This week’s news includes: Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance will cease operations, The Baltimore Museum of Art aquires 118 new works, Maryland Art Place celebrates 45 years, four MICA students named as finalists for the AXA Art Prize, fiber art’s rich legacy, Made in Baltimore rebranding, Ham climbs atop a new pedestal, Baltimore Fashion Week, the play’s the thing at Round House Theatre, BNHA’s new grantees, contractor chosen for Rawlings Conservatory, the BSO’s summer lineup, and the director of the Smithsonian responds to Trump’s accusations.
Influential arts nonprofit Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance is shutting down
by Wesley Case
Published July 30 in The Baltimore Banner
A scene in a production by Everyman Theatre, a member of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance. The arts nonprofit organization is shutting down. (Courtesy of Everyman Theatre)
BMA Announces Major Acquisitions with 118 Artworks Entering the Collection
Press Release :: July 24
The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) announced today that it has acquired approximately 118 works over the past six months, deepening its holdings of both historical and contemporary objects from across the globe as well as by talented artists throughout the Baltimore region. This includes a gift of 64 works from Constance R. Caplan, a former BMA board chair who has been actively engaged with the museum since 1955, and whose collection was the subject of an exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2020. The gift includes important works by Janine Antoni, Hilla and Bernd Becher, John Chiara, Fernanda Gomes, Robert Morris, Stephen Parrino, Nobuo Sekine, Richard Tuttle, Lee Ufan, Jack Whitten, Lisa Yuskavage, and others.
Among the other acquisitions, which include works entering the collection through purchase and gift or promised gift, are paintings by Katharine Gilbert Riggs Elmore, Inoue Hakuyō, Titus Kaphar, K.S. Kulkarni, Stanton MacDonald-Wright, Rabin Mondal, and Wosene Worke Kosrof; sculptural and mixed media installation works by Rina Banerjee, Petah Coyne, Ali Eyal, Sanaa Gateja, Heidi Lau, Reverend Joyce McDonald, Julie Mehretu with Nairy Baghramian, and Siphiwe Nala; textiles and works of fashion and design by Robell Awake, Maison Jove by Germaine Bongard, Félix Bracquemond, and Myrlande Constant; and works on paper by Tarsila do Amaral, Minol Araki, Margaret Burroughs, Virginia Chihota, Miguel Covarrubias, Guillaume du Mortier, Oumar Ka, Kikuji Kawada, Jean-Denis Nargeot, Ben Shahn, and Yoshihiro Tatsuki. Together, the dynamic range of objects reflects the BMA’s vision to expand its commitment to collection diversification to embrace a wealth of global voices.
Baltimore Museum of Art acquires 118 works of art, more than half from collector Constance R. Caplan
by Ed Gunts
Published July 24 in Baltimore Fishbowl
The Baltimore Museum of Art announced on Friday that it has acquired approximately 118 works of art over the past six months, including 64 from collector and longtime supporter Constance R. Caplan.
The newly-acquired works deepen the museum’s holdings of both historical and contemporary objects from around the world and increase the number of works by artists from the Baltimore area.
Caplan is a former museum board chair who has been engaged with the BMA since 1955 and whose collection was the subject of a 2020 exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. Her Baltimore County home, designed by her son Jonathan Caplan, is a veritable museum.
Dangerously Dedicated – MAPs 45th Anniversary
Press Release :: July 27
Since opening in 1981, Maryland Art Place (MAP) has served as a critical resource for contemporary art in the Mid-Atlantic region, directly supporting hundreds of artists annually through exhibitions, affordable studio space, art sales, mentorship, fiscal sponsorship, and more.
What makes 45 years meaningful is not just the number. MAP is a testament of time and commitment to service in the Arts over decades. Contemporary art spaces have often opened, thrived, and closed; important galleries and organizations that shaped the city and state that MAP has believed in. Thankfully MAP is still here, still growing, and still a critical foundation for the Arts in Maryland, and in Baltimore City where its building is an active hub for the arts in the Bromo Arts District. But it hasn’t been easy. People make MAP work!
Four MICA students named finalists in prestigious AXA Art Prize
by Aliza Worthington
Published July 23 in Baltimore Fishbowl
Four Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) students have been named finalists of the AXA Art Prize, a national competition for emerging figurative artists.
Forty finalists were selected from nearly 600 submissions representing 132 colleges and universities, including Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Pratt Institute, Savannah College of Art and Design, and California College of the Arts. MICA, RISD, and Savannah College of Art and Design each generated four finalists. Only the Fashion Institute of Technology generated more, with six finalists.
The revival of Baltimore’s quilt competition underscores fiber arts as tactile storytelling
by MacKenzie River Foy
Published July 28 in Baltimore Beat
Fiber art hasn’t been the same since the COVID-19 pandemic. What was once only seen as a provincial pastime has expanded into a fine art laden with urgency and voice. Quilts, and the people who make them, seem hungry to preserve something sacred and majestic. Even my own grandmother, who after quilting for the last 30 years still swears she is not an artist, can no longer deny the craft’s elevated status.
The art quilts emerging from the ashes of 2020 are not without precedent. Quilting has spent the last three decades migrating from home decor into contemporary art galleries across the country. The tradition itself is ancient, but the last time cotton was king in Charm City was at the climax of American slavery. The owners of Maryland’s textile mills, fed by cotton and slave labor coming from the South, were growing wealthy in the young nation.
After its Harborplace store closed, Made in Baltimore is rebranding. Not everyone is on board.
by Wesley Case
Published July 28 in The Baltimore Banner
Standing inside her renovated Hamilton storefront, Keppel & Kismet, Nichole Sullivan is living her entrepreneurial dreams — making and selling Maryland-inspired gifts.
She credits Made in Baltimore, the citywide marketing program that provides platforms for businesses to sell their goods, for introducing her to Baltimore’s maker community and helping her launch her shop after a two-decade career in project management.
“When I learned about Made in Baltimore, I was like, Oh my gosh, this is amazing,” said Sullivan, who sells lemon stick earrings, Maryland flag key chains and other gifts.
Nude artist returns to a Baltimore pedestal, this time in a Speedo
by Shayla Colon
Published July 26 in The Baltimore Banner
Baltimore’s naked Ham is back.
Just weeks after police used a cherry picker to pluck a nude man from an empty pedestal near the Inner Harbor, the man has returned. And he has more to say.
The man, a performance artist who goes by the name Ham, reappeared on a pedestal in the Mount Vernon neighborhood Sunday.
Clad in a black Speedo and aviator sunglasses, he sat beneath a sky-blue umbrella atop the pedestal that once held a statue of Roger B. Taney in the historic Baltimore neighborhood.
Baltimore Fashion Week returns for its 18th season
by Aliza Worthington
Published July 23 in Baltimore Fishbowl
Hold on to your hats because Baltimore Fashion Week fast approaches, and Season 18’s designers have been announced.
Baltimore Fashion Week, Season 18 will take place from Aug. 8 through Aug. 14. The designers will present their collections on the final day at The Designer Showcase Series at the historic War Memorial Building in downtown Baltimore.
“We are excited to introduce this year’s designers and celebrate the creativity they bring to Baltimore Fashion Week,” said Sharan Nixon, executive producer of Baltimore Fashion Week and executive director of the Fashion Umbrella Foundation. “Each designer has a unique perspective that contributes to the continued growth of Maryland’s fashion community while inspiring the next generation of creative professionals.”
I just went to one of the weirdest plays I’ve ever seen. You should see it, too.
by Hannah Yasharoff
Published July 26 in The Baltimore Banner
I went to see a play about life after the apocalypse on a day when the world was literally on fire.
The drive to the Round House Theatre in Bethesda last weekend was a hazy one, the product of Canadian wildfire smoke that left more than a dozen states, including Maryland, subject to unsafe air quality. As I walked to the theater, some fellow audience members donned N95 masks to be safe, an eerie flashback to pandemic times.
Then, onstage, came a story about what happens to people who live through unprecedented times — and what the hell they’re supposed to do in the aftermath.
BNHA Announces 2026 Grantees
Press Release :: July 27
Today, the Baltimore National Heritage Area (BNHA) proudly announces the recipients of the 2026 Heritage Investment Grants and the FY2027 Maryland Heritage Areas Authority Grants.
The Heritage Investment Grant Program (HIG) is a source of federal funding designed to provide small, but strategic investments in cultural heritage tourism projects within the geographic boundary of the national heritage area. Grants can support capacity building, operations, recreational projects and events, historic preservation and conservation, and/or education and interpretation. This year, a total of 17 applications were received for the HIG program, with a total request of $302,600.
Additionally, BNHA provides support to the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority Grant Program. The Maryland Heritage Areas Authority provides dollar-for-dollar matching project grants to non-profit organizations and governments for capital and non-capital projects located within a certified Maryland heritage area (which includes the Baltimore National Heritage Area). Grants can support heritage tourism-related projects involving historical, cultural, or natural resources. A total of 20 applications were received this year, with a total request of $1,332,000.
The selected projects represent a diversity of approaches that support BNHA’s mission to promote, preserve, and enhance Baltimore’s cultural and historic legacy. The 2026 awardees are:
Heritage Investment Grant Awards:
* Baltimore Children’s Museum Inc., Joyful Steps, $20,000
* Carroll Museums, Strategic Planning and Staff Professional Development, $20,000
* Charm City Fringe, Living Arts Heritage at the Peale, $20,000
* CityLit Project, Inc., CityLit: Growing Organizational Infrastructure to Better Serve Baltimore, $20,000
* Friends of the Jones Falls, Mobile Community Brick Factory & Monument Celebrating Baltimore’s Brickmaking History, $20,000
* Market Center Community Development Corporation, Heritage Tourism Capacity Building, $12,000
* National Great Blacks in Wax Museum, Conservation to Preserve Collection Figures, $20,000
* Star-Spangled Banner Flag House Association, Inc., Grow Community Engagement, $20,000
Maryland Heritage Area Investment Grant Awards:
* B&O Railroad Museum, Inc., New Interpretation for the Second Hundred Years of American Railroading at the B&O Railroad Museum, $50,000
* Friends of Patterson Park, Patterson Park Observatory & Site Restoration – Design/Pre-Construction, $100,000
* Jewish Museum of Maryland, People Get Ready Exhibition, $50,000
* Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture, Enhancing Community Engagement & Visitor Services, $50,000
* SNF Parkway, 2027 Maryland Film Festival, $50,000
“This time of year is so challenging; there are so many good and worthy stories to be told,” states Executive Director Shauntee Daniels, ”Let’s be honest–there just isn’t enough funding. If I had my choice, I would fund everything because they are all deserving.”
“Both the MHAA and BNHA Grants Review Committees found themselves with tough decisions given the many wonderful, creative, deserving projects to consider,” states Laura Page Wolf, Grants Administrator, “If this were a perfect world, all would have been funded.”
Contractor selected for long-awaited restoration of the Howard P. Rawlings Conservatory Palm House in Druid Hill Park; work is expected to take four years
by Ed Gunts
Published July 28 in Baltimore Fishbowl
Baltimore’s Department of Recreation and Parks has selected a contractor to lead the long-awaited restoration of the Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory Palm House in Druid Hill Park, a project that’s expected to start this year and take four years to complete.
The city agency has asked Baltimore’s Board of Estimates to award a contract to Wohlsen Construction Company, which was founded in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and has offices around the Mid-Atlantic region. It was one of two firms that bid for the job last year.
The spending panel is scheduled to consider the request at its meeting on Aug. 5. According to its agenda, the amount is $9,448,320.
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Announces August Lineup and 2026–27 Single-Ticket Sales
Press Release :: July 28
Single tickets are now on sale for all Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) 2026–27 events as the Orchestra closes out its SummerFest season with a full August lineup of cinematic blockbusters, statewide Music for Maryland performances and Live at the Meyerhoff presentations. Highlights include a celebration of the legendary partnership between John Williams and Steven Spielberg, community performances across Maryland’s Eastern Shore and beyond, reggae icons UB40 Featuring Ali Campbell, and hip-hop pioneer Juvenile with The 400 Degreez Band.
Single tickets for the 2026-27 season, Illuminated Through Sound, are now available beginning at just $29 (Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall) or $31 (Music Center at Strathmore). New this year, audiences can experience three new series for smart Friday starts, elevated Saturday nights, and blockbuster events. Across the season, BSO Collections – Classical, Popular, Celebrations, and Family – guide you to the music you know and love while inviting you to try new experiences. Explore the calendar today and secure your tickets for fall highlights including a symphonic journey through Taylor Swift’s musical eras in the Fusion Series (September 18-19), season opening Gala concerts featuring jazz sensation Sarama Joy (September 25-26), Music Director Jonathon Heyward’s first classical concert of the year highlighting Stravinsky and Prokofiev (October 2-4), and a Live at the Meyerhoff presentation of Outlander in Concert (October 3).
Tickets for all events are available at BSOmusic.org.
Smithsonian history museum chief rejects White House criticism of its leaders as radical activists
by Steven Sloan, Associated Press
Published July 23 in The Baltimore Banner
The director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History pushed back this week against a recent White House report that branded the institution’s leadership as radical activists who cannot be trusted.
The testimony from Anthea Hartig came as President Donald Trump has engaged in a broad national effort to reshape the stories of America told by cultural institutions controlled or influenced by the federal government and, in particular, to purge diversity, equity and inclusion elements from those narratives. Many historians are alarmed by the revisionism.
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