Public Art Field Trip: Holocaust Memorial

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At the corner of Lombard and Gay streets in downtown Baltimore is the Baltimore Holocaust Memorial. Having driven by it many times, we decided to stop and investigate the installation and do a little research about this memorial.

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From the Monument City blog:

One of the more ominous spots in the city, the Holocaust Memorial sits just a few blocks north of the Aquarium and takes up an entire city block. In the 1970s a ninth grade Baltimore Hebrew class told their teacher, Alvin Fisher, they didn’t believe the Holocaust occurred. Mr. Fisher promptly took a proposal for a memorial to Charm City’s Jewish Counsel, hoping to erase the unfortunate misconception. They granted his wish and the site was chosen, an area downtown owned by the Baltimore City Community College.

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The memorial consists of a monolith resembling a train with a   steel gate symbolizing the internment of Jews in concentration camps. On the ground leading up to the large structure is a series of railroad tracks, tall grass growing from between the rails. At the southern end of the park a statue was erected, in 1988, that has since become the center-piece of the memorial. photo 8

Two Baltimore businessmen and philanthropists, Melvin Berger and Jack Luskin, donated funds for the monumental flame. Dedicated in memory of the Night of Broken Glass, the 1938 destruction of Jewish homes, communities and synagogues by the Nazis, the sculpture is the creation of artist Joseph Sheppard and displays the bodies of victims engulfed in fire. Sheppard also sculpted the Pope John Paul II statue near the Basilica of the Assumption.

It was constructed in 1980 at a cost of $300,000 and consisted of a grassy mound and two 80 foot blocks of  concrete. The stark scene became a haven for the city’s homeless and a plan to re-design the area was presented in 1995. Architect Jonathan Fishman was commissioned to create the empty rail yard that exists today. A plaque, it’s inscription written by author Deborah Lipstadt, was dedicated in 1997 upon completion of the project. Several Holocaust survivors attended the ceremony.

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Sight Unseen Hosts Handmade Emulsion Workshop

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Sight Unseen is excited to announce a new series of workshops that will focus on various filmmaking techniques. With support from the 2014 MICA LAB Award and Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, Sight Unseen has developed a new workshop series that will host national and international filmmakers, visiting Baltimore to facilitate these workshops at the Current Space Darkroom.

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Presented by Kevin Rice and Andy Busti of Process Reversal Film Collective

TIME
Saturday July 12 & Sunday July 13th 12-8 pm

LOCATION
Current Space Community Darkroom
421 N. Howard Street
Baltimore, MD 21201

DESCRIPTION
In this two day workshop, participants will study the craft of producing black and white, silver gelatin emulsion by formulating, mixing and coating emulsion onto cellulose acetate and various other materials. Theories concerning emulsion chemistry and emulsion production will also be explored in this workshop, providing participants with a foundation to develop their own processes and methodologies.

REQUIREMENTS
Previous experience working with film is not required for attending the workshop, though some film processing experience is recommended — In any event, we will do everything possible to clarify questions that you may have before, during or after the workshop.

Additionally, participants are encouraged to bring in film negatives or positives for contact printing, or objects for photogramming.

COST
$30

REGISTRATION
Please pre-register by July 8th via Paypal

The workshop is limited to 10 people.

PREREGISTER HERE

Media Preview for Sondheim Artscape Prize: 2014 Finalist Exhibition

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The Walters Art Museum and the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts previewed the Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize: 2014 Finalists Exhibition this past Friday, June 20th.

The Sondheim Artscape Prize is a $25,000 fellowship awarded each year to visual artists living and working in the Greater Baltimore region. M&T Bank has partnered with BOPA to establish the M&T Bank Sondheim Finalists’ Awards, which provide a $2,500 honorarium for each of the remaining finalists not selected for the fellowship.

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Organized by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts in conjunction with Artscape, America’s largest free arts festival, the Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize: 2014 Finalists Exhibition will be on view at the Walters Art Museum  June 21 – August 17, 2014. Now in its ninth year, the Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize recognizes the achievements of a visual artist living or working in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and Southeastern Pennsylvania. The winner of the $25,000 Sondheim Prize will be announced at a special ceremony and reception at the Walters Art Museum, Saturday, July 12, 2014 at 7 p.m.

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2014 FINALISTS:       

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 Lauren Adams (Baltimore, MD)                               Kyle Bauer (Baltimore, MD)

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     Stewart Watson (Baltimore, MD)                        Marley Dawson (Washington, DC)

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      Neil Feather (Baltimore, MD)                              Kyle Tata (Baltimore, MD)

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   Shannon Collis (Baltimore, MD) 

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The Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize is made possible through the generous support of the Abell Foundation, Alex. Brown & Sons Charitable Foundation, Baltimore Festival of the Arts, Charlesmead Foundation, Ellen Sondheim Dankert, France-Merrick Foundation, Hecht-Levi Foundation, Legg Mason, M&T Charitable Foundation, Henry & Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Foundation, John Sondheim and The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company.

The exhibition and opening event at the Walters Art Museum have been generously supported by the Talkin Fund of the Columbia Foundation, Time Group Investments, Rachel and Joseph Rabinowitz, The Zamoiski, Barber, Segal Family Foundation, and the Greif Family Fund.

Call for Artists! Patterson Park Illumination Installation

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Patterson Park

Proposals due no later than 5 PM, Friday, July 11, 2014

I. PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Baltimore National Heritage Area (BNHA) seeks a company, group, or artist to install a temporary illumination installation in Patterson Park from September 4 to September 18, 2014 to commemorate the attempted land invasion by the British 200 years ago. This installation will be part of the Star-Spangled Spectacular when Maryland and Baltimore will be on the national stage, commemorating Maryland’s pivotal role in securing America’s independence in the War of 1812, and subsequently giving our nation two of its most enduring icons—the national anthem and the flag.

II. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The Baltimore Heritage Area Association, Inc. is the management entity of the Baltimore National Heritage Area. The heritage area is a state certified and federally designated heritage area consisting of approximately 22 square miles in Baltimore, Maryland. The heart of the heritage area is at the center of the city and the Inner Harbor. From this central location, the heritage area expands to include sections of the city with high densities of historic, cultural, and natural attractions for both visitors and residents. BNHA’s mission is to promote, preserve and enhance Baltimore’s cultural and historic legacy and natural resources for current and future generations.

Through a grant provided by Star Spangled 200 (SS200) and Maryland’s War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission, the heritage area is working with various partners throughout Baltimore to educate and inspire residents and visitors during and leading up to the bicentennial’s culmination in September 2014. SS200 is the not-for-profit entity that has supported the fundraising goals of the Maryland War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission since September 2010. The three-year Maryland War of 1812 Bicentennial kicked-off in June 2012 with the Star-Spangled Sailabration, which attracted 1.5 million visitors and generated $166 million in economic impact for the City of Baltimore. Events continue at War of 1812 battle sites through the Chesapeake Campaign, and will culminate with Star-Spangled Spectacular held September 6 through September 16, 2014. Like 2012’s Sailabration, the Spectacular will feature visiting international tall ships and grey hulls, performances by the Blue Angels and other air show acts, waterfront festivals, Baltimore’s largest fireworks display, live concerts, and an amazing array of free entertainment. Additional information can be found online at www.starspangled200.com.

III. SCOPE OF WORK

The contracted company, group, or artist will be responsible for designing, planning and executing a temporary illumination installation in Patterson Park. The goal of the installation is to visually represent the 15,000 plus citizen soldiers who defended our young nation in 1814 by building a large entrenchment that ran through today’s Patterson Park. Citizens ranging from the poor to wealthy landowners, slaves, and free blacks all gathered together in Baltimore to create a defensive line against a potential land invasion. By digging a trench that partially ran through today’s Patterson Park (then called Hampstead Hill) the city of Baltimore and our young nation were preserved as the British approached the line of defense and then turned away.

The installation should inspire today’s residents and visitors, helping them to understand what an amazing accomplishment it was 200 years ago to protect the city and our young country. The installation should commemorate and visually represent the following: approximately 15,000 citizen soldiers who defended our country; the entrenchment that was built by the citizens (free and enslaved); and the British forces who approached and then turned away. Special consideration will be given to proposals that successfully combine the use of recycled materials, low energy use, low impact on Patterson Park and the residents/communities that surround it, and the ability to create the “WOW” effect on people who come to see the installation.

The installation should be fully installed and functioning by Thursday, September 4 and removed by Thursday, September 18.

Technical Note:

Ultimately, it will be the company’s responsibility, working with BNHA’s guidance, to secure all the necessary permissions and MOUs to use a pre-determined section of Patterson Park, including any arrangements that need to be made to power the luminary aspect of the installation.

IV. PROPOSAL COMPONENTS

Proposals should include:

 Company, group, or artist history and successes (one page or less),

 Two case studies of installations similar in scope and size, with visual attachments and references/contact information,

 Resume of the principal lead/s that would design, plan and execute the installation (one page or less),

 Overview of any significant subcontractors/collaborative partners relevant to making the proposal a reality, and

 Description of how your company would conceive and execute this once-in-a-lifetime installation, using a budget not to exceed $10,000.

This working budget of $10,000 has been provided to give prospective bidders a level playing field for designing their proposals, and to assist with consistency during the review process. The actual installation budget could be lower or higher, depending on variables such as negotiations between the company/group/artist and BNHA’s fundraising successes and the ability to secure in-kind donations.

The budget should be turn-key for all elements specific to the contractor’s responsibilities for producing the installation, including but not limited to staffing, labor, and crew; professional expenses including travel, hotel and per diems; all production costs (materials, equipment, generators, security, lighting installations, subcontractors, etc.), permits and licenses, insurance, etc.

Insurance Requirements

The successful bidder must furnish BNHA with a Certificate of Insurance prior to commencement of work. The required coverage shall not be less than the following:

 Workers Compensation: Statutory Requirements, including USL&H

 State Disability: Statutory Requirements

 General Liability: $1,000,000 occurrence / $2,000,000 aggregate

 Automobile Liability: $1,000,000

 Commercial Excess Umbrella: $10,000,000

Insurance certificates shall name BNHA, SS200, the Governor and State of Maryland, and the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore as additional insured parties and shall state that all coverage shall be primary to any insurance coverage held by BNHA, SS200 and/or the City and State with respect to acts or omissions of the licensee. This information about insurance requirements is provided as a general overview. Final insurance requirements will be negotiated between BNHA and the contractor.

State Business Certificate

BNHA requires contractors not incorporated in the State of Maryland to produce a Certificate to Do Business in the State of Maryland prior to execution of a contract. In addition, a vendor must be in good standing with the State of Maryland for the duration of the terms of the project agreement.

V. SELECTION CRITERIA

In reviewing proposals, interviewing and making its decision, BNHA will be looking for the proposal that best demonstrates:

 Creative vision and wow factor,

 Technical expertise and professional execution,

 Ability to work well with the BNHA, Friends of Patterson Park, Baltimore City Department of Parks and Recreation, and volunteers,

 Appreciation, respect, and passion for this project and American history, and

 Understanding of the installation’s potential as a marketing tool for Baltimore and Maryland.

VI. RFP PROCESS AND SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

RFP Process Timeline

RFP Released Friday, June 20, 2014

 Q-and-A period for registered bidders Friday, June 20 to Friday, July 11, 2014

 Deadline to register intent to bid Tuesday, July 1, 2014

 Site tours available for registered bidders Monday, June 23 to Thursday, June 26, 2014 and Monday, July 7 to Thursday, July 10, 2014

 Proposals due Friday, July 11, 2014 by 2pm

 BNHA/stakeholder review Monday, July 14 to Friday, July 18, 2014

 In-person interviews/presentations Monday, July 21 to Wednesday, July 23, 2014

 Decision Friday, July 25, 2014

 Company awarded first right to negotiate Wednesday, August 6, 2014

 Contract executed Friday, August 8, 2014

 Award announcement Tuesday, August 12, 2014

BNHA reserves the right to adjust the RFP timeline/process as necessary.

Submission Guidelines

Bidders shall register an intent to bid to BNHA by July 1, 2014. The intent to bid may simply consist of an email message from the bidding organization notifying BNHA of their interest. Only bidders who register their intent to bid will be included in the question-and-answer period. BNHA will only take questions in writing (via email) from registered bidders and reserves the right to not answer a question by responding “decline to answer.” All questions and all answers will be shared with all registered bidders in periodic email updates. Registered bidders may also request a site tour. To register, ask questions and/or request a site tour, contact BNHA Executive Director Jeffrey Buchheit.

Candidates should submit their proposal by 5 PM, Friday, July 11, 2014 to:

Jeffrey Buchheit

Executive Director

Baltimore Heritage Area Association, Inc.

100 Light Street, 12th Floor

Baltimore, MD 21202

Email: jbuchheit@baltimoreheritagearea.org

Submissions by email (preferred; Adobe PDF) or mail are acceptable. BNHA will confirm receipt of all proposals it receives. All proposals submitted to BNHA will remain confidential. No phone calls, please.

Music Monday! Fields: Baltimore Music and Arts Camping Festival

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Fields is a camping, music, and arts festival at the Ramblewood campgrounds in Darlington, Maryland on August 22, 23, and 24, 2014.

This festival is an immersive experience of the DIY artist community from Baltimore and will include over 60 local and out-of-town bands, performance art, dance, plays, comedy, film, sound and visual installations, and special food presentations throughout the campgrounds.

This three-day event features many baltimore musicians: Dan Deacon, Matmos, Flock of Dimes, Horse Lords, Nautical Almanac, Zomes, Microkingdom, DJ Dog Dick, Abdu Ali, Chiffon, Ghost Life, Lizz King, Vlonde, Mole Suit Choir, Miconids, Sick Din, and fifty or so other acts. Along with all of those, there are plenty of filmmakers, artists, and dancers and more.

Tickets go on sale June 19. The first 50 tickets will cost $50 , and then after that, the advance ticket price is $65. Tickets at the gate go for $85. There will also be a small cabins to rent at $20 for the weekend.

For more information visit their website http://www.fieldsfestival.com/

Public Art Field Trip: Firebird

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Firebird, 2005 by Rodney Carroll

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Illustration by Precious Blake

Firebird is a 50-foot-tall metal sculpture by Baltimore artist Rodney Carroll that is installed on a plaza at the southeast corner of Howard Street and Park Avenue, opposite the entrance to the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

It was inspired, Carroll says, by The Firebird, a 1910 ballet by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky that is based on a Russian folk tale featuring a handsome prince, a lovely princess, and the magical intervention of the firebird.

The $275,000 sculpture was commissioned by David S. Brown Enterprises, one of the developers of the Symphony Center office and apartment complex next to the hall, and the Maryland Mass Transit Administration, which operates the light-rail line that runs through the area.

Carroll, a  graduate of the Rinehart School of Sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art, was chosen in a 2000 competition. He said he was striving to create a work that will be a gateway to the cultural district and a symbol for the symphony, whose home turns 32 later this year.

“I wanted to play off the architecture of the symphony hall, the curvilinear aspect,” he said. “I wanted to reach out from that and imply music spilling out of the symphony hall to the populace.”

One of Stravinsky’s best known compositions, The Firebird, was first performed by the Ballets Russes at the Paris Opera. It is characterized by outbursts of great force and propulsion, followed by lighter, more shimmering passages.

Carroll used stainless steel, bronze and copper to create a composition that echoes Stravinsky’s music, with powerful, buttresslike elements and more delicate pieces. Elements of the artistic composition also suggest parts of musical instruments, such as the pipes of an organ or the strings of a harp.

Noting that Stravinsky collaborated at one point with Russian painter Wassily Kadinsky, Carroll said he considers the Baltimore sculpture another sort of collaboration, this time in three dimensions.

“Since the sculpture stands alone in a large plaza, I felt the need for the work to be architectural in scale and elements,” he said. “The main element is structured with twisting buttresses, and pedestrians may walk into and through the sculpture. … It’s different from each side, and it’s meant to be that way.”

To see more of Carroll’s work, visit his website at www.rodneycarroll.com

Want to know more about Baltimore Public Art? Pick up the book Outdoor Sculpture in Baltimore: A Historical Guide to Public Art in the Monumental City by Cindy Kelly.

Parts of this post referenced  The Baltimore Sun’s 2004 article “Giving form to ‘Firebird'” by Edward Gunts. The original piece can be viewed here.

Public Art Field Trip: Under Sky/One Family

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Under Sky/One Family, Mark di Suvero, 1980

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In 1977, when he recieved a commission to create a large, site-specific sculpture for Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, Mark di Suvero was considered one of the nation’s leading sculptors. Baltimore had applied for and was awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts based solely on the location at the harbor’s edge between the World Trade Center and the National Aquarium. Di Suvero was chosen soon thereafter, and the NEA grant was confirmed. The sculpture was dedicated in May 1980 by Mrs. Joan Mondale, the wife of Vice President Walter Mondale and a passionate supporter of the arts, with Mark di Suvero’s participation.

All the early designs for di Suvero’s Baltimore piece, as well as the model of the piece, involved movement. The sixteen early designs on deposit at the Baltimore Museum of Art do not document how Under Sky/One Family developed into a stationary piece.

The title of the piece was taken from a Chinese saying di Suvero remembered from his childhood, but it also makes reference to Martin Luther King’s belief in “one people, living together, working together, playing together,” ideas he hoped his sculpture might also evoke.

Other references in the work are to Baltimore’s history as a maritime and steel center. The vertical steel elements and his dramatic arangement of them conjure up the mast of the ship, and his inclusion of an actual propeller from a large ship, meant for children’s play here, underscores Baltimore’s seafaring history. In 1980 the sculpture was beautifully sited on an open, grassy knoll that was clearly visible from Pratt Street.

In 1975, di Suvero had been the first living artist to have his work shown in the Tuileries Gardens in Paris. That same year he was given an exhibition at The Whitney Museum, in New York City, and his monumentally scaled sculptures were sited across the New York metropolitan area.

Today he has studios in Long Island City, in Petaluma, California, and in Chalon-sure- Saaone, France. His distinctive scultures can be found in museums and outdoor seettings across the country and around the world. His work can be found here.

Want to know more about Baltimore Public Art? Pick up the book Outdoor Sculpture in Baltimore: A Historical Guide to Public Art in the Monumental City by Cindy Kelly.