This Week: Lecture by Dr. Myers Perry at Goucher, Dr. Denise Murrell curator talk at the BMA, More Than Trust opening reception at Design Distillery, MICA’s RECLAIM fashion show, Collis Donadio installation at Pikesville Armory, Lola Flash opening reception + artist talk at Silber Gallery, Ekene Ijeoma’s Inviting Light debut, opening receptions for 2026 Baker Artist Award Finalist Showcase + James Bouché at Current Space, The Active Power of Touch opening reception at The Peale, CAC’s World Art Day Open House, Douriean Fletcher opening day celebration at The Walters, and an “Art of the Collectors” panel discussion at Galerie Myrtis — PLUS curatorial applications open at MOCA Arlington 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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Artist Talk: Material Witness: Art, Memory, and the Politics of Presence
Tuesday, April 14 :: 4-6pm
@ Goucher Hyman Forum
This talk explores Afrofuturism, a field encompassing scholarly inquiry, as well as artistic and cultural production.
Dr. Myers Perry will address its visual languages of materiality, spatiotemporality, and Black liberation in visual arts, music, and film.
Presented by Goucher Art Galleries, VMC, and Studio Art
Curator Talk: Denise Murrell—Matisse and Martinique in Context
Thursday, April 16 :: 6-7:15pm
@ Baltimore Museum of Art
Join us for an illuminating lecture by Dr. Denise Murrell that explores her work as the inaugural Fellow of the Ruth R. Marder Center for Matisse Studies and guest curator of Matisse and Martinique: Portraits and Poetry. Dr. Murrell is a distinguished art historian and curator whose work has reshaped scholarly and public understanding of 19th- and 20th-century art through the lenses of race, representation, and modernism.
Dr. Murrell brings her acclaimed scholarship to a rarely explored moment in Matisse’s work, exploring his brief visit Martinique in the 1930s and his collaborations with Caribbean and international models and artists through illustration.
This event will include ASL interpretation and live captioning by Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) services. The auditorium is wheelchair accessible and assistive listening devices are available. Please see Accessibility at BMA for additional resources to support your visit.
If there are any additional accommodations or resources we can provide to support your attendance, please call 443-573-1701 or email [email protected]. Advance notice is appreciated but not required.
More Than Trust: Visual Art Group Exhibition | Public Opening Reception
Thursday, April 16 :: 6-9pm
@ Design Distillery
It is our pleasure to present the visual art exhibition More Than Trust at Design Distillery, one of the biggest contemporary art galleries in Baltimore City, combining striking interior design elements with meaningful art. Curated by Alex French, this exhibition features over 30 artists from New York City and Baltimore who begin with vulnerability, they’re ok with not being ok, while working towards self-discovery. They look within and reach out to us, sharing pieces of themself, both experience and artefact made of something somehow more than trust.
This three-month-long group exhibition opens Thursday, April 16th 2026 with a reception from 6-9pm generously supported by Union Craft Brewing, at Design Distillery in the Inner Harbor, directly across from the Baltimore Museum of Industry (1414 Key Highway, Baltimore, MD USA).
Friday, April 17 – Sunday, April 19 and Saturday, April 25 + Sunday, April 26 :: 1-6pm
@ Pikesville Armory
“Resonant Site” is an immersive art installation coming to the Pikesville Armory in April of 2026 (two consecutive weekends). It’s a multi-screen audiovisual exhibit exploring the intersection of industry and the environment in Baltimore, where water meets land in the region, by Maryland artist duo Collis Donadio.
Free to attend and open to all. Picnic and family-friendly! Rain or shine (exhibit is indoors). Ample free parking on site.
Lola Flash: The Challenge — Survival & Visibility | Opening Reception + Artist Talk
Friday, April 17 :: 5-9pm
@ Silber Gallery, Goucher College
Goucher Art Galleries presents Lola Flash, a retrospective exhibition of work by acclaimed photographer Lola Flash, whose portrait practice has, for more than four decades, centered visibility, dignity, and care for communities historically marginalized in mainstream culture. Working across analog and digital processes, Flash creates richly saturated portraits that refuse neutrality. Their images are not simple documentation but acts of affirmation. Through bold color, direct gaze, and collaborative engagement with their subjects, Flash constructs portraits that insist on presence: images that declare, unequivocally, “We are here.”
The exhibition traces Flash’s sustained commitment to photographing LGBTQ+ communities, elders, activists, artists, and chosen families. Across bodies of work including Surmise, Flash highlights those rarely depicted in mainstream media—queer elders, children, drag performers, and transgender individuals—expanding the visual record of queer life across generations. Their portraits challenge dominant narratives that have historically excluded Black and queer bodies from cultural representation.
Flash’s work demonstrates that portraiture is not passive observation but a form of world-making. In the Salt series, older women appear in luminous portraits that challenge cultural narratives that often erase aging women from public life. Through scale, color, and directness, these works create encounters that are both intimate and political—images shaped by care, survival, and love.
At the center of the exhibition sits a contemplative installation: a boat that invites visitors to write a wish, hope, or prayer on paper and place it inside the vessel. Over the course of the exhibition, the boat becomes a communal archive of memory and aspiration—gathering individual stories into a shared gesture of future-making. Flash’s ongoing project LEGENDS further honors performers and cultural figures who forged paths in entertainment despite systemic barriers, each portrait standing as both tribute and testimony. While their Unsung Fire Island series tackles racism in the queer community.
Lola Flash celebrates an artist whose career has continually expanded who gets to be seen—and how. Flash’s portraits ask viewers to look carefully and with tenderness, reminding us that visibility itself can be an act of liberation.
Lola Flash is a photographer whose work addressing race, gender, and sexuality has been exhibited internationally and is held in major museum collections.
Exhibition Information
- Opening Reception: April 17, 5–9 PM
- Artist Talk: April 17, 7 PM Hyman Forum
- Lecture: Bodies on the Line: Queer Art and the HIV/AIDS Crisis, April 19, 1–2:30 PM
Curator’s Tour: April 25, 2–3 PM
Inviting Light: Harmony Park | Debut by renowned artist Ekene Ijeoma
Friday, April 17 :: 6:30pm
@ 1707 Barclay Street
Come celebrate the grand debut of Harmony Park by renowned artist Ekene Ijeoma, the fifth and final Inviting Light site installation
Harmony Park by renowned artist Ekene Ijeoma reimagines an underutilized urban space through light, art, and community connection, ultimately creating a welcoming gathering place where human energy powers light, connection, and a renewed sense of safety. Our evening celebration on April 17 will reveal the innovative installation, marking the culmination of the five-installation Inviting Light series.
We will celebrate the unveiling of the installation with music, movement, and poetry and remarks from the artist and Derrick Adams, curator of the Inviting Light site installations.
RSVP to Attend.
RECLAIM: MICA’s 32nd Annual Benefit Fashion Show
Friday, April 17 + Saturday, April 18 :: 7pm
@ MICA Brown Center
Join us in celebrating the creativity and style of MICA’s students at the 32nd Annual Benefit Fashion Show!
The Annual Benefit Fashion Show (ABFS) is a student-led production entirely curated by student directors, photographers, and graphic designers. This annual tradition, founded by Dr. Frankie Martin and MICA’s Black Student Union, highlights student designers from a variety of majors and minors across campus.
For this year’s show, ABFS will be concurrent to MICA’s Bicentennial. As a way to explore the history of this institution, the designers have been asked to investigate the theme RECLAIM. In doing so, our show intends to inspire appreciation and action to preserve historic cultural art practices, and to question how we ensure these histories move forward with us. Through research, craft, & performance, our 8 collections explore what it means to acknowledge our roots as artists and take them into the future.
$16 general admission
$14 for employees and community members
$10 for MICA students
2026 Baker Artist Award Finalist Showcase | Opening Reception
Friday, April 17 :: 7-10pm
@ Current Space
Current Space is proud to present the 2026 Baker Artist Award Finalist Showcase, an exhibition of works by finalists in Visual Arts – 2D, Visual Arts -3D, and Interdisciplinary Art
Please join us for the opening reception on Friday, April 17th from 7-10pm!
Artists announced soon!
Exhibit Runs: April 17 – May 17, 2025
Opening Reception: April 17, 7-10pm
Closing Reception: May 17, 4-6pm
Gallery Hours: Saturdays 1-5pm, by appointment, & whenever we’re open (check out the show anytime you’re here)!
Also at Current Space:
The Classroom by James Bouché | Opening Reception
Friday, April 17 :: 7-10pm
The Active Power of Touch | Opening Reception
Friday, April 17 :: 7pm
@ The Peale
A show celebrating the richness of touch in artistic experience. Curated by Cheryl Fogle-Hatch.
Join us for the opening of The Active Power of Touch.
This show celebrates the richness of touch in artistic experience—whether through sculpture, raised-line compositions, or mixed media inviting hands-on exploration. Twelve artists working in diverse media such as clay, plaster, stone, and textiles explore themes centered on the hand and its movement.
The Art works in this show can be experienced both through touch and sight making it accessible to everyone, people who are blind, and people who are sighted.
On View April 17 to August 16 2026.
CAC’s 5th Annual World Art Day Open House
Saturday, April 18 :: 12-2pm
@ Chesapeake Arts Center
Kick off 25 years of creativity at Chesapeake Arts Center’s (CAC’s) Annual Open House, celebrating World Art Day! This FREE, family-friendly event launches CAC’s anniversary year with a vibrant day of art, culture, and community.
Explore hands-on activities inspired by traditions from around the world, experience live performances across dance, theatre, and music, and step inside our studios for live artist demos—including ceramics, one of CAC’s fastest-growing programs. From artist talks and student showcases to global dance and drumming, the day highlights the creativity of every generation.
Enjoy giveaways, door prizes, and food available for purchase. Come and connect with the community that has shaped CAC over the past 25 years—and will inspire the next 25.
Douriean Fletcher: Jewelry of the Afrofuture | Opening Day Celebration
Saturday, April 18 :: 11am-4pm
@ The Walters Art Center
Registration requested.
Grab a friend or the whole family and be among the first to experience Douriean Fletcher: Jewelry of the Afrofuture at the Walters. This opening-day event celebrates the work and impact of the self-taught jewelry artist and includes an artist talk with Douriean, performances, a film screening curated by Wide Angle Youth Media, workshops with the Baltimore Jewelry Center and artists Caprece Ann Jackson and Evette Monique, and more!
Douriean Fletcher: Jewelry of the Afrofuture is dedicated to jewelry artist Douriean Fletcher, whose work has shaped the cinematic worlds of Marvel Studios’ Black Panther films and Coming 2 America. The exhibition explores the self-taught metalsmith’s jewelry as a powerful narrative tool in art, Black identity, and visual storytelling and spotlights works from the Walters collection that inspired the artist. The exhibition is on view from April 18 to August 9 in our Temporary Exhibition Gallery on Level 1.
Art of the Collectors XI – “Collecting: An Unruly Passion” Panel
Saturday, April 18 :: 2m
@ Galerie Myrtis
Join us for a panel discussion taking place in conjunction with the exhibition “Art of the Collectors XI”!
Welcome to programming for the exhibtion “Art of the Collectors XI”! Join us at Galerie Myrtis for the forthcoming panel Collecting: An Unruly Passion,featuring collectors who will reflect on the motivations behind their collecting practices and the critical role that lending artworks to museums plays in expanding public access, advancing education, and ensuring cultural preservation. Panelists will include Darryl and Leslye Fraser; Gregg J Justice III; and Bill Mitchell with Dr. Myrtis Bedolla as moderator.
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 2:45 pm. Following the conversation, attendees are encouraged to explore the exhibition “Art of the Collectors XI.”
The program will take place at 2224 N Charles St, Baltimore, MD. The event is free and open to the public. RSVP is required as seating is limited.
Visit our website for more information on the exhibition: https://galeriemyrtis.net/art-of-the-collectors-xi/
Featured Opportunities
2026 Stuart Artist-in-Residence
deadline April 17
posted by South Dakota State University
Applications for 4-week artist-in-residence are now being accepted from visual artists working in any discipline, including interdisciplinary approaches. The committee encourages artists to create and develop artwork independently in the Ritz Gallery. Artists should be willing to discuss their project conceptualization and visual progression with School of Design students, faculty, and the community during open studio hours and public events. It is not intended that the selected artist teach or provide workshops.
Given South Dakota State University’s commitment to “extend the reach and depth of the University by developing strategic programs and collaborations”, the residency selection committee especially encourages applications from artists who are currently residing and working outside and beyond the South Dakota region.
Winging It: Bird Art
deadline April 21
posted by Annmarie Sculpture Garden and Arts Center
Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center invites emerging and established artists to submit original artworks to “Winging It: Bird Art.” This exhibition aims to celebrate the beauty, diversity, and symbolism of birds as interpreted through artistic expression. Birds have long inspired artists with their graceful forms, vibrant plumage, and powerful associations with freedom, migration, and the rhythms of the natural world.
From delicate songbirds hidden among garden branches to powerful raptors soaring high above open landscapes, this exhibition explores the many ways birds capture our imagination. Artists are encouraged to depict birds in both realistic and imaginative ways by highlighting their movement, color, habitats, and the unique roles they play in ecosystems and human culture. Whether focusing on a single feathered subject, a lively flock in motion, or the quiet presence of birds within a landscape, submitted works should celebrate the wonder and vitality of avian life.
Spring 2026 DC Print Fair
deadline April 21
posted by East City Art
The DC Print Fair is dedicated exclusively to fine art prints. While some exhibitors may also offer artist books that relate to their printmaking practice, the fair’s emphasis is firmly on original printmaking across techniques such as woodblock, screenprint, letterpress, RISO, linocut, etching, and more.
By contrast, the Capital Art Book Fair is primarily a publishing-focused event. Exhibitors typically present books, zines, print publications, and related editions, with prints representing a smaller portion of their overall offerings.
In short:
Apply to the DC Print Fair if your practice centers on fine art printmaking.
Apply to the Capital Art Book Fair if your primary focus is books and publications.
Applications Open for “Tales of Two Cities” Development & Exchange Program for Artists in DC and Cork
deadline April 23
posted by Solas Nua
Tales of Two Cities is a partnership among Solas Nua in Washington, DC and Cork Midsummer Festival and The Everyman in Cork, Ireland, and is funded by The Arts Council of Ireland’s International Residency Initiatives Scheme. The scheme supports arts organizations, across all artforms, in the delivery of residency initiatives and to create opportunities for transnational exchange and cooperation.
This artist exchange program offers emerging theatre artists the opportunity to expand their creative practice through international exposure, mentorship, and collaboration. Each participant will be paired with an Irish mentor. Participants can be individuals or a group.
DNDNXT GEN : CYCLE I
deadline May 1
posted by DND Infinity Group i
DND Infinity Group invites emerging to mid-career visual artists based in Maryland to apply for the inaugural DNDNXT GEN cohort, a curated exhibition platform spotlighting artists shaping the future of culture.
10 artists from the cohort will be selected to receive honorariums, chosen by a committee composed of DND curatorial staff and the program’s lead sponsor.
Artists retain 100% of their artwork sales.
With support from the Maryland State Arts Council.
All inquiries regarding the open call should be directed to:
[email protected]
PRISMA ART PRIZE — ROME — 19th EDITION
deadline May 10
Open call for painters, illustrators, printmakers and all traditional 2d artists
Prisma Art Prize is an international platform dedicated to painting and two-dimensional works. We welcome artists worldwide and celebrate the many directions painting can take today—traditional or experimental, intimate or bold—always with a focus on strong visual research.
Annual Awards & Opportunities
Cash prizes: €2000 per year (distributed across the four quarterly calls)
Exhibition: group exhibition at Contemporary Cluster, Rome (Late 2026)
Solo shows: Isorrophia Gallery Prize + Pallavicini–Dettori Prize
Artist residencies: Dar Meso (Tunis), Casacon (Sirolo, Italy), Osservatoriomaree Residency Prize
Additional opportunities: catalogue publication, interviews, and other partner prizes (to be announced)
Timeline (19th Edition)
Submissions open: 6 Feb 2026
Submissions close: 10 May 2026
Winners announcement: May 2026
Exhibition selections announcement: September 2026
Annual prizes announcement (solo shows & residencies): September 2026
Annual exhibition: Late 2026
Assembly 2026: Independent Curator Request for Proposals
deadline May 15
posted by MOCA Arlington
Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington is accepting proposals from independent curators for Assembly 2026, the fourth iteration of its national biennial. The museum will select four proposals and those exhibitions will comprise the biennial exhibition.
With an eye towards the 250th birthday of the United States, MoCA Arlington’s 2026 biennial will focus on the current practices of contemporary artists who live and work in the regions that made up the original thirteen colonies. The museum is seeking proposals from independent curators based in these states for exhibitions that explore current material and conceptual trends within contemporary art.
This includes the states of Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia as well as Washington, DC.
Call for Entries, Magic of Light
deadline May 15
posted by SE Center for Photography
It’s all about the light! Light and shadow have been the foundation of photography since the beginning. While illumination is important, darkness is an equally compelling component and, together, the elements of a successful photograph. Show us your best light!
Our Juror for Magic of Light is Wendi Schneider. Wendi is a Denver-based visual artist widely known for her ongoing series of hand-gilded photographs, States of Grace –– illuminated impressions of grace in the natural world. Drawn to the serenity she finds in the sinuous elegance of organic forms, she embraces photography to preserve vanishing moments of beauty in our vulnerable environment. Schneider’s gilding process creates images that seemingly dance on the paper’s surface amidst reflections of light on precious metals, creating a synthesis of technique and subject.
35-40 selected images will hang in the Virtual Gallery space for approximately one month. In addition, selected images are featured in the SE Center social media accounts (FB, IG, Twitter) and an archived, online slide show. A video walkthrough of each exhibition is also featured and archived..
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