Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower presents three powerful new exhibitions: “Walking forward, looking back,” by artist Carol Maurer, alongside Maurer’s companion exhibit “Entwined,”  and “Sandy Hook Shooting: Triumph over Tragedy,” by artist John David Ehlers, on view Saturdays startingFebruary 8, 2020 from 11am to 4pm. The exhibitions run through May 30, 2020. An opening reception takes place Saturday, February 15, 2020 from 5-7pm. Managed by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA), Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower is located at 21 S. Eutaw Street, Baltimore, MD 21201.

“Walking forward, looking back,” by artist Carol Maurer, is a practice-based project utilizing a journey through landscape. By walking from her ancestral home on the Eastern Shore of Maryland through Delaware to Chester County, Pennsylvania, Maurer collected stories, photos, memories and objects along the route. The journey began as a way to experimentally confront her responsibility as a descendant of enslavers, and slowly weaved into a meditation on the time, tempos, conversations and understandings that walking can make space for. Maurer’s companion exhibit, “Entwined,” reveals the names of those enslaved by the artist’s great-great-grandfather, as documented in Robert Bell’s Book of Slave Statistics, Dorchester County Maryland 1864 – 1868. The names are knitted with wool sourced from Dorchester County, Maryland, and mounted on barn wood as a visual representation of the legacy of slavery and how it is knitted in the fabric of our history and society.

In “Sandy Hook Shooting: Triumph over Tragedy,” artist John David Ehlers illustrates the horror of the tragedy by presenting his emotions graphically through numbers and color. By creating both a numerical icon embodying the vital data of the event, as well as seven emotional combinations of color and icon design, Ehlers goal is to interpret the event as a permanent artistic memorial. Ehlers lives in Baltimore, 275 miles away from Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, but has been haunted by the incident since it happened in 2012. Although created at the time of the tragedy, Ehlers has waited seven years to share it.

The Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower is open every Saturday from 11am to 4pm. Visitors have an opportunity to view artwork throughout the building, including 15 floors of working artist studios and special exhibitions. Guests can also learn more about the historical building and participate in a tour of the clock room ($8).

For more information on the events and exhibitions at the Bromo Seltzers Arts Tower, visit www.bromoseltzertower.com or call 443-874-3596.

The Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which serves as Baltimore City’s arts council, events center and film office. By providing funding and support to artists, arts programs and organizations across the city, and by producing large-scale events such as Artscape, Baltimore Book Festival and Light City, BOPA’s goal is to make Baltimore a more vibrant and creative city.