Artist Martha Dougherty Showcases Vibrant Paintings and Collages during Watercolors, On View November 3-February 23

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Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower resident artist Martha Dougherty showcases her vibrant paintings and collages during “Watercolors,” on view Saturdays from November 3, 2018 through February 23, 2019 from 11am to 4pm. An opening reception takes place Saturday, November 3 from 5pm to 7pm. Managed by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA), Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower is located at 21 S. Eutaw St., Baltimore, MD 21201.

Dougherty’s paintings are in response to various subject matters, from the hidden beauty in a gritty cityscape to freshly picked tomatoes from a friend’s garden. A recent painting series was prompted by her travels to Italy, where light, color and water reflections become a challenge with its own rewards. Additionally, the artist added new dimensions to her work, creating collage and paper cut out and reimagining unwanted first tries into 3D constructions.

Image Credit: Martha Dougherty, Abstract Collage with String Instrument

View For Your Safety At The Top Of The World Observation Level

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Baltimore-based artist Erin Stellmon explores the physical and metaphorical presence of walls and fences in her mixed-media collages and paintings on view in “For Your Safety,” opening Thursday, October 4, 2018 through Sunday, January 6, 2019 at Top of the World Observation Level. An opening reception takes place Friday, October 26 from 5 to 7pm. Managed by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA), Top of the World Observation Level is located on the 27th floor of the World Trade Center at 401 E. Pratt Street. Admission is free to the reception, but guests must arrive by 6:30pm.

The Portland, OR, native photographs brick and stone walls, rock piles, staircases and temporary fencing throughout Maryland. Stellmon combines her photos with quilt pieces, along with imagery from the Oregon Trail to further question her ancestors’ right to lay claim to land and build barriers. Her use of paper collage exposes the fragility of these boundaries, while a neon palette is employed to both attract and repel the viewer—turning the serenity of traditional American landscape painting into a visual Emergency Alert.

Image: Erin Stellmon, Alien Landscape Under Construction.

Lateral Distance Opens At The Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower

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Location: 21 S. Eutaw Street
Baltimore, MD 21201

Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower presents “Lateral Distance,” an exhibition by artist Amy Wetsch, on view Saturdays from October 27, 2018 through February 23, 2019 from 11am to 4pm. Wetsch, a current MFA candidate at MICA’s Mount Royal School of Art, created in response to her recent experience working with Dr. Sarah Hörst, a Planetary Scientist at Johns Hopkins University.

The focus of their research is Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, and it’s physical characteristics and processes that resemble those of our home planet, Earth. Although scientists know much about Titan, the moon is difficult to observe because of the dense atmospheric haze, which encapsulates Titan’s intriguing surface. If we were able to further explore this moon, what would we discover? While interpreting the extreme science of planetary exploration, Wetsch has created a large-scale installation, sculptural objects and drawings that aim to capture her imagined essence of Titan, as well as the wonder and grandeur of our solar system.

A Few Minutes with Sarah Doccolo, Arts Education Coordinator For BOPA

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1. What do you do as an Arts Education Coordinator for BOPA?

As the Arts Education coordinator, I get to facilitate the Bright StARTs program, which places teaching artist in out of school time sites for workshops in various artistic disciplines; the Youth Arts Council, a team of BCPS high schoolers, dedicated to the arts; and the Fred Art Prize, a $1000 scholarship for high school-aged Baltimore City residents, which also offers a showing at Artscape. I also get to be involved in various programming with BOPA festivals and events, and act as the BOPA representative for various educational initiatives in Baltimore.

2. Who is a part of the Youth Arts Council? What are the main goals?

The council is comprised of around a dozen Baltimore City High School students. We meet together during the school year to discuss opportunities for teens in Baltimore City. This past year we were active with the Baltimore Arts Education Initiative Steering Committee (run by Arts Everyday), adding students’ voices to the conversation surrounding arts education policy standards in Baltimore. I like to think of them as the bureaucratic warriors in the battle for equitable arts education. The council members are also involved in programming for Light City and Artscape and are given opportunities to hear about internships and meet with city leaders. I hope that every year the council can grow to reflect the agendas of those involved.

3. Why are programs like the nearly three decades-old Bright StARTS Art Program important?

There is blatant inequality with arts education street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood in Baltimore. Programs like Bright StARTs are a way to offer quality arts experiences in locations that aren’t typically able to host them because of monetary limitation.

4. How do professional artists/educators become teaching artists in Bright StARTS?

Follow this link! All of the information about the position is available. We are searching for teaching artists who have experience working with kids in Baltimore City and who recognize arts education as a form of therapy and healing. This is also an amazing opportunity for artists who wish to expand the educational aspect of their practices.

5. Where were you before joining BOPA’s staff?

I spent a year working for Bloomberg School of Public Health doing administrative work for a children’s research study. I learned so much during my time there, and I learned a lot about scope, and what I’m NOT good at. Before that I have been a teaching artist in Baltimore City Public Schools and various non-profits. Working directly with young people and artistic programming is where I belong.

6. Outside of BOPA, are you involved in the city’s arts and cultural scene? If so, how?

Since graduating Goucher College in 2008, I have been active in Baltimore’s exciting theater arts scene. I have collaborated with multiple theater companies including Submersive Productions, Stillpointe Theatre Initiative, Single Carrot Theater and the Baltimore Rock Opera Society as a performer, dancer and director.

7. How can the arts continue to revitalize the city in the future?

I believe that arts education is the most accessible form of character education. Quality arts education is the most practical solution to address the problems of bullying, violence and issues with communication. Plus, practicing art is fun!

Stevenson University Call for Artists for Unruly Bodies, Summer 2019

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Application Deadline: December 2, 2018

The body that is too fat, too sick, too Black, too foreign, too female, too queer, too old…

The unruly body is the subject of Roxane Gay’s month-long magazine for Medium, published in April 2018. Stevenson University will present an art exhibition inspired by this anthology in the Greenspring Art Gallery in Stevenson, MD during the summer of 2019.

Applications are open to visual artists working in any medium who wish to have their most recent work considered. Through this open call, Stevenson University aims to present new work by emerging and mid-career artists from the United States and abroad that aligns with the themes of the Unruly Bodies anthology. Interested artists should apply via email by Sunday, December 2, 2018 at 11:59 PM. Send an artist’s statement, biography, CV/résumé, an image list, and up to 10 images of recent work to Aden Weisel, Exhibitions Director & Gallery Curator for Stevenson University, who will be jurying this exhibition. There is no fee to apply. Artists will be notified of their status by Friday, January 25, 2019. Unruly Bodies will be on display Saturday, April 27 through Saturday, September 21, 2019.

Artists will need to arrange transportation or shipping and travel insurance (recommended) for their artwork to and from the exhibition space. Artwork should arrive ready for installation between Monday, April 15 and Thursday, April 18, 2019, and be picked up or shipped out between Monday, September 23 and Friday, October 4, 2019.

Stevenson University will insure all work on its premises, install and deinstall the exhibition, produce marketing and press materials, host an opening reception, and coordinate exhibition-related programming.

Stevenson University, known for its distinctive career focus, is the third-largest independent university in Maryland with more than 4,100 students pursuing bachelor’s, master’s, and adult bachelor’s programs at locations in Stevenson and Owings Mills.

The Stevenson University Exhibitions Program is supported by the “Friends of the Gallery,” an operating grant from the Maryland State Arts Council—an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive—and a project grant from the Baltimore County Arts & Sciences Commission.

For more information, contact Aden Weisel at aweisel2@stevenson.edu or 443-394-9699.

Regional Bands Compete during Sound Off Live! on October 17 & 18, 2018

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Emerging bands and musicians compete during the 11th annual Sound Off Live! presented by Hard Rock Café Baltimore. Baltimore’s “Battle of the Bands” returns Wednesday, October 17 and Thursday, October 18, 2018 from 6pm to 10pm at Hard Rock Café Baltimore located at 601 E. Pratt Street. Doors open at 5pm. Eighteen regional groups perform three songs during 15-minute showcases in front of a live audience and panel of judges. The winning bands will perform at Artscape, Baltimore Book Festival and Light City in 2019. A program of Free Fall Baltimore, the event is free and open to the public. Sound Off Live! is produced by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA).

Full Performance Schedule:

Wednesday, October 17                                   Thursday, October 18

Time Band Genre Time Band Genre
6pm La Rosa pop 6pm The Streams blues rock
6:30pm Leo & Cygnus indie art rock 6:30pm Eman the Heartbreak jazz rap
7pm Lily Barek electronic 7pm AMAAL pop, hip hop
7:30pm Antica alternative metal 7:30pm PBC Vocal Band a cappella
8pm Suga Grits funk, soul 8pm Eli August and the Abandoned Buildings electronic
8:30pm Amanda Lynne Band blues rock 8:30pm Jessi Adams pop, indie
9pm Yadat Blacc hip hop 9pm Roc Writah hip hop, soul
9:30pm Survival Society indie rock 9:30pm MovaKween R&B
10pm Skyline Hotel pop, rock 10pm Cha Cha hip hop, R&B

 

Staff Reads with Tracy Baskerville, Communications Director for BOPA

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1. What book are you currently reading?

I just finished reading the book “Nothing Stays Buried” by P.J. Tracy, and now I’m starting “Monkeewrench” by the same author. P.J. Tracy is a pseudonym for a mother/daughter duo. I received “Nothing Stays Buried” as a gift and really enjoyed it. I discovered the book is the latest release in a series, so now I’m going back to read first book in the series.

2. What do you enjoy the most about the book?

I love mysteries, so this was a good one. I like that it had several lead characters, and the reader gets to hear from each of them in their own voice. I enjoyed finding out how each of the characters are connected.

3. Why would you recommend this book to others?

Yes, I would recommend this book especially to mystery lovers.

4. What authors are you excited to see at this year’s Baltimore Book Festival?

I’m looking forward to seeing April Ryan with Bill Whittaker. I think that will be a good discussion centering on current events.

5. Can you provide any tips for first-time attendees?

First-time Baltimore Book Festival attendees should be prepared to stay for a couple of hours. There is so much to do. From music to food to literary games, the festival is really a great place to spend the day.

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The Baltimore Book Festival returns to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor through Sunday, September 30, 2018 from 11am to 7pm daily. The literary arts celebration features acclaimed local, regional and national authors, readings on multiple stages, cooking demonstrations and samplings, workshops, panel discussions, storytellers, children’s activities, the annual Storybook Parade, live music, and food and beverage. Visit www.baltimorebookfestival.org.