibility, showing the underlying fear of living with the environmental effects of radiation. The artist has developed a language of painting that responds directly to the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant meltdown. Using Kuri-coat C-720 resin, a neon-green substance sprayed at Fukushima Daiichi in an effort to resist the airborne spread of radiation, Ishii inserts content directly into his paintings through the material. He provides the viewer with a peek into his own utopia, however synthetic or destructive. Ishii’s radioactive ecosystems are also present in his On the Fence series, which further investigates the ever-developing urban landscape and all of its embedded trauma. These immersive green and blue paintings remind us of the resilience of natural flora, yet suggest an impending threat of contamination and restrictive borders.
Thank You “Dark City Beneath The Beat”
Saturday, May 15 • 8pm
presented by Creative Alliance
A celebration of the film featuring Bmore Than Dance, Eze Jackson, DDM, Olu Butterfly, Rufus Roundtree, and exclusive interviews with TT The Artist and collaborators.
Plan your watch party for a night celebrating Baltimore Club and TT the Artist’s directorial debut!
Watch for FREE through the Creative Alliance Virtual Front Row System! Use the code BMORECLUB at checkout.
Haven’t caught the film yet? Watch the electrifying feature length music documentary that uplifts the city of Baltimore through it’s homegrown club and dance scene.
Watch on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/watch/81417137
In Collaboration with Curators of HipHop
Calls for Entry // Opportunities
Baltimore Beasties Kit: Brood X Cicadas Special Edition
offered by Open Works
Esalen Artist in Residence | Call for Applications
deadline May 17
sponsored by Esalen Institute
Esalen Institute extends invitations to three active professional artists for sponsored residencies on our campus for a four week period between mid-June and mid-September 2021. This opportunity sprouted from our interest in reaching broader creative and practice communities. By applying, you will help it bloom into a flourishing multi-disciplinary Esalen Artist in Residence (AiR) program.
Our online application is open through May 17, 2021. Artists of all kinds are invited.
You are…
You will…
We are…
We will…
If this sounds like your kind of adventure, review the program outline and “planning your visit” page for more details, then fill out an application using Submittable no later than May 17, 2021. Our committee will review all applications and make a selection no later than May 26, 2021.
Email us at [email protected] with questions.
We look forward to reviewing your submissions and connecting with you and your work!
BALTIMORE’S PROMISE STAFF PORTRAITS | Request for Submissions
deadline May 20
sponsored by Baltimore’s Promise
Baltimore’s Promise is seeking a Black, Baltimore City-based visual artist to create digital portraits of Baltimore’s Promise staff. Submissions from artists representing of other communities of color will also be considered. These portraits will become the staff headshots that will be displayed on the Baltimore’s Promise website. We are eager to have illustrated portraits that are distinctive and will give our website a fresh and personalized feel.
The selected artist will receive a contract to develop 12 digital portraits based on a photograph that each staff person submits, and each digital portrait should have a background color or design that is thematically consistent across all portraits. The budget for the initial phase of this project — creating 12 illustrations — is $1,800. The selected artist would ideally be willing to continue working with Baltimore’s Promise as our staff grows over time at an agreed upon rate per portrait.
The illustrations may be created on paper or digitally. Final work must be delivered in both uncompressed image files (e.g. .tiff) and as compressed image files (e.g. .jpeg or .png) and must be consistent across each file in terms of size and quality. Our preference is to select an artist and have all portraits complete by June 30. Please see our proposed timeline in the downloadable version of the RFS.
Future Ancestors | Call for Entry
deadline May 21
sponsored by Baltimore Clayworks
“What kind of future ancestor do you hope to be? What might our future ancestors need from us? What might they be like? How do our future ancestors connect to our past ancestors and to us? The coronavirus pandemic, the continued movements for Black lives and social justice, and climate change encourage us to stop, envision the future we want, and take action. I am looking for sculptural work that goes deeper than a slogan, that instead challenges us to link our past present and future, works in metaphor, and reveals connections with other living beings.”
If you feel that your work lends itself to the theme of Future Ancestors, please apply here: https://baltimoreclayworks.
Heritage Investment Grant Program (HIG) | Call for Applications
deadline June 1
sponsored by The Baltimore Heritage Area Association
The Baltimore Heritage Area Association, the management entity of the Baltimore National Heritage Area (BNHA), manages the Heritage Investment Grant program. This grant is a source of federal funding designed to provide small, but strategic investments in cultural heritage tourism projects within the geographic boundary of the national heritage area and which align with the U.S. National Park Service’s priorities. The Heritage Investment Grant provides funds for non-capital projects. Eligible projects must address or complete a priority activity identified in and consistent with the goals, objectives, strategies, and actions outlined in the 2013 Baltimore National Heritage Area Comprehensive Management Plan.
The following non-capital project categories, located within the national heritage area’s boundary, are eligible (map below in FAQ). All requests can be up to $15,000 with a required dollar for dollar match.
* For the exception of capacity-building, operating support requests, and marketing grant applications all proposed projects must have a public facing component or plan (in-person or virtual) that is detailed in the application that will attract visitors to the project, site, collection, or demonstrate value in advancing heritage tourism within Baltimore’s national heritage area’s boundary.
Please reference the guidelines below for more detailed requirements.
Color | Call for Submissions
deadline June 6
sponsored by SE Center for Photography
The Color photograph. We want to celebrate Color in all its forms at the SE Center. Our jurors would like to see creativity and self-expression. They have no preference subject, or style but would like to be able to see the photographer’s mind at work, his or her use of visual composition and original thinking.
Our jurors for Color are Constance and Jerry Rosenthal. Constance and Jerry are the co-founders of Rfotofolio, a 501(c)(3) non-profit. In 2015, they established the Rfotofolio Grant. They have curated the Depth of Field 2015, INPrint in 2016. In 2018, they organized the Depth of Field weekend at the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel, CA.
35-40 Selected images will hang in the SE Center’s main gallery space for approximately one month with the opportunity to be invited for a solo show at a later date. In addition, selected images are featured in the SE Center social media accounts (FB, IG, Twitter) and an archived, online slideshow. A video walkthrough of each exhibition is also featured and archived.
Ceramics | Call for Submissions
deadline June 7
sponsored by VisArts
VisArts invites artists working in the expanded field of ceramics to apply for “This Moment of Rupture”.
“This Moment of Rupture” is a juried national survey of contemporary ceramics today. We seek a broad spectrum of works that both celebrate traditional forms and that challenge the conventional definitions of craft. During “this moment of rupture” with the related crises of the pandemic, racial uprisings, climate change, and economic decline, how are ceramic artists responding? Is there a renewed sense of emotional purpose? Is activism playing a role in contemporary ceramic practice? We are seeking artists who work in an expansive variety of media but that all incorporate ceramics in some way, be it with traditional methods, or with processes such as 3d printing, or as a part of performance art, mixed media and more. Artists may submit up to 3 works for consideration.
About the juror:
Margaret Boozer lives and works in Prince George’s County, MD, outside Washington, DC. Over the years, her studio practice of digging native clays has led to collaborations with soil scientists and work that explores the intersections of art and science. Noting cause and effect in the environment, she steals strategies to bring back to the studio. She is interested in the ways that beauty can foster stewardship, and how a small souvenir of soil can carry great meaning, stories, and emotional impact. Boozer is the Founder and Director of Red Dirt Studio, an artist incubator in Mt. Rainier, MD, and Co-Director/ founding member of NY Urban Soil Institute’s Art Extension Service. Her work is included in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, The US Department of State, The Wilson Building Public Art collection and in many private collections. Exhibitions include Swept Away: Dust, Ashes and Dirt at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York. Her gallery is Michael Warren Contemporary in Denver, CO. Current projects include creating a soil museum with NY USI on Governor’s Island as part of Mary Mattingly’s land-based educational programs attendant to her floating food forest project, Swale.
Application Deadline: Monday, June 7, 2021 before midnight*
Artist notification: Friday, June 11, 2021
Exhibition dates: July 2 – August 8, 2021
*Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.
All application materials must be submitted online through our website no later than 11:59 pm EST on 06/07/2021.
header image: Tawny Chatmon, And Then She Said “I Never Asked You To Worship Me”, 2020
This week: Evan Woodward's museum, Blaze Star, John Waters turns 78, Juius Wilson at AVAM, Megan Lewis, Joyce J. Scott, MICA UP/Start Venture Winner Announced, and RuPaul winners to race at Baltimore Pride, and more!
In Conjunction with BmoreArt’s C+C Exhibit featuring Fostel’s charcoal drawings of women’s bedrooms, a conversation with the Co-Director of the Baltimore Abortion Fund
This Week: MICA Community Art & Service Program exhibition, In the Stacks performance at Peabody Library, City of Artists I closing reception at Connect + Collect, Mari Black at Manor Mill, Open Works yard sale, screening of Black Printmakers of Washington DC at Smithsonian Anacostia, and more!
This week's news includes: Baynard Woods on Larry Hogan's "error-laden" memoir, BMI's new Labor Activism Exhibit, Blacksauce Kitchen, Joyce J. Scott, Glenstone Outdoors this Summer, Rob Lee profiles Anthony Gittens, BSO's Summerfest at the Meyerhoff–and more!
