This Week: Susan Magsamen and Michael P. Murphy in coversation at JHU, Black International Film Festival at Pike’s Studio Cinema, Steve Ziger and Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson in conversation at The Ivy, opening reception for Nate Larson at Julio Fine Arts, MICA Bicentennial Weekend, Sweaty Everything opening reception at Area 405, Flaunt exhibition preview party at AVAM, Baltimore Open Studio Tour, Q&A with Adam Shapiro and Katie Lowes at the Jewish Museum, and The Ivy’s 25th birthday celebration — PLUS Artscape 2027 applications are open 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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How Architecture Transforms Us
Wednesday, October 7 :: 5:30-7pm
@ JHU’s SNF Agora Institute
This is the first in a series of IAM Lab-led events honoring the Johns Hopkins University Sesquecentennial – 150 Years One Hopkins. The series is supported, in part, by an Envisioning the Future award. It celebrates JHU’s pursuit of knowledge and dedication to improving lives as well as its growth as a global hub for neuroarts and neurospatial design, by exploring how intentional design can affect health and wellbeing.
During his residency, Murphy will work closely with faculty, clinicians, researchers, students, and community partners to catalyze new ways of thinking about the built environment. The residency is part of the IAM Lab’s Intentional Spaces Initiative whose work is supported, in part, by the Pedersen Foundation.
Wednesday, October 7
5:30-7:00 pm at the SNF Agora Institute on JHU’s Homewood campus:
3102 Wyman Park Dr, Baltimore, MD 21218.
Participants can also join via livestream.
Please register for in person or livestream attendance.
Black International Film Festival
Thursday, October 8 – Monday, October 12
@ Pike’s Studio Cinema
Founded in 2014, the Baltimore International Black Film Festival is produced by the not-for-profit 501(c)(3) tax exempt social /service organization: SOGAA, Inc. Our mission is to support unity in the community and foster education with the best in independent film-making while enhancing the diverse cultural landscape and economic vitality of Baltimore City. With its unique paring of films by African-American, the African Diaspora and members of the Same Gender Loving – Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (SGL-LGBT) communities, the Baltimore International Black Film Festival (BIBFF) serves a dual purpose of educating the community while providing a venue for independent films for, by and about African Americans, the African Diaspora and members the SGL-LGBT community locally, nationally and globally. The 1st Annual BIBFF was held at the historic Charles Theatre, the only theatre of its kind in Baltimore. The Charles Theatre with its 1150-seat, 23,000 square-foot movie house is located in one of Charles Street’s most historic buildings and is only minutes away for the Baltimore Harbor in addition to numerous restaurants, bars, museums and attractions. The BIBFF is truly a “Charm City” event blending entertainment and education in the greater Baltimore area through a uniquely diverse cinematic experience. The inaugural Baltimore International Black Film Festival was held December 3-5th 2014.
Steve Ziger with Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson: WHILE AWAY: AN ARCHITECT’S TRAVEL SKETCHES
Thursday, October 8 :: 6-7:30pm
@ The Ivy Bookshop
Join us for an evening with Steve Ziger, whose firm Ziger|Snead was the architect for the Ivy Bookshop! We’re excited that he’s just published a book, While Away: An Architect’s Travel Sketches, and that we get to celebrate it at The Ivy.
And what a book this is: Part memoir, part travel guide, part drawing manual and architectural history, this captivating book features 240 ink, pencil, and watercolor sketches rendered over five decades. Ziger’s personal experiences are blended with insightful observations about the built environment and the wondrous potential of human-made design. This timely collection of sketches reminds us of the value of being present to the world around us, and the power of drawing to help us see, learn, and understand a place.
He’ll be in conversation with the excellent Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson, author of one of the bestselling biographies at the Ivy, Claire McCardell. This will be a one-of-a-kind event, and we hope to see you there!
Nate Larson y El Puente: On Juvenile Incarceration in Argentina | Opening Reception
Thursday, October 8 :: 6-8pm
@ Julio Fine Arts
The Julio Fine Arts Gallery at Loyola University presents Nate Larson y El Puente: On Juvenile Incarceration in Argentina. This exhibition is a community-based empathetic documentary project using photographs to facilitate conversations and share the lives, experiences, tensions, and joys of juveniles living within the carceral systems near La Plata, Argentina. The exhibition features photographs by Nate Larson, Eleonora Ghioldi, Daniela Guerisoli, and photographs and bookworks by youth participants.
The project is produced as a collaboration with artist Nate Larson, El Puente Arte y Cultura, and Residencia Corazón. This project is supported in part by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, a Rubys Artist Grant from the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, a Marcella Brenner Grant for Faculty Development & Research from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and a Lighton International Artists Exchange Program (LIAEP) Grant. The Exhibition and Artist Residency is supported in part by the Center for Humanities, Loyola University Maryland.
Friday, October 9 – Sunday, October 11
@ Maryland Institute College of Art
Come home to MICA for an unforgettable weekend celebrating 200 years of creativity, community, and creative impact.
MICA Weekend brings together alumni, families, students, faculty, staff, friends, and the greater Baltimore community for three days of art, ideas, performances, conversations, and connection. Explore campus, experience the work happening at MICA today, reconnect with old friends, and celebrate the generations of artists and makers who have shaped our first 200 years.
Whether you graduated decades ago, or are discovering MICA through your student, or simply want to experience the creative energy of our community, there is a place for you at MICA Weekend.
Sweaty Eyeballs: Sweaty Everything | Opening Reception
Friday, October 9 :: 5-9pm
@ Area 405
On View: October 9–November 13, 2026
Opening: Friday, October 9 | 5:00–9:00 PM
Closing: Friday, November 13 | 5:00–9:00 PM
Gallery Hours
Thursdays – Saturdays | 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
AREA 405 and Sweaty Eyeballs Animation Festival presents the exhibition Sweaty Eyeballs: Sweaty Everything, on view from October 9 to November 13, 2026. Curated by Baltimore-based artist collective Animation Love Affair, this exhibition celebrates the animators’ point of view—
When our ancestors painted in caves, they were interested in bodies in motion: charcoal deer raised and lowered their heads, herds of buffalo raced across walls in flickering firelight, hands crested high like a wave. Humans ran and danced, many-limbed. In 2015, Paleolithic researchers Marc Azéma & Florent Rivère speculated that these images served as an early form of cinema, entertaining and educating sleepy hunter-gatherers through allegory and observation. These proto-animators were able to capture life and narrative—their images breathing, performing, changing from moment to moment as the light did.
Alongside Sweaty Eyeballs’ 14th year as Baltimore’s premier animation festival, Sweaty Everything asks us to think of animation as a perspective rather than a medium. When looking at the world, we have an instinct to imagine its life: the ways in which the beings in it interact and move. A narrative emerges, a history. As animators, we see ourselves and our point of view reflected in other artforms. We push upon the walls of our medium, inviting others to expand our realm of possibility. There’s human behavior that connects all of this—sequence, story keeping, embodiment.
Flaunt: When Appearance Speaks | Exhibition Preview Party
Friday, October 9 :: 7-10pm
@ American Visionary Art Museum
Step into a night of wonder and imagination at our joyful exhibition opening party on Friday, October 9, 2026! Flaunt: When Appearance Speaks is the American Visionary Art Museum’s 31st major thematic exhibition about how we adorn ourselves (description below); it promises to push the limitations of imagination! Be the first to see this immersive set of installations during our exclusive preview celebration, giving guests views of American-based works newly created for Flaunt and some European works debuting in the United States! In addition to delicious food and fun drinks, playful surprises await our attendees…
Join Director Ellen Owens, Curator Gage Branda, and artists in the exhibition for brief remarks in the Anita Roddick Tall Sculpture Barn at 7:15, followed by Flaunt: When Appearance Speaks official unveiling at 7:30 in the Zanvyl A. Krieger Main Building.
Baltimore Open Studio Tour (OST) Weekend
Saturday, October 10 + Sunday, October 11
@ various studios
Baltimore Open Studio Tour (OST) Weekend, produced by Create Baltimore, is a yearly event that brings together professional artists and the public to give art lovers, students, collectors, and creative influencers the opportunity to meet, connect with, and purchase art from some of Baltimore City’s most vibrant artists. Applications are now open for artists to register their studios to participate in OST Weekend, and visitors can observe them at work.
During this year’s OST Weekend on October 10 – 11 from 10am – 5pm, hundreds of attendees will visit artists in their Baltimore studios, see their works in progress, and step into their creative processes. Some artists also offer interactive activities and live demos.
It takes place during Free Fall Baltimore, a citywide celebration held in conjunction with National Arts and Humanities Month in October during which galleries, venues, and performance spaces across Baltimore City host free arts & cultural events for the public that are funded by Create Baltimore’s Free Fall Baltimore grant program. Free Fall Baltimore is supported in part by the Maryland State Arts Council (msac.org)
Scene Partners: An Afternoon with Hollywood Actors Adam Shapiro & Katie Lowes
Sunday, October 11 :: 3-5pm
@ The Jewish Museum of Maryland
Real-life married couple, and honest-to-G!d scene partners, Adam Shapiro (The Bear, The Lincoln Lawyer) and Katie Lowes (Scandal, Inventing Anna) are about as real-life a dynamic duo as Hollywood gets, and for this evening, they’re bringing the whole story home.
The conversation kicks off with a candid look at what it’s actually been like to be Jewish in Hollywood: the rooms where it mattered, the moments it didn’t, and how their identity has shaped both the work and each other. From there, Adam and Katie open up about their individual paths, from Adam’s roots in Philadelphia and co-founding IAMA Theatre Company to Katie’s journey from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts to series like Scandal and Inventing Anna, plus the unlikely turns along the way.
The back half of the afternoon belongs to you. Adam and Katie will open the floor for an extended Q&A where no question is off limits, and depending on where the day takes us, may lead the room through a few fun, low-pressure acting exercises so you can get an actual taste of how actors work a scene.
Come for the stories. Stay for the chance to put two working actors, and a real marriage, through their paces.
The Ivy Bookshop’s 25th Birthday Party!
Sunday, October 11 :: 3:30pm
@ The Ivy Bookshop
Bookstores don’t turn 25 every day… but this fall The Ivy does!
To celebrate, we’re planning a big party along with some of our incredible friends.
October 11th, 3:30 – 8:00
in the gardens
Wood-fired pizza by The Ivy Pizza Collective
Icecream by MishMish
Music by The Stovetops
Bar by Bird in Hand
Lawn Games, Picnic Blankets, Ivy Memories
….and You!
Featured Opportunities
EnterpRISE 2026 Application
deadline October 9
posted by Open Works
The 2026 EnterpRISE Application is open! We are excited welcome all applicants for the 10th annual EnterpRISE pitch competition, sponsored by the Maryland Department of Commerce and the PNC Bank Foundation. Please read through the below information for competition eligibility requirements, key dates, prizes, and competition schedule and FAQs.
To be eligible for this competition you must meet the following requirements:
•Must be over 18 and U.S. citizen; teams with may include minors or non-citizens as long as the lead applicant meets age and residency requirements
•Residing in Maryland at the time of the contest
•You cannot be a previous finalists, current employee of Open Works or the family member of an Open Works employee
“Crowns” Audition
October 12 + 19
posted by Artscentric
ArtsCentric is seeking performers and dancers for its upcoming production of “Crowns,” a play by Regina Taylor. Performer auditions are October 12, and dancer auditions are October 19, 2026. All roles are open and selected artists will be paid a stipend.
Art in Practice: A Juried Exhibition
deadline October 23
posted by Prince George’s Community College Galleries
The Prince George’s Community College Galleries proudly present Art in Practice, a juried exhibition celebrating the creative work of faculty artists across the Washington, DC metropolitan region. As educators, scholars, and cultural workers, faculty artists sustain their own artistic inquiry while shaping the next generation of thinkers and makers. This exhibition honors that dual role — recognizing the studio as a site of research, reflection, experimentation, and care.
Open to part-time and full-time faculty across disciplines, Art in Practice welcomes submissions in all visual art media that reflect the breadth of contemporary artistic practice in our region. Together, the selected works will highlight the rigor, innovation, and lived experience that inform creative pedagogy and artistic production.
Winter Artist Market | Call for Artists
deadline October 28
posted by Frederick Arts Council
The Frederick Arts Council (FAC), in partnership with the YMCA Ausherman Arts Center (YAAC), is calling local artists and makers to apply as vendors for the upcoming Winter Artist Market, taking place November 27–28 at the YMCA Ausherman Arts Center, 115 E. Church St., Frederick, MD 21701.
The Annual Winter Artist Market will provide artists with an opportunity to showcase and sell their handmade artwork and creative goods to the Frederick community and surrounding areas during the holiday season. Artists of various disciplines and creative practices are encouraged to apply and participate in this seasonal celebration of local art. The market will take place at the YMCA Ausherman Arts Center in downtown Frederick.
The Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans
deadline October 29
The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans honors the contributions of immigrants and children of immigrants to the United States. Each year, we invest in the graduate education of 30 New Americans who are poised to make significant contributions to US society, culture, or their academic field. Each Fellow receives up to $90,000 in funding over two years and joins a lifelong community of PD Soros Fellows.
The Fellowship is merit-based and highly competitive. Selection criteria emphasize creativity, originality, initiative, and sustained accomplishment, and we value a commitment to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The program has no quotas of any kind and does not consider race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, religion, disability, or any other protected characteristic in selection decisions.
Winter 2027 ‘Vintage’ Issue: International Call for Submissions
deadline October 30
posted by Pennsylvania Journal of Arts + Sciences
The Pennsylvania Journal of Arts and Sciences (PJAS) is an independent publication dedicated to presenting contemporary creative work across disciplines. The journal brings together a range of voices, with a primary focus on visual art and poetry, alongside experimental and cross-disciplinary practices.
Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year and considered for inclusion in quarterly issues. Submissions made before the call deadline will be considered for the upcoming Winter 2027 ‘Vintage’ Issue. Selected work is published both online and in print, with featured artists and writers presented within the journal’s curated editorial framework.
2027 Artist Residency
deadline October 31
posted by Mercer County Community College
The Gallery at Mercer County Community College (MCCC) is seeking artists for our bi-annual residency program that fosters artistic exploration and collaboration.
Four residencies will be awarded, each lasting three weeks in the 2027 Spring Semester. Two residencies will be designated for Mercer County artists, and two for artists residing outside the county.
Residents will be assigned one of our two gallery side spaces to create an exhibition or performance-based project. Residents will showcase their work co-currently with another resident artist in the mirroring space.
Howard County Public Garden
deadline November 1
posted by Howard County Arts Council
Opportunity Overview Howard County Arts Council invites qualified artists/artist teams to submit qualifications for the design, fabrication, and installation of a permanent public artwork at the new Howard County Public Garden, on the historic Longwood property at 3188 Route 97, Glenwood, MD. This is the second commission under Arts for All, Howard County’s public art program established with County Executive Calvin Ball and the Arts Council. A $500,000 County investment will fund an original, site-specific artwork responding to the garden’s landscape, ecology, and layered history.
Artscape 2027
deadline January 15
posted by Create Baltimore
Even though it feels like May was yesterday, Artscape 2027 applications are now open! Artscape 2027 will once again be Memorial Day Weekend, May 29-30, 2027. Applications are open for Scout Art Fair, Artists’ Market, Kidscape, and more. Most applications have a deadline of January 15, 2027. The Food & Beverage Early Bird Special application has a deadline of November 9, 2026, after which the regular Food & Beverage application will open.
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