This week’s news includes: Birthday boy John Waters, NGA announces largest programming gift in its history, the Glenstone Museum at 20, Hopkins acquires Lindsay Adams’ Kind of Blue (1959), Shane Prada takes a tour of Douriean Fletcher’s Walters’ exhibition, Asia North 2026, remembering Melvin Edwards, 5 Baltimore poets, Tod Machover to speak at Peabody graduation, Inheritance Theater Project brings “Charm Pass” to BCS, Rob Lee interviews Claudia McCormick, Strathmore’s summer performance season, and First Lady Dawn Moore’s Women’s Economic Empowerment Event.
Gleanings from writer and filmmaker John Waters on his 80th birthday
by Ed Gunts
Published April 22 in Baltimore Fishbowl
The big day has finally arrived. After months of build-up, Baltimore writer and filmmaker John Waters turns 80 today, April 22. Earth Day is John Waters’ birthday.
But April 22 isn’t just a big day for Waters. His birthday is also a welcome occasion for his fans, because it’s a time when he gives lots of interviews about what he’s been doing and thinking and what’s coming up on his schedule.
Over the past month, Waters has given more than a dozen interviews to local and national outlets about the spoken-word tour he’s been on, “Going to Extremes: A John Waters 80th Birthday Celebration,” and other projects.
The National Gallery of Art Receives Historic $116 Million Gift from the Mitchell P. Rales Family Foundation Endowing “Across the Nation” National Lending Program
Press Release :: April 21
The National Gallery of Art has received a transformational gift of $116 million from the Mitchell P. Rales Family Foundation to endow Across the Nation, the museum’s nationwide loan partnership program launched in 2025. Made to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary this year, the landmark gift will fund the program in perpetuity. Now a foundational element of the museum’s national service, Across the Nation will continue to advance the National Gallery’s ability to reach all Americans by bringing key works from the nation’s collection on long-term loan to regional museums across the country.
This is the largest gift to endow programming in the National Gallery’s history, on par with the National Gallery’s original founding gifts. The historic endowment embodies Rales’s enduring and visionary support of the museum, where he has been a member of the Board of Trustees for 20 years and served as president from 2019 to 2024. During this time, Rales has funded other major initiatives, including gifting and facilitating the acquisition of important works of art. Staunchly committed to the arts, Rales is also cofounder of Glenstone, a foundation and museum in Montgomery County, Maryland, that seamlessly integrates art, architecture, and nature into a serene and contemplative environment, always free of charge.
Glenstone, Potomac’s contemporary art haven, evolves as it turns 20
by Hau Chu
Published April 21 in The Baltimore Banner
Can a haven of contemporary art that spans more than 200 acres of rolling Potomac hills be considered a hidden gem as it approaches its 20th anniversary?
Yes.
But that’s by design.
Glenstone opened as a gallery nestled within Glen Road on Sept. 30, 2006. Founders Emily Wei Rales and Mitch Rales launched it as a showcase of the Glenstone Foundation collection. But they had a grander vision of how they wanted visitors to immerse themselves in the post-World War II marvels.
Johns Hopkins University Acquires Lindsay Adams’ “Kind of Blue (1959),”A Major Abstract Diptych Inspired by Miles Davis’ Seminal Album, for Milton S. Eisenhower Library
Press Release :: April 20
Johns Hopkins University today announced the acquisition of Lindsay Adams’ Kind of Blue (1959) (2024), a large diptych named after Miles Davis’ iconic album by the abstract painter and Washington, D.C. native. The artwork was first exhibited as the centerpiece of Ceremony, a solo show of new work by Adams at the Irene and Richard Frary Gallery at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C., on view through March 7, 2026. Its acquisition reinforces the university’s longstanding commitment to elevating contemporary artists from the local Baltimore and Washington, D.C. region.
The painting is destined for installation in the Milton S. Eisenhower Library, the university’s principal research library located on the Homewood campus in Baltimore, which is currently undergoing renovation and scheduled to reopen in early 2027. The acquisition is made possible by a gift of funds from Dan Weiss, Homewood Professor of the Humanities and Senior Advisor to the Provost for the Arts at Johns Hopkins University and current CEO and Director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Walk & Talk: ‘Jewelry of the Afrofuture’ at The Walters with Baltimore Jewelry Center
by Kerry Folan
Publishe April 17 in Baltimore Magazine
A re-creation of the jeweler’s bench Douriean Fletcher used when she first began metalsmithing, back when she was in her early twenties and working at a social justice nonprofit in New Orleans, sits at the start of Douriean Fletcher: Jewelry of the Afrofuture.
I am not a jewelry maker, or even generally very handy, so among the tools laid out here I recognize only the hammer. But I’m with Baltimore Jewelry Center director Shane Prada, who knows quite a lot about jewelry, and about Fletcher.
Prada names the objects I don’t know—the butane torch, the wire cutter, the cowrie shells, beads, metal sheets, rooster feathers, and wire used in the designs. There is also an old T-shirt of Fletcher’s, and the mattress she used to sleep on if she was working late.
Asia North Festival Returns to Station North Arts District Throughout May with Robust Multi-Sensory Experiences and Programming; Signature Exhibition ‘Shoes at the Door’ Explores Hospitality as a Core Value in APIMEDA Culture
Press Release :: April 22
Back for its eighth year, the Asia North Festival will return to Baltimore’s Station North Arts District May 1-31. Co-produced by Towson University’s Asian Arts & Culture Center and Central Baltimore Partnership, the month of APIMEDA-centered (Asian Pacific Islander Middle Eastern Desi American) programming celebrates Baltimore’s Charles North / Station North neighborhood’s constantly evolving identities as a Koreatown, arts district, and creative hub. In addition to a signature exhibition, community programs, artist talks, and neighborhood activations will be a large part of the festival’s lineup.
“We are thrilled to present Asia North’s signature exhibition at the historic SNF Parkway Theatre, located at the intersection of North and Charles, the heart of Station North and the geographic center of Baltimore City. At this moment, so often characterized by divisiveness and isolation, we offer an exhibition focused on the practice of hospitality, honoring cultural memory, and cultivating a sense of belonging,” said Abby Becker, Director, Station North Arts District, a program of the Central Baltimore Partnership.
Guest-curated by Dylan Kaleikaumaka Hill, the 2026 festival’s signature exhibition, “Shoes at the Door,” brings together work by sixteen APIMEDA-identifying artists from the greater Baltimore and DMV region. The exhibition foregrounds hospitality as a malleable practice shaped by diaspora, cultural tradition, inheritance, colonial commodification, and celebration, presenting installations, sculpture, video, photography, and community-based projects that explore the layered meanings of welcome, displacement, and cultural memory.
Asia North’s Opening Event will take place Fri., May 1, from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the SNF Parkway Theatre and Currency Studio, with the exhibition Shoes at the Door on view, curated by Dylan Kaleikaumaka Hill, Meyerhoff-Becker Curatorial Fellow at the Baltimore Museum of Art, and performances curated and hosted by Kandi Wong. Festival-goers are invited to meet the artists and spend the evening taking in the sounds of Korean samulnori and Japanese taiko drums, the exquisite art of Odissi dance, synth and indie-pop. Enjoy light bites courtesy of the Baltimore Xiamen Sister City Committee.
The artist who welded Black history into steel sculptures
by Cayla Harris
Published April 20 in The Baltimore Banner
Leslie King-Hammond first crossed paths with Melvin Edwards when he was a visiting artist at the Maryland Institute College of Art.
The young graduate dean was fascinated by him immediately — few other artists she knew had spent time studying their craft in Africa, but Edwards had apprenticed for a sculptor in Nigeria. His abstract steel sculptures were unusual and engaging, and the man behind them was unpretentious and passionate about his work.
He’d already begun to make a name for himself in the art world with “Lynch Fragments,” a series he started in 1963. The tiny sculptures, made of recycled steel and fashioned into chains, barbed wire and other objects, were inspired by Black history, the African American experience and racial violence he studied at home and abroad.
Five Baltimore Poets To Discover Now
by Elizabeth Hazen
Published April 22 in Baltimore Fishbowl
One of my favorite things about Baltimore is its diverse, vibrant, and inclusive literary scene. In any given week, you can find readings at local bookstores, libraries, cafes, bars, and even private residences where attendees are warmly welcomed into the community. Indeed, it was through such events that I met each of the authors highlighted below. In honor of National Poetry Month, we wanted to share a bit about their recent books which represent a range of voices and subjects, offering insight, connection, and hope to help us survive these trying times.
Composer and Music Tech Pioneer Tod Machover to Speak, Receive George Peabody Medal at Peabody Conservatory’s 2026 Graduation Ceremonies
Press Release :: April 16
Hailed as a “musical visionary” and “America’s most wired composer,” inventor, composer, professor, and Faculty Director of the MIT Media Lab Tod Machover will deliver the address for the Peabody Conservatory’s 2026 Graduation ceremonies on Wednesday, May 20. Machover will attend both the morning ceremony for undergraduates and the afternoon ceremony for graduate students, and will receive the George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music and Dance in America, the highest honor bestowed by the Peabody Institute, presented annually since 1980.
“The breadth and depth of Tod Machover’s career—his work in participatory opera, as an educator and Faculty Director of the MIT Media Lab, his genuinely groundbreaking and prescient work at the intersection of music and technology, along with an overall and broad impact on the American music scene—make him an ideal recipient for the Peabody Medal,” said Fred Bronstein, dean of the Peabody Institute. “Today, Peabody’s own innovative and expanding tech-based arts training programs are built upon the foundation created by Tod Machover and other early leaders in the field, and Machover continues to provide inspiration especially in the fast-evolving relationship between AI and the creative process. We are honored to welcome to campus a true pioneer and thought leader.”
Local Organizations Unite to Tell Baltimore’s Story Through Inheritance Theater Project
Press Release :: April 22
After a yearlong, community-driven process rooted in workshops, storytelling sessions and open dialogue, Baltimore Center Stage, Third Space at Shaarei Tfiloh and Oh to Dream proudly present “Charm Pass,” a production created for and by the people of Baltimore.
The 12-month collaborative journey to the final production is made possible by the Inheritance Theater Project, a national nonprofit that uses theater to bridge divides and strengthen community connections. More than 700 participants, 33 partner organizations and 47 public events contributed to the process, with residents from across neighborhoods, professions, and generations sharing their stories, perspectives and lived experiences to help shape the production.
Led locally by process director Rain Pryor—actress and episodic screenwriting instructor at the Baltimore School for the Arts—alongside community weavers Antoinette Duren and Mia Smith, and producers Bridgette Burton and Evan Hall of Oh to Dream, the production guides audiences through Baltimore as both a place and a collection of experiences. Along the way, the city reveals itself not as a singular identity, but as a tapestry of many voices and stories.
“This process has been an extraordinary reminder that every Baltimorean carries a story worth hearing,” Burton said. “We didn’t just create a performance. We brought the city together, building connections across Baltimore’s diverse neighborhoods, voices and ways of life.”
Throughout the remainder of April, open rehearsals will take place at locations across the city, offering community members the opportunity to observe, engage and help shape the final production.
Final performances will be held Saturday, May 2, at 2 PM and 7:30 PM at Baltimore Center Stage, and Sunday, May 3, at 3 PM at Third Space at Shaarei Tfiloh. Tickets for all performances are available on a pay-what-you-can basis.
Cecilia M. McCormick [Audio]
hosted by Rob Lee
aired April 15 on The Truth in This Art Podcast
In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Cecilia M. McCormick!
About Cecilia M. McCormick: President of MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art) with 33 years in higher education, an art collector who raised three sons now working in the creative field.
In our conversation, McCormick talks through MICA’s bicentennial year and the vision she’s building as the school hits 200. She connects the programming to three themes—illumination, innovation, and entrepreneurship—and digs into new degrees shaped by workforce demand. As she puts it, creativity is “the commodity that cannot be automated, outsourced, or depleted.”
First Lady Dawn Moore Hosts Women’s Economic Empowerment Brunch
Press Release :: April 21
On Saturday, First Lady Dawn Moore (dawnflythemoore) hosted more than 100 women at Government House for her third annual “A Women’s Work: Women’s Economic Empowerment Event.
The event created by Foundation for the Preservation of Government House (@fpghmd) of Maryland with a vision by First Lady Moore — celebrates entrepreneurs, executives, creators, and changemakers who build economic power with purpose—expanding pathways to prosperity for themselves and others. It’s designed to inspire and enlighten women about ways to enhance hard and soft skills that impact economic empowerment.
The event kicked off with a sparkling social toast from First Lady Moore, then networking brunch. The program included inspirational messages about turning ideas into solutions and obstacles into momentum — from award recipients CEO & Founder, Salamander Collection Sheila Johnson (Luminary Award), Baltimore Orioles); President of Business Operations Catie Griggs (Glass Ceiling Breaker Award); Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women Founder Brenda Brown Rever (Impact Award); and Artist Tawny Chatmon (Vanguard Award).
During the program, Emmy award-winning journalist Marissa Mitchell led a panel discussion on “Living Amendments: Women Reshaping Power, Culture and Capital.” — a tribute to a theme dedicated to honoring America’s 250th celebration and the great American women who shaped it.
Other guests include Wanda Durant, First Lady of Baltimore Hana Scott and some of the most influential women in business, politics, and service in the DMV region.
Event sponsors include CareFirst and BGE.
For background and context, the Foundation for the Preservation of Government House of Maryland is committed to restoring and preserving Government House to safeguard its historical significance while inspiring and educating through programming that emphasizes children’s mental health, economic empowerment, military families, and art and culture. Programming is designed to bring more Marylanders to Government House, allowing greater connection to this historical beacon.
Strathmore Announces Return of Free Summer Concert Series: “Live from the Lawn” Featuring “Cool Concerts for Kids”
Press Release :: April 22
Strathmore welcomes the community back to the Gudelsky Gazebo Stage this July for Live from the Lawn, its free summer concert series. This year’s lineup features a wide range of family-friendly performances, including the fifth anniversary of Cool Concerts for Kids, a companion series designed for younger audiences with interactive, age-appropriate programming.
From high-energy funk and flamenco-pop to Appalachian folk and Grammy-nominated children’s music, the outdoor stage hosts a diverse array of talent on Wednesday and Thursday evenings.
“With Live from the Lawn, we’re creating space for people to come together around live music in a way that is open and accessible,” said Joi Brown, artistic director and vice president of programming at Strathmore. “It’s a summer tradition built on community—inviting neighbors to gather, spend time together, and discover artists in a relaxed outdoor setting.”
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