Author Archives: Bopa Communications

The term social distancing is a new and necessary part of our COVID-19 vocabulary. The concept keeps us safe but also keeps us apart. It has forced us to find new ways to engage with each other—to find ways to remain social but from a distance. The arts were made for this. Consider that while in a museum hopefully the art touches your heart, your soul, and your mind—you look but never physically touch. Music and performance art resonate physically though you only watch and listen. You may never share space with a poet or a writer, but you may share a deep and lasting connection with their words.

With the closure of places like art galleries, theaters, and even street theater in a time of social distancing—we still have opportunities to continue to share and be touched through cultural initiatives like BOPA’s #IAmBaltimoreArt featuring the work of Baltimore-based artists. As they share their work and words about their art, the initiative becomes a series of profound touches and a way to circumvent the confines of social distancing without risking our health. Learn more about #IAmBaltimoreArt and other cultural and community touches in this week’s BOPA newsletter.

Be well and stay safe and engaged—even from a distance.  

Donna Drew Sawyer

CEO, Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts

The Chesapeake Shakespeare Company (CSC) is excited to bring you a new video series PAST IS PROLOGUE, where each week CSC’s Founding Artistic Director Ian Gallanar will bring you stories and reflections from some of the world’s leading Shakespeare artists, educators, and fans.

EPISODE 1: A CONVERSATION WITH PATRICK SPOTTISWOODE
FROM SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE

What can we learn from the past to create our future? Ian Gallanar, Founding Artistic Director of Chesapeake Shakespeare Company and President of the Shakespeare Theatre Association, explores this question with leading Shakespeare artists to share lessons learned while working with the Bard’s canon and why his plays still capture our imagination.

Subscribe to the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s YouTube channel to get new episodes delivered each week!

Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young recently announced COVID-19 Small Business Assistance Initiative, which establishes the COVID-19 Small Business Task Force, a public-private partnership, and a $5.5 million fund to provide financial assistance to small businesses, as well as other resources and guidelines to help businesses reopen, without compromising public health, once the State of Emergency is lifted. More information about the initiative can be found here.

Small Business Assistance Fund Grants

The Baltimore Development Corporation is now accepting grant applications for the Small Business Assistance Fund until May 15, 2020 at 11:59 PM. Grants WILL NOT BE AWARDED ON A FIRST-COME FIRST- SERVED BASIS. All applications received during the Grant Application Period will be considered. Any applications received after the end date will not be considered. Please review the documents below regarding eligibility and other requirements:

• Grant Eligibility Requirements
• List of Required Documents for Application
• Complete Grant Terms & Conditions

Apply here

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M:BRACE is a FREE professional development series for Maryland’s creative education force: Arts Educators, Arts Integration Teachers, and Teaching Artists.

Expert facilitators will examine the intersections of art and wellness by exploring creative practices to keep us open, curious and reflective during COVID-19. 

For the workshops, space is limited, so register early to reserve your spot in the workshop/s of your choice. After registration, you will receive a Google Hangouts link to the online session.

Partnership of the Fine Arts Office of the Maryland State Department of Education and Arts Education in Maryland Schools Alliance.

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The Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) announces the “Women and Nature” exhibition, its first online exhibition. Over the next few weeks, MSAC will be highlighting 25 featured visual artists from all across Maryland on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Take a look at a couple of the highlighted artists below, including Maryland’s First Lady Yumi Hogan.

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The full virtual exhibition is also included below and available here.

The Saturday Visiter Awards, presented by Poe Baltimore, recognize Edgar Allan Poe’s continuing legacy in the arts and literature around the world.  The prizes will honor media, art, performance and writing that adapts or is inspired by Poe’s life and works. 

Though he was not wealthy in his lifetime, Edgar Allan Poe was the first American writer to support himself entirely by his pen. The Saturday Visiter was the name—and spelling—of a local periodical that held a contest for poetry and short stories. Poe won the award for his short story “MS Found in a Bottle” (which he wrote at Poe House.) The Saturday Visiter Awards are named after the prize a young Edgar Allan Poe won while he lived in Baltimore which helped to launch the famed writer’s career. 

Saturday Visiter Awards will be given in two categories: works that adapt Poe’s life or writing(including biography, or true adaptations of his poetry or prose), and original works that are inspired by Poe’s life or writing. In addition, important “Poe Places”, including The Poe Museum (Richmond, VA) ,  The Poe Cottage (the Bronx NYC) and Poe House (Baltimore , MD) will highlight exceptional entries specific to their region.

Deadline to enter: May 30, 2020

Call for entries will close May 30, 2020. Visit our FAQs page for more information.

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Teaching Artists of the Mid-Atlantic (TAMA) is a network that advocates for, supports and empowers Teaching Artists in the Mid-Atlantic region.

TAMA Network Events
TAMA is using its networks to support Teaching Artists as they experience the impact of COVID-19.

Quarterly Member Meeting: Tuesday May 12 | 9-11AM
TAMA is excited to Host every TA in the Mid-Atlantic region to their next Quarterly Member Meeting! RSVP Today.

TA Café: Mondays | 9:30 AM
Start your work week out with TAMA! Rise and shine TAs! Before you plug into the news, grab your coffee or tea and plug into your network. As Teaching Artists are invited to reinvent their work, this is an opportunity to share your dreams and invent the future together.

Click here to see available dates. Eventbrite requires you to register for individual sessions. Refresh the page to register for multiple sessions.

Genesis: TAs of the Diaspora: First Mondays | 1PM
Individual artists of color have been hit especially hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Particularly because people of color are disproportionately getting and dying from COVID. Artists who do not have the backing of a large institution are left to navigate canceled gigs and mounting bills while trying to balance the stress, fear, and anxiety all alone. This Brainstorm Group Share, led by TAMA NJ State Director and Certified Life Coach, Wincey Terry-Bryant, is exclusively for individual Teaching Artists of color living and/or working in the Mid-Atlantic region. Come share your heart, your fears, anxieties, ideas, and resources. Know that you are NOT alone. We will get through this together.

Click here register for June. Eventbrite requires you to register for individual sessions. Refresh the page to register for multiple sessions.

More information about TAMA is available on their website, Facebook and Instagram.