This Week: Fab 5 Freddy in conversation with Wendel Patrick at JHU Bloomberg Center, AfroFuture Mural Visioning Party at Jubilee Arts, Hopkins at Home presents “AI and the Arts” hosted by Thomas Dolby, drawing event and curator talk for Douriean Fletcher at the Walters, Dorothy Berry and Savannah Wood in coversation at good neighbor, Beyond the Stars & Stripes artist panel at Driskell Center, Asia North 2026, Cindy Cheng pop-up with Baltimore Jewelry Center at Connect + Connect, 26th Annual Kinetic Sculpture Race at AVAM, Maryland Film Festival Day at SNF Parkway, PULSE closing at MONO Practice, Creative Alliance Marquee Ball, and an opening reception for Beyond the Surface at Galerie Myrtis — PLUS Fashion Remix applications due at the Walters 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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Authors & Insights: “Everybody’s Fly” with Fab 5 Freddy
Wednesday, April 29 :: 6:30-8:30pm
@ JHU Bloomberg Center
A conversation with pioneering artist Fab 5 Freddy on his newly launched memoir, and his role in shaping creative and cultural movements.
Presented in collaboration with the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Fred Brathwaite—better known as Fab 5 Freddy—will join Wendel Patrick, head of Hip-Hop Studies at The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, for a conversation on the cultural forces behind hip-hop’s rise and the stories behind his newly released memoir Everybody’s Fly: A Life of Art, Music, and Changing the Culture.
A pioneering graffiti artist, filmmaker, and original host of Yo! MTV Raps, Fab 5 Freddy helped bring hip-hop to a global audience. One of the first graffiti artists to exhibit internationally, he later co-produced and starred in the cult classic Wild Style and directed music videos for artists including Snoop Dogg, Nas, and Queen Latifah.
Authors & Insights is a series of in-depth conversations with compelling authors and thinkers exploring some of the most important issues of today.
AfroFuture Mural Visioning Party
Thursday, April 30 :: 4pm
@ Jubilee Arts
We need your voice to be heard! Help us shape the art coming to The Ave by coming to an upcoming community engagement event!
The Black Arts District is investing in visual art along the historic Pennsylvania Avenue corridor. We are investing heavily in visual art to serve the community by collaboratively affirming physical spaces as beautiful, meaningful places that both invite and celebrate our people. This work is not simply about making our community more aesthetically pleasing; it’s about using creativity to encourage connection, celebrate identity, and support economic prosperity.
Turn and Face the Strange: AI and the Arts
Thursday, April 30 :: 6-7pm
@ Hopkins at Home [Virtual]
Marking a decade since the passing of musical legend David Bowie and inspired by his legacy of constant reinvention, this virtual conversation explores how innovation has shaped modern music and what’s next in the age of AI.
Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming how music is created, from composition and sound design to production and performance. In this engaging webinar and live Q&A, we’ll dive into how artists are using AI not to replace creativity, but to expand it unlocking new possibilities for experimentation, collaboration, and sound.
Hosted by Thomas Dolby, Taylor A. Hanex Professor of Music for New Media at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, the conversation draws on his decades at the forefront of music and technology from pioneering electronic sound in the MTV era to developing interactive audio tools used across today’s digital landscape.
The program will also include a special performance inspired by Bowie’s iconic song “Heroes,” offering a glimpse into how timeless music can be reimagined through contemporary tools.
Drawing Inspiration: Jewelry from the Past and Afrofuture
Thursday, April 30 :: 6-7:30pm
@ The Walters Art Museum
Location: Temporary Exhibition Gallery on Level 1 & the Ancient World in Level 2
Registration requested.
Join us for an evening of music and drawing in Douriean Fletcher: Jewelry of the Afrofuture and the Ancient World. An instructor is available to help develop your sketching skills—whether you’re a beginner, student, or practicing artist of any age. Live music by Peabody Institute students enlivens the spaces and keeps the creativity flowing. Just bring your interest in drawing—we’ll provide the materials!
:: Related Event ::
Curator Tour: The Jewelry of Douriean Fletcher
Saturday, May 2 :: 2-3pm
@ The Walters Art Museum
The House Archives Built: Dorothy Berry in Conversation with Savannah Wood
Thursday, April 30 :: 7-9:30pm
@ good neighbor
Come out to good neighbor (3827 Falls Rd., Baltimore) on April 30, 7pm, for an evening with Dorothy Berry, one of the most vital voices in archival practice today, in conversation with Savannah Wood, for a celebration of Dorothy’s book The House Archives Built & Other Thoughts on Black Archival Possibilities (We Here Press, 2025). Dorothy has spent her career rethinking who gets to be remembered, how collections are built, and what it means to truly preserve the histories that institutions have long overlooked or outright ignored. This is a conversation about power, Black history, and labor.
ABOUT THE BOOK
As cultural heritage institutions across the nation grapple with the realization that their collecting histories have captured an incomplete picture of history, curators and archivists like Dorothy Berry have been drawn into complicated conversations. The House Archives Built and Other Thoughts on Black Archival Possibilities brings together years of those conversations from their origins in conference halls, webinars, and reading rooms to open them up to the public. The labor and theory that upholds archives has been obscured, but our understandings of history and ourselves rest on those invisible foundations. This book clarifies those foundations while offering new possibilities for imagining archival futures in and outside of institutional holdings.
Beyond the Stars & Stripes | Artists’ Panel
Friday, May 1 :: 5pm
@ The David C. Driskell Center
A conversation with the artists of “America Will Be!”
Join us for an intimate conversation with three artists from our spring exhibition America Will Be! as they reflect on the American flag as a site of protest, possibility, and belonging. Together, they explore what it means to make art about citizenship at this pivotal moment in our nation’s history.
America Will Be! and its programming are made possible through the generous support of the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Opening Event: Asia North 2026
Friday, May 1 :: 5-9pm
@ SNF Parkway Theatre + Currency Studio
Celebrate the kick-off of Asia North 2026. Meet guest curator Dylan Kaleikaumaka Hill and the artists featured in Shoes at the Door.
Celebrate the kick-off of Asia North 2026. Meet guest curator Dylan Kaleikaumaka Hill and the artists featured in Shoes at the Door. Spend the evening getting energized through the sounds of Korean samulnori and Japanese taiko drums, being entranced by the exquisite art of Odissi dance, grooving to synth pop, and chilling out to indie-pop. Featuring performances from Han Pan Samulnori, Arpita Rakshit Sabud, Hello Fans, Plant Dad, and B’more Taiko. Savor dishes provided by the Baltimore Xiamen Sister City Committee. B’more Taiko performance sponsored by the Baltimore Kawasaki Sister City Committee. Performances curated and hosted by Kandi Wong.
:: Related Event ::
Ongoing through May 31
@ SNF Parkway Theatre + Currency Studio
BmoreArt C+C Jewelry Pop-Up Event: Cindy Cheng + Baltimore Jewelry Center
Friday, May 1 :: 6-8pm
@ BmoreArt Connect + Collect Gallery
Join us on Friday, May 1, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the BmoreArt Connect + Collect Gallery in collaboration with the Baltimore Jewelry Center for a jewelry pop-up event and conversation with Cindy Cheng. Cheng’s work is featured in the exhibition Idiosyncratic Iconoclasts, currently on view at the gallery. The conversation will be moderated by executive director Shane Prada of the Baltimore Jewelry Center. Followed by an evening of trying out Cindy’s wearable art which will be available for purchase.
Idiosyncratic Iconoclasts brings together Richard Cleaver and Cindy Cheng, two artists who share a wild imagination and a remarkable attention to detail. Both artists explore a precarious line between the sacred and the profane, subverting the visual language of sanctified relics and precious gems, in order to conjure up bizarre and beautiful planes of reality.
Cleaver’s jewel encrusted ceramic sculptures and paintings function like tiny worlds: full of intricate detail, hidden elements, and allegorical human figures. Cheng’s work, encompassing sculpture and wearable art, carries a profound curiosity and playful challenges to the status quo through ceramics, metal, gemstones, and experimental materials.
26th Annual Kinetic Sculpture Race
Saturday, May 2 :: 8am-7pm
@ American Visionary Art Museum
On Saturday, May 2, 2026, the American Visionary Art Museum’s (AVAM) wildly-creative and frenzied Kinetic Sculpture Race—powered by PNC—returns to the streets of Baltimore for its 26th year, rain or shine! The community-wide event showcasing Baltimore’s originality and visionary spirit is the region’s only sporting event in which the winner is, by definition, not the point. The full schedule is listed below.
Thirty teams have so far registered, with participants ranging from teenagers to octogenarians. Vehicles will evoke the race theme of “Fantasy and Folly,” featuring hand-built mobile sculptures that will need to endure a 15-mile course, traversing through downtown Baltimore, negotiating mud and sand pit obstacles in Patterson Park, and a full plunge into the water at Canton Waterfront Park. Along the way, teams compete for honors such as ACE, Best Pit Crew, People’s Choice, Sock Creature of the Universe, and Spirit of the Glorious Founder. The Grand Mediocre Champion—awarded to the team that finishes precisely in the middle of the pack—remains the most coveted title of the race, and possibly of all of Baltimore.
Saturday, May 2 :: all day starting at 11am
@ SNF Parkway
Maryland Film Festival Day returns on May 2 with a full day of screenings, performances, and opportunities to connect with the filmmakers and artists who make this work possible.
Declared an official celebration by Governor Wes Moore, MdFF Day has become our annual community celebration and pay-what-you-can fundraiser—supporting the year-round programming and creative work we’re continuing to build here.
Saturday, May 2 :: 1-4pm
@ MONO Practice
PULSE
Elliot Doughtie • Danielle Mysliwiec
MONO PRACTICE Baltimore is pleased to present PULSE, a two-person exhibition featuring the work of Elliot Doughtie and Danielle Mysliwiec. The show explores how material, form, and perception generate meaning in contemporary art…
2026 Marquee Ball: Heroes & Villains
Saturday, May 2 :: 5pm
@ Creative Alliance
5PM Awards Cocktail Hour & Dinner | 8PM Marquee Ball
The Marquee Ball is Creative Alliance’s largest annual fundraiser. Dress to impress in your best hero or villain inspired outfit.
The evening begins with a cocktail hour, seated dinner, and an awards ceremony honoring Roz Cauthen and Tom Hall for their contributions to Baltimore Arts.
The Marquee Ball starts at 8PM to experience a silent auction of original art by regional artists, open studios, performances, a dance party, and other surprises in the night!
Baltimore’s wildest party supports Creative Alliance’s commitment to bring arts to the greater Baltimore region.
Theme: Heroes and Villains! From everyday heroes to cinematic villains, come join more than 500 attendees, artists, and supporters and party the night away!
Beyond the Surface: Exploring Visibility in Print | Opening Reception
Saturday, May 2 :: 6-8pm
@ Galerie Myrtis
Galerie Myrtis is proud to present Beyond the Surface: Exploring Visibility in Print, a group exhibition organized by the Legacy Print Council (LPC) and guest curated by Delita Martin. Featuring eleven artists, the exhibition examines the layered and often contested idea of visibility through the medium of printmaking.
The exhibition debuts the inaugural LPC portfolio alongside additional works by each participating artist, creating a dynamic conversation about presence, recognition, concealment, and power. Through diverse printmaking practices, the artists explore visibility not as a fixed state, but as an experience shaped by history, identity, and social context.
Grounded in the tactile language of print, the works move beyond surface appearances to consider how individuals and communities are seen, overlooked, exposed, and remembered in the digital age.
“Together, the eleven artists in this exhibition invite viewers to move beyond surface readings and into deeper engagement. They ask us to consider not only what is visible, but how we see, who is granted recognition, and what remains overlooked. Through the enduring and tactile language of printmaking, Beyond the Surface becomes both a space of reflection and a call to awareness, challenging us to reconsider our role as observers and participants in the ongoing act of making meaning visible.” – Delita Martin
Featured Artists: Chole Alexander, Rabea Ballin, Jamaal Barber, Maurice Evans, Ann Johnson, Grace Kisa, Delita Martin, Steve Prince, Rashaun Rucker, Jess Sabogal, and Shanna Stauss
Featured Opportunities
Fashion Remix: Art Inspiring Designers
deadline May 3
posted by The Walters Art Museum
The Walters Art Museum is now accepting applications for Fashion Remix: Art Inspiring Designers, a creative initiative that invites local fashion designers to take inspiration from artworks in the Walters collection to create original, wearable designs. Finalists will have the opportunity to present their work in a public celebration at the museum as part of Baltimore Fashion Week!
Fashion Remix highlights how historic art continues to inspire new forms of expression, celebrating Baltimore’s vibrant creative community and connections between past and present. This year’s program connects fashion, history, and storytelling alongside Douriean Fletcher: Jewelry of the Afrofuture, an exhibition on view at the Walters April 18–August 9.
YICCA Art contest – International competition for artists
deadline May 7
YICCA International Art Contest embodies a convergence of talent and opportunity, making it an unmissable chance for artists with dreams of leaving a mark on the contemporary art landscape. The competition is open to all types of artworks and all techniques are allowed. This includes videos, performances and installations. By participating in YICCA, artists gain access to an influential global network that can significantly impact their careers. This exposure and recognition can be a game-changer for artists, providing them with a place to share their artistic vision and connect with a discerning audience. YICCA thus serves not only as a prestigious platform but also as a springboard for artists wishing to gain recognition in the contemporary art world, furthering their careers in a highly qualified international context.
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 Art for “Rich with Love – A Decade of Remembrance”
deadline May 25
posted by Stamp Gallery UMD
In honor of the 10-year anniversary of the murder of 1st Lt. Richard W. Collins III, the Bowie State University-University of Maryland Social Justice Alliance invites students, artists, faculty, staff, and community members to submit original artwork for a commemorative, community-centered exhibition at the STAMP Gallery. The exhibit is also inspired by “Rich with Love: A Mini-Documentary on 1st Lt. Richard W. Collins III”, which can be watched here.
Rich with Love is both a remembrance and an invitation, an interrogation of how we bear witness to violence without allowing it to define the lives taken, and how art can function as a tool for healing, truth-telling, and social transformation. Artists are encouraged to explore themes including, but not limited to: dignity, grief, legacy, racial violence, community care, resilience, military service, Black humanity, racial justice, Americanness, and the work of remembrance.
Submissions may reflect personal connections to Lt. Collins’ story, broader reflections on anti-Black racism and racialized violence, or imaginative interpretations of what it means to honor life in the face of injustice. Works may be literal or abstract, intimate or communal, historical or forward-looking.
A jury of representatives from the University of Maryland and Bowie State University communities will select three artworks to receive a cash award: $500 for first place, $350 for second place, and $200 for third.
Shino Odyssey Juried by Matt Hyleck
deadline May 29
posted by Baltimore Clayworks
Baltimore Clayworks is pleased to announce a call for entries for Shino Odyssey. Shino is a juried exhibition celebrating the depth and diversity of Shino glazes. This exhibition invites artists to explore and showcase the vast possibilities of Shino, a glaze family known for its remarkable sensitivity to clay body, application, kiln atmosphere, and firing duration. All interpretations of Shino glaze are encouraged. Selected artwork will be exhibited in our gallery and available for purchase.
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