---

EAT

July 19: Cocktails & Cajou

In advance of National Ice Cream Day on July 19 (be sure to check out our handy guide to local ice cream shops for the cherry on top of a perfect Sunday), Cajou Creamery is continuing this Friday-night Instagram Live series with special guest Chelsea Gregoire of Drinkable Genius. The hospitality veteran will join husband-and-wife owners Dwight Campbell and Nicole Foster to create tasty cocktails that incorporate Cajou’s entirely-vegan flavors. Grab a pint, sit back, and kick off your weekend by tuning in to the fun conversation. While you’re at it, consider donating to Cajou’s Kickstarter campaign to help fund nationwide shipping and equipment for a new storefront.

DRINK

July 18: Old Line Spirits Courtyard Bar Grand Opening

Old Line Spirits. 200 S Janney St. 12-8 p.m. Prices Vary.

Old Line Spirits is opening its long-awaited outdoor courtyard on Saturday. In honor of the debut, the Highlandtown distillery will be offering a full summer cocktail menu featuring its own whiskey and rum, as well as its latest release: New Normal Vodka. Deddle’s Chicken & Donuts will also make an appearance to serve up juicy Buffalo wings made with a signature Old Line Whiskey sauce. You can even bring your pup, as long as it’s on a leash, and non-alcoholic drinks will also be available.

SEE

July 18: The Wind of Change Gallery Opening at Baltimore Clayworks

Baltimore Clayworks. 5707 Smith Ave. 2-8 p.m. Free.

Strolling through galleries and gazing at art is one of things we’ve missed most during quarantine, but this weekend, Baltimore Clayworks is ready for you to view its latest exhibition, The Wind of Change: Contemporary Ceramics of Taiwan. Professor Ching Yuan Chang of Tainan National University of Arts has expertly curated a unique display of Taiwanese ceramics to display the craftsmanship, creativity, and resilience of clay. The solo exhibit will also feature displayed works by one of Baltimore Clayworks’ very own fellows, Samantha Briegel. Briegel’s “Maintaining Comfort” spotlights functional vessels inspired by fabric and fashion. Entries will be timed and masks will be required to ensure that guests can wander through the gallery safely, so be sure to reserve your spot online.

HEAR

July 19: Live From The Zen Garden

Zen and the City. 811 N Charles St. 5-9 p.m. $5-15.

This weekend, instead of massages and facials, downtown wellness center Zen and the City is bringing you a live outdoor concert. Described as “Tiny Desk-meets-Artscape,” the event will allow guests to browse and purchase art from Charm City creators before heading into the garden to enjoy the tunes. The series will be broken into 60-minute slots, with performances by electronic soul artist Jazzo, poetry duo The 5th L, and singer-songwriter Mariah Ash. Seating is limited, so don’t forget to bring an outdoor pillow to get comfortable outside.

DO

July 18: Yoga at the Zoo

The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. 1 Safari Place. 8-10 a.m. $14.99-24.99.

Since so many yoga positions are inspired by the animal kingdom, what better place to hold a downward dog or cobra pose than the Maryland Zoo? All yogis are welcome to travel to Safari Place to take part in a 60-minute, Vinyasa-style yoga class. The class is designed for both beginner and intermediate yoga lovers, so no need to worry if you’re not a master yet. The session will take place at Penguin Coast, allowing participants to gaze at the flowing waters and swimming penguins while sweating it out in the summer heat.

Local artist Herb Massie and Baltimore Clayworks community arts manager Nicole Fall gasp with joy when they see the area of Shirley Avenue Park cleared from the displeasing overgrowth that previously covered the Northwest Baltimore environment. The sun now shines through the remaining tall trees, creating a perfect, inviting area with great potential for the local community to come and enjoy.

Now, the ceramic arts center has partnered with YouthWorks, Safe Streets, and Park Heights Renaissance to take the next step in making this park even more beautiful by adding a new community mural. The organizations see it as a way to represent the city standing up for itself in the wake of President Donald Trump’s recent negative comments about Baltimore.

“Certainly similar comments have been made about neighborhoods targeted by neglect and judgement by the government,” said Kaliq Simms, director of education programs for Park Heights Renaissance. “So everything that we do at Park Heights Renaissance is meant to be that creative renaissance in a neighborhood that has been underserved.”

Park Heights Renaissance is a local non-profit corporation in Rep. Elijah Cummings’ seventh district that works to shape a better future for the area. Every summer, it partners with the city’s employment program, Youthworks. And this summer, Baltimore Clayworks joined in to create the mural. Simms’ team also collaborated with Human Family Tree Publishing to give Baltimore youth the opportunity to reflect and write about their personal family stories.

“The overarching goal is to give youth agency to express their feelings and ideas about their community,” says Falls of Clayworks, “and to present them in an impactful way.”

Since July 1, the community groups have worked collaboratively to showcase the youth’s unique and meaningful stories using a tile mosaic mural themed around anti-violence and hope. Youthworks students are being taught by Massie as they create the work that will feature the Safe Streets slogan, “There is Hope in the Heights.” Other sections will read: “Keep the peace,” “Stop the violence,” and other messages that the youth want to reinforce.

Simms believes that the project will have a great impact. “They kids are taking on the opportunity to do something to beautify the entire community,” he says, “It’s something that would be an external and very visible symbol of what we aspire to be.”

The program has also been beneficial to the local youth as a place where they can openly express themselves through writing and artwork. According to Simms, it has always been “geared toward trama-responsive education.” He adds that working with clay offers “a very therapeutic experience for youth who have experienced trauma of all kinds.”

The initiative started with about 25 participants, and now, through Youthworks’ extended paid work, there are six exemplary students still working hard and forming strong bonds. Participant Brandon Green says he has come to see his fellow students as not just co-workers, but family.

A former Clayworks employee himself, Massie took on this particular project because he “wanted to do something to benefit the lives of the young people” in the high-crime-rate area of Park Heights. Through pursuing his passion to be an artist, he has become a role model to the students.

“Mr. Massie is like the most inspirational person I know,” says youth member Taniyah Kutcherman, as the other students nod in agreement. And Massie responds with one of his inspirational life lessons—“You don’t want to surround yourself around people who will tell you how good you are, you want to surround yourself around people who will say that’s good, but this is what you should do better. Figure out what you want to do, what your craft is, and start pursuing it.”

Through the gathering of community, the writing of personal stories, and the creation of a hopeful mural, these Baltimore programs have come together to shine a light of the brightness and “re-establish that hope in our neighborhood,” says Simms.

As Massie says, “This is a wall of hope.”

This is the story of how a small group of people came together to save a cultural institution: Baltimore Clayworks.

On October 10, the Global Day of Clay, a large, cross-generational network of Clayworks students, teachers, resident artists, board, volunteers, and friends, as well as state delegates, gather on the lawn outside Clayworks’ galleries and office building to celebrate one year of their reopening. The crowd fills the foldout chairs on the grass, and others stand to watch as a new executive director, Cyndi Wish, is installed, and an honorary street sign marking this stretch of Smith Avenue as Clayworks Way is unveiled, to much fanfare and cheers.

They have good reason to celebrate.

In early 2017, Clayworks was on the verge of what many thought could be the end of its 37-year existence. The board running the nonprofit at the time had plans to sell Clayworks’ two large buildings in Mt. Washington, pay off its debt, and find a space to rent in downtown Baltimore. When the Clayworks community—students, donors, artists, a thinning staff, and even leaders of clay centers in other parts of the country—learned of this, they banded together to raise funds to pay off the debt.

“People were blindsided. We were in shock,” said Susan Patz, the new board president at Clayworks. Without any power to decide Clayworks’ fate, which was in the hands of the former board, the community didn’t know if or how the organization could be rescued.

Former students, staff, and teachers came together to create the Save Baltimore Clayworks campaign. They made a website. They petitioned. Eventually, they went to the state capitol.

“It became a rather public battle,” Patz said.

A turning point came in June 2017, when Baltimore City Councilman Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer sponsored a resolution with other council members—which passed unanimously—to stop the sale of the Clayworks buildings. In mid-July, a potential buyer purchased a different building, and the former board closed Clayworks’ doors, unannounced, and proceeded to begin to file for bankruptcy. The classrooms, studios, rooms of loaded kilns, and exhibit spaces all went dark. Artists, summer campers, students, and staff were locked out.

Those trying to save the nonprofit pressed on—at times working 60-hour weeks.

From July through September, the Agreement for the Continuation of Baltimore Clayworks was negotiated and eventually signed by the former board and the Clayworks Community Campaign. An entirely new board was installed when Clayworks reopened on October 1.

During the first couple weeks, some 70 volunteers worked around the clock to clean and paint every wall of the two buildings and prepare the kilns, wheels, and glaze rooms for artists and students to return. “So many people came back to help,” said Patz. “The board, volunteers and staff were indistinguishable.”

Artists were welcomed back and exhibitions installed. Classes started November 1.

Founding member and director until 2011 Deborah Bedwell calls Clayworks a “church for clay artists. It’s a sacred space.” She and eight other ceramic artists started Clayworks as a small collective in 1980 in the old brick schoolhouse building in Mt. Washington (which would later see an addition and remodeling of that building and also the acquisition of a second building across the street). She was among the group who returned to help rebuild the legacy institution.

John K. Smith, who served as board chairman for more than a decade, came back, too. “I was just shocked to hear it was in trouble. This was just an amazing group of volunteers. These women—they saved this,” he said, and begins listing the names of those on the steering committee of the Campaign to Save Baltimore Clayworks: Marsha Smelkinson, Patz, Bedwell, Pat Halle, Ronni Aronin, and Rima Semaan. “Old staff came back and taught for free. It’s just a great group of people who do wonderful things.”

By the end of 2017, the new leadership managed to pay more than $350,000 in previous debt, see record class enrollments, and earn a positive net of about $150,000. Classes were filled throughout 2018, too. The galleries saw multiple exhibitions, 200 kids participated in summer camp, and a new group of emerging artists were selected to be residents artists with studios onsite. Programming will continue to expand in 2019, as the organization builds upon its signature classes, with finding from new grants from Baltimore City and the Bloomberg Philanthropies.

And so, on October 10, the community celebrated.

“I hope we’ll continue to gather here and celebrate,” Patz tells the crowd, before they dispersed and mingled, wandering around the buildings to see exhibits and artist studios and hear live music. Outside, a group of people noticed it has started to drizzle—and then, to their wonderment, they noticed a double rainbow, framing Mt. Washington’s sky. One by one, kids and adults pointed, marveling, saying, “This is a sign!” and “This is our good omen!”

“We believed we were right, and we just persisted,” Patz said succinctly, after sharing her story. “The community had a mission. They knew the value of this organization. I know the value. Its mission resonates with so many people.”

On a sticky Tuesday evening toward the end of summer, the air inside the Station North Tool Library smells of sawdust and magic. Projects by artisans of all skill levels are in the works. A handful of 20-somethings wander into the workshop around 6:30 p.m. to learn how to build a coffee table. To a newcomer, the piles of wooden planks and massive planer saws can seem daunting, but these folks have been here before—to take the prerequisite safety class, if nothing else—and know that in this quiet woodshop, anything is possible.

When class begins, instructor Sarah Hrovoski slowly pulls samples of wood from shelves and describes each kind, most of which are reclaimed from Remington’s Brick + Board salvage store, in detail—fir and pine are soft and sand nicely, maple is sturdy, mahogany’s color is rich. With fears cast aside, within an hour or so, each student has a rough design of their table, and then, sporting plastic safety goggles, they’re sawing, cutting, and sanding all manner of wood to bring their visions to reality.

“Everybody’s work is always different,” says Hrovoski, “which is really cool, considering the limitations in size and materials.”

In recent years, spaces such as the Tool Library have sprouted up across the city for those looking for weekend hobbies, after-work stress relief, or an education to launch a new profession or small business. We’ve all found ourselves in those post-grad and mid-career slumps. Whether you have a specific project in mind or just want to scratch a creative itch, chances are there’s a space and supportive community in Baltimore to help you see it through.

While traditional colleges and universities offer a variety of continuing education options, they typically involve a larger commitment, stricter schedule, and higher tuition than maker spaces like the Tool Library, The Foundery, Open Works, and many others. Through single classes, full-day passes, and annual memberships, these community hubs allow students of all ages and aptitudes to try their hand at a new trade. They also serve a need for existing artisans who no longer have access to tools, equipment, or workspace to continue honing their craft. Plus, advances in technology mean new ways to make things, and many of these spaces have added resources such as 3D printers and computer-controlled machines to their inventories. Many of the spaces’ founders want to lower the barriers between novice and expert by making shops, education, and resources more accessible.

So whether you’re looking to mold pottery, forge your own metalwork, or build a coffee table, Baltimore has a variety of spaces to help you break your Netflix habit and embrace your inner artisan. Here are a few of our favorites to help you get started.

Baltimore Clayworks

5707 Smith Ave., 410-578-1919

Since opening in 1980, Baltimore Clayworks has continued to grow and literally expand outwards, adding onto its original structure and opening a gallery and office space across the street, creating something of a miniature ceramics campus in the heart of Mt. Washington. Artful benches and a sculptural fountain adorn the walkways between the buildings and are perfect for hanging out and talking shop. But it’s the old brick building where the true magic happens.

Shelves of pottery-in-progress line the walls, chalkboards are filled with design concepts and instructions, and a wall of glaze samples shows some 144 combinations. Studios and classroom areas offer options for hand-building and wheel throwing. Several kilns fill the basement, while a beloved wood kiln is outside.

“People will come from two hours away, sleep on cots, take shifts through the night to use this kiln,” says Mary Cloonan, Clayworks’ exhibitions director. “You have to keep feeding it wood, so it becomes a community thing, keeping it going.”

Clayworks briefly closed last year, but with a new board installed, bankruptcy was averted, and the space reopened quickly, due in large part to its strong community of teachers and artists.

Clayworks offers open studio time so people can work at their own pace, and a range of courses offers a little something for everyone—from the serious student to the late-night bachelorette party, to three-hour “Try It” workshops where people can see how they like the art form. “Everyone starts somewhere,” Cloonan says. “Sometimes people just want to come make something and have fun.”

Baltimore Jewelry Center

10 E. North Ave., Suite 130, 410-243-0479

Not every city is so lucky to have a space dedicated solely to jewelry making.

In 2014, a group of Maryland Institute College of Art faculty members and students from the school’s now-defunct jewelry program founded the Baltimore Jewelry Center inside the Meadow Mill building in Woodberry. It’s now located in Station North, where artists sit at worktables beneath bright white lights and tediously take pliers to their pieces, pound metal with hammers, and painstakingly clip together fasteners and hinges. Exotic necklaces, small sculptures, and other one-of-a-kind pieces dangle above work stations and are clipped to desks and exhibited in gallery spaces.

The center is open seven days a week and supplies a variety of rough-and-tumble tools one might not expect to be associated with this decorative art form—kilns, grinders, sanders, saws, torches, and even a hydraulic press. Here, jewelry is fashioned from metal as well as unlikely materials including fiber and found objects. Other small pieces, like kitchenware and belt buckles, are made here, too.

Classes change each quarter to keep things fresh, ranging from two-day workshops and soldering bootcamps to a certification program. Several local college students take classes, notes one founder, April Wood, who serves as a studio manager and instructor here. “We build on their skills, and we provide a different community.”

The gallery offers artisans a chance to show off their unique and thought-provoking pieces, and it also serves as a way for the center to extend itself into the broader community through free art talks, social gatherings, and exhibits, which have included works by revered artists such as local jewelry designer Betty Cooke and beadwork artist Joyce Scott.

The Foundery

101 W. Dickman St., 855-936-2537

With the exception of the lobby and a break area with hot dogs and and Zeke’s coffee, The Foundery is one gigantic room that somewhat resembles a Home Depot—but this place is anything but a big box.

At nearly 20,000 square feet, the Port Covington maker space (once located on the corner of Pratt Street and Central Avenue) features a wide-open, industrial environment for craftspeople to share materials and sneak peeks at one another’s projects, which helps spark ideas. “Walls can be intimidating,” says CEO Jason Hardebeck, who was a nuclear engineer in the Navy before his Foundery days began. “When people start working with new materials, they tend to push the boundaries.”

“Anyone who has an idea can start their project here.”

One section of this sprawling space is reserved for old-timey blacksmithing, while massive computer-controlled machines run nearby, making metal signage, embroidered pillows, and custom-designed skateboards (Bustin Boards is a regular). They serve a niche for those who have started a business but haven’t reached the point of being able to justify buying a $10,000 machine. “We’re democratizing access,” says Hardebeck. “Anyone who has an idea can start their project here.” The space’s name reflects that idea; it’s purpose is to support founders.

The cacophony of machinery runs seven days a week, with artists dropping by to use the space and tools or to attend one of the 100 classes offered each month, like laser engraving, embroidery, bowl turning, Women Only Welding, or even making knives from scratch—and then going to a steak restaurant as a class to try them out. Unlike many other spaces, The Foundery will hold a class even if only one person signs up.

Open Works

1400 Greenmount Ave., 410-862-0424

Want to make a drone or learn how to 3D print your own sculpture? At this massive and modern Greenmount West maker space, you’ve come to the right place. Technologies that weren’t widely available some five to 10 years ago—or simply didn’t exist at all—can be found within this 34,000-square-foot facility, which opened in 2016.

Open Works acts as a starting point to try these new gadgets and gizmos, and many classes—even safety and beginner classes—involve some element of making, says executive director Will Holman, adding, “We’re here to lower barriers.” Membership gives you access to tools, workspace, and other resources, including computer software such as Adobe Creative Suite.

Meanwhile, graphic designers, copy editors, architects, and other artists fill 115 cubicles, creating a community that fosters a cross-pollination of ideas and expertise. Even sitting in the space is inspiring, as much of Open Works’ interior design elements were custom made right here. Plus, there’s a coffee shop on the ground floor that helps fuel even the greenest of makers into work mode.

Station North Tool Library

417 E. Oliver St., 410-347-0850

The Station North Tool Library prides itself on being an inclusive community shop that caters to the absolute beginner but also supports the high-level artisan. Here you can find more than 30 classes on everything from plumbing to handcrafting a coffee table from scratch.

What began as a lending library of tools (which still fill the front room) quickly expanded into classroom and workspace in 2014 as demand grew. A smaller classroom area was added this year.

“There was a skills gap between the tools we had in the library and the projects people wanted to take on,” says Arman Mizani, director of library services.

Traditionally, someone interested in woodworking would do an apprenticeship or attend a trade school, but “we’re trying to change the culture so that it’s not just an older man with the knowledge—it’s not this elitist thing,” says Chris Lavoie, who handles programming. “We want everyone to have access.”

The library offers sliding-scale membership rates for access to open studio time in addition to that extensive inventory of tools. Because it’s a relatively small space, some of the popular machines come with a 20-minute time limit, sometimes you have to share a table, and you always have to clean up after yourself. At the end of the day, the Tool Library team wants to maximize resources, but first and foremost build a supportive community. As Lavoie puts it, “People before projects.”

EXTRA CREATIVE

A few more spaces worth checking out.

Baltimore Hackerspace

Get geeky with the latest innovative technology in this East Baltimore maker space that brings computers, science, and digital art to the forefront.
6410 Landay Ave., 410-261-9691.

Baltimore Print Studios

Who says print is dead? This Station North print studio allows you access for letterpress and screenprinting projects, with introductory workshops each month to help you learn the machines.
18 W. North Ave.

Domesticity

This fabric shop and craft studio run by Christina Brunyate offers material (from kitschy to couture), classes (sewing, quilting, even macrame), and social nights.
4321 Harford Rd., 443-885-0369.

A Workshop of Our Own

Also known as WOO, this woodworking space in Woodberry is for women and gender non-conforming craftspeople and offers a variety of classes as well as open studio time.
1780 Union Ave., 443-449-5886.

Four Hour Day Lutherie

Want to build an instrument from scratch? Creative director Tyler St. Claire will show you the ropes. He also hosts concerts in the Lauraville space.
4305 Harford Rd., 410-637-3728.

Maker Practice

This new walk-in space offers craft kits that rotate every three months, allowing you to try your hand at making items such as leather totes or stained-glass windows.
721 Frederick Rd., Catonsville. 410-402-9125.

Impact Hub

While not technically a maker space, Impact Hub serves an important role for the maker community by providing free talks geared toward artists and small business owners.
10 E. North Ave., 443-821-7482.

After nearly 40 years, Baltimore Clayworks is forced to close its doors. The Mt. Washington ceramic arts studio and gallery released a statement on Monday announcing the closure citing “the loss of sale” and lack of funding created a “delicate situation” for the nonprofit despite the fundraising efforts of the arts community to save it.

The organization was forced to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy due to unpaid debts. According to board of directors president Kathy Holt, $200,000 would have prevented them from filing and allowed the doors to remain open. The initial plan was to sell the properties and relocate, but opposition from people who believed that Clayworks should remain in Mt. Washington caused delays and uncertainty forcing the buyer to withdraw and shattering any hopes for the nonprofit to continue.

“The ‘Community Campaign’s’ accrued funds came with a variety of restrictions in order to be disbursed,” Holt said in a statement. “While the administration of that group worked hard to release some of that now, and potentially later, it was not enough, nor in enough time, to stave off bankruptcy.”   

Baltimore Clayworks is the only nonprofit in the state solely dedicated to ceramic arts, providing career opportunities and community programming. Since its inception in 1980 and its expansion in 1999, its mission has remained the same: create a place for ceramic artists to develop and sustain their craft, and provide educational programs for the public.

“The problem with clay is that it tends to be addictive,” co-founder Deborah Bedwell told Baltimore in 2010 when she also admitted there was “financial fragility” within the organization. “You have both an emotional and a sensory experience . . . You touch it and you’ve made your mark on it immediately.”

For more than 20 years, the Community Arts program of Baltimore Clayworks has been collaborating with cultural grassroots organizations and schools to provide access to arts programming for underserved communities in the city. The program is committed to providing everyone—children, adults, and seniors—with a positive experience in ceramics. But with the doors of the main campus closing, the future of the programming is unclear.

“The board deeply regrets the outcome for artists, students, and kids who were to attend summer camps,” said Holt. “We are also hopeful we can find a new ‘home’ for the Community Arts program, and are actively engaging with possible organizations that could administrate it.”

Although Mt. Washington is not quite an official Maryland Arts & Entertainment District, Baltimore Clayworks provided a space in the historic neighborhood for artists to create and explore. The Studio building—formally an Enoch Pratt Free Library branch—offered hands-on classes in pottery and sculpting for patrons of all ages as well as exhibitions that showcased national, international, and local artists.  

“We understand the impact this will have on the larger arts community,” Holt said. “It is exceedingly painful to those that Clayworks has served. We are all grief-stricken with the result.”