This week’s news includes: Jonathon Heyward to stay with BSO until 2031, MdFF goes back to spring schedule, Carmelo Anthony holds court at the Pratt, obituary for Ann Everton, the culture wars come to DC and beyond, NCMA opens doors to furloughed workers, Beyond Baltimore Street exhibition, Gabby Samone to headline Soul Soirée, Dr. Faye Raquel Gleisser wins Charles C. Eldredge Prize, and The Association of Writers & Writing Programs comes to Baltimore with John Waters as keynote — with reporting from Baltimore Magazine, Baltimore Fishbowl, The Baltimore Banner, and other local and independent news sources.
Header Image: Carmelo Anthony, who has said Baltimore “raised” him, was a star at Towson Catholic before later playing 19 seasons in the NBA. (Devin Allen + House of Melo)
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Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Extends Jonathon Heyward as Music Director Through 2031
Press Release :: October 15
Today, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) announced a three-year contract extension for Jonathon Heyward, BSO Music Director and Harvey M. and Lyn P. Meyerhoff Chair, ensuring his artistic leadership through the 2030-31 Season. The renewal builds upon a transformative relationship that has redefined the BSO’s role as both an artistic and community leader throughout Maryland and beyond.
Heyward’s historic 2022 appointment made him the youngest and first Black music director in the Orchestra’s 108-year history. Since his official arrival in the 2023-24 Season, marked by a three-day, state-wide celebration featuring the Dance Theatre of Harlem, he has energized audiences, elevated the BSO’s artistic excellence, and deepened its connection to the community. Since the 2022-23 season, nearly 30,000 patrons have experienced a classical concert for the first time, and overall ticketed attendance has risen 58%, positioning the BSO to surpass pre-pandemic audience levels in its current 2025-26 season. A visibly broader and more diverse audience now fills the concert halls, reflecting Heyward’s commitment to programming that welcomes all Marylanders to enjoy the BSO experience.
“Jonathon Heyward has inspired an extraordinary resurgence at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and we are thrilled to extend our partnership with him through 2031,” said Mark C. Hanson, BSO President and CEO. “Jonathon truly believes in our mission as a Symphony for All, and his programming approach is expanding and exciting our audiences, while centering and celebrating the talents of our musicians. This contract extension ensures our momentum will continue for years to come.”
Heyward’s impact extends far beyond the concert halls. In 2024, he led a powerful Symphony in the City performance at Fort McHenry, drawing in thousands for a night of community and collective reflection through music following the Key Bridge collapse. He has also centered education and family programming by building new bridges between the Orchestra, guest artists, and student musicians across the region. Highlights include former Composer in Residence James Lee III’s year-long composer mentorship, an expansion of the Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestras from three to four ensembles, and enhanced partnerships with regional schools and universities including a performance and residency collaboration with the University of Maryland’s Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and School of Music. This fall, Heyward will make his Midweek Education and Family Concert debuts (October 30 & November 1) making him the first BSO Music Director in a decade to lead those programs.
Nationally recognized among TIME Magazine’s Next Generation Leaders and Bloomberg’s “Ones to Watch,” Heyward continues to bring a bold, inclusive perspective to orchestral leadership, championing living composers, elevating women and AAPI artists, and introducing cross-genre collaborations that connect with Maryland’s diverse audiences.
“I am deeply honored to continue my journey with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra,” said Jonathon Heyward. “This orchestra is not only world-class on stage but is a true reflection of the people we proudly serve. I’m fortunate to witness over the past seasons, the shared vision of growth and connection across our entire organization, from our musicians and staff to our partners and audiences. I’m thrilled to continue building together and I am excited for what lies ahead.”
During his tenure, the BSO also welcomed new musicians and artistic talent, including Assistant Conductor Jiannan Cheng and the Orchestra’s first Conducting Fellow, Tatiana Pérez-Hernández, a mentorship initiative established under Heyward’s leadership. His commitment to developing emerging artists and cultivating diversity across the podium and the Orchestra continues to define his legacy.
Heyward’s leadership has also inspired unprecedented generosity across the organization, including some of the most significant gifts in the BSO’s history. Reflecting his own belief in the organization’s mission and long-term financial health, Heyward will donate $125,000 over six years, a portion of his annual conducting fee beginning in the 2026-27 Season. His contribution will support programs that nurture emerging talent and educational initiatives that expand access to orchestral music, as well as inspire the next generation of philanthropists.
“Jonathon Heyward is exactly the right leader, on and off the podium, for the BSO at this exciting time in our history,” said BSO Board Chair Barry Rosen. “By making a strategic gift as part of his contract, Jonathon continues a wonderful tradition of BSO Music Directors giving back to the community that they serve.”
To experience Jonathon Heyward in the BSO’s newly launched 2025–26 Season, visit, bsomusic.org/bio/Jonathon-
:: See Also ::
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra extends history-making director Heyward to 2031
by Wesley Case
Published October 15 in The Baltimore Banner
Maryland Film Festival Announces New Spring Dates to Better Support Students and Film Community
Press Release :: October 9
The Maryland Film Festival (MdFF) will return to its traditional spring slot in 2026, with new dates set for April 8-12, to better serve filmmakers, students, and the broader Baltimore film community.
After experimenting with a fall festival in 2025, MdFF will revert to spring to be more accessible to filmmakers and community stakeholders, and conducive to their production timelines. In addition, the new dates align with the academic calendar, offering increased opportunities for student engagement.
“While fall initially seemed like a good fit, early spring provides more room for schools and students to participate, especially before final exams and graduation,” festival director KJ Mohr said. “It is crucial that students can be involved in our festival, whether through our student programming, the Student Film Summit, middle school screenings, or our ticket programs. Moving to early April allows us to better work with schools throughout the year and ensures we don’t lose students at the end of their academic year. The future of community festivals like ours depends on aligning with students’ schedules.”
Additionally, organizers felt that positioning the festival within the spring festival circuit alongside Sundance, SXSW and True/False would place it within a robust ecosystem of festivals that champion independent voices and creative risk-taking. It will also create a balanced cultural landscape within Baltimore, offering breathing space between the city’s many fall film events, such as Sweaty Eyeballs, Baltimore International Black Film Festival, New/Next, and Be More Film Festival.
Maryland Film Festival Day will continue to be celebrated every May 2, highlighting the state’s thriving film ecosystem and serving as a launchpad for the year ahead.
“The shift restores MdFF’s natural rhythm within the global independent film circuit, enabling us to better support Maryland creatives, amplify underrepresented voices, and connect diverse audiences with bold new work” said Nancy Proctor, Executive Director of the SNF Parkway and Maryland Film Festival. “It also reaffirms MdFF’s role as a platform for discovery and collaboration across Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic. We are the Maryland Film Festival and our mission is to champion and encourage the growth of all film activity across the region, including immersive media, multi-platform storytelling, and other festivals,” Proctor added.
About the Maryland Film Festival
Founded in 1999, the Maryland Film Festival (MdFF) is a vibrant cultural event that brings independent cinema, cutting-edge media, and unforgettable experiences to Baltimore each fall. Held at the historic SNF Parkway Theatre in the Station North Arts District, MdFF is more than a film festival—it’s a five-day celebration where film, music, food, art, gaming, parties, and creative technology converge. With bold programming, inclusive community engagement, and a laid-back vibe that reflects the spirit of Baltimore, MdFF welcomes cinephiles, creators, and the curious alike.
:: See Also ::
One and done: After move to fall, Maryland Film Festival returns to spring for 2026
by Wesley Case
Published October 9 in The Baltimore Banner
Maryland Film Festival is moving back to a spring schedule in 2026
by Ed Gunts
Published October 9 in Baltimore Fishbowl
Carmelo Anthony talks Enoch Pratt exhibit, Baltimore and what his critics got wrong
by Wesley Case
Published October 13 in The Baltimore Banner
Excerpt: As Carmelo Anthony was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last month, the ex-NBA star addressed the young dreamers — kids like he once was, growing up on West Baltimore’s Myrtle Avenue.
“They will tell you it’s foolish. They will laugh at your belief. But let me tell you, they laughed at me, too,” the 41-year-old told the crowd.
It’s clear who got the last laugh.
… this story continues. Read the rest at The Baltimore Banner: Carmelo Anthony talks Enoch Pratt exhibit, Baltimore and what his critics got wrong
Darsombra’s Ann Everton was ‘a model for how to live’ as an artist
by Al Shipley
Published October 15 in The Baltimore Banner
Brian Daniloski estimates that he and wife Ann Everton played over a thousand shows with their “trans-apocalyptic galaxy rock” band Darsombra, touring together nationally and sometimes internationally every year since 2010.
Darsombra are beloved in Baltimore’s underground music scene. In the last couple of years alone they’ve played SubScape, the ShakeMore Festival and Two Fest — and were in fact the only band to play all three of those DIY festivals. And every time they toured, the duo found more pockets of music lovers who appreciated their unique fusion of experimental metal and psychedelic soundscapes.
“Once we hit a place where we feel like we found our people or where they really like us, we were like, ‘We gotta come back here,’” Daniloski said Saturday. “It was harder and harder each year to get back to every place we liked, because each year we’d find more and more places like that.”
On Oct. 3, Daniloski and Everton were back on the road, headed to Montreal for a run of shows in Canada, when the tour ended in tragedy before it began. They were driving up the interstate through Essex County in upstate New York when their van hit a stopped vehicle at about 65 miles per hour, Daniloski said. “It was a pretty big smashup.”
Everton died at the scene. She was 43 years old.
Daniloski, who was briefly hospitalized with minor injuries, including a slight fracture in his nose, returned to the home he shared with Everton five days after the accident. Speaking via phone a week after those events, the guitarist was still shaken up, but frequently able to laugh at the warm memories of their 12 years of marriage and musical collaboration.
“I am kind of a mess. I’ve had an incredible amount of support. Somebody’s been here at the house pretty much the whole time I’ve been here,” he said. “I’m just coping day to day.”
Daniloski’s sister-in-law Nicole Evanshaw set up a GoFundMe page to help him through this difficult time and honor Everton’s memory. “The response has just been unexpected and overwhelming,” Daniloski said of the more than 800 donations totaling over $66,000.
Everton grew up in the Homeland neighborhood in North Baltimore and had many creative passions from a young age: learning about photography from her father, taking piano lessons, running afoul of local law enforcement as a teenage graffiti writer and publishing her own zines. Eventually she began making films, including the “Bill Murray Life Lessons” YouTube vignettes inspired by the comedic actor’s filmography.
“She just was somebody who had incredible energy to just constantly be working on projects, doing new things, helping people, being incredibly generous with her time,” said Jane Vincent of the band Curse, who spoke about Everton onstage Sunday at SubScape 2025. “The way that her mind worked was so incredible. … She would travel all over the world and she would learn the language wherever she would go, it felt like.”
Daniloski and Everton met at Charm City Yoga in 2009, though Daniloski had no idea the beautiful red-haired woman in his yoga class was interested in him until he received a Facebook friend request. “After like a week of me not getting the hint, she sent me an email and asked me out,” he said.
When Everton started going on tour with Darsombra, she was still working purely as a visual artist, creating video projections that played during concerts. Darsombra’s 2012 release “Mega-Void” was a CD/DVD multimedia package, with Everton creating visual accompaniment for the entire album. “Ann’s video work really brought a new dimension to the music Brian was already making. Like, it clicked,” said intermedia artist Rahne Alexander, who met Everton in the Creative Alliance Movie Makers program. “And of course they ended up having this really, really generative partnership. Seriously, relationship and artistic goals.”
Around the time Daniloski and Everton got married in 2013, she became a more active musical partner in Darsombra, contributing synthesizer and vocals to every album from 2016’s “Polyvision” to 2023’s “Dumesday Book.” Rapper Dan “Height” Keech, who’d known Everton since 2002, suggested that her work in Darsombra was a natural outgrowth of her longtime love of ‘70s progressive rock. “She really just always was talking about Yes and Rush and those kind of bands,” Keech said. “She hadn’t thought of herself as a musician but really blossomed into such a crucial part of the band.”
“She was just unbelievable to watch when they would perform,” said Mary Spiro, who often booked Darsombra for concerts before and after Everton joined. “Once Ann was in that band, the energy between them was palpable. It just spilled out into the crowd.”
“Ann was committed to the art life and persisted long after most had moved on or ‘grown up,’” said musician and writer Nicky Smith, who worked with Everton on the 2013 DIY film “The Human Host Movie.” “Her dedication to her work was a model for how to live.”
Everton was, in addition to her many creative pursuits, a trained barber who would cut hair between tour jags, sometimes for cash and sometimes bartering for other services. “She grew up in Baltimore and stayed in Baltimore and found a way to live the life she wanted, even if it didn’t fit anyone’s mold,” said Kate Hicks, a friend and hair client.
Though nothing specific has been planned yet, Daniloski expects that there’ll be a “celebration” of Everton’s life next year involving many of her favorite Baltimore bands. “It’s gonna be amazing,” he said.
The Banner publishes news stories about people who have recently died in Maryland. If your loved one has passed and you would like to inquire about an obituary, please contact [email protected]. If you are interested in placing a paid death notice, please contact [email protected]or visit this website.
This story was republished with permission from The Baltimore Banner. Visit www.thebanner.com for more.
How to Protect Your Right to Culture
by Anna Kornbluh and Ignacio M. Sánchez Prado
Published October 14 in Hyperallergic
Excerpt: In modern democracies and republics across the world, governments organize group relations, compose and enforce laws, manage ties with other states, and collect taxes. Parallel to politics but no less essential for freedom and flourishing, they also often fund and administer culture and the arts. This is one legacy of the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which affirmed that “everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.” Culture entails both extraordinary arts and ideas and ordinary everyday activities and beliefs, forming the connective tissue between individuals and their communities, as well as between different kinds of groups and collectives. Culture is beauty, imagination, emotion, and knowledge; it is ballet recitals and street festivals; it is tacos and K-pop; it is ritual and invention; it is freedom to both create and to enjoy the fruits of creativity.
Lately, the United States government has mounted a coordinated repeal of the right to culture. There is simply no other way to understand the underlying logic behind the rapid-fire dismantling of the Department of Education, the Public Broadcasting System, National Public Radio, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services, along with the unprecedented defunding of universities, the censorship of museums and artists, the vehement attack on equal access to institutions, and the swift erosion of freedom of speech. The right to culture is fundamental, and its revocation has grave consequences for the texture of daily life.
:: See Also ::
Smithsonian Institution Postpones Prestigious Portrait Exhibition
by Isa Farfan
Published October 9 in Hyperallergic
National Museum of Women in the Arts stays open during shutdown, offers free admission to furloughed workers
by East City Art Editorial Team
Published October 6 in East City Arts
Excerpt: As the federal government shutdown disrupts routines across the region, the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) confirms that its galleries remain open to the public at 1250 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. In a gesture of support for the many affected by the lapse in federal funding, NMWA will offer free admission to all furloughed federal employees for the duration of the shutdown. Visitors should be prepared to show proof of furlough status at admission.
Beyond this temporary measure, the museum continues to advance its mission as the first institution in the world dedicated solely to championing women through the arts. Current and upcoming exhibitions provide multiple points of entry into centuries of artistic innovation:
Art exhibition honoring legacy of Lumbee tribe opens on Indigenous Peoples Day
by Marcus Dieterle
Published October 13 in Baltimore Fishbowl
Excerpt: An exhibition spotlighting the legacy of the Lumbee people, a Native American tribe with connections to the land that is now called Maryland, opens Monday at Eastpoint Mall.
Titled “Beyond Baltimore Street: Living Lumbee Legacies,” the exhibition opens in the mall’s food court on Oct. 13, Indigenous Peoples Day, and will remain on view through Nov. 7. There will be a reception on Oct. 13 at 6:30 p.m.
“The opening of this impressive and highly-inspirational exhibit is timed with a holiday that honors the history, culture, and resilience of Indigenous peoples in the United States, which is significant,” said John Hess, regional director of property management at Eastpoint Mall, in a statement.
American Idol Finalist Gabby Samone Set to Headline the Black Art District’s Soul Soiree – A Night of Music & Poetry
Press Release :: October 9
The Pennsylvania Avenue Black Arts & Entertainment District (Black Arts District) today announced that 2025 American Idol finalist and Baltimore native Gabby Samone will headline an impressive lineup of artists for The Soul Soirée – A Night of Music & Poetry, set for Saturday, October 25th, from 6pm to 10pm at Baltimore Center Stage, Maryland’s State Theater.
The Soul Soirée will be an unforgettable celebration of artistry and culture, featuring elevated live entertainment, craft cocktails, and cuisine. The night will also include performances by Soul and R&B artist Davon Fleming, a Season 13 semi-finalist and member of Team Jennifer on The Voice; National Grand Slam champion poet Black Chakra; spoken word artist Rebecca Dupas, best known for her viral piece, “How to Slay a Dragon;” and newly named Baltimore City Youth Poet Laureate Jay’Den Addison. The event will begin with a pre-event reception and sounds by DJ Illestrate. Baltimore Club music pioneer DJ Ducky Dynamo will provide the soundtrack for the night’s celebration.” The Soul Soirée is more than an event—it’s a testament to the power of Black creativity and cultural legacy in Baltimore,” said Lady Brion, founder and executive director of the Black Arts District.
“By joining us at Center Stage, guests will not only experience a night of unforgettable
artistry, but also invest in the future of the Black Arts District and the communities we serve.”
The event is set to attract an audience of 500 of Baltimore’s cultural tastemakers, Black art connoisseurs, local elected officials, and community leaders—making it one of the organization’s most distinguished gatherings of the year. All proceeds will directly support the Black Arts District’s 2026 programming, ensuring another year of transformative arts initiatives, community-centered programming, and creative economic development.
Tickets are available by visiting https:/ /BADSoulSoiree.eventbrite.com.
SAAM Announces Faye Raquel Gleisser as Winner of the 2025 Eldredge Prize
Press Release :: October 10
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is delighted to announce that Dr. Faye Raquel Gleisser, associate professor at Indiana University, has been awarded the Charles C. Eldredge Prize for her book Risk Work: Making Art and Guerrilla Tactics in Punitive America, 1967–1987 (University of Chicago Press, 2023).
The annual Eldredge Prize, named in honor of the museum’s former director (1982–1988), recognizes originality and thoroughness of research, excellence of writing, and clarity of method. Single-author, book-length publications in the field of American art history appearing within the previous three calendar years are eligible.
This year’s jurors were Karen Mary Davalos of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; Richard Meyer of Stanford University; and Amy M. Mooney of Columbia College Chicago.
The jury described Risk Work as a “gamechanger” noting that “through the lens of ‘punitive literacy’ and with bold pairings of well-known and understudied artists, Gleisser presents an original rethinking of the relational, embodied, and situated knowledge that informed artistic and performative practice in the United States from the late 1960s to the late 1980s. This turbulent period, marked by social and political revolutions, the advent of for-profit carceral institutions, and advances in surveillance technology, resulted in a profound expansion of policing and prosecution. Gleisser persuasively argues that the police state is a structural field that shapes artists’ creative decisions and that the artist’s race, class and gender inform their punitive literacy, which in turn shapes their art.” The trio also commended Gleisser’s interdisciplinary approach that “draws together art history, performance studies, black feminism, queer of color critique, legal studies, and carceral studies, to show how guerilla art between 1967 and 1987 requires attention to punitive literacy.”
Shortlisted for the 2025 prize were: Katie Anania, Out of Paper: Drawing, Environment, and the Body in 1960s America (Yale University Press, 2024); Emilie Boone, A Nimble Arc: James Van Der Zee and Photography (Duke University Press, 2023); Lisa Gail Collins, Stitching Love and Loss: A Gee’s Bend Quilt (University of Washington Press, 2023); and Tatiana Reinoza, Reclaiming the Americas: Latinx Art and the Politics of Territory (University of Texas Press, 2023).
In conjunction with the award, Gleisser will present the Eldredge Prize virtual lecture on Thursday, December 11, 2025. Please register for it at events.blackthorn.io/5f4ZMUx7/
The Eldredge Prize has been awarded annually since 1989. For more information on the prize and a list of past winners, please visit americanart.si.edu/research/
One of the nation’s largest writers’ conventions and book fairs is coming to Baltimore in 2026
by Ed Gunts
Publshed October 10 in Baltimore Fishbowl
Excerpt: One of the nation’s largest writers’ conventions and book fairs is coming to Baltimore next year.
The Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) will have its 2026 Conference & Bookfair at the Baltimore Convention Center from March 4 to 7, 2026, and organizers have begun registering attendees.
The prestigious four-day event typically draws between 8,000 to 10,000 attendees, making it a can’t-miss weekend for the literary community and providing an economic boost for its host city. This year’s event in Los Angeles drew 10,000 people. The 2023 conference in Seattle drew more than 9,000. Baltimore has only hosted it once before, in 2003.
