The Baltimore Book Festival took place this past weekend, September 26-28, 2014, for the first time in the Inner Harbor, after many years in Mt. Vernon. Here is a sampling of images from the event, for more information go to http://baltimorebookfestival.org/
School 33 Art Center’s Open Studio Tour is an annual city-wide event that for over 25 years has brought together professional artists and the general public, giving collectors and art lovers the opportunity to visit the studios of visual artists.
On Saturday, October 11 and Sunday, October 12, 2014, between the hours of 10am and 6pm, meet the artist, see their work and get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into their working processes. Use our interactive mapping tool to plan your itinerary. Don’t miss out on this exciting event!
Put the spotlight on your neighborhood and help kick-off Baltimore’s 26th Annual Open Studio Tour Weekend!
Open Studio Tour, which will take place October 10th and 11th 2014, will feature “Community Spotlight” Friday, highlighting the great arts in Baltimore City’s neighborhoods. Events must place on the Friday before Open Studio Tour weekend (October 9th).
In the past we’ve spotlighted one neighborhood, each year. This year we want to give a “shout-out” to what’s happening all around town! Up to five communities will be selected as part of the program. Past community spotlight events have included, gallery walks that involved local restaurants, live outdoor music, and neighborhood festivals with arts exhibitors and a food vendors.
The chosen communities will receive $1000 from the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts to put towards their event.
This is a great opportunity for your neighborhood to be part of this fantastic annual arts event!
This fall, artists across Baltimore will be lighting up night skies and local buildings. Luminous Intervention, an activist new media collective, announces the eight participants for HOT WALLS, their upcoming projection series showcasing the work of local Baltimore artists.
The collaborative projections will explore local issues as well as celebrate neighborhood and cultural achievements. The series will begin with a bang, as legendary Baltimore musician DJ Blackstarr will present a compilation of videos at a block party. The pieces will also include a celebration of Black historical artists in Reservoir Hill (LOVE the Poet, 2011 Baker b-grant Award winner), animations discussing the role of corner stores in West Baltimore (Emily Chow Bluck), and a collaborative video documentary with Latin business owners in Upper Fells (Michelle Gomez). Up-and-coming artists Tanya Garcia and Valeria Molinari will present a study on the role of Machismo in their communities, while relative newcomer Michelle Faulkner will add humor to the series with a satirical take on fast food. The series will end with an introspective look at water from MICA professor Jann Rosen-Queralt.
HOT WALLS is a series intended to highlight the substantial local talent across Baltimore, where artists will be given the opportunity to experiment with a new and exciting medium. “We have found that large-scale projections are attention grabbing and can gather people together for sharing stories, envisioning creative futures, inspiring critical discussion, and voicing concerns,” said Zoe Bachman, a Luminous Intervention member.
The artists represented in the series hail from a variety of backgrounds and areas of expertise. “While public arts programming in Baltimore often can get stuck picking from the same small handful of well-connected artists, we’re very proud to be representing an incredibly strong and diverse crew of artists,” said Dan, another Luminous Intervention member. “This series is very artist-driven. We had some minor criteria in mind, but basically we were looking for what would make for exciting and insightful public projections.”
Known for their use of large-scale video projections, Luminous Intervention regularly creates and collaborates on guerrilla art pieces that address a range of local and national issues. The group’s topics include diverse subjects, including fair labor practices in the Inner Harbor, indefinite detention of Guantanamo detainees, and equality of marriage for all. But the new series is a new kind of collaboration for the group. “Collaboration with community groups has been part of our mission from the beginning. Now that we are more experienced, we want to share our knowledge with other artists and support them in spreading their own visions,” says Bachman.
The series will kick off on September 30th and continue through November 15th, with approximately one projection per week. Stay tuned as future events are announced via our website and our Facebook page. Events will begin at sundown.
| Artist/Projection | Date |
|---|---|
| BLAQSTARR “All The Planets Exist In A Blaq Starr “ |
Tue Sep 30, 8:00pm |
| Michelle Faulkner “A Meal to Die For” |
Wed Oct 15, 7:30pm |
| Emily Chow Bluck “Community Corners” |
Fri Oct 24, 7:30pm |
| LOVE the Poet “Beyond the City’s Limits” |
Mon Oct 27, 7:30pm |
| Michelle Gomez “Estamos Aquí (We Are Here)” |
Sat Nov 08, 7:30pm |
| Tanya Garcia & Valeria Molinari “Machismo” |
Tue Nov 11, 7:30pm |
| Jann Rosen-Queralt “Stream” |
Sat Nov 15, 7:30pm |
Surdna Foundation Accepting Proposals for Artist-Led Social Change Projects
The Surdna Foundation is accepting proposals through its Artists Engaging in Social Change funding area for one- or two-year support for extraordinary artist-driven projects.
Grants of up to $150,000 over two years will be awarded in support of compelling artists projects developed in response to specific challenges in their communities, as well as projects by artists whose work over the long term has increased social engagement without necessarily being explicitly defined as “activist.” All artistic disciplines will be considered, including cross-disciplinary work. The funds are designated for one-time project support and cannot support organizations’ ongoing programs, operations, capital, or endowments, although up to 15 percent administrative overhead is allowed.
To be eligible, projects must be artist-led and demonstrate a deep commitment to a community, as demonstrated by the process through which the work is developed and the theme or themes on which it is focused. Applicants can be at any stage of their careers but must have a track record of developed work that demonstrates their capacity to complete the proposed project and to manage the level of funds requested. Both 501(c)(3) organizations and individual artists are eligible to apply, but artists and collectives that are not incorporated as 501(c)(3)s must apply under a fiscal sponsor.
Visit the Surdna Foundation for complete program guidelines, an FAQ, and application instructions.
Free Fall Baltimore celebrates its ninth year by bringing wonderful free cultural activities to your doorstep. With more than 250 unique events anticipated, you’ll be able to find an exciting activity on almost every day in October.
Free Fall Baltimore is a program of the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA), the city’s non-profit special event agency, arts council and film office. BOPA champions the important role of creativity in building a vibrant, exciting and livable city, energizing not just the arts scene, but Baltimore as a whole. Inspiring and nurturing artists and showcasing the literary, performing and visual arts, BOPA presents a wide range of activities, from popular festivals such as Artscape, the annual July 4th and New Year’s Eve fireworks display over the harbor, and Baltimore Farmers’ Market & Bazaar to public art, murals, studio space for artists, exhibitions and art classes at School 33 Art Center.
The Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts developed the Free Fall Baltimore program to increase access, interest and attendance in the city’s many cultural organizations, especially for families and young adults, who are the creative community’s future patrons.
Free Fall Baltimore is made possible by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts, an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and the generous contributions of BGE, The Abell Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, American Trading & Production Corporation (Atapco), The Henry and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Foundation, and the Joseph and Harvey Meyerhoff Charitable Funds.
Visit www.promotionandarts.org to learn more about our programs, events and activities or call 410-752-8632.
Come on down to Baltimore Book Festival and see Steve “ESPO” Powers talk about his book A Love Letter To The City.
He’ll be at the Literary Salon tent on Rash Field today at 4:30pm.
The 11th Annual Transmodern Performance Festival is officially underway! The festival kicked off Sunday with a twilight parade through the Bromo Arts District, featuring Fluid Movement, the Barrage Band Orchestra, Arabbers, illuminated floats by Dan Van Allen, lanterns, hoopers and stilters.
This year’s Transmodern Festival is the first ever performance art recipient of the PNC Transformative Art Prize. Festivities continue through September 27th – for a full listing of events visit transmodernfestival.com.