SCOUT Art Fair returns to Artscape with a clear focus: platforming emerging Baltimore-based artists and making collecting more accessible. Last year, SCOUT launched its first iteration during Artscape in the downtown War Memorial Building, and was curated by Derrick Adams, with assistance from curator Teri Henderson. According to Create Baltimore and the Mayor’s Office of Art, Culture, and Entertainment (MOACE), they plan to continue SCOUT each year with a different curator at the helm. This year, photographer Devin Allen and NY gallerist Cierra Britton bring a shared commitment to Baltimore to the process.
For Allen, it was essential that Britton was originally from Baltimore. “I’m a Baltimore advocate,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of the work she’s done, and it felt like a good opportunity… I felt like I could learn from her while we worked together. We have similar taste in art and both know our stuff, so it was a no-brainer.
For Britton, the invitation carried personal weight. “I was so excited. It was a full-circle moment for me because I grew up going to Artscape,” she says. Though she’s spent the past 12 years in New York, her home town, Baltimore, remains central to her identity. “I’ve always wanted to curate a project back home that really resonated.”
Their collaboration has been years in the making. Britton first encountered Allen’s work as a student at The New School, where she was introduced to curatorial practice. “I had been following Devin’s work from the Freddie Gray Uprisings and reached out to interview him for a class,” she recalls. “He said yes, and I’ll never forget it.”
They reconnected last year, when Britton curated an exhibition in New York’s LES, A Friend Named Cousin (Presented by Joe Freshgoods & New Balance), which included Allen’s work. “”I love Devin’s work,” says Britton. “I met him through his work, so to be able to work beside him in a curatorial lens is really special.” Now, SCOUT, the art fair launched last year at Artscape, has created the opportunity for them to work side by side to elevate other artists.
From more than 200 applications, the curators built a cohort of 33 artists (including one duo), aiming for both rigor and range.
“I expected to see young, fresh perspectives across different mediums,” Britton says. She also wanted to challenge the idea that Baltimore’s creative moment is new. “When I tell people I’m from Baltimore, they say it’s having a big creative moment—but the moment has been continuous. I came in expecting raw, beautiful work that feels specific to this city, and that’s exactly what we saw.”
The curatorial team selected a diverse array of sculpture, photography, painting, and deeply personal work rooted in lived experience. “My expectations were met in a really satisfying way, and I’m proud of the artists we selected,” says Britton.
For Allen, the process was both energizing and difficult. “It was dope but tough because there were so many talented artists,” he says. To ensure fairness, they each selected outside jurors and introduced questions that centered artists’ relationships to the city.
“I wanted to know: what is your relationship with Baltimore?” he explains. “There are artists who’ve been working for years and never had that break. I wanted to keep that in mind.”
The result is a deliberately balanced exhibition—across medium, background, and career stage. “People think ‘emerging’ means young, but it’s all ages,” Allen says. “There’s something for everybody.”
SCOUT positions itself as both an emerging artist platform and art fair, with works priced between $150 and $5,000. “It’s an affordable art fair,” Britton says. But beyond price point, its structure sets it apart. “The booths are artist-run, which is rare. Usually you see the work but not the artist. Here, collectors can speak directly with artists.”
That immediate exchange is key. “There’s something special about seeing a work you connect with and having the artist right there to talk to,” she says. “You don’t have to go through a middle person.” Working with artists is also a reflection of Baltimore’s infrastructure, where there are few commercial galleries and artists tend to wear multiple hats, in terms of promotion, marketing, and sales of their own work.
The SCOUT model also lowers barriers for new collectors. “You don’t need a million dollars to start collecting,” Britton adds. “This is about building long-term relationships, not just making a transaction.”
To support both artists and buyers, SCOUT is emphasizing clarity and accessibility—from QR code purchasing systems to printed materials and artist-led booths. “The goal is to make everything streamlined,” says Bria Sterling-Wilson, an artist and also the Deputy Director of The Mayor’s Office of Arts, Culture, and Entertainment, who is helping coordinate logistics. “Access to the work, the artist, their story—it’s all right there.”
Ahead of the fair, the team hosted information sessions with all of the participating artists and will continue offering on-site support throughout the weekend. “We’ll be there the entire time,” Allen says. “A big part of this is networking. A lot of these artists haven’t met each other, so I hope they really connect.”
That sense of connection extends beyond the artists out to a vast network of creatives, culture workers, fans, curators, and collectors. For Allen, collecting is about relationships as much as acquisition. His advice to emerging collectors is succinct: “Get in early,” he says. “Be part of the artist’s journey. I remember people who said they wanted to buy my work, but didn’t—and now they can’t afford it.” He pauses, then adds, “The collectors who supported me early are still part of my journey, who have stayed with me all this time, and that means everything.”
Britton echoes that perspective. “Every successful artist started at an accessible price point,” she says. “That window doesn’t last forever. It only takes one museum acquisition or one major moment for things to shift quickly.” Her advice is simple: “Take advantage of the moment and build relationships.”
SCOUT is part of a larger ecosystem, produced through collaboration between Create Baltimore and the Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture (MOACE), alongside Artscape itself.
“Artscape is the perfect example of how we work together,” says Tia Goodson, Chief Marketing and Programs Officer at Create Baltimore. “We largely focus on curating and programming the festival, and MOACE handles the heavy load of logistics—permits, street closures, and event set up . It allows us to collectively produce a better festival.”
That coordination helps support an increasingly ambitious vision. From its home in the War Memorial building to its growing audience, SCOUT is evolving in its second iteration.
“I’m looking forward to it growing,” Sterling-Wilson says. “I can see this going even bigger.”
SCOUT will be hosted again this year in the downtown War Memorial Building, a gorgeous historic building that imparts gravitas and an old-school New York Armory sensibility. As the fair opens with a private event on Thursday, May 21, and extends over Artscape weekend, both curators will be on-site, participating in talks and engaging directly with artists and audiences. Their shared vision is grounded in Baltimore but extends outward—toward broader recognition and deeper investment.
Britton sums it up with a phrase that captures an ambitious agenda and possibility. “Once a museum acquires your work, that artist’s price point and their value doubles. It doesn’t always happen overnight, but it can happen quicker than a lot of people think. Bet on artists, while their price point is accessible.”
More information:
SCOUT Festival Hours
Friday, May 22, 2026: 1 PM – 6 PM
Saturday, May 23, 2026: 11 AM – 7 PM
Sunday, May 24, 2026: 11 AM – 5 PM
Location: War Memorial Building, Baltimore, MD (100 Holliday Street).
