This week’s news includes: New Alice and Franklin Cooley Composer in Residence at the BMA featuring abdu mongo ali, Derrick Adams stays local, Turnstile Grammy nominations, Wickerham & Lomax’s Soft Gym at the YNot Lot, Theaster Gates to speak at Hopkins Bloomberg Center, Alma Thomas, The Phillips deaccessioning, Smithsonian reopens, Grandma Moses exhibition at SAAM, C. Grimaldis closing, holidays at The Lewis, Dance/USA awards two Maryland artists, Billie Holiday mural in Upper Fells, and Top of the World awaits improvements from Create Baltimore
Header Image: Derrick Adams’ 2024 work “Only Happy Thoughts” is an acrylic and fabric collage. (John Bergens) via The Baltimore Banner
BMA Names abdu mongo ali as the Inaugural Alice and Franklin Cooley Composer in Residence
Press Release :: November 19
The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) has named multi-disciplinary artist, musician, and poet abdu mongo ali as its inaugural Alice and Franklin Cooley Composer in Residence. Ali will respond to a creative prompt using the museum’s collection and exhibitions as a site of exploration and inspiration. The residency began in September and will culminate on Thursday, January 22 with a performance of ali’s completed work, between every breath, there is atmosphere. This sonic and visual performance considers how Maryland’s southern Atlantic atmospheric and ecological conditions affect contemporary Black Baltimoreans. The title is derived from a collection of ali’s poems that speak to the interconnectedness of Blackness, gay life, and the afterlives of slavery.
image info: abdu ali. Photo by Elliott Jerome Brown, Jr.
Derrick Adams keeps coming back home to Baltimore — even as the greater art world beckons
by Wesley Case
Published November 18 in The Baltimore Banner
On a recent fall evening, Derrick Adams found himself in a familiar spot: the center of attention.
Inside the Pratt Manhattan Gallery, some attendees noticed almost immediately that one of the featured artists was mingling among them.
A smiling, gray-haired woman accosted Adams. “I heard you’re Derrick,” she said before thanking him for lending to the exhibit his 2021 mixed-media work “Fixing My Face,” which honors philosopher W.E.B. Du Bois.
image info: An illustration of multidisciplinary artist Derrick Adams at the Last Resort Artist Retreat in Baltimore. (Jessica Gallagher/The Banner)
Baltimore’s Turnstile earns 5 Grammy nominations for ‘Never Enough’
by Wesley Case
Published November 7 in The Baltimore Banner
Turnstile’s unforgettable 2025 just got better: The Baltimore hardcore band earned five Grammy nominations, which were announced Friday morning.
Turnstile — with frontman and producer Brendan Yates, guitarist Pat McCrory, bassist Franz Lyons, drummer Daniel Fang and guitarist Meg Mills — are up for best rock performance (”Never Enough”), best metal performance (“Birds”) and best alternative music performance (“Seein’ Stars”), along with best rock song and best rock album (both for “Never Enough”).
The nominations are based on the group’s fourth album, June’s heartfelt, genre-bending “Never Enough.”
image info: Turnstile, which performed a free benefit concert at Wyman Park Dell in May, now has nine total Grammy nods to date. (KT Kanazawich for The Banner)
Inviting Light’s Latest Installation “Soft Gym” Transforms the New YNot Lot
by Alanah Nichole Davis
Published November 17 in Baltimore Magazine
Light plays a role in how safe people feel—and actually are—in any major city. Throughout Baltimore’s Station North Arts & Entertainment District, Inviting Light—a series of activations supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Public Art Challenge and curated by renowned artist and Baltimore native Derrick Adams—is meant to explore the connection between art, light, and design, all while enhancing the neighborhood’s vibrancy and walkability after dark.
Since February, Inviting Light has unveiled Zoë Charlton’s “security nightlight” sculpture “Third Watch” at North Avenue Market; transformed the parking garage across from the Charles Theatre with Phaan Howng’s colorful “Big Ass Snake (Plant)s on a Plane” design (an ode to action movies); and illuminated the facade of the old Gatsby’s on Charles with Tony Shore’s neon wonder “Aurora.”
image info: The “Soft Gym” grand opening on Nov. 12. —Courtesy of Bloomberg Philanthropies
Theaster Gates to Speak at the Sam Gilliam Lecture Series at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center On Dec. 11, 2025
Press Release :: November 6
Johns Hopkins University and the Sam Gilliam Foundation announced that Theaster Gates, the renowned artist and civic and social innovator, will lead the next lecture in the Sam Gilliam Lecture Series at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 11, 2025. Gates is the second speaker in the series that was established to honor the life and legacy of the late artist Sam Gilliam (1933–2022). The series invites prominent artists and thinkers to the university’s Washington, D.C., hub to reflect on the intersections between contemporary art, academia, and public policy, and the role art plays in advancing democracy. The lecture series is free and open to the public.
“We are inspired by Theaster Gates’ work and look forward to a discussion that draws on the spirit of Sam Gilliam’s life and legacy,” said Cybele Bjorklund, executive director of the Hopkins Bloomberg Center. “We are honored to host him and are grateful to Annie Gawlak and the Sam Gilliam Foundation for making this important conversation possible.”
image info: Portrait of Theaster Gates at his Chicago studio, 2024. Photographer: Lyndon French. Courtesy of Theaster Gates Studio.
Alma Thomas’ Ultimate Gift
by Jonathan Frederick Walz, Ph.D.
Untitled, c. 1968 first came to scholarly attention as part of the exhibition ‘Alma Thomas: Thirteen Studies’ that the Washington, DC-based gallery Hemphill Fine Arts mounted in late 2014. Thomas’ small chromatic studies on watercolor paper were not unknown, but Thirteen Studies revealed several mockups at full scale, an unfamiliar intermediary step between the intimate, postcard-sized sketches — of which she made hundreds — and the final acrylic paintings on canvas, masterful combinations of careful planning and spur-of-the-moment improvisation. Two works in Thirteen Studies particularly stood out: Untitled, c. 1968, now at the Museum of Modern Art (299.2015), and Untitled, c. 1968, now returning to the market after approximately a decade in private hands. Both mockups are composed of multiple pieces of brightly painted paper that Thomas scissored apart, recombined, and overpainted. These exuberant Frankensteins, held together with masking tape and staples, evidence Thomas’ deep knowledge of color theory and her determination to find the precise, sophisticated combination of hues her exacting eye demanded.
image info: Alma Thomas, Untitled, circa 1968. Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale New York.
Why Is DC’s Phillips Collection Selling Off Its Masterpieces?
by Isa Farfan
Published November 19 in Hyperallergic
Sotheby’s may have broken records with a $236 million Gustav Klimt last night, but its most eyebrow-raising sale this season may still be yet to come. Among the auction house’s high-profile offerings in its new Breuer Building home this week are three masterpieces from the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, whose deaccession has drawn criticism from the public and a member of the Phillips family.
The three Phillips Collection paintings hitting the auction floor on Thursday, November 20, are Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Large Dark Red Leaves on White” (1927), Georges Seurat’s “Clowns et poney” (1883–84), and Arthur Dove’s “Rose and Locust Stump” (1943). They are expected to fetch up to $14.8 million in total, money the Phillips Collection says will go toward new acquisitions and collection care. The museum will also sell seven other works, including the Pablo Picasso sculpture “Tête de femme” (1950) and Milton Avery’s “Spring Landscape” (1953), in a sale yet to be announced.
image info: Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Large Dark Red Leaves on White” (1927) (all images courtesy Phillips Collection)
Smithsonian to Reopen After Longest Government Shutdown in US History
by Isa Farfan
Published November 13 in Hyperallergic
The Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of Art (NGA), two federally funded cultural institutions, will begin reopening on Friday, November 14, after the longest government shutdown in United States history.
Two of the Smithsonian museums — the National Museum of American History and the National Air and Space Museum and its annex, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center — will open tomorrow. The National Zoo, National Museum of African Art, National Museum of African American History and Culture, National Museum of Asian Art, and National Museum of Natural History will open on Saturday. The rest of the institution’s 21 museums will begin to open on November 17.
image info: The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC (image courtesy NGA)
Exhibition Reexamines Grandma Moses as a Singular and Complex Figure in American Art
Press Release :: November 19
“Grandma Moses: A Good Day’s Work” repositions Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma” Moses (1860–1961) as a multidimensional force in American art, whose beloved painted recollections of rural life earned her a distinctive place in the cultural imagination of the postwar era. Drawing its name from Moses’ reflection on her own life as a “good day’s work,” the exhibition reveals how Moses’ art fused creativity, labor and memories from a century-long life.
The exhibition will be on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum from Nov. 25 through July 12, 2026. It is organized by Leslie Umberger, senior curator of folk and self-taught art, and Randall Griffey, former head curator, with support from curatorial assistant Maria R. Eipert. The exhibition will travel following its premiere in Washington, D.C.
image info: Grandma Moses, We Are Resting, 1951, oil on high-density fiberboard, overall: 24 × 30 in. (61 × 76.2 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Kallir Family, in Memory of Hildegard Bachert, 2019.55, © Grandma Moses Properties Co., NY
Closing of C. Grimaldis Gallery is a setback for a once-bustling block of Charles Street
by Ed Gunts
Published November 6 in Baltimore Fishbowl
The 500 block of N. Charles Street has lost a number of distinctive businesses over the years – Andre’s Empire Salon; Cokesbury Books; the Buttery all-night coffee shop; Sascha’s Café; and Louie’s Bookstore Café, to name a few.
It’s losing another one this fall with the departure of C. Grimaldis Gallery at 523 N. Charles St.
image info: C. Grimaldis Gallery will close its storefront at 523 N. Charles St. Photo credit: Ed Gunts.
CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAYS AT THE LEWIS! Experience The Lewis Holiday Wonderland, Special Events, and Award-Winning Museum Shop
Press Release :: November 10
The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture invites the community to celebrate the season with Holidays at The Lewis—a festive experience that transforms the museum into a Holiday Wonderland filled with dazzling décor, inspiring exhibitions, joyful events, and meaningful opportunities to support and protect Black history and culture.
Beginning November 15, visitors can enjoy The Lewis Holiday Wonderland, where the museum’s galleries and public spaces are adorned in regal holiday style—celebrating community, creativity, and cultural pride. Guests are also encouraged to shop local this season at the award-winning Lewis Museum Shop, recently named “Best Gifts That Celebrate Black Culture” by Baltimore Magazine. The store features unique, Black-owned and inspired gifts, books, jewelry, and art—perfect for everyone on your list.
“In times like these, it’s important that we celebrate joy and grab every opportunity to experience it,” said Terri Lee Freeman, President of The Reginald F. Lewis Museum. “We’ve created an environment that holds space for joy and peace—a space that is safe, and welcoming for us. Holidays at The Lewis is a chance to pause, breathe, and celebrate the beauty and brilliance of our community.”
Two Maryland Artists Receive Dance/USA Fellowship
Press Release :: November 6
Dance/USA, the national service organization for dance, today announces the newest 25 recipients of the Dance/USA Fellowships to Artists (DFA) program, honoring dance and movement-based artists with sustained practices in art for social change. Selected by a national peer-review panel, each Fellowship includes a $31,000 grant that may be used at the artist’s discretion. The DFA program is made possible with generous support from the Doris Duke Foundation.
Local Round Three DFA Artist Fellows include:
Rashida Bumbray (Baltimore, MD | Piscataway and Susquehannock Nations)
Quynn Johnson (Capitol Heights, MD | Piscataway)
Upper Fells Point residents celebrate a new Billie Holiday mural on ‘Lady Day Way”
by Ed Gunts
Published November 19 in Baltimore Fishbowl
For more than a decade, the 200 block of South Durham Street in Upper Fells Point has been known as “Lady Day Way’ because of all the murals, painted screens and other works of art that honor jazz icon and former Baltimorean Billie Holiday.
On Saturday Nov. 22, residents will celebrate the completion of the latest tribute to Holiday, a mural on a garage door at 243 S. Durham St.
image info: Artist Yewande Kotun Davis’ mural titled “A Night with Lady Day” honors singer Billie Holliday on Lady Day Way in Upper Fells Point. Photo credit: Ed Gunts.
Create Baltimore seeks to raise $500,000 to improve the Top of the World Observation Level; the attraction’s lease is getting extended again this week
by Ed Gunts
Published November 18 in Baltimore Fishbowl
Now that Create Baltimore has secured an agreement with the State of Maryland that allows it to continue operating the Top of the World Observation Level for “years to come,” the arts agency is seeking to raise $500,000 to improve the visitor experience there.
‘Creating the View’ is the name of the campaign that Create Baltimore, formerly known as the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, is launching to raise funds to make capital improvements to the attraction, which it operates for the City of Baltimore.
image info: The Top of the World Observation Level offers 360-degree views of the city from the 27th floor of Baltimore’s World Trade Center. Photo credit: Ed Gunts.
