Visual Art

Under $500
Looking for that last big gift for someone special (or yourself) this holiday season? Stop by the sixth annual Under $500 art sale at Maryland Art Place. View works by dozens of local artists, grab a festive drink, and get the chance to purchase a collector’s piece for less than $500. If you’re in the giving mood, bring along a new toy or book because MAP will be collecting for Philanthropi’s toy drive during the sale. Opening reception 7 p.m. Dec. 14; on view during gallery hours Dec. 14-18. Maryland Art Place, 218 West Saratoga St.

School 33 Openings
Three new exhibitions at School 33 promise new explorations of the human experience. Your silence will not protect you brings together the work of five artists inspired by “black womyn’s experiences in America past, present, and future.” Two single-artist exhibitions, Nature As A Metaphor For Economic, Emotional And Existential Horror and Labor of Suggestion offer individual takes on humanity’s separation from the natural world and the line between reach and grasp. On view through Feb. 2, 2019. School 33 Art Center, 1427 Light St.

Music

Winter Formal Benefit for House of Ruth
Get all dolled up and give back at this formal benefit for House of Ruth, which provides services for women and their children who have been victims of domestic violence in Baltimore and Prince George’s County. This night of Christmas Eve Eve Merrymaking will feature a raffle, a prize for the best-dressed partier, and music from Eze Jackson, Blacksage, Humanmania, Spooled Up, Sickle Cell, and DJ Pancakes. 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. Dec 23, The Windup Space, 12 West North Ave.

Baltimore Plays: Soul Christmas
Join some of Baltimore’s beloved independent artists for five decades-worth of Christmas songs at latest event in the Creative Alliance’s Baltimore Plays series. Marc Avon Evans & Soul Centered, Kevin Jackson, Jamaal “Black Root” Collier, Karin Dominique Evans, Kyana Graham and Chuck the Madd Ox are all on this bill for this evening of soulful holiday hits. 8 p.m. Dec. 21, Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave.

Nico Sarbanes & Ben Wolfe Holiday Concert
Don’t miss your opportunity to catch this dynamic duo swinging in the holidays at the intimate An die Musik. Baltimore native Nico Sarbanes and celebrated jazz bassist Ben Wolfe will come together for one night of bass and trumpet virtuosity. Can’t make a 7:30 start? No worries, Sarbanes and Wolf are performing a second set at 9:00 p.m. Sets at 7:30 and 9 p.m. Dec. 22, An die Musik, 409 North Charles St.

Theater

Heathers The Musical: In Concert
Need a break from all the holiday cheer? Try adding a little chaos to the mix (it is what killed the dinosaurs, darling) with this live performance of the musical version of 1980s cult classic Heathers. Grab your tickets early to get dibs on the seated section and your very own Heathers cup (and slushie!). 8-11 p.m. Dec 20-22. Ottobar, 2549 North Howard St.

The Rocky Horror Show
The Christmas season always starts early, so who says Halloween can’t run a little late? Put on your best gold short shorts or maid’s outfit and sing along to a live performance of this weird and wonderful musical. Every ticket comes with all the props you’ll need for the iconic interactive Rocky Horror experience. Shows at 8 and 11:30 p.m. Dec. 14-15, Show at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 16. Baltimore Theatre Project, 45 West Preston St.

Go Oscar WILDE! Pride Night
Everyman Theatre is celebrating its first-ever Pride Night with a happy hour reception featuring cocktail specials and snacks, a conversation with director Joseph W. Ritsch about the fascinating life and work of Oscar Wilde, and, of course, a performance of the company’s colorful new production of The Importance of Being Earnest. Happy Hour Reception 6-7:30 p.m., show at 8:00 p.m. Dec. 14. Everyman Theatre, 315 West Fayette St.

Film

Blocked in Baltimore Screening
Root Branch Film Academy’s first-ever Friday Film Factory class is ready for their close up. Join this group of beginner filmmakers for the screening of their first documentary, Blocked in Baltimore, which chronicles local artists and why they feel their careers get limited to the city alone. 8 p.m. Dec. 21, The Startup Nest, 1401 Severn St.

It’s a Wonderful Life Annual Benefit Screening
Spend part of your weekend with this Frank Capra Christmas classic at The Senator. Gather as many friends and family members as you’d like for these morning showtimes—admission is free! Just be sure to bring along some non-perishable food items for the GEDCO Cares Food Pantry. Doors at 9 a.m., show at 10 a.m. Dec. 22 and 23. The Senator Theatre, 5904 York Rd.

News

Current Space’s Ruin Garden and Expansion Approved by CHAP
The artist-run gallery and studio space has been working for three years to try to convert the collapsing 417 North Howard Street into a ruin garden and studio space. With unanimous approval from Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP) behind them, Current Space can begin the process of demolition and move forward with the long-awaited project. More money still needs to be raised to fund the expansion, but once completed it will add an additional 5,000 square feet of outdoor performance space (including an outdoor bar) and double the available space for the space’s studio program.

A studio is often a reflection of an artist’s mind and work, as well as a source of inspiration. From warehouse spaces piled high with source material to lounge areas where models pose for figurative painters to a historical-church-turned-studio, the studios on this year’s tour promise to reveal the inner workings and the private world of each artist.

Ahead of the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts and School 33’s 30th annual Open Studio Tour on Saturday and Sunday, we visited a few studios that stood out in this diverse range of roughly 120 spaces that will open to the public.

Paul Moscatt
The Cork Factory, 1601 Guilford Ave. (main entrance at 302 East Federal St.)

Not only will you get to see phenomenal paintings that span some 50 years at Paul Moscatt’s massive warehouse studio inside the artist-owned Cork Factory, but you might get treated to his homemade Sicilian hors d’oeuvres, maybe even a tune on his piano, and certainly his delightful company. The figurative painter and former MICA professor has lived in Baltimore since 1967, and his studio’s lived-in feel contains decades of work, as well as a lounge area for models during painting sessions.

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Timothy Horjus

400 W. 24th St.

As cofounder of C&H Restoration & Renovation, Timothy Horjus is no stranger to historic structures and knowing how to make them shine again. His studio is a perfect example. About 18 months ago, the abstract painter began restoration on a church built in 1892 in Remington, which now serves as studio space for his paintings, as well as that of two additional artists (another painter and a jeweler), and the ground level is used for workspace for C&H. The walls and floors have a distinctly historic vibe that makes this studio, especially with all of Horjus’ finishing touches, one of the most unique on the tour (and to think, the property was briefly in danger of becoming a WalMart).

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Neil Feather

The Hooper Industries Building, 2121 Druid Park Drive (proceed up the ramp and enter through door on the loading dock)

This studio in the industrial Hooper Industries Building is a feast for the ears as much as it is for the eyes. Neil Feather is a Baltimore institution in and of himself, but in his creative space, you can witness the inner workings of this mad scientist’s mind. Gadgets, bicycle wheels, machine parts, gauges, drum pieces, and mechanical miscellanea fill the space. His inventions, like the one he calls The Former Guitar, are experimental musical instruments, some of which make music on their own and others that need someone to play them. Most of the sculptural pieces create ambient, organic sounds and beats, a niche that grew out of studying ceramics as a graduate student. As he puts it, “It all involves a little bit of well-crafted chaos.”

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Maxine Taylor

126 N. Madeira St.

Maxine Taylor was living in New Carrollton in the mid-1990s when she decided to sell her home after her kids moved out and buy an old stable in Butchers Hill and renovate it as live/work space. “No one had ever lived here,” the artist says. “I had to put in windows, build a deck.” It was a ton of work, but it afforded her plenty of space to make her mixed-media pieces, and eventually she began opening her studio each year for BOPA’s citywide tour. When BOPA asked her to join the Artscape Gallery Network, the basement of her home was being used as storage space for her work (and bicycles, a lawnmower, etc.). But joining that network gave her incentive to transform it into what it is today: MAX Gallery. She exhibits work by artists in all disciplines there and has open hours on Fridays and Saturdays. This weekend, guests on the tour can see both her work space and the gallery.

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Rachel Guardiola

School 33, 1427 Light St.

With a background in science and art, Rachel Guardiola has taken working from nature to the next level. After becoming a resident artist at School 33 in 2017, she constructed an actual greenhouse inside her studio walls, where she grows plants and later transplants them outside (she’ll start planting a new batch this winter), and also where she occasionally does performance art. She works predominately in photography and film, and when she doesn’t have access to a location or research in the field, she brings the field to her, creating fantastical installations, where she imagines what various landscapes would look like without human presence. “Art is a way to make science accessible,” she says.

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Tony Shore
Crown Cork & Seal, 4401 Fait Ave.

Tony Shore, chair of the painting department at MICA, has made his studio home inside the Crown Cork & Seal building on Eastern Avenue. He will be one of several artists in the old warehouse building to open their studios for the event, although his will be open to the public on Saturday only. He moved into the space in 2000, when there were only a handful of artists working there, and now there are more than two dozen. “There’s a real community of artists here,” he says. His black velvet paintings come from his growing up in the blue-collar neighborhood of Morrell Park and seeing them there. “They were kind of like the poor man’s art,” he says. “They’ve always had a kitschy, lower-class connotation . . . but I wanted to take this lowbrow art and elevate it to be museum-worthy.”

With an event as massive as Artscape, stretching across more than a dozen city blocks and playing host to hundreds of artists, deciding what to see can be overwhelming and FOMO can run high.

Between catching your favorite musical acts and snacking on local eats and drinks, be sure not to miss these visual art masterpieces:

Trash-Scape
Part civic duty and part performance art, Thick Air Studios will grace the streets of Artscape as the Department of Beauty Maintenance, collecting litter, educating festival-goers, and ultimately constructing a sculpture of recyclable material in the shape of a mandala, which will evolve as materials are collected. Where to find: The Charles Street Bridge North of Penn Station, and watch it grow.

Circulation Newspaper Box Upcycling Exhibit
Kristy Knowles and Sophie Carey worked with Baltimore youth at a School 33 summer camp to convert 25 old newspaper boxes into miniature sidewalk libraries and pantries. Post-festival, the boxes will be placed throughout the community. Where to find: Along the median of the 1200 block of Mount Royal Avenue

Drinking Water
Build your own poem though an interactive project hosted by Stevie Dissinger. Objects act as prompts to guide participants to create a work of literature. Where to find: The Charles Street Theater Parking Lot at 1704 N. Charles Street

Screen-Print Station
Baltimore Youth Arts will host a free public screen-printing station where visitors can experiment with the art by printing messages about youth advocacy and justice onto fabric and paper. Traditionally, the art has been used as a medium to get the word out and effect change. Attendees are welcome (and encouraged) to bring their own materials to print on. Where to find: By The Metro Gallery at 1700 N. Charles Street

Performing Arts

Sally McCoy

Sept. 14-Oct. 1, The Fallout Shelter at United Evangelical Church, 923 S. East Ave. Cohesion Theatre Company presents the world premiere of its co-founder, Alice Stanley’s new play. Set in August of 1882, in the midst of the first gruesomely violent event of the legendary Hatfield and McCoy feud, and with her three eldest sons captured by the Hatfield clan, Sally McCoy defies her womanly place in the home and crosses miles of Appalachian wilderness in the dark of night in order to save her children from certain death at the vengeful hands of the Hatfields. After traveling miles alone in the dark of night to the home of the Hatfield patriarch, “Devil” Anse Hatfield, Sally refuses to let anything stand in her way until she’s seen the “Devil” face to face.

The Terrible Secret of Lunastus

Sept. 15-Oct. 8, Zion Lutheran Church, 400 E. Lexington St. The Baltimore Rock Opera Society (BROS) opens its first (and only) full-scale production for 2017, “The Terrible Secret of Lunastus”. It’s a sci-fi comedy set in the near future about the impending destruction of Earth, and the efforts of four astronauts and their stupid robot to find a new home for the human race, all performed to an original soundtrack inspired by classic 1970s rock.

Outcalls Album Release Show with Super City, J Pope and the HearNow
Sept. 15, WTMD Studios, 1 Olympic Place, Towson  Like many of its Baltimore music peers, Outcalls is fearless. It loves to experiment and collaborate, and lift each other up through innovative songwriting and captivating live shows. Led by Melissa Wimbish and Britt Olsen-Ecker—both classically trained singers—Outcalls draws inspiration from political and social events and fills their music with melodic and harmonic surprises. Their songs unfold in chapters, and have a cinematic quality. Joining them are glam pop rockers Super City and the soul, fun, hip hop fusers J Pope and the HearNow.

Amy Reid album release
Sept. 15, The Crown, 1910 N. Charles St. The song and synthress that is one half of the group Chiffon is releasing her first solo album, and is celebrating with this show at The Crown. Best of Baltimore winners :3lon and DJ Trillnatured will be on hand as well.

Abdu Ali: I’m Still Here
Sept. 22, EMP Collective, 307 W. Baltimore St.  Baltimore Club Artist Abdu Ali is launching his national tour with this new style performance with drummer Josh Stokes. TT the Artist will get the party started.

Visual Art

Out/Side & In/Between/The Holy Ghost Goes to Bed at Midnight/ A Parable at School 33
Through Oct. 28, School 33 Art Center, 1427 Light St. Three new exhibits open this month at School 33. Out/Side & In/Between is the first of two annual juried group exhibitions, curated by Jarvis DuBois. “The Holy Ghost Goes to Bed at Midnight is a solo exhibition of new works by James Bouche’, and A Parable is an installation and ongoing performance by NI Xin. on Friday, September 8, 6-9 p.m. All three shows will be on view from September 1-October 28. 

A Woven Thread at Terrault
Sept. 9-Oct. 28, 218 W. Saratoga St. This exhibition features the works of Alex Dukes and Liora Ostroff. Dukes’ paintings are an autobiographical exploration of memory, identity, race, and how they all are intertwined. Liora Ostroff’s current body of work uses paired art-historical themes with imagery drawn from contemporary life.

Altered Realities at Maryland Art Place
Sept. 14-Nov. 4, Maryland Art Place, 218 W. Saratoga St. The exhibition aims to subvert the viewer’s perspectives by focusing on uncanny interpretations of the everyday experience, highlight exceptional works ranging from painting, sculpture, video, fiber arts, virtual reality, and photography. Featured artists include Scott Cawood, Se Jong Cho, Phaan Howng, and Balti Virtual. 

Cardinal Grand Opening
Sept. 16, 1758 Park Ave. During the grand opening of this new Bolton Hill art space you can get a tour of the building, which includes exhibition space as well as artist studios. Also, on display will be its first exhibition, Natural Order, which invites each contributor to create a typewritten list on a legal-sized piece of paper, which will go on view immediately following its creation.

Events

Bollymore
Sept. 8, Metro Gallery, 1700 N. Charles St. This bi-monthly night of art and dance is inspired by the sounds + stories of the subcontinent. Bollymore is Baltimore’s space of fellowship and exchange amongst the South Asian diaspora. It aims to celebrate the arts and collaborating across cultures, featuring the music of Jacob Marley, Nikilad, and DJ Beti.

The Joy and Pain of Collecting Art
Sept. 16, Reginald F. Lewis Museum, 830 E. Pratt St. Need help picking the perfect artwork? Want to know how to start collecting art? Hear from experts in the field to get the inside scoop about how to build your very own collection. Presenters include Myrtis Bedolla from Galerie Myrtis, and renowned Collector Walter O. Evans who has amassed one of the greatest fine art collections in the country.

Philip Glass Film & Opera Series
Sept. 22, Centre Street Performance Space, 5 E. Centre Street Baltimore native and Peabody Preparatory alumnus Philip Glass turned 80 on Jan. 31. To celebrate this great composer’s birthday, Peabody Conservatory is hosting screenings of Glass’s “portrait” operas—Einstein on the Beach, Satyagraha, and Akhnaten. His meditation on the great physicist Einstein opens up the series. 

Fall For Art
Sept. 24, Hooper Mill Studios, 3500 Parkdale Ave. Celebrate fall in Woodberry and discover new works by local artists. Tour the studios of six local artists, featuring sculpture, painting, drawing and photography. Proceeds benefit The Walters Art Museum and its educational programs and exhibitions. 

News

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra has announced the 2017-2018 BSO Pulse lineup. This season, at the concert series that pairs classical music with prominent indie and alternative artists, see Grammy-winner Esperanza Spalding (October 19), Tiny Desk concert winners Tank and the Bangas (January 4), and the acclaimed singer-songwriter Valerie June (March 22).

For the second year, all concerts at Peabody Institute are free. It also happens to be the debut season of Peabody’s recently appointed artistic director of ensembles Joseph Young, whose first performance of the season will be with the Peabody Chamber Orchestra in a performance of Dvořák’s Othello Overture and works by Handel and Schubert on Sept. 19. 

Other season highlights include the Peabody Chamber Orchestra, performing Baroque and early-Classical-era works and smaller orchestral works of the present day, and the Peabody Studio Orchestra, making its debut on Halloween with popular music from movies. And the Peabody Symphony Orchestra concerts will be led by Maestra Marin Alsop (September 28), and feature the legendary Leon Fleisher (October 11).

Visual Art

Undesign the Redline Exhibit
Through July 9, Gallery CA, 440 E. Oliver St. This interactive exhibit connecs the intentional, systematic housing segregation by race of the 1930s to the political and social issues of today through the powerful narratives of the people and communities affected by redlining—the practice of restricting access to credit for prospective homebuyers based on the demographics (particularly race) of the community they want to buy into.

The Dog & Pony Show
Through July 30, Area 405, 405 E. Oliver St. During its 12-year run, The Janet & Walter Sondheim Prize has generated an elite alumni of visual arts from the Baltimore/Washington region. This new exhibit at Area 405 (whose own director Stewart Watson is one such esteemed alumnus) recognizes those who have been previously selected as Sondheim finalists as a community of high achieving visual artists. The exhibit at Area 405 is curated by Watson, and Cara Ober, Editor of BmoreArt and is designed to celebrate the award and the evolving careers of former finalists.

Through the Layers Pt. 1 at Terrault
July 8-29, 218 W. Saratoga St., Third Floor. Antonio McAfee’s fascinating work made him the winner of Terrault’s juried art show earlier this year. In this exhibit, McAfee appropriates photographs from W.E.B. Du Bois and Thomas Calloway’s Exhibition of American Negroes (1900) into various 3D images and collages, attempting to provide alternate ways to see black figures, ways that allow for the subjects to have multitudes of possibilities, real and imagined within a still image. 

The Weight of Absence
Through Aug. 13, Goucher College’s Rosenberg Gallery, 1021 Dulaney Valley Rd. The architectural drawings that artist Erin Fostel is working on came about through grieving the loss of her father in 2014. He was an architect who enjoyed exploration, always interested in finding new ways to get from here to there. She wanted to create a body of work that served as both a commemoration of his life, and a relief from the heartbreak of his death, so she started exploring parts of Baltimore City she did not know well. At some point, she began taking photographs of certain buildings and structures that caught her attention, ones she thought would have been of interest to her dad. These ruminations, explorations, and photographs have become the foundation for her new body of work.

S33 Studio Biennial/Ursula Populoh/Giulia Livi
School 33 Art Center, 1427 Light St. Three new shows open at School 33 this month, including an exhibition that highlights the work of the studio artists in residence there, including Taha Heydari, Cheeny Celebrado-Royer, and Lynn Cazabon. And catch solo exhibits by fiber artist Ursual Populoh, and Giulia Livi, whose geometric objects and paintings utilize materiality to investigate light, form, and the weirdly functional. 

Performing Arts

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s New Music Festival
July 13-15, various locations. This inaugural event has the BSO musicians performing at new, unique venues—like pizza favorite Joe Squared on North Avenue. There’s also a concert that features two BSO premieres by Polish composer and soprano Agata Zubel, as well as the World Premiere of Syrian-American composer Malek Jandali’s The Silent Ocean. And as an added bonus, all of the composers featured in the festival will be in attendance so you can say you’ve brushed elbows with true creative geniuses.

Tick Tick Boom at StillPointe Theatre
July 14-28, 1825 N. Charles St. You likely know Jonathan Larson from his epic, Broadway-changing musical Rent—but you might not know its intimate, autobiographical predecessor. This deeply personal peek into the life of an artist follows one man’s journey to define success on his own terms. 

News

Doors Open Baltimore, the architectural tour that showcases all things eclectic, historic, and truly Baltimore, is expanding to two full days this fall. Locations range from returning favorite the Arabber Center, a must-see attraction at one of the country’s last remaining locations for this African-American folk tradition and Charm City Meadworks, Baltimore City’s only meadery and the event’s newest addition, which will be open for tours and tastings of mead, a honey-based historic beverage similar to wine.

After more than 10 years of serving emerging artists, collectors and the Baltimore community at large, Jordan Faye Contemporary is closing its doors at the Maryland Art Place building at 218 W Saratoga Street, effective July 28th. “What an incredible journey it has been,” founder and director Jordan Faye Block wrote in an e-mail. “Never did I think, when I moved here from a small college town in New Hampshire 14 years ago, that I would fall so in love with this city – its culture, its visionary people, its architecture & the art community.” Block said she is exploring options for a new venture within the city.

The owners and operators of downtown Baltimore’s Platform Gallery—Abigail Paris and Lydia Petit—have announced they are handing over the reigns of the exhibition space to Baltimore Youth Arts, an artist-run, after school program that provides artistic and professional opportunities to youth, ages 14-22. “We could not be more thrilled to have this location and space occupied by a cause that is so crucial to the community, and we encourage everyone who supported us to continue to attend the events they hold,” Petit and Parish wrote in a statement.

Events

True Laurels Issue 02 Celebration
May 5, New Beginnings Barbershop, 1047 Hollins St.  On Friday May 5, 2017 Baltimore-based and focused zine True Laurels—which has been featured in The Fader and Nylon—will be celebrating the release of its second issue. The launch takes place at Sowebo-based barbershop and gallery space, New Beginnings. The event will give attendees the first chance to read and purchase the issue, which like its predecessor, features stories on some of the most captivating musical and visual artists of Baltimore City and beyond. The event will not only give a first look at the issue but also display work from artists featured. 

The Milkshake Band’s Pre-Mom’s Day Concert
May 13, Creative Alliace, 3134 Eastern Ave. The beloved kids’ band is also hosting a mini-activist fair as part of their Celebrate Mom’s Concert. Kids can have their face painted and make Mother’s Day cards for mom, and even get their picture taken with Moo, Milkshake’s mascot. Moms can check out some great non-profit organizations to connect with. Every mom also gets a flower and some chocolates, and if you bring a diaper and/or diaper ointment donation for Share Baby, an organization that provides baby gear to community organizations, and you can get a free Milkshake CD.

In-Gallery Conversation: Jack Whitten & Katy Siegel
May 20, Baltimore Museum of Art, 10 Art Museum Drive  One of America’s most renowned abstract painters, Jack Whitten, joins BMA senior programming and research curator Katy Siegel in a thought-provoking conversation about the trajectory of social abstraction, and specifically Black abstraction, from the post-War years. They’ll also discuss Whitten’s work to the contemporary, and the work of Mark Bradford.

Performances

An Evening With Snail Mail
May 16, WTMD studios, 1 Olympic Place, Towson  At this year’s South by Southwest, everybody was talking about a three-piece rock band from Baltimore named Snail Mail. Pitchfork raved about them, and awarded them Best New Track. In a profile of Snail Mail’s singer, Lindsey Jordan, Pitchfork called her “the wisest teenage indie rocker we know.” On Tuesday May 16, see Snail Mail live, a week before they set off on their first big national tour. 

H.T. Darling’s Incredible Musaeum Presents: The Treasures of New Galapagos, Astonishing Acquisitions from the Perisphere Through May 14, The Peale Museum, 225 Holliday St.  In this new immersive theater work by the inventive Submersive Productions, H.T. Darling is a high-society explorer who has just returned from an expedition to an area of outer space, “The Perisphere,” and a planet he calls New Galapagos. Darling will share his curious discoveries at The Musaeum, where each audience member choses their own path through the evening’s strange events.

Psycho Beach Party May 19-June 16, Stillpointe Theatre, 1823 N. Charles St.  Psycho Beach Party” is a manic party-mix of 50’s psychological thrillers, 60’s beach movies, and 70’s slasher films. The story focuses on Chicklet Forrest, a 16-year old tomboy who’s desperate to be part of the in-crowd of Malibu beach surfers. She’s the typical American girl – except for one little problem: her personality is split into more slices than a pepperoni pizza.

Exhibits

Young, Black, & Gifted at Gallery CA and Arts Every Day’s Annual Student Art Show Two shows this month showcase powerful, young minds. Young, Black, & Gifted’s purpose is to demonstrate the talent of young black artists in Baltimore. The youth artists of Baltimore Youth Arts want to show their city in a more positive light to address the stigma of youth of color and change the narrative that isn’t reflective of their true identity. They’ve been working with Shan, an award-winning photographer from East Baltimore, to organize the exhibit. (May 5-June 9, Gallery CA, 440 E. Oliver St.)

The exhibition organized by Arts Every Day—which connects Baltimore City public schools to the arts and culture community—features more than 150 pieces art, including sculptures, portraits, quilts, and murals. (Through May 7, The Walters Art Museum, 600 N. Charles St.)

American Made: Mass Production/Mass Incarceration Through May 27, Maryland Art Place, 218 W. Saratoga St.  This exhibition and reading room, curated by students at the Maryland Institute College of Art, showcases photography, zines, video and other visual art forms produced by current and former prisoners that examines concepts of mass production and forced labor in prisons. Work includes videos from the Real News Network presented by Baltimore-based artist Bashi Rose; new drawings by artist Angelo, in collaboration with Chicago-based collective Temporary Services; and posters by New York-based designer and artist Josh MacPhee.

‘Merica and You Can’t Just Draw a Line in the Sand Through June 17, School 33, 1427 Light St.  One of two new exhibitions opening this month at School 33, ‘Merica, a group exhibition, examines and dissects deeply ingrained American iconography such as the American flag and printed U.S. currency. Featured artists Susie Brandt, Wesley Clark, Emily Erb and René Trevino engage in a literal and tactile deconstruction, reconstruction, and/or re-imagining of this imagery in an effort to process the complex, evolving relationships that they themselves and others have with it. The other exhibit, a solo show by David Eassa, uses paintings sculptures, and installations to explore this theme: “Just when you think everything is set in place with a clear trajectory, it seems like something always comes along to flip it all upside down. Your once certain way of being, your tried and true ways of existing within yourself, your environment, and with others… everything is now challenged and called into question. You ask yourself, ‘Where do I go from here?’”

Mattye Hamilton, Peter Smith, Maxine Taylor May 5-28, Hamilton Gallery, 5502 Harford Road  This group show explores the human form, and the process of changing and growing. Through her paintings Mattye Hamilton illustrates the way in which she is connected to her environment. Her works radiate light and teases emotion, and she is drawn to the patterns, colors and figures of daily life. Peter Smith and Maxine Taylor present works depicting the human figure. Their investigations of the human form include works in watercolor, pastel and oil. 

News

Composers Du Yun, who last week was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and Felipe Lara, hailed for his “voluptuous, elemental lyricism,” will join the artist faculty of the Peabody Conservatory’s highly regarded Composition Department beginning in the fall semester of the 2017-18 academic year. They come to Peabody in the midst of numerous initiatives and developments demonstrating the Conservatory’s renewed commitment to creating, performing, and celebrating the music of our time. “Composition has long been a strength at Peabody, and we are proud to welcome two new faculty artists of such stature as Du Yun and Felipe Lara,” noted Dean Fred Bronstein. “I look forward to seeing how their distinct creative contributions will expand and enhance the work we are doing across the Conservatory in the new music space.”

Maryland Fleet Week and Air Show
Oct. 8-17. Various locations. Between our historic, national-anthem-inspiring fort and a certain highly decorated Olympian, Baltimore is no stranger to patriotism. It’s only fitting, then, that—for the first time in history—Charm City will host the Maryland Fleet Week and Air Show to celebrate the rich naval heritage of the Chesapeake Bay, as well as the state’s contribution to the defense of the United States. The seventh of its kind in the country, and a descendant of the 2012 Sailabration and 2014 Star-Spangled Spectacular, the festival will feature a full 10 days of red, white, and blue . Join hundreds of thousands of onlookers as historic ships arrive and thrive in the city’s waters, accompanied by the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, plus dozens of maritime-themed events. At the Inner Harbor and in Fells and Locust points, board the decks of navy vessels and schooners, catch more than 40 boats competing in the Constellation Cup Regatta, and check out the Fleet Week Fair, with regional food and live music by local and military bands. At Martin State Airport in Middle River, there will be aircrafts on display, both on land and in midair, with flight takeoffs, landings, and pilot autographs. But back where it all began—where a star-shaped fortress protected the city from British attack by the bay—celebrations will abound at Fort McHenry, with ship salutes, sailor meet-and-greets, and living history programs. Just don’t miss the main event, as the legendary Blue Angels fly over the grounds that inspired those iconic lyrics, long ago: “O say can you see . . . ”

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Pigtown Festival
Oct. 8. 700-900 blocks of Washington Boulevard. 12-7 p.m. Free. 443-908-7038. Just west of the hustle and bustle of Federal Hill, the small neighborhood of Pigtown sits pretty with charming row homes, timeworn warehouses, and a growing brood of businesses. During this 15th annual festival, watch the streets fill with people, food, live music, and the swine of its iconic pig races.

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Open Studio Tour
Oct. 8-9. Locations vary. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Free. 410-752-8632. Go behind the scenes of the Baltimore art scene during this weekend-long look inside local studios, presented by School 33 Art Center. For the 28th year, visitors can meet dozens of artists across the city, view their creative processes, and browse their works in fine painting, mixed media, film, sculpture, and more.

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Baltimore Running Festival
Oct. 15. Locations & times vary, starting at 7 a.m. $15-280. 410-605-9381. Runners, after months of training, it’s the day you’ve all been waiting for—the Baltimore Running Festival is finally here. Whatever your abilities, hit the pavement with everything from a 5K race to 26.2 miles through the heart of Baltimore City. Test your endurance or run for one of many great causes, including the Kennedy Krieger Institute or One Love Foundation.

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U.S. Oyster Festival
Oct. 15-16. St. Mary’s County Fairgrounds, 42455 Fairgrounds Road, Leonardtown. Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Free-$7. Oysters are all the rage these days, but whether you like ’em raw, steamed, or grilled, bring your appetite to the 50th annual U.S. Oyster Festival for a weekend of live music, local food vendors, and plenty of shucks to go around. Watch the country’s fastest shuckers compete for cash prizes in the National Oyster Shucking Championship, or try your luck in the amateur contest. Thanks to the recent boom in Baltimore’s aquaculture, this year’s oyster cook-off is sure to impress (and indulge) local oyster-lovers, with categories like hors d’oeurves, soups and stews, and entrees.

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WPOC Weekend in the Country
Oct. 15-16. Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia. 1 p.m. $55-175. 410-715-5550. Even the most serious country music haters are now putting on their cowboy hats for the boot-scooting Southern genre that’s made its way into the mainstream. Don your bandanas and cutoff jeans to hear big names like the party-starting Little Big Town (“Pontoon,” “Day Drinking”) and up-and-comers like the dynamic duo LOCASH (which is one-part Baltimore native). After 15 years, local country music radio station 93.1 FM has turned this swaggering Southern music festival into a favorite fall tradition.

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Baltimore Craft Beer Festival
Oct. 22. Canton Waterfront Park, 3001 Boston St. $35-65. 410-252-9463. Get to know Maryland’s booming craft beer scene at the edge of the Baltimore harbor. For one fall Saturday, sample the state’s very best with nearly 150 local beers, including RAR Brewing’s Nanticoke Nectar IPA and Union Craft’s barrel-aged Old Pro with blackberries, plus live music and local bites by the likes of The Smoking Swine and BricknFire Pizza Co.

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Doors Open Baltimore
Oct. 22. Various locations. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Free. 410-625-2585. For one day, go behind the scenes at Baltimore’s historic buildings, museums, and landmarks as part of the third annual Doors Open Baltimore. In this free, citywide event, explore more than 50 locations from Mount Washington to South Baltimore, like the Peabody Library, Peabody Heights Brewery on the former site of the old Oriole Park, and the new Baltimore Immigration Museum in Locust Point. Get started at the Maryland Historic Society to map out a self-guided tour of these Charm City sites.

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Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure
Oct. 23. Executive Plaza, 11350 McCormick Road, Hunt Valley. 7-10 a.m. $10-50. Founded in 1993, Komen Maryland has contributed more than $37 million to breast cancer research and programs, and its volunteers, staff, and members won’t stop until they’re #OneStepCloser to finding a cure. At this 24th annual race, Komen brings survivors and supporters together for competitive and recreational 5K runs, a 5K walk, and a one-mile family fun walk, raising funding and awareness for the cause along the way. Afterward, celebrate the triumph of survivors with a recognition walk and dance party.

House history: This space housed mill workers a long time ago. It was built in 1847.

Art room: We wanted to move here for the house, and the location, and how it felt—that’s for sure—but having a room that would be all mine for Cotton Monster was important to me.

Fiber requirement: I was a fiber major at MICA. I graduated in 2004. It all started when I sold a lot of pieces from my senior-thesis show, which was all these monsters coming out from under a bed. That was the first time I was like, ‘People will pay me for these things?’

Mother knows best: My mom taught me to quilt. I started sewing pretty early on, beginning with pillows and little quilts.

Anything goes: The way I work is pretty intuitive, and when starting a new project, I don’t plan it out. I’ll just be inspired by the fabric and by whatever ideas are floating around—there’s lots of room for improvisation.

Where the wild things are: People have bought my work online, and I’ve sent my cotton monsters all over the world from New Zealand to Bulgaria to Japan and Singapore.

Exhibitionist: I’ve had giant inflatable works and an interactive monster installation called Belly of the Beast at Artscape and an exhibit at School 33 that is up for the year.

Room with a view: I’m usually pretty excited to come up here and have tried to make the room a place I want to be—I’m surrounded by things I like to look at and that keep me motivated. I love this space.