BmoreArt

This Week: Christiana Caro in conversation at Saul Zaentz Screening Room, Alonzo Davis virtual exhibition and discussion at the Driskell Center, Acme Corp Theatre’s The Lights Went Out Because of a Problem at The Voxel, Pothik Chatterjee opens at Highlandtown Gallery, Michael Burns leads a street museum workshop at The Peale, This Must Be the Place opening reception + holiday sale at Baltimore Jewelry Center, MICA Art Market, Ruth Channing reception at Raoul Middleman Studio Museum, the BMA’s Joseph Education Center opening celebration, CityLit presents a Cave Canem reading at Motor House, and Healing Through Our Histories virtual discussion with Hope and Faith — PLUS Artscape Logo Design Request for Proposals and more featured opportunities!

 

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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< Events >

 

Conversations With Artists: Christiana Caro
Thursday, November 30 :: 4-6pm
@ Saul Zentz Screening Room, JHU MICA/ CVA Film Centre

Conversations With Artists: Christiana Caro
4-5pm
Refreshments 5-6pm, Free and open to the public
Saul Zaentz Screening room
10 E North Avenue

 

 

The Public Art of Alonzo Davis: A Conversation and Virtual Exhibition
Thursday, November 30 :: 6-7pm
@ The David C. Driskell Center

In the last quarter of the twentieth century, we witnessed vigorous debates about the functions, aesthetics, and funding of public art in the United States. Some questioned the appropriateness of sponsoring art projects that showed the country’s shortcomings or promoted non-elite perspectives. Simultaneously, others looked at abstract public art and wondered whether artists had become too elitist and out of touch. Alonzo Davis became a leading creator, administrator, and educator of public art amid these fierce debates. In this exhibit, we explore how Davis navigated this tumultuous period while maintaining his belief that art can promote social justice. “The Public Art of Alonzo Davis” is created by Master of Library and Information Science students in the “Arrangement, Description and Access for Archives” course at the University of Maryland under the supervision of Dr. Eric Hung. It uses materials from the Alonzo Davis Papers archived at The Driskell Center.  The project is made possible by the work of David Conway and Karina Nelson, archivists at The Driskell Center, and their student assistants. This event is co-sponsored by The Driskell Center and Center for Archival Futures (CAFé) at the College of Information Studies.

This event will be followed by a reception.

 

 

The Lights Went Out Because of a Problem
Thursday, November 30 :: 8-10pm | Ongoing through December 17
@ The Voxel

The Lights Went Out Because of a Problem is a found opera about learning to sing. It is also about nothing, goofing off, meditating, hanging out, healing from trauma, and the pandemic. Featuring music composed by Allison Clendaniel with the libretto found, arranged, and written by Lola B. Pierson, The Lights Went Out Because of a Problem is The Acme Corporation’s first show since their pandemic piece, a play in a box called The Institute for Counterfeit Memory. This culmination of 3 years of slow and steady work is going to be a weird one you won’t want to miss.

Directed by Jarod Hanson and Lola B. Pierson
Music by Allison Clendaniel
Libretto found, arranged, and written by Lola B. Pierson
Featuring Alix Fenhagen, Britt Olsen-Ecker, Hailey Withrow, Heather Morrison, Julia Creutzer, Kaya Vision, Megan Livingston, Meghan Stanton, and Molly Margulies

Runtime is approximately 65 minutes. Masks are required for audience members. Performers will be unmasked.
Open seating. Tickets are $10-$100. Pay a bit more than what you wish (it was expensive).
Content warning: this play contains a description of (but not a depiction of) sexual assault and its aftermath.

World premiere
WHEN: Running: November 30th, 2023 – December 17, 2023.
Thursdays- Sundays at 8pm, Runtime approximately 65 minutes
WHERE: The Voxel 9 W. 25th Street Baltimore, MD 21218

TICKETS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Tickets: $10-$100, sliding scale pay what you wish
Ticket link here.
Website: theacmecorporation.org
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @AcmeCorpTheatre
Instagram: @theacmecorporation

 

 

Black Butterfly: Queer Brown Magic Solo show at Highlandtown Gallery featuring Pothik Chatterjee
Friday, December 01: Opening + Meet the Artist 5-8pm
@ Highlandtown Gallery

Baltimore is undergoing a historic transformation, led by a creative renaissance of minority artists. Chatterjee’s show presents a unique queer brown, South Asian-American imagination of Baltimore’s future when the butterfly comes together and takes flight through his bright, textured, and dynamic abstract paintings.

The show opens on Friday, December 1, 2023, during the Highlandtown First Friday Holiday Art Walk.

 

 

Baltimore Street Museum Workshop with Michael Burns
Friday, December 1 :: 2-5pm
@ The Peale

For museum and cultural heritage professionals, artists, storytellers, and community culture-keepers of all kinds:

Join us for a collaborative project and grant-planning workshop on Friday December 1 from 2-5pm at The Peale, 225 Holliday St. in downtown Baltimore, catty -cornered to City Hall. We’d like to join forces with local area museums neighborhood organizations artists and creators to develop connected cultural experiences that will bring visitors to Baltimore’s cultural attractions and neighborhoods, in particular during the Alliance of American Museums (AAM) and Association of African American Museums (AAAM) conferences in May and August 2024.

The working title for this initiative is “Baltimore Street Museum” because we aim to create cultural experiences beyond institutional walls in the public spaces that connect our communities our stories and our collections. The purpose of this workshop is to generate some ideas for cultural engagement projects that we can activate together in public spaces around the city. At the same time we will forge alliances and partnerships among museums neighborhood groups and individual artists of all sorts to bring our project ideas to fruition in 2024.

The workshop will be led by Michael Burns (pictured above, center) our partner at Quatrefoil Associates and founder of the Omnimuseum Project. Michael helped The Peale when we first started up again in 2017 providing tools and tactics for gathering and sharing Baltimore stories beyond our walls. Quatrefoil is now using The Peale as a Lab for next-gen museum experience and exhibit design research and development.

As you may know the Baltimore National Heritage Area (BNHA) is currently offering grants of up to $5000 for Neighborhood Placemaking activities. BNHA’s mission is to promote cultural heritage tourism in Baltimore so we think that many of the ideas that will come from our workshop will align perfectly with their grant criteria. I imagine each of our organizations will apply for their own grant award but that our projects will also connect – strengthening all of our proposals and creating greater impact together.

 

 

This Must Be the Place | Opening Reception + Baltimore Jewelry Center Holiday Sale
Friday, December 1 :: 5-8p | Both events ongoing
@ Baltimore Jewelry Center

The Baltimore Jewelry Center will host This Must Be the Place, an exhibition which investigates how artists utilize and interpret place in their work. This Must Be the Place will be on view in the BJC’s gallery in Baltimore’s Station North Arts District (10 E. North Ave.) from Friday, December 1st until Wednesday, February 7th with an opening reception on December 1st from 5 to 8pm. The exhibition is free and open to the public.

Every fall the Baltimore Jewelry Center hosts a symposium, featuring free workshops, demonstrations, and a speaker series, all related to a designated theme. This year’s focus was on the way we experience and interpret place. The same theme is also reflected in the community challenge exhibition, a charge proposed to the BJC community to create new work that speaks to the same theme. For This Must Be the Place artists were tasked with creating jewelry and wearables that implicitly or explicitly elicit a sense of place. The resulting exhibition asks us to explore the myriad of ways in which we experience our world, through the direct artifacts of locations and specific spaces, as well as the senses and imagination which can conjure a specific memory or experience.

The artists participating in This Must Be the Place include: Allison Gulick, Anna Melyakova, Banafsheh Hemmati, Carol Allen, Casey Claveria, Connie Alba Ambridge, Elizabeth English, J Taran Diamond, Jeanne Marie Martineau, Kate Connell, Mary Fissell, Maura Minter, Megan Obenaus, Melissa Lovingood, Mercury Swift, Meredith W. Gross, Mystery McIlvaine, Navah Langmeyer, Pallavi Verma, Sarah Parker, Seville Marina Meyn Partida, Sophie Maguire, and Vershali Jain.

In addition to This Must Be the Place the BJC will host its annual holiday sale, kicking off Friday, December 1st and running through Sunday, December 3rd, with select pieces available online through December 15th. The BJC hosts a limited number of sales each year that provide opportunities for jewelry artists working in the studio to sell their work and patrons a chance to buy handmade jewelry while directly engaging with makers. Artists in the sale consist of instructors who teach at the BJC, working artists who utilize the BJC’s studio, students of the BJC’s educational programs, and other local jewelry artists. This is a juried sale and each artist will present a unique line of work. Included jewelry pieces are made of sterling silver, steel, brass, copper, gemstones, and alternative materials. The sale will take place at the BJC studio from 5-8pm on Friday, December 1st and from 12-6pm on both Saturday, December 2nd and Sunday, December 3rd. Entry to the sale is free and open to the public.

Artists participating in this year’s holiday sale include: Allison Gulick, Brian Anthony High, Jr., Caitlin Duckwall, Cory Glasgow Jewelry, Elliot Keeley, Ellyse Bendillo, J Taran Diamond, James Betts, Jeni Fairman, Kate Dannenberg, Katja Toporski, Marcy Feeney, Margo Csipo, Maria Louise High, Marian Breitenbach, Pat Baker, Reb Green, and Sarah Wolfenden.

“The Baltimore Jewelry Center is one of a handful of art jewelry galleries in the Mid-Atlantic and it’s important to us that we share contemporary and traditional metal arts with the larger Baltimore community. Currently, we do this largely through our exhibitions and sales programs. Especially during the holiday season, we like being able to support our community of local artists, and who doesn’t like giving or receiving a unique, hand-made gift?! Visiting the BJC this weekend is a great way to experience what we do since you’ll be able to catch the new exhibition and our annual holiday sale,” said Shane Prada, Director.

** See more Holiday Markets and places to shop local on the BmoreArt calendar **

 

 

MICA Art Market
Saturday, December 2 + Sunday, December 3 :: 10am-5pm
@ MICA Brown Center

The MICA Art Market Pop-Up is a three-floor holiday market that provides MICA’s best students, alumni, faculty, and staff the opportunity to sell their artwork, craft and artisan-made pieces in a two-day public event on MICA’s campus.  As always, proceeds from table fees go to the MICA Endowment Scholarship, as well as to help fund the event.

Art Market 2023 is scheduled for December 2 and 3 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information about the event, visit micarcce.com/artmarket.

** See more Holiday Markets and places to shop local on the BmoreArt calendar **

 

 

Ruth Channing: Collages | Opening Reception
Saturday, December 2 :: 2-4pm | Ongoing through December 17
@ Raoul Middleman Studio Museum

Raoul Middleman Studio Museum
943 N Calvert Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
raoulmiddleman.com

Gallery Hours
Saturdays 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. and by appointment

About the Exhibition

These colorful prints and paintings were inspired by Channing’s experiments with chine collé at Inkspot Press. Chine-collé is a special printmaking technique in which paper of a different color or texture is adhered to the overall piece.

For this body of work, the artist combined chine collé with monotype, using a variety of papers and patterns. From there, she expanded to a larger format, collaging the shapes directly into a painting on canvas. She took the female torso as her motif and approached it in a sculptural way, thinking of the scissors as a carving tool. The paper includes wrapping paper and wallpaper.

Channing studied printmaking with Dadi Wirz at Rhode Island School of Design, with Stanley Hayter at Atelier 17 (Paris/New York), and with John Sparks at MICA. She founded Baltimore’s Ink Spot Press, along with her husband, painter Raoul Middleman (d. 2021). The press carries on the experimental work inspired by Atelier 17 . Both the Inkspot Press and the Raoul Middleman Studio Museum are located in the Mount Vernon townhouse where Channing and Middleman raised their family.

Channing’s work is widely collected and is part of the permanent collections at the New Southland Art Museum (New Zealand) and the University of Maryland Global Campus.

 

 

Opening Celebration: Joseph Education Center
Sunday, December 3 :: 1-5pm
@ The Baltimore Museum of Art

It’s time for play! Gather the family and join us in celebrating the public opening of the Joseph Education Center. Explore hands-on, play-inspired installations made by internationally acclaimed artists Derrick Adams, Mary Flanagan, and Pablo Helguera.

Enjoy family art-making and interactive activities for all ages, and all-day free admissionto Making Her Mark: A History of Women Artists in Europe, 1400-1800.

Free timed-entry passes are required to visit Making Her Mark. RESERVE YOUR PASS.

 

 

A Home for the Heart to Live In: A Reading by Cave Canem Fellows
Saturday, December 3 :: 2-4pm
@ Motor House

CityLit presents a Cave Canem afternoon reading featuring YONA HARVEY & BRIONNE JANAE and presenting an ensemble of regional fellows in partnership with the Motor House.

Curated by Reggie Harris with a special invitation to Lillian-Yvonne Bertram, Jadi Z. Omawale, Hermine Pinson, Lauren Russell, Teri Ellen Cross Davis, Steven Leyva, Hayes Davis, Brian Gilmore, Abdul Ali, and Carolyn Joyner.

Sunday, December 3, 2023
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Motor House
120 W North Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21201

*FREE but REGISTRATION REQUESTED
https://citylitproject.salsalabs.org/cavecanem23

SPECIAL REQUEST: Attendees are encouraged to bring a book(s) to donate to incarcerated individuals. Urban Reads Bookstore, the event bookseller, will be collecting books and sending them to the incarceration facilities. 

 

 

WATCH YOUR STEP: Healing Through Our Histories | Virtual Discussion
Sunday, December 3 :: 2:30-4pm
presented by School 33 Art Center

Healing Through Our Histories, facilitated by Christina Marsh, artist, wellness coach, and Director of Community Arts and Engagement at Baltimore Clayworks, with guest speaker Janel Cubbage, MS, LCPC, MPH.

Join Hope & Faith for a virtual discussion and conversation about Black mental health, inner child healing, and family traditions. We will cover topics such as Black joy, how to be intentional with your being, and coping with the violence against Black bodies. This will be a safe space for reflection and community., we will also go over mindfulness meditations that attendees can practice at home. Free event, all are welcome!

 

 

< Calls for Entry >

 

Call for Submissions, Black, White, & More
deadline December 12
posted by SE Center for Photography

Monochrome photography, images produced with a single hue, rather than recording the colors of the object that was photographed. The SE Center is looking for all forms of Monochrome imagery, black-and-white and toned photography- all subjects, analog, digital or antique processes, photographers of all ages and locations.

Our juror for Black, White & More is Jennifer Schlesinger. Schlesinger is an Artist, Curator, Gallerist, and Educator based out of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Schlesinger has approached her fine art photography with an interest in the historical development of photography as an artistic medium – having influences from the age old camera obscura, to 19th century albumen process, to 20th century gelatin silver printing.

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) and an archived, online slideshow. A video walkthrough of each exhibition is also featured and archived. Openings are timed to coincide with Greenville’s First Fridays, a celebration of art, food and music.

 

 

🍁 FALL * NEW $1,800.00 Innovate Grants for Art + Photo
deadline December 14

FALL 2023 OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS — Innovate Grant is thrilled to introduce our newly increased award amounts of $1,800.00.

Innovate Grant awards (2) $1,800.00 grants each quarter, to one Visual Artist and one Photographer. In addition, (8) honorable mentions (4 in art and 4 in photo), will be featured on our website and join a growing community of vibrant and talented artists. Innovate Grant’s commitment extends beyond the grant cycle by promoting the work of selected winners and honorable mentions into the future. For more information and to apply visithttps://innovateartistgrants.org

Innovate Grant supports artists and photographers through quarterly grants. We’ve simplified the grant process, so that artists and photographers can focus on making their innovative work. The work should speak for itself and our application reflects that.

Innovate Grant awards:

+ 1 x $1,800.00 Grants to a Visual Artist
+ 1 x $1,800.00 Grants to a Photographer
+ 8 x Honorable Mentions Interviews

How to Apply: Visual Artists and Photographers 18 years and older, from all around the world, are eligible to apply. All media and genres are accepted. All applicants retain the right to the work they submit. Apply today at https://innovateartistgrants.org

Explore the work of ALL Past Innovate Grant recipients and read their interviews at https://innovateartistgrants.org

Category:Multiple disciplines and genres accepted
Deadline: Thursday, December 14, 2023
Region: US & International
Awards: 2 x $1,800.00 USD Grants // 8 x Honorable Mentions Interviews

Apply Online Today
https://innovateartistgrants.org

 

 

2024 ARTSCAPE Logo Design – Request For Proposals (RFP)
deadline December 15
posted by BOPA

Artists! Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA) has a unique opportunity to design a new logo for Artscape 2024! BOPA is seeking an unforgettable design to captivate festival audiences. If you have ever been inspired by Artscape, please submit a design for consideration. There is no fee to apply. The selected artist will be paid an honorarium for their work. The credited artwork will appear in news releases, advertisements, and social media promotions.

Scope of Work:

The Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA) in collaboration with Mayor’s Office of Baltimore City seek to commission an emerging or professional visual artist to produce unique, original digital artwork design for print fabrication and electronic distribution in celebration of the Artscape Festival.

This commission requires that digital image submissions of artwork for fabrication are original artworks that meet the design & digital image criteria of BOPA.

Art Design Guidelines

Art design concept submission must be thoughtful, readable, original, scalable, balanced & proportioned, and appropriate for all audiences. Artists are encouraged to use shape, form and color to create distinctive, memorable, captivating design to attract and inform viewers. Maximum one submission per artist/group.

 

 

Neighborhood Placemaking Grants (NPG)
deadline December 15
posted by Baltimore National Heritage Area

The Baltimore Heritage Area Association (DBA- The Baltimore National Heritage Area) administers the Neighborhood Placemaking Grant Program. Launched in 2018, this grant program is a source of funding designed to provide small, but strategic investments in cultural heritage tourism (non-capital) projects within the heritage area. This highly competitive grant program awards $25,000 a year and grant amounts range from $1,500 – $5,000 with a required match.

The goal of the Neighborhood Placemaking Grant Program is to assist neighborhoods:

• With enhancing their quality of life through heritage tourism stewardship;
• Become more visitor-friendly and visitor-ready;
• Balance community and tourism; and
• Increase awareness of the Baltimore National Heritage Area and its resources for neighborhoods.

 

 

Small Capital Grant Program (SCG)
deadline December 15
posted by Baltimore National Heritage Area

The Baltimore Heritage Area Association (dba The Baltimore National Heritage Area) administers a small capital grant program that makes small, yet strategic, investments in heritage tourism resources within Baltimore City. Funded through Baltimore City voter-approved bonds, more than $1.5 million in funds have been awarded to more than 158 projects since 2004.

Eligible projects must also be identified in and/or consistent with the strategies and actions outlined in the Baltimore National Heritage Area Management Plan. The grants are made as one-time awards and not for ongoing projects or activities. Capital projects assisted include acquisition, development, preservation, and restoration. Project activity must conform to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties and cannot fund any active worship spaces or religious iconography if applied as part of their capital project.

 

 

BLINK Cincinnati Call for Artists
deadline December 15

BLINK, Illuminated by ArtsWave, returns to Cincinnati on October 17-20, 2024. The nation’s largest light, art and projection mapping experience is calling for artists to make the queen city shine. As one of the most transformative art experiences in the nation, we are on the hunt for visionaries ready to join our collaboration.

All sectors of the creative industries are invited to investigate the soul of our Future City – its people, places and essence. Creators from around the world are encouraged to share works of art that showcase, highlight and reveal unexpected stories of humanity that engage, inspire and excite audiences all the while drawing inspiration from Cincinnati’s iconic architecture, urban landscape and hidden spaces.

The people of the future city are united and enlightened. In the blink of an eye their hearts and minds glow with the radiance of transcendent knowing. Knowing the light of a thousand tomorrows of opportunity and hope. Knowing the light that shines from their hearts is all that was ever needed to stay in the darkness of ignorance and poverty. Not here they said. Not in our shining future city. They work and play and draw the light from one another until it outshines the sun. The light inside revealed in all. The only light that matters. Together they shine with celebration, laughter and labor shared for all the world to see and in the blink of an eye their radiance is undeniable.

 

 

2024 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Community Arts Grant
deadline December 16
posted by the United Way of Baltimore

Mayor Brandon Scott and the City of Baltimore’s Mayor’s Office of Recovery Programs are providing a significant investment of ARPA funds to support a diverse range of arts organizations through the 2024 ARPA Community Grant program. Administrative support provided by United Way of Central Maryland.

Eligible arts organizations, including those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, can apply to receive between $10,000 to $500,000 in funding to sustain and expand work to provide high-quality art experiences and activities that are accessible to all Baltimore City residents, especially those in underrepresented and marginalized communities.

Arts organizations selected will receive funding for the period of April 1, 2024 – March 31, 2026. Applications must be submitted through our online grant application portal by Monday, December 18, 2023, 5:00 p.m. EST.