We are pleased to announce our first annual art exhibit, Free State at the Peale, to benefit the restoration and reopening of The Peale Museum as the Peale Center for Baltimore History and Architecture. The exhibit will be held at the Carroll Mansion the month of November 2014. All entries are due by October 1, 2014. (Please note that this is the current due date, as of Sept 2- editor)
Click here to view the Submission Guidelines
What do Leonardo, Gainsborough, Breughel, Reynolds, Bosch, Van de Velde, Ruysdael, Kauffmann, Claude, Poussin, Velasquez, Canaletto, Raphael, Sully, Charles Willson Peale, and Raphael, Rembrandt, and Sarah Miriam Peale have in common with:
A. Aubrey Bodine, Herman Maril, Keith Martin, Glenn Walker, Amalie Rothschild, Betty Cooke, Joe Sheppard, Aaron Sopher, Jacob Glushakow, and Reuben Kramer? Their artworks were exhibited at Baltimore’s venerable Peale Museum, the old masters in 1823 (from local collections); the regional artists in exhibits of photographs and paintings depicting “Life in Baltimore” ca. 1950s–1960s.
Free State at the Peale pays tribute to the museum’s 200 years of presenting fine art to the public. It is the first major event in the Peale Center’s $4 million capital campaign to breathe new life into this historic icon in the heart of downtown and make it a lively gathering place to explore Baltimore’s rich architecture and diverse history.
The Peale is the oldest museum building in the United States. Rembrandt Peale, a member of the first family of American artists, opened it in 1814. It is a National Historic Landmark. The Peale has served many purposes in its long and colorful career, including a period in the mid-19th century, as Baltimore’s City Hall. The Peale Museum closed in 1997 with the demise of the City Life Museums. It has been vacant since then.
The Peale Museum celebrates its bicentennial this year. The plan is to reopen it to the public in two years, coinciding with the 200th anniversary of the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company. In 1816, Rembrandt Peale lit one of his painting galleries with gas and soon founded the Baltimore Gas Light Company, ancestor of BGE.
Free State at the Peale will be held at the Carroll Mansion, 800 E. Lombard St., a building close in age and proximity to the Peale Museum. The juried exhibition is open to regional artists showing recent works. The general subject is Baltimore and Maryland. All artworks will be for sale. The “Charles Willson Peale Prize” will be awarded for excellence in art. A portion of the exhibit will showcase artists who exhibited at the Peale Museum. If you own a Glenn Walker painting or Reuben Kramer sculpture, or know someone who does, and want to support the Peale Center, please contact exhibit coordinator John Ferguson via terrymiller@prodigy.net or 410-455-9219.
Free State at the Peale opens Saturday, November 1, 2014, 6:30–9:30 p.m. The first hour will be a VIP champagne reception for donors. At 7:30 p.m., the public will be welcomed to the Carroll Mansion to view the artworks. Silhouette artist Lauren Muney will be on hand to cut silhouettes of guests (as was done at the original Peale Museum). Following the opening, Free State at the Peale will be open to the public Fridays, 4–8 p.m. (Friday following Thanksgiving, 1–6 p.m.) and Saturdays and Sundays, 12 noon–4 p.m. Visitors after opening night will pay the Carroll Mansion’s usual $5 admission charge.