This week’s news includes: Nick Cave’s Mammoth SAAM show, Heros and Villians at Creative Alliance’s 2026 Marquee Ball, John Waters’ American Horror Story, 2026 exhibitions at Glenstone Musuem, two new Matisse exhibitions at The BMA, The Walters hosts an exhibition at Hackerman House, Black artists as documentarians, Gina Pierleoni exhibition at The Peale, 50th AFRAM announcement, BNHA announces grant winners, and changes at DC’s Hemphill Artworks.
Smithsonian American Art Museum Debuts Monumental New Commission by Nick Cave
Press Release :: February 18
The Smithsonian American Art Museum debuts “Nick Cave: Mammoth,” a monumental new body of work by internationally acclaimed artist Nick Cave today, Feb. 13. Commissioned by the museum, “Mammoth” marks Cave’s first solo exhibition in Washington, D.C. and represents the museum’s largest-ever commission by a single artist.
“Mammoth” is Cave’s most personal project to date. Drawing on his childhood in Chariton County, Missouri—where his grandparents farmed and where the quilts, tools and clothing they made were a part of everyday life—Cave roots this installation in family history, landscapes and craft traditions. He transforms these sources into a world animated by memory and the transformative possibilities of the imagination. Combining sculpture, video and found objects, the exhibition reflects on the artist’s own creative impulse and invites audiences to consider their relationship to the natural world and the everyday objects and histories that shape people’s lives.
“Nick Cave: Mammoth” is on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum from Feb. 13 through Jan. 3, 2027. The exhibition is organized by Sarah Newman, the James Dicke Curator of Contemporary Art, with support from Anne Hyland, curatorial associate.
image: Installation photography of Nick Cave: Mammoth, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2026, ©Nick Cave; Photo by Ron Blunt
‘History is being erased’: Artist Nick Cave brings his ancient mammoths to the Smithsonian
by Jacqui Palumbo
Published February 13 in CNNstyle
On a brisk winter day in Chicago last month, mammoths seemed to return for a fleeting afternoon. The ancient leviathans lumbered along the lakefront, the city skyline behind them. But visible through their skeletons, made of metal and hair, were puffer coats and scarves. Performers hoisted the animal-like sculptures on their shoulders, walking slowly in unison as the heads gently swung from side to side, impressive white tusks curving ahead.
image: Jeremy Moorhead/CNN
The beasts are the work of the Chicago-based artist Nick Cave, who, over the course of his career, has transformed troves of goods from thrift shops and craft stores into otherworldly humanoid figures, as well as other intricate sculptures bursting with color, texture and life.
Creative Alliance Announces 2026 Marquee Ball // “Heroes and Villains” themed fundraiser
Press Release :: February 18
Creative Alliance Baltimore invites you to its signature fundraising event of the year, the 2026 Marquee Ball, with tickets now on sale. This year’s Marquee Ball takes place on Saturday, May 2, 2026, at The Patterson from 5 pm to midnight. The annual, fan-favorite event encourages artists and art lovers alike to dress to its annual theme and join in for an evening out that includes a VIP dinner, a live band, silent auction, open studios – and the best dance party in Baltimore.
This year’s Marquee Ball theme, Heroes and Villains, encourages guests to consider what it means to be a hero, recognizing the power of the arts as the everyday hero for the everyman, a direct callback to Creative Alliance’s 2026 season theme, We The People. Every person, every city, and every society faces challenges and ‘villains’ in various forms, but what does it mean to show up for your community? Guests are encouraged to play with references – from real life or popular culture – that resonate with them and come ready to celebrate, no matter your approach to the theme!
“From fact to fiction, references to heroes and villains have informed so much of culture and the arts in every medium. There are endless tropes and archetypes – light and dark, good and evil, us and them – and we want to encourage everyone to play within that space, and most of all, remember that we are the heroes of our own lives. Arts and community and the power of we, as a people, are the most powerful, priceless tools at our disposal,” said Jason Steer, Executive Director of Creative Alliance.
Filmmaker John Waters joins cast of American Horror Story Season 13, says he’s “trying to steal Vincent Price’s career”
by Ed Gunts
Published February 17 in Baltimore Fishbowl
Filmmaker John Waters has been cast in the 13th season of “American Horror Story,” the horror-drama anthology series from Ryan Murphy Productions.
The filmmaker and actor announced his new role while onstage during his sold-out spoken-word performance in Baltimore on Valentine’s Day.
“I’m going to announce tonight something new: I can’t say what role, but I have a big new part in ‘American Horror Story,’” Waters told his hometown audience at Baltimore Soundstage.
image: @AHSZone on X.
Glenstone Museum 2026 Exhibitions Highlight the Achievements of American Artists
Press Release :: January 5
Glenstone Museum is pleased to announce three new exhibitions that celebrate the innovative spirit of American artists. Each presentation explores how contemporary artists have contributed to and changed the course of post-war American art.
Opening on February 12, 2026 in the Gallery, Ties of our common kindred will commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The presentation will celebrate some of the most significant achievements of American artists over the last century, with iconic artworks from Glenstone’s collection, including key examples by Ruth Asawa, Willem de Kooning, Kerry James Marshall, Jackson Pollock, Cindy Sherman, and Andy Warhol. Together, these works represent styles and voices that have influenced generations of artists working today.
image: Kerry James Marshall
BMA to Present First Exhibition Dedicated to Matisse’s Exceptional Mural The Stations of the Cross
Press Release :: February 12
On March 29, the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) will open the first exhibition to substantively explore Henri Matisse’s powerful mural The Stations of the Cross, which he created for his only architectural project, the Chapelle du Rosaire (Chapel of the Rosary) (1947-1951), in Vence, France. Matisse designed every detail of the building, from its remarkable stained-glass windows to the altar and priest’s vestments and to three large-scale black-and-white ceramic murals inside the chapel. The Stations of the Cross depicts Christ’s journey to Calvary and stands out in Matisse’s work for its narrative and rough, aggressive lines—starkly contrasting with the fluid, colorful style for which he is best known. Matisse in Vence: The Stations of the Cross—organized under the direction of Asma Naeem, Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director of the Baltimore Museum of Art and Aymeric Jeudy, Director of the Musée Matisse Nice—is the first exhibition to take up the monumental mural as its primary focus. It includes more than 80 drawings, never-before shown together, from the Musée Matisse Nice, the Dominican Sisters of Vence, and private collections, as well as a large-scale image of the completed work. The exhibition will remain on view through June 28, 2026.
image: Interior view of the Chapel of the Rosary in Vence, with the Stations of the Cross
BMA Presents Little-Known Matisse Illustrations Inspired by Martinique
Press Release :: February 12
On March 18, the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) will present a selection of lithographic portraits from the book Poésies Antillaises (Antilles Poetry), a little‑known illustrated book and associated works on paper by Henri Matisse that were in part inspired by the artist’s brief 1930 visit to the Caribbean island of Martinique. On view through October 25, 2026, Matisse and Martinque: Portraits and Poetry, spotlights Matisse’s illustrations and places them in dialogue with works by Serge Hélénon and Germaine Casse, two of the period’s leading artists from Martinique and Guadeloupe who challenged colonial-era representations of the region. The focus exhibition, which features approximately 20 works, illuminates Matisse’s extensive working relationships with several notable Caribbean and international models and considers the significance of transatlantic exchange to the development of modern art. The exhibition is the result of research conducted by guest curator Dr. Denise Murrell as the inaugural Ruth R. Marder Center for Matisse Studies Fellow.
image: Henri Matisse. Poésies Antillaises. 1954
Hackerman House in Mount Vernon is setting for Walters Art Museum’s latest exhibit of paintings, entitled “From Gérôme to Monet: Stories from the 19th Century Collection.”
by Ed Gunts
Published February 18 in Baltimore Fishbowl
Hackerman House in Mount Vernon is the setting for the Walters Art Museum’s latest exhibit of paintings, entitled “From Gérôme to Monet: Stories from the 19th Century Collection.”
The museum is drawing from its own collection for the exhibit, which opened Feb. 7 and runs until May 31. It explores “the different, overlapping and sometimes conflicting ideas that existed in the 19th century about how paintings should tell stories and connect with their audiences.”
Hackerman House, at 1 W. Mount Vernon Place, is a restored 19th century mansion that’s part of the museum’s Mount Vernon campus and connected to its 1904 “palazzo” building at 600 N. Charles St. Previously known as the Thomas-Jencks-Gladding House, it was constructed around 1848 for Dr. John Hanson Thomas, the great-grandson of John Hanson, President of the Continental Congress.
image: Jean-Léon Gérôme’s 1860 oil painting titled “Diogenes.”
Black artists as historians: Preserving memory through art
by Megan Sayles
Published February 7 in The AFRO
For generations, Black artists have played a critical role in documenting Black life—often filling gaps left by traditional historical institutions that overlooked or erased Black experiences.
Whether through visual art, music, performance or storytelling, their work can preserve personal and collective memory, presenting interpretations of history that are grounded in lived experience.
For Jerrell Gibbs, a painter from Baltimore, Black art does not merely accompany Black history, it defines it.
Photo courtesy of Sharayna Christmas
‘Objects Made Holy’ is an artist’s love letter to Baltimore community, now at The Peale
by Aliza Worthington
Published February 13 in Baltimore Fishbowl
A new exhibition, “Objects Made Holy,” is now at The Peale Museum, curated by Gina Pierleoni, a Baltimore visual and mixed media artist and professor at Stevenson University.
More than 40 Baltimore residents contributed deeply personal everyday items to the show. The emphasis, however, is on the contributors’ stories that accompany them.
“I create meaning in situations, in objects, in all kinds of things,” Pierleoni told Baltimore Fishbowl. “I have my grandmother’s wooden spoon. I learned to cook with that. I was in my grandmother’s kitchen, you know? …[T]he idea of my little, tiny hands holding that spoon, and the way my mom held on to it and then gifted it to me in a way that was really like, you don’t outstretch both your hands [if] it’s not something important. That’s sort of a sacred thing.”
Photo via Gina Pierleoni.
50th annual AFRAM Festival lineup and dates announced
by Aliza Worthington
Published February 18 in Baltimore Fishbowl
Mayor Brandon M. Scott and the City of Baltimore’s Recreation and Parks Department announced the dates and lineup for the 50th Annual AFRAM Festival in June 2026.
The festival will return to Druid Hill Park on Friday, June 19 through Sunday, June 21, from 12–9 p.m. each day.
“For 50 years, AFRAM has been a homecoming, an economic engine for our local businesses and artists, and most importantly: a celebration of Black excellence,” Scott said in a statement. “This Juneteenth weekend, as we celebrate five decades of culture, community, music, and art right here in Baltimore, we want folks across Charm City — and beyond! — to come out and celebrate with us.”
The Baltimore National Heritage Area Announces 2026 Neighborhood Placemaking Grantees
Press Release :: February 17
Today, the Baltimore National Heritage Area (BNHA) proudly announces the recipients of the FY2026 Neighborhood Placemaking Grants. The Neighborhood Placemaking Grant program, funded by the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, awards a total of $25,000 to support Baltimore’s neighborhoods’ cultural heritage tourism (non-capital) projects. These projects include community revitalization, festivals, interpretative signage, greening proposals, and heritage-themed art projects. The 2026 awardees are:
Neighborhood Placemaking Grant Awards:
Baltimore Heritage: Baltimore by Boat Heritage Tours 2.0
$2,500.00
Fractured Atlas: Baltimore Reservation Project
$3,500.00
Waverly Main Street: Baltimore Book Festival
$5,000.00
Baltimore Community ToolBank, Inc.: Placemaking Tools for All
$5,000.00
Producers Club of Maryland (SNF Parkway Theatre): SNF Parkway Porch Public Performance Series
$5,000.00
Friends of Gwynns Falls Leakin Park: Stories in the Park: Oral Histories, Heritage Hikes, and Digital Archive of Gwynns Falls Leakin Park
$4,000.00
This year’s grant cycle was especially competitive, with 19 applications received totaling $84,000 in requested funds. The selected proposals support community storytelling, gathering, and education. Since 2019, the Neighborhood Placemaking Grant program has invested $235,332 in 56 grassroots, community projects that help neighborhoods become visitor-ready for tourism and promote pride in the history of their neighborhood.
BNHA’s grant programs are critical tools to enhance and preserve historic, cultural and natural resources. Since 2009, BNHA has proudly awarded over $8M to numerous institutions in our community through our four grant programs. For more information about BNHA grants and programs, visit https://www.explorebaltimore.org/grants.
Future of the Gallery
Press Release :: February 18
After 6 years at 434 K Street, Hemphill Artworks is at the end of its lease. Washington is changing due to current political uncertainty, post-pandemic behavior, and a declining number of visitors downtown. It is time to re-evaluate. For us, this means redefining how we connect with collectors and visual art enthusiasts.
As a traditional gallery, Hemphill has mounted 300-plus exhibitions over its 33 years, occupying three different locations and commandeering three different “pop-up spaces.” We have not lost our excitement for the next show, but need to pause, separate ourselves from the continuous cycle of exhibitions, and observe and interpret the social, economic, and political changes surrounding the contemporary art world.
As of February 17, we occupy an office at 1140 3rd Street NE (Uline Arena). For the interim, we will focus exclusively on art sales, consulting, artist relationships and collection management. Simultaneously, we will be planning our next exhibition setting in which to provide you with new and historic visual art experiences.
We look forward to the path ahead.
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