This Week: Closing reception for DMV Artists for Venezuela, The Valerie J. Maynard Symposium, The Jonathan Gilmore Project at Creative Alliance, Galerie Myrtis’ Room to Bloom virtual panel discussion, Schwingo at Make Studio, Open House/Open Studios at The Last Resort Artist Retreat, Materio-mancy artist talk + closing reception, and Side by Side: The Gurlz of Baltimore opening reception at Goya Contemporary — PLUS apply for Spring/Summer 2027 MacDowell Fellowships 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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Art Auction Supporting Humanitarian Relief in Venezuela | In-Person Closing Reception
Thursday, August 20 :: 6-9pm
@ Kbird DC
On June 24, 2026, two powerful earthquakes struck northern Venezuela, claiming thousands of lives and affecting an estimated 6.76 million people, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM). In response and solidarity, artists from across DC, Maryland, and Virginia have generously donated artworks to raise funds for those affected.
We believe that art can be a conduit for compassion and support. Help us turn solidarity into real-life impact! – This auction is a meaningful opportunity to collect original artworks, while supporting vital humanitarian relief efforts for communities in need.
Online auction: July 20 to August 20, 2026
In-person Closing Reception: Thursday, August 20 | 6 to 9 pm | Kbird DC (1333 P St. NW. Washington, DC)
The proceeds from the art sales will be donated to the VACC Foundation Earthquake Relief Fund–a Venezuelan diaspora organization working with vetted local partners, and mutual aid networks delivering emergency relief and long-term recovery to the most affected communities.
The Valerie J. Maynard Legacy Symposium
Friday, August 21 + Saturday, August 22
@ Baltimore Museum of Art + Motor House
This summer, we bring together artists, archivists, and community members for a rich two days of hands-on engagement in archival practice! This is a celebration of Valerie J. Maynard, a sculptor, printmaker, designer, and educator born in Harlem who made Baltimore her home.
The celebration starts with the first annual Valerie J. Maynard Short Film Festival featuring selected work by Baltimore filmmakers Angela Carroll, Monica Freeman, and Elissa Blount Moorhead. Then join us for the final day of the symposium which will include FREE food, entertainment fellowship and Black art. The day will consist of workshops and hands-on experience for you to engage with the Foundation’s archival practice and cultivate your own.
The Valerie J. Maynard Short Film Festival kicks off the Symposium on Aug. 21, from 11AM until 1PM EST at the Baltimore Museum of Art’s Meyerhoff Auditorium. Ticketed entry into the film festival requires a $10 donation.
The full day of FREE activities and celebration takes place on August 22, at the Motor House in the Station North District of Baltimore from 10AM until 9PM. Entry is free with an RSVP.
Funktopia Presents: The Jonathan Gilmore Project Beautiful Freaks
Friday, August 21 :: 7:30pm
@ Creative Alliance
For years, Jonathan Gilmore’s performances have been described as part revival, part juke joint—big voices, deep feeling, storytelling, and joy that refuses to stay seated.
Beautiful Freaks brings together the musical energy of a Jonathan Gilmore concert and the theatrical imagination of Funktopia for one unforgettable night.
Featuring live music, DJs, performance artists, special guests, and surprises throughout the evening, Beautiful Freaks is a celebration of the dreamers, the believers, the glitter saints, the dance floor prophets, and everyone who’s ever been told they were too much.
Come dressed in your fantasy.
Come dressed in your truth.
Come ready to sing, dance, testify, and celebrate.
This is where glamour meets grit.
Where disco meets revival.
Where hoot meets holler.
For one night, the crossroads belong to us.
Room to Bloom | Virtual Panel Discussion
Saturday, August 22:: 2-4pm
@ Galerie Myrtis
Galerie Myrtis invites you to join our upcoming virtual program, “Room to Bloom.” This panel discussion will explore the vital role contemporary artists play in preserving cultural heritage and fostering growth within their communities through art. Panelists include featured artists Morel Doucetand Monica Ikegwu from Holding Space to Bloom alongside Oscar and Tammi Bedolla, Co-Founders of Flourish Art Accelerator. Flourish is a Chicago-based national organization that empowers artists, curators, and communities through mentorship, partnership, and investment.
Moderated by Co-curator and Assistant Director Ky Vassor, this engaging discussion aims to illuminate the interconnectedness of art, culture, and community empowerment. The panel will conclude with a Q&A session, offering a unique opportunity for attendees to engage directly with panelists on their artistic practices and upcoming projects.
The program “Room to Bloom” will take place via Zoom on Saturday, August 22nd, from 2:00 – 4:00 pm (est). This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required to receive the viewing link.
Schwingo 2026! Art Bingo benefitting Make Studio
Saturday, August 22:: 3-6pm
@ Checkerspot Brewing
Saddle up! The 11th Annual Schwingo is riding into town—and it’s bigger, bolder, and bingo-ier than ever!
Join Make Studio at Checkerspot Brewing Company for an afternoon of art, laughs, and just the right amount of friendly competition, all in support of Baltimore’s artists with disabilities.
This isn’t your average bingo. It’s Schwingo! Every round gives you the chance to win one-of-a-kind artwork donated by talented local artists.
Grab a cold beer from Checkerspot, mosey over to the Buck-n-Grill food truck for some delicious eats, and settle in for 12 rounds of high-energy, art-filled bingo.
🎟 Tickets are $45 and include all 12 rounds of bingo.
Saturday, August 22:: 3-5pm
@ The Last Resort Artist Retreat
CCCC invites you to The Last Resort Artist Retreat OPEN HOUSE / OPEN STUDIO.
Featuring Cohort 2, Folasade Ologundudu, Freddie L. Rankin II, Murjoni Merriweather, Jasmine Murrell.
RSVP to Attend. Refreshments will be served.
The event will take place at the Last Resort Artist Retreat (TLRAR), with refreshments served. Learn more about CCCC’s dedication to empowering the lives of underrepresented Black creatives, which has manifested through three programs Zora’s Den, Black Baltimore Digital Database, and The Last Resort Artist Retreat.
TLRAR is dedicated to providing a sanctuary where Black
creatives can rejuvenate and thrive. Designed to foster renewal and reflection, the retreat offers a curated experience that encourages participants to step away from distractions and embrace the transformative potential of new perspectives. By prioritizing space for rest, creativity, and exploration, the residency empowers artists to reconnect with their vision, nurture their craft, and uncover the lasting benefits of intentional withdrawal from the demands of everyday life.
Materio-mancy | Artist Talk + Closing Reception
Saturday, August 22:: 5-8pm
@ The Compound
Join us for the closing reception of Materio-mancy, followed by an artist talk moderated by Ricky Parker, Curator at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum, and Taro Cantú, Independent Curator.
Featuring participating artists Alexander D’Agostino, Lehna Huie, G. Pack, VILLAGER, Winter Dior Hart, Jasmeen Al Rayyes, and Anna Divinagracia, the conversations will explore material as medium, memory, archive, and magic, with artists reflecting on the processes, histories, and intentions embedded within their practices.
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Materio-mancy: a group exhibition guest-curated by Nigerian-born Transdisciplinary artist and Cultural Producer VILLAGER brings together seven (7) artists currently living and working in Baltimore City into a shared nexus of alchemical inquiry where material sensitivity operates congruently as method and magic, and contemporary urgencies meet historical continuities. Drawing upon a variety of mediums including painting, sculpture, assemblage, and installation, the participating artists invite the viewers to embrace, sense, and bear witness to the energy and the magic embedded in the material and the metaphysical, respective and independent of each artist’s temporal and spatial understanding of their practice of alertness which holds time and gesture beyond the body and space itself as divinatory alchemy.
Side by Side: The Gurlz of Baltimore | Reception
Sunday, August 23 :: 4-6pm
@ Goya Contemporary
Goya Contemporary Gallery presents Side by Side: The Gurlz of Baltimore, an exhibition bringing together, for the first time in public, all nine members of a remarkable circle of artists, scholars, curators, and cultural leaders whose friendships and working lives have shaped one another and Baltimore’s art community for more than five decades.
Co-curated by Lowery Stokes Sims and Amy Eva Raehse, the exhibition features the art of Leslie King Hammond, Linda DePalma, Patti Tronolone, Ellen Burchenal, Oletha DeVane, Joyce J. Scott, and Linda Day Clark.
The “Gurlz of Baltimore” began in the 1970s with a group of six women—King Hammond, DePalma, Scott, Tronolone, Burchenal, and DeVane—and expanded over time to include Raehse, Day Clark, and Stokes Sims. Their fields and practices differ—painting, photography, sculpture, performance, works on paper, public art, scholarship, and curatorial practice—but the group has never been defined by a common style. What holds them together is friendship: sustained, generous, and unwavering. That distinction matters because Side by Side is not an exhibition about a movement or a school. It is about what becomes possible within a culture of genuine mutual support.
Over the years, these nine women have exchanged ideas, opened doors for one another, shared opportunities, and helped shape the careers and perspectives of generations of artists, curators, institutions, and audiences. The exhibition places their individual achievements alongside the history they have made together. In doing so, Side by Side considers how one can remain fully oneself while belonging to a community. For the Gurlz, the answer has been neither conformity nor rivalry, but an enduring practice of standing in support.
Side by Side: The Gurlz of Baltimore will be on view at Goya Contemporary Gallery from August 18 through September 26, 2026. A public reception will be held August 23 from 4–6 p.m. A new publication accompanying the exhibition will also be available.
Featured Opportunities
The Leon Bridges Legacy Scholarship
deadline August 18
posted by AIA Baltimore
The Leon Bridges Legacy Scholarship for ARE Candidates is an initiative of the Baltimore Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (Bmore NOMA) and AIA Baltimore, established in honor of the extraordinary life, leadership, and legacy of Leon Bridges, FAIA, NOMA. As the first licensed African American architect in the State of Maryland, a past president of NOMA, educator, mentor, and champion for equity in the profession, Leon Bridges dedicated his career to creating opportunities for future generations of architects. His impact extended far beyond design excellence—he devoted his life to advancing diversity, expanding access to the profession, and supporting emerging Black architects and designers.
Created as a memorial scholarship in his honor, this program continues Bridges’ lifelong commitment to mentorship, professional development, and the advancement of underrepresented voices in architecture. Through this scholarship, Bmore NOMA seeks to carry forward his vision of a more equitable profession by investing directly in those pursuing architectural licensure.
2027 National Gallery of Iceland Residency
deadline September 2
The National Gallery of Iceland is proud to announce an artist residency open call in relation to its CUSP program, a European cooperation project funded through Creative Europe’s Culture grant. Artists working in complex media or emerging technologies (e.g. generative AI, custom sensors, sound, software-based, blockchain, physical and digital hybrid, etc) are invited to apply to the residency program. This is the first of four residency stays offered to different artists through the program, one in each of the five participating countries; Iceland, Norway, Czechia and Ukraine, to be followed by two micro residencies in the Netherlands and Iceland.
ON::View Artist Residency Program
deadline September 2
posted by Arts SouthEast
Located in the heart of Savannah’s Starland District at ARTS Southeast, the fully-funded ON::View Artist Residency provides a free, high visibility studio space, lodging, and $500 stipend for an artist or curator to complete a new project, continue an in-progress endeavor, or to conduct research. The studio’s large windows look out onto Bull Street, the district’s main thoroughfare, allowing the resident’s work to be on view to the community at all times. Visitors and passersby on the sidewalk witness the resident’s process as it unfolds in real time, seeing all the steps involved from concept to final execution. Community events like lectures, workshops, and public art projects offer creative ways to interact with the public. ARTS Southeast’s international ON::View Artist Residency is the only one of its kind in Savannah and is proud to provide financial support, studio space, and living accommodations to creatives from around the globe working in all media.
Princeton Arts Fellowship + Hodder Prize
deadline September 8
Princeton Arts Fellowships – 2 years, teaching required, open to dance, music, theater artists. Hodder Fellowships – 1 year, no teaching, open to dance, music, theater, and visual artists.
MacDowell Fellowships for Spring/Summer 2027
deadline September 10
About 300 artists in seven disciplines are awarded Fellowships each year and the sole criterion for acceptance is artistic excellence. There are no residency fees, and need-based stipends and travel reimbursement grants are available to open the residency to the broadest possible community of artists.
MacDowell encourages applications from artists of all backgrounds and all countries in the following disciplines: architecture, film/video, interdisciplinary arts, literature, music composition, theatre, and visual arts. Any applicant whose proposed project does not fall clearly within one of these artistic disciplines should contact the admissions department for guidance. We aim to be inclusive, not exclusive in our admissions process.
PRISMA ART PRIZE — ROME — 20th EDITION
deadline September 10
Prisma Art Prize opens its 20th edition, continuing its mission as an international platform dedicated to painting and two-dimensional artistic research.
Based in Rome, the prize welcomes artists from all over the world and supports the many directions that contemporary painting can take today: from figurative to abstract, from intimate visual narratives to experimental approaches, from traditional techniques to hybrid forms of image-making.
The 20th edition will lead to the annual group exhibition at Palazzo Merulana, Rome, opening on 5 November 2026, in one of the city’s most significant cultural venues.
Jentel Artist Residency — Winter/Spring 2027 Residencies
deadline September 15
Jentel awards residencies to artists, writers, and composers who are focused and serious about their practices. Residencies are intended to be professional development opportunities for visual artists in any medium; writers in fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry; and composers across musical genres. Proposals for self-directed residencies should be compatible with available studio spaces, facilities, and resources. Artistic merit and promise form the basis for selections. Established as well as emerging artists are encouraged to apply.
Applicants must be 25 years of age to be eligible for a residency. Applicants must also be US citizens or reside in the US during the year of the residency for which they are applying.
Applicants in post-doc fellowships are eligible for a residency; students enrolled full-time (9 hours or more) in a degree program at the time of the residency session they would like to participate in are not.
The Bennett Price
deadline September 19
The Bennett Prize, created in 2018, awards $75,000 to a woman artist to create her own solo exhibition of figurative realist paintings, which then travels the country. The Prize propels the careers of women painters who have not yet realized full professional recognition, empowering new artists and those who have painted for many years. The Prize expands opportunities for the public, who may not be familiar with figurative realist painting, to learn more about the creative vision of talented women painters in this increasingly popular genre.
Art Talent Fair
deadline September 23
The “Art Talent Fair” award, a contemporary art recognition dedicated to emerging artists, offers you the opportunity to exhibit your works by participating in international art fairs.
It’s a great opportunity for the 8 selected artists who will exhibit their art at the stand of the MOHO ART GALLERY.
Art Talent Fair is part of the project wanted by the “Moho Art Gallery” dedicated to emerging talents in the prestigious context of fairs dedicated to contemporary art.
The prize is addressed to professional and amateur artists, graphic designers, painters, photographers, etc.. from all over the world.
Baltimore Clayworks Clay Biennial Juried by Ching Yuan Chang
deadline September 25
posted by Baltimore Clayworks
Baltimore Clayworks Clay Biennial is a national juried exhibition presented in conjunction with the 61st Conference of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA), that celebrates the vitality, diversity, and evolving language of contemporary ceramics. Open to ceramic artists working in all styles, techniques, and conceptual approaches, the exhibition seeks work that reflects both technical excellence and compelling artistic vision. Functional, sculptural, installation-based, and experimental works are all welcome.
Foundwork Artist Prize
deadline September 25
The Foundwork Artist Prize is our annual juried award to recognize outstanding emerging and mid-career artists working in any media. Honorees receive unrestricted $10,000 grants and studio visits with our jurors who include acclaimed curators, gallerists, and artists. In addition to the honoree, three artists per year are also named to our Short List, each receiving a $1,000 micro-grant in support of their practice. The Prize is open to artists worldwide with limited exceptions and our selection process takes place each fall. Register here and see the “Foundwork Artist Prize” section in our FAQ for instructions on eligibility and how to participate.
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