BmoreArt

This Week: Creative Alliance and WPA benefit auctions, Earth Day events at The Crow’s Nest, The Queen-tet performance at the Peabody Library, open house for We Gather at the Edge at SAAM, reception for MICA Grad Show III, screening of Anacostia Portraits at DC Film Fest, the CityLit Festival Poetry Finale at Red Emma’s, Clavel partners with The Walters for a lecture/tepache tasting, Creative Alliance 30th Anniversary Marquee Ball, Baker Artist Awards Celebration at the BMA, artist talk with Lite Zhang and Pavlos Liaretidis at Atrium Artspace, and a panel discussion on AI + Art at UMBC — PLUS Open Call Auditions at Everyman Theatre 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]!

Header Photo from Creative Alliance Marquee Ball, 2024. Check out last year’s photo essay!

 

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< Events >

 

Marquee Ball 2025 Silent Auction
Ongoing through April 26
presented by Creative Alliance

Buy Now Auction Items Available 4/18 – 4/26!

The Marquee Ball is Creative Alliance’s annual fundraiser gala that includes a VIP dinner, art auction, open studios, and a wild dance party that honors The Patterson’s history as a movie palace. The movie theme inspires the evening’s events and attire with eye-popping results! Baltimore’s wildest party supports Creative Alliance’s free youth education and community arts programs!

 

 

Washington Project for the Arts: Benefit Auction 2025
Ongoing through May 2

Washington Project for the Arts x Artsy are proud to present the annual Collectors’ Night 2025 Benefit Auction, now celebrating its 45th year. Proceeds from the sale are split equally between participating artists and Washington Project for the Arts (WPA), so your purchase directly supports artists while also enabling WPA to continue producing a wide range of artist-organized programs, publications, and exhibitions.

Bidding will open exclusively on Artsy at 12:00pm EDT, on Friday, April 18. Lots will close in 1-minute intervals beginning at 12:00pm EDT on Friday, May 2, so you can focus bidding on specific pieces without missing out on others. Additionally, Popcorn bidding will extend a Lot’s closing time if a bid is placed within two minutes of the Lot closing. This allows you time to counter back should you wish to continue bidding. Each Lot will have a closing countdown timer on its specific page. For more information about Artsy’s Cascade and Popcorn bidding, click here.

All artworks will be available to pick-up or ship from Washington, DC. Artwork pick-up and shipping will be coordinated by WPA. Shipping costs are the responsibility of the buyer.

Founded in 1975 and based in Washington, DC, Washington Project for the Arts is a nonprofit incubator for artist-organized projects, building community through collaboration, experimentation, and advocacy. Visit wpadc.org for more.

 

 

Ecocide: Nature in the Shadow of War– Earth Day
Tuesday, April 22 :: 5:30-8pm
@ The Crow’s Nest

We will be open for Q&A’s with several of our artists in honor of Earth Day.

This show features the following artists.

Terry Arena
Baltimore Artists Against Apartheid
Jessy De Santis

McCoy Chance

Qamar Hassan and Loulie Rossmassler
Kei Ito
Andrew Ellis Johnson
SAFRA
Susanne Slavick
Elin o’Hara Slavick
Taylor Smith-Hams

 

 

In the Stacks: QUEEN-tet Project
Tuesday, April 22 :: 6:30-7:30pm
@ George Peabody Library

Join us for a one-of-a-kind performance featuring award winning drag queen Tara Hoot and District5, a local wind quintet with a decade-long commitment to championing new works.

Drawing inspiration from the library’s collections of banned books and queer histories—on display for one night only— The Queen-tet Project: A Symphonic Drag Story Hour will be centered around a new work, “Gorgeously, You!” by Maryland-based composer Christen Taylor Holmes. A whimsical depiction of 21st century life advice from a drag queen’s perspective, the new work will be performed alongside Carrie Jacobs-Bond’s rarely heard “Half Minute Songs.

While this performance is aimed at adults, all ages are welcome. Come enjoy a fabulous evening of storytelling, music, and drag in one of the world’s most beautiful libraries!

This project is supported in part by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council and the Eastman’s Institute for Music Leadership’s funds from the Paul R. Judy Center for Innovation and Research.

Register for this event here

In the Stacks offers an informal, dynamic way for audiences to engage with music and performance art. Throughout the year, this concert series activates Baltimore’s iconic George Peabody Library—a glorious space with five tiers of cast-iron balconies that soar up to a latticed spotlight—with art, music, dance, film, drama, and more.

For additional information email [email protected].

 

 

We Gather at the Edge: Contemporary Quilts by Black Women Artists Open House
Friday, April 25 :: 11am
@ Smithsonian American Art Museum

Join curators and artists to celebrate We Gather at the Edge: Contemporary Quilts by Black Women Artists, an exhibition featuring recently acquired quilts from Carolyn Mazloomi, founder of the Women of Color Quilters Network (WCQN). Artists Sylvia Hernandez, Beverly Smith, Chawne Kimber, Peggie Hartwell, and Helen Murrell, members of the WCQN, talk with the public about their works, which are on view in the exhibition. Guest curator, Aleia Brown, the David Julian and Virginia Suther Whichard Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at East Carolina University, and Mary Savig, acting curator-in-charge of the Renwick Gallery at SAAM, will share additional insights with the public about the curatorial process behind the exhibition.

Registration will open approximately one month before the date of the program.

 

 

MICA Grad Show III | Exhibition Reception
Friday, April 25 :: 5-7pm
@ Sheila & Richard Riggs Gallery

MICA Grad Show 2025 features the work of the College’s MFA and MA students across 14 internationally renowned graduate programs. From February through May, four distinct shows will highlight the students’ bold explorations of political unrest, social injustice, and community polarization. In collaboration with the Office of Graduate Studies, the programs will host exhibition receptions and key events celebrating the ability of these artists, designers, filmmakers, educators, and curators to harness art’s power to disrupt, awaken, and inspire for a more just and connected future. MICA Grad Show III Showcases Rinehart School of Sculpture MFA, Community Arts MFA, Photography + Media & Society MFA, and Mount Royal School of Art Multidisciplinary MFA across 5 galleries. More info at MICA.edu/gradshow

 

 

Anacostia Portraits | DC Film Fest Screening
Friday, April 25 :: 5:45pm
@ Regal Gallery Place

Yev K’banchik, Elena Volkova
USA, 2024, 17 mins, documentary, East Coast Premiere
Reviving the 19th-century tintype, photographer Elena Volkova creates a unique participatory community arts project celebrating the people who make up the Anacostia region of the District of Columbia.

 

 

We Who Do Words: CityLit Festival Poetry Finale
Friday, April 25 :: 7pm
@ Red Emma’s

In a final nod to poet Nikki Giovanni, the 22nd CityLit Festival ends National Poetry Month with a poetry finale. We Who Do Words, with musical guest artist Wifty Bangura and featuring poet Dominique Christina with Sylvia Jones, Michael B. Tager, Erica Dawson, Ailish Hopper, and Tracy Dimond as the Mistress of Ceremonies.

“We who do words are doing what we do,” says Nikki G. “Through the pen, you wielded like a torch, like a wand, like a blade when the world needed sharpening. You didn’t just write poems – you built rooms for us to walk into, to rest in, to rage in, to love in. I stepped into those rooms again and again, never leaving quite the same as I entered,” writes poet Fredrick Joseph, We Alive, Beloved, in a tribute to this highly revered poet. We end this festival season with creatives and poets who walk into that room, who shine their own light, who read their own poems where they will be seen.

Wifty Bangura is a multifaceted creative specializing in sound, blending hip-hop, neo-soul, and alternative music with classical vocal training and performance experience. She uses music as a tool for healing and self-liberation, inspiring listeners to embrace their true selves and resist anything that stifles self-love. Dominique Christina is an award-winning poet, author of Anarcha Speaks, curator, conceptual installation artist, and Arts Envoy to Cyprus. She believes words make worlds. Sylvia Jones’ first poetry collection, Television Fathers, was released in 2024. She is an editor at Black Lawrence Press and a reader for Ploughshares. She earned her M.F.A. from American University in Washington D.C. and lives and writes in Baltimore. Michael B. Tager is the author of Pop Culture Poetry: the Definitive Collection. Erica Dawson is a Black poet living with bipolar disorder and OCD in the Baltimore-DC area. Ailish Hopper is a poet who works in page, performance, and social forms. She’s the author of the chapbook, Bird in the Head, and the full-length collection, Dark~Sky Society. Tracy Dimond, Mistress of Ceremony is a 2016 Baker Artist Award finalist. She is the author of the full-length poetry collection, Emotion Industry and the Vice Chair of CityLit Project. In this final act of poetry, Nikki G reminds us, the human spirit will prevail. Her words bring extraordinary light to our current circumstances, “We will take what we have to make what we need.” May she Rest in Power. May we remember her name.

 

 

Drink and Discover with Clavel: Latin American Drinking Vessels
Saturday, April 26 :: 2-4pm
@ The Walters Art Museum

Location: Graham Auditorium and Sculpture Court
Registration is required.

Learn about different kinds of ancient drinking vessels from Mexico and Central and South America, and sample some tasty beverages, too! Join Ellen Hoobler, William B. Ziff, Jr. Curator, Art of the Americas and Patricia Lagarde, Wieler-Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, Art of the Americas, in the Walters’ Graham Auditorium, and then head to the Sculpture Court for brief presentations and free samples of tepache, provided by local restaurant Clavel. Please note that tepache contains alcohol. This program provides a taste (literally and figuratively!) of  Latin American Art / Arte Latinoamericano, an installation of works from the museum’s collection of art from South, Central, and North America and the Caribbean, opening May 17.

REGISTER

About Our Partner 

Clavel was founded by Lane Harlan, Matthew Pierce, and Carlos Raba in the summer of 2015. Clavel is a minority- and family-owned taqueria and mezcaleria serving food deeply rooted in Sinaloan ritual and serving handmade corn and flour tortillas. The corn tortillas are nixtamalized in house from corn sourced from small producers in Oaxaca and Puebla, Mexico. Their mezcaleria honors agave distillates from the many states in Mexico. Clavel also offers Mexican sugar cane- and agave-based cocktails crafted collectively by the bar team, all of whom have been educated about palenques (distilleries) in Oaxaca and beyond. Clavel has been nominated in various categories by the James Beard Foundation five times.

 

 

Creative Alliance’s 30th Anniversary Marquee Ball
Saturday, April 26 :: 5PM VIP Dinner | 8PM Dance Party
@ Creative Alliance

The Marquee Ball is Creative Alliance’s annual fundraiser gala that includes a VIP dinner, art auction, open studios, and a wild dance party that honors The Patterson’s history as a movie palace. The movie theme inspires the evening’s events and attire with eye-popping results! Baltimore’s wildest party supports Creative Alliance’s free youth education and community arts programs!

 

 

Baker Artist Awards Celebration
Saturday, April 26 :: 6-10pm
@ The Baltimore Museum of Art

Curated by Katie Cooke, BMA Manager of Curatorial Affairs, and Antoinette Roberts, BMA Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art.

The Baker Artist Portfolios and associated awards were established by the William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund and are a program of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance.

This exhibition is generously funded by The William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund.

 

 

(un)natural order | Artist Talk

Sunday, April 27 :: 2-4pm

@ Atrium Artspace

Opening reception: April 5, 5:00–8:00pm
Artist talk: April 27, 2:00–4:00pm
Closing Reception: May 10, 5:00–7:00pm
Venue: Atrium Artspace–2029 Maryland Avenue Baltimore, MD 21218
Gallery Hours: 1:00–4:00PM (Wed–Thu) Or by appointment
Artists: Lite Zhang & Pavlos Liaretidis
Curator: Alfonso Sanchez Herrera Lasso

Atrium Artspace is proud to present (un)natural order, a two-artist exhibition offering poetic reflections on the collapse of man-made systems and the cascading consequences of their failures. On view from April 5 through 14, 2025, the exhibition features sculpture and mixed media installations by international artists Lite Zhang and Pavlos Liaretidis. Curated by Alfonso Sanchez Herrera Lasso, the show opens with a public reception on April 5 from 5:00–8:00pm, with gallery hours Wednesday and Thursday from 1:00–4:00pm or by appointment.

“The show offers perspectives on the fragility of existence across different geographic and cultural contexts,” shares curator Alfonso Sanchez Herrera Lasso. “Rooted in surrealist traditions, the works of these two artists reimagine the wreckage of man-made disasters, juxtaposing visceral representations of tragedy with dreamlike interpretations of unknown futures. Zhang and Liaretidis invite us to question the systems and symbols that guide our lives, and to reflect on humanity’s impact on the natural order.”

In one of Zhang’s featured works, created in response to the collapse of Baltimore’s Key Bridge, the artist weaves local materials—crab cages, chains, and concrete—into an installation evoking the elegiac beauty of impermanence. Liaretidis, meanwhile, draws from the devastating 2023 Tempi train crash in Greece: Across three large wall-mounted panels, the artist incorporates plaster, coal powder, and asphalt to create images memorializing destruction while critiquing the fragility of human infrastructure.

Programming for (un)natural order includes artists’ and curator talks, and an interdisciplinary performance with local musicians during the closing ceremony on May 10.

About the Artists

Lite Zhang (b. 1998, Xi’an, China) is a Los Angeles-based artist whose work navigates themes of cultural identity, material transformation, and ecological tension. Inspired by traditional Chinese folk arts and the shifting landscapes of urban and natural environments, Zhang integrates found materials like driftwood, metal, and industrial debris to explore the interplay between memory and impermanence. Often rooted in surrealist traditions, Zhang’s installations and mixed media works blur the boundaries between the real and the fantastic, reimagining familiar objects and systems to reflect on humanity’s transformation of the landscape.

Pavlos Liaretidis (b. 1999, Thessaloniki, Greece) is a New York-based artist whose work examines humanity’s evolving relationship with the environment through a critical lens, addressing social injustices and existential questions. Drawing from personal and collective tragedies, such as the devastating 2023 Tempi train crash in Greece, Liaretidis explores themes of commodification, resource exploitation, and mortality. His multimedia practice is grounded in material experimentation, incorporating industrial and natural elements like asphalt, plaster, and metal into poignant reflections on the systems that govern and exploit life.

About the Curator

Alfonso Sanchez Herrera Lasso (b. 2000, Mexico City) is a curator working in the Baltimore-Washington DC metropolitan area. During the summer of 2023, he worked at Museo de Arte de Querétaro (Mexico) as an associate curator and director’s assistant. Likewise, in 2024, he interned with the art consulting firm Art Collectors Athenaeum, serving as assistant curator for DIALOG: Landscape and Abstraction, an exhibition at the Art Museum of the Americas-Organization of American States (OAS). Alfonso’s current practice explores architecture, design, and our place in the urban landscape as humans and creators. He is also interested in showcasing and promoting artists from his home country.

 

 

AI and Artistic Practice: Sam Pluta, Brea Souders, and Eryk Salvaggio
Monday, April 28 :: 4-5:30pm
@ UMBC Albin O. Kuhn Library

In a discussion presented by the Center for Innovation, Research, and Creativity in the Arts (CIRCA), composer and sound artist Sam Pluta, visual artist Brea Souders, and video artist and writer Eryk Salvaggio each use and interact with AI in their artistic practice. They will introduce us to their work, reflecting on their experiences, doubts, and breakthroughs creating works using these technologies. This will be followed by a discussion moderated by UMBC assistant professor of art Eric Millikin.

Although artificial intelligence (AI) emerged as an academic discipline in the mid 1950s, general use and public awareness of AI has materialized only in the past three years with the launch of generative AI chatbots and its role in the general applications that we use on a daily basis, through web search engines, virtual assistants, and recommendation systems. We are now at a critical juncture to consider the impacts of generative AI on creativity through ethical, cultural, and societal lenses.

Please visit CIRCA’s event page for full details.

Admission is free, but reservations are requested. Please visit here to reserve a seat. A reception will follow.

The Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery is easy to visit, with nearby parking. For driving directions and parking information, please visit here.

 

 

< Calls for Entry >

 

 

Open Call Auditions
Wednesday, April 23 + Thursday, April 24
posted by Everyman Theatre

For the past 35 years, Everyman Theatre has been a home to Great Stories, Well Told built right here in Baltimore.

We are excited to bring you another great season of plays to celebrate the magic we’ve created together for more than three decades: a legacy of incredible theatre for the community that celebrates the actor and features a Resident Company of Artists. Only a handful of theatres nationwide can boast that they feature an ensemble of professional actors like ours who, because of their distinctive familial bond, history, and trust in each other, can push each other to deliver the highest caliber of work. This is our secret sauce. This is the essence of Everyman.

 

 

Joshua Johnson Council (JJC) Artist in Residence (AIR) Program
deadline April 28
posted by JJC, MICA, and the BMA

The Joshua Johnson Council (JJC) Artist in Residence (AIR) program is a collaboration between the JJC, the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA), and the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). The JJC AIR program seeks applications to select two (2) artists living and working in Baltimore City for the summer residency. Applicants are not required to be alumni of MICA. Artists of color are strongly encouraged to apply.

Residency dates are June 2, 2025 to August 1, 2025.

 

 

Grants for Visual Artists
deadline April 28
posted by The Harpo Foundation

The Harpo Foundation invites applications for its Grants for Visual Artists program, which provides direct support to under-recognized artists 21 years or older. Grants of up to $10,000 will be awarded to artists based on the quality of the artists’ work, the potential to expand aesthetic inquiry, and the ability to fulfill the foundation’s priority to provide support to visual artists who are under-recognized by the field.

 

 

Hackerman Artist in Residence Program
deadline May 1
posted by Enoch Pratt FREE Library

The Hackerman Artist in Residence Program aims to support the artistic and cultural endeavors of the Baltimore community by connecting established and emerging artists with Library resources and tools, creating meaningful connections with Library patrons, and contributing unique perspectives to the ever-evolving and growing city of Baltimore. The program provides all members of the community with unique opportunities to learn and engage with their fellow Baltimoreans.

 

 

Call for Workshop Proposals
deadline May 1
posted by Waller Gallery

Waller Gallery invites artists, educators, community organizers, and other creative practitioners to submit proposals for engaging and innovative workshops to be held during our 2025 and 2026 seasons. We are seeking proposals that align with our mission of promoting diverse voices, fostering community engagement, and exploring relevant social and cultural themes through the lens of art and creativity. We encourage proposals that are interactive, educational, and accessible to a broad range of participants.

While we welcome proposals on a wide range of topics, we are particularly interested in workshops that address the following themes: Identity and Representation, Community Building and Engagement, Art and Wellness, Art and Technology, Traditional and Contemporary Craft, Professional Development for Artists.

We are open to a variety of workshop formats, including: Hands-on Workshops, Discussions and Critique, Hybrid Formats, Single-Session Workshops, Multi-Session Workshops.

 

 

Arts Writers Grant Program
deadline May 7
posted by The Warhol Foundation

The Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant supports emerging and established writers who write about contemporary visual art. Ranging from $15,000 to $50,000 in three categories—articles, books, and short-form writing—the grants support projects addressing both general and specialized art audiences, from short reviews for magazines and newspapers to in-depth scholarly studies. We also support art writing that engages criticism through interdisciplinary methods and experiments with literary styles. As long as a writer meets the eligibility and publishing requirements, they can apply.

Writers are invited to apply in one of the following categories:

Article
Books
Short-Form Writing

 

 

Call for Submissions: Windows on Charles
deadline May 16
posted by SNF Parkway Theatre

The SNF Parkway Theatre proudly presents the second annual iteration of Windows on North+Charles, a curated selection of original short film for outdoor viewing. The works will be on display in windows throughout Station North, including the floor-to-ceiling, street-facing windows of Parkway Lounge (located at the intersection of North Avenue and Charles Street) during the summer of 2025.

This is an open call for film and media makers of all ages and experience. Narrative, documentary, experimental, and animated short films, video art pieces, select scenes from larger works, and other forms of visual imagery will all be considered.

Baltimore-based filmmakers are especially encouraged to apply.

 

 

BJC 2025 Graduate Exhibition Open Call
deadline May 25
posted by Baltimore Jewelry Center

Since 2014, the BJC has served the contemporary jewelry and metals field in myriad ways, including through our gallery space where we have hosted 66 exhibitions. This March are excited to launch the call for our second annual Baltimore Jewelry Center Graduate show.

This exhibition will feature the work of emerging jewelers and metalsmiths as they complete their formal education while also acting as an archive and spotlight for the work being created by recent graduates. The goal of this annual exhibition is to highlight the work that is being produced by graduating jewelers and metalsmiths using an open and inclusive framework, with the desire to capture the depth and breadth of what is currently being created in the field.

 

 

2025 Saturday ‘Visiter’ Awards Call for Entries
deadline May 30
posted by Poe Baltimore

Call for entries open from January 19 – May 30!

The Saturday “Visiter” Awards are named for the prize a young Edgar Allan Poe won while he lived in Baltimore which helped to launch the famed writer’s career.  Medals are presented by Poe Baltimore in two categories: works that adapt Poe’s life or writing (including biography, or true adaptations of his poetry or prose), and original works that are inspired by Poe’s life or writing. For more information, visit https://poefestinternational.com/saturday-visiter-awards.

Contact:

Poe Baltimore  203 N. Amity Street  Baltimore, MD 21223

Enrica Jang   Director Poe Baltimore   (410) 462-1763

[email protected]

$25 entry fee