This Week: ‘Express and Explore Tour’ at The Walters, Saul Zaentz showcase at SNF Parkway, celebration for Linda Dusman at UMBC, Sam Gilliam Lecture with Theaster Gates at JHU Bloomberg Center, Highlandtown Night Market, UMBC Intermedia + Digital Arts MFA Open Studios, Current Art Market, Holidays at The Lewis Celebration, Station North Holiday Market, and ‘Sam Gilliam: Modernism to Minimalism’ at Galerie Myrtis — PLUS the Mayor’s Individual Artist Award 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.
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Insider Information, Special Events, and Baltimore’s Best Art
Events
Express and Explore Tour: A Light in the Dark
Thursday, December 11 :: 6-6:30pm
@ The Walters Art Museum
Light is a flexible, dynamic medium that can illuminate spaces and ideas alike. Presented in collaboration with the Space Telescope Science Institute, this tour will explore how artists and scientists use light, from creating spectacular visuals to understanding our place in the universe.
The Express and Explore Tour is a 30-minute, staff-led art experience for adults that centers creativity and connection. These tours feature a different theme every month and encourage participants to unplug and unwind in our galleries through playful activities and group discussion.
About The Space Telescope Science Institute
Based in Baltimore, The Space Telescope Science Institute is dedicated to supporting NASA’s astrophysics flagship missions, advancing state-of-the-art astronomical research, and making the world’s astronomical information accessible to all, thereby inspiring and engaging others to participate in understanding, enjoying, and sharing the wonders of the universe.
Saul Zaentz Showcase at the SNF Parkway
Thursday, December 11 :: 7pm
@ SNF Parkway
7pm Gathering and 7:15pm Screening of two great short films. Join us for a special FREE screening of two local short films supported by the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund: Sofia (directed by Camila de Ilheus) and Dwelling (directed by Jamyla Eunique Krempel).
Dress festively! COSTUMES ARE HIGHLY ENCOURAGED: Come as a favorite movie character for a chance at special prizes from Ms. Claus!
Celebrating Linda Dusman
Thursday, December 11 :: 7:30-9:30pm
@ UMBC Linehan Concert Hall
After 37 years of teaching in higher education, including 25 years at UMBC, composer Linda Dusman will retire at the end of 2025. The campus community is invited to celebrate her creativity and contributions with a concert of her works performed by UMBC faculty:
- Flashpoint (solo bass flute) performed by Lisa Cella
- Diverging Flints (piano trio) performed by the Ruckus ensemble
- magnificat 4: Ida Ida (surround audio)
- Subterranea (percussion quartet) performed by the Umbilicus ensemble
- Terra Mycelia performed by the Ruckus ensemble
- Threading Mycelia (solo trombone) performed by Patrick Crossland (premiere)
Linda Dusman explores the territory between concert music and sonic art in her creative practice. She examines the natural world, current politics, and the human experience as a catalyst for constructing listening experiences that encourage a heightened awareness of the moment. Recent works include Terra Mycelia, composed for the Ruckus ensemble for premiere in 2024, and Infinite Transformations, a bioart installation created collaboratively with Foad Hamidi, Alan Wonneberger, Lee Boot, and Ryan Zuber which premiered in 2023. Triptych of Gossips, a setting of Serena Hilsinger’s eponymous epic poem, has become a cornerstone of Duo della Luna’s repertoire, and in 2024 received the Miriam Gideon award from the International Alliance for Women in Music. Dusman’s solo CD Flashpoint was released by NEUMA Records in 2023 to critical acclaim.
Dusman’s work has been awarded by the International Alliance for Women in Music, Meet the Composer, the Swiss Women’s Music Forum, the American Composers Forum, the International Electroacoustic Music Festival of Sao Paulo, Brazil, the Ucross Foundation, and the State of Maryland in 2004, 2006, and 2011 (in both the Music: Composition and the Visual Arts: Media categories). Her works are published by I Resound Press and Neuma Publications, and are recorded on the NEUMA, Capstone, and New Albany labels.
Admission is free, and tickets are not required.
Linehan Concert Hall, located in the Performing Arts and Humanities Building, is easy to visit, with plenty of free parking. Please visit here for directions and parking information.
Sam Gilliam Lecture Series: Theaster Gates
Thursday, December 11 :: 6-8:30pm
@ Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center
New lecture series welcomes prominent artists and thinkers to reflect on the intersections between art, academia, and public policy
Join the Hopkins Bloomberg Center for the second installment of the Sam Gilliam Lecture Series featuring Theaster Gates, an artist and professor at the University of Chicago in the Department of Visual Arts and the College.
Gates’ lecture will draw from his decades-long investment in interrogating the imagined precarity of Black institutions and demonstrating the role that artists can play in enlivening archives as living vehicles for the valorization, amplification, and preservation of under-celebrated histories.
The Sam Gilliam Lecture Series welcomes prominent artists and speakers to the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center to reflect on the intersections between contemporary art, academia, and public policy, and the role art plays in advancing society.
WHEN:
Thursday, Nov. 11, 6 p.m.
Note: Check in begins at 5:30 p.m.; reception begins at 7:30 p.m.
WHERE:
Hopkins Bloomberg Center Theater
555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20001
Highlandtown Holiday Night Market
Friday, December 12 :: 4-9pm
@ Creative Alliance
Get your “Nice List” ready: the Highlandtown Holiday Night Market is coming to town! Shop unique, handmade treasures from 40+ incredible local artists & vendors at Creative Alliance, the Marque Lounge and Creativity Center. Find the perfect one-of-a-kind holiday gift for everyone on your list and support your community at the same time!
Vendors will be announced soon. Check back here and keep an eye on our social media as we unveil this year’s line-up! Each year, products include original art, clothes, crafts, home decor, ceramics, sweets and baked goods, beauty and wellness products and more!
This event is presented in partnership with Highlandtown Arts District, Highlandtown Main Street and Creative Alliance.
Intermedia and Digital Arts [IMDA] MFA Open Studios
Friday, December 12 :: 5:30-8pm
@ Lion Brothers Building
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Join us Friday, December 12, 5:30PM – 8PM for an evening of open studios.
See what our IMDA MFA program candidates have been working on and get a glimpse of our studios!
Lions Brothers Building
875 Hollins St.
Baltimore, MD.
Poster design by @sharp_bubble
Current Space 12th Annual Art Market
Saturday, December 13 :: 12-4pm
@ Current Space
Join us for our 12th Annual Art Market in support of local artists and friends on Saturday, Dec 13th!
– 11am-12pm: Members-Only Entry*
– 12-4pm: General Entry
Come buy art directly from the artists, meet the people behind the work, and support them by buying something for yourself or someone special.
We’re opening the Art Market up to our sustaining members an hour early (11am-12pm). Interested in supporting us? Memberships start at just $5/month and help make these events possible!
Become a Member to support us AND shop early!
Vendors include:
– Alyssa Dennis
– Amber Rhein
– Anna K. Crooks
– Bonnie Crawford
– Calliandra Hermanson
– Chima Ezenwachi
– Current Space
– Danielle Hernandez
– dewdropexpress
– Dirt Daughter
– Elliot Keeley
– Four Fields Jewelry
– Golden Object Ceramics
– John Bohl
– Julianne Yost
– knestknit (Dane Nester)
– Kristin Tata
– Laure Drogoul
– Lindsay Bottos
– Lou Joseph
– Natan Lawson
– NO SWEAT STUDIO
– Personal Best Ceramics
– Soft Shell Knits
– solidarity
– Weaving Roots
– Wilson Kemp
– and more!
Holidays at The Lewis Celebration
Saturday, December 13 :: 12-4:30pm
@ Reginald F. Lewis Museum
Join the Reginald F. Lewis Museum and bring in the season of Christmas and Kwanzaa with soulful melodies and a little holiday funk. The Baltimore Center Stage will present sample tunes from Santa Claus Is Comin’, a dazzling, family-friendly musical concert celebration by Nygel D. Robinson. Enjoy live Christmas music classics from Motown & More and presentations from Dance Baltimore Repertory Ensemble to include a tribute to Paul “Fat Daddy” Johnson’s “Fat Daddy Christmas.” Experience a storytelling and funky drumming re-interpretation of the Little Drummer Boy song along with the Nativity Story by Mama Deborah Pierce Fakunle and Dr. David O. Fakunle. Children and families will be able to meet and take photos with Black Santa and participate in a holiday craft project with crafter Sallah Jenkins.
Celebrate the principles of Kwanzaa for all ages with Culture Queen followed by African drumming and dancing with Nyame Nti Cultural Healing Arts Therapy, Inc. (N-CHAT). Finally, explore the Kwanzaa principle Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics ) with Francis Formen of Black Commerce Maryland and Cluster Consulting. He, along with several local Black business owners will discuss how this principle strengthens communities by keeping dollars circulating, lowering costs, and building collective power.
Station North Holiday Market
Saturday, December 13 :: 12-5pm
@ Station North Arts + Entertainment District
Experience the joy of a vibrant, illuminated North Avenue in the heart of the Station North Arts District at the 5th Annual Station North Holiday Market. This festive outdoor/indoor market featuring dozens of Baltimore-based artists, makers, local food and drink, and live performances takes place for one day only: Sat., Dec. 13 from 12:00 – 5:00 PM at the Historic North Avenue Market 12 – 30 W. North Avenue (between Maryland and Charles Street
Venues: Baltimore Youth Arts, the Club Car, Currency Studio, Egatniv Vintage, and the Mobtown Ballroom and Café
Featuring:
After Five Industries
Art by Paulina Levaggi
Baltimore Jewelry Center
Baltimore Spirits Co.
Blueprint Café
Champagne Illustration
Downstairs Woodturning
Elaine Stoneware
Far Bungalow Farm
Femme Prints
Five O’ Clock Co.
GentleMoonBell
Globe Collection and Press at MICA
Hand Papermaking / Rosa Chang
Bogus
Inviting Light
Jack Novosel
Jay Howley
JG Pottery
Josef Kardell Art
LDP Studio
Magan Ruthke: Art & Design
Marialestudio
MICA MFA Illustration Practice
MysticRoot Creations
Nina’s Cookie Explosion
Niro Designs
Palunisa
Paper Herald
Plied Yarns
Priyanka K
Rae’s Kitchen
Rasberry Moments
Razorback Chainmail
Regal Clothes
Rorydraculas
Rosy Sunshine Paints
Sacred Ashes
Saltyseamery
SewLab USA
Shop Cat Woodworks
Suryah Studio
Thanks Friend Studio
The Creative Representation Empire
The Heart of Hiroh Arts Label
The Sacred Space
Tightfisted Fashion
Wood Designs by Adiante
The Station North Holiday Market is made possible by generous support from PNC Bank, the University of Baltimore, WYPR, and Charles Street Development.
The Station North Arts District is a program of the Central Baltimore Partnership.
For more information visit https://www.stationnorth.org.
Sam Gilliam: Modernism to Minimalism
Sunday, December 14 :: 2-5pm
@ Galerie Myrtis
Galerie Myrtis is proud to host the forthcoming program “Sam Gilliam: Modernism to Minimalism,” featuring master printmaker Susan Goldman and Founding Director of Galerie Myrtis, Dr. Myrtis Bedolla. This discussion will occur in conjunction with the exhibition “Susan Goldman: The Origin of Self” on Sunday, December 14th, from 2:00 to 5:00 pm at 2224 N Charles St, Baltimore, MD. Registration is required to attend.
This program highlights Goldman’s professional relationship with the late Sam Gilliam and her role in producing his 2018 prints, including the School Bus series and Purple Through Violet to Green, which reflect Gilliam’s expanded visual aesthetic. The conversation will be accompanied by video clips of Gilliam’s interview from Midwest Matrix® and a discussion of his collaboration with master printer Lou Stovall.
Doors for the program will open at 2:00 pm, allowing guests the opportunity to enjoy complimentary refreshments and secure their seating. The discussion will commence promptly at 2:30 pm. Following the conversation, attendees are encouraged to explore “The Origin of Self” and engage directly with Goldman on her printmaking practice. Click the link below to register for “Sam Gilliam: Modernism to Minimalism.”
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Sign Up!Featured Opportunities
Long-term Fellowships
deadline December 15
posted by The Folger Institute
The Folger Institute offers long-term fellowships at $70,000 for the 2026-2027 academic year (approximately $7,777 per month, for a standard period of 9 months). These fellowships are designed to support full-time scholarly work on significant research projects that draw on the strengths of the Folger’s collections and programs.
Long-term fellows have the option to take up to 3 months of their 9-month fellowship virtually. This virtual time may be taken at any point in the fellowship and does not have to be taken concurrently. Applicants may propose any research schedule that best fits their project’s needs.
General Operating Support + Mayor’s Individual Artist Award
deadline December 15
posted by Creative Baltimore
The Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA), on behalf of the Mayor and the City of Baltimore, is excited to announce the Creative Baltimore Grant for FY 2026. Through this grant opportunity, BOPA grants funds to qualified artists and arts and cultural organizations based in Baltimore City. The Creative Baltimore Fund is a grant made annually by the City of Baltimore and is administered by the Baltimore City Arts Council.
The Creative Baltimore Fund has two primary grant programs:
• General Operating Support (GOS) provides core support for established arts or cultural organizations that benefit the public and are artistically or culturally vibrant.
• Mayor’s Individual Artist Award – Project/Practice Support (PS) provides support for an artist’s individual practice or program that promotes public access and encourages the breadth of arts and/or cultural programming in the community.
DC/DOX Film Festival
earlybird deadline December 19
DC/DOX is a major international film festival in the US capital dedicated to promoting documentary film as a leading art form, championing new voices and innovations in non-fiction storytelling, and using film as a catalyst to engage the most compelling issues of our day.
The festival’s fourth edition is scheduled for June 11-14, 2026, in marquee venues across Washington, DC. It will showcase 100 exceptional documentaries from around the world, representing the best the form has to offer, from emerging and established filmmakers alike, and encompassing diverse themes, perspectives, and artistic styles. All film screenings are followed by Q&As with the filmmakers, moderated by prominent journalists, industry luminaries, and subject-area experts.
DC/DOX provides abundant networking opportunities and social events over its four-day duration, in addition to a series of panels, master classes, and workshops offered within the “Reality Check” forum.
Emerging Curator Program 2026
deadline January 9
posted by VisArts
VisArts invites applications from emerging curators to work with an experienced mentoring curator to develop and present an exhibition at VisArts in the Kaplan Gallery in the fall of 2026.
The VisArts Emerging Curator Program offers a unique opportunity for an emerging curator or artist with an interest in exhibition-making or curating to work with an experienced mentoring curator to develop and present an exhibition and to assist in the presentation of the mentor’s exhibition. To develop expanded education programming and enhanced visitor experiences, the 2026 Emerging Curator and the 2026 Mentoring Curator will also focus on developing tools to support public programming that promotes social interaction, creative exchange, and audience engagement.
VisArts will provide the Emerging Curator with a $10,000 budget to cover exhibition costs and curatorial fees. Additional staff support for printing, promotions, and execution of exhibition programming is available. The program is one year and will begin in January 2026.
2026 Mid-Atlantic Juried Show
deadline January 15
posted by The McGuffey Art Center
McGuffey Art Center is located in downtown Charlottesville, VA and is one of the oldest artist-run cooperative art centers in the country. The show will take place April 3 – April 25, 2026 in the historic elementary school building that is McGuffey’s home and will feature an opening reception on Friday, April 3, 2026, 5:30 – 7:30pm.
Any artist residing in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Washington DC, or North Carolina may enter. Artists must be 18 years of age or older to apply. All work must be original and completed within the last three years.The competition is open to the following categories: painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, fiber, sculpture and mixed media. 2-D entries should not exceed 8 feet in any direction. No entry that requires the artist to be present for moving or assembly will be accepted.
Baltimore Small Stage Coalition Auditions
dates: January 10 :: 10am-4pm + January 11 :: 3-7pm
@ The Voxel
The Baltimore Small Stage Coalition
will hold its fifth semiannual weekend of open auditions for actors and
theater companies January 10 and 11, at The Voxel (9 West 25th Street,
Baltimore, Maryland 21218). The Saturday session will be 10:00am – 4:00pm.
Sunday will be 3:00pm – 7:00pm. Advance registration is required, and will
go live on Saturday, December 6, at www.bmoresmallstages.org.
There is no charge for performers. Each will have a total of two minutes for
their audition. Once registered, actors will receive an email with
instructions to submit a resume and headshot electronically. An accompanist
will be provided on Saturday from 10:00 to 11:30am and Sunday from 3:00 to
4:30pm for musical auditions. Sheet music must be provided in the desired
key, with a 24-bar selection indicated.
Theater companies can register to send up to four representatives to all or
part of the two-day event for $50. Individual directors can join for a fee
of $25. The registration fee covers year-round access to a digital database
of participating auditioners, and light refreshments at the event for
auditors.
Steeped 34th Annual Juried Exhibition Call for Entry
deadline January 19
posted by Strathmore Mansion Gallery
Whether as a morning inspiration for the day, or a warm moment at the end of one, tea is always comforting. Tea carries a rich history, spanning thousands of years and is a part of many cultures. The beverage may be an individual indulgence or shared with a neighbor on a hot summer day. A cup of tea sets the stage for conversation or for ceremony. This call for art welcomes creative minds to contemplate the tastes, smells, traditions, and emotions in various media. We encourage artists to expand on the theme of tea in representational and abstract forms that may include tea vessels, depictions of tea/tea traditions, artwork made with tea, or the sense of warmth, belonging, and so much more.
Artwork may be of any style and medium and may invite the viewer to actually touch the artwork.
Artists from within the DMV region and beyond are encouraged to apply.
The room is set, your spot awaits at Strathmore’s Teatime Juried Exhibition.
