Visual Art

The Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize Finalists Exhibition
Don’t miss your chance to catch some of the art world’s brightest rising stars at this exhibition celebrating the seven finalists for the prestigious Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize. The winner of the $25,000 fellowship will be named in July, but works by Negar Ahkami, Akea Brionne Brown, Cheeny Celebrado-Royer, Schroeder Cherry, Phylicia Ghee, Jackie Milad, and Stephanie Williams will stay on display through August 11. June 15-Aug. 11. The Walters Art Museum, 600 N. Charles St.

RAW Baltimore Presents: Impact
This gathering of independent artists will bring beauty, fashion, music, digital art, and more to Baltimore Soundstage. Whether you’re looking to pick up something to hang on the wall or be inspired by creative new takes on genderqueer fashion and vegan beauty, there’s something to be found for everyone at this showcase of local talent. 7 p.m. June 28. Baltimore Soundstage, 124 Market Pl.

Music

Outer Spaces Record Release
Grab some friends and head to Current Space’s backyard for this outdoor show celebrating the release of dreamy indie-pop act Outer Spaces’ new record, Gazing Globe, featuring guests Smoke Bellow, Cigarette, and Wheatie Mattiasich with Steve Santilla. The sticky summer evening will fit perfectly with Cara Beth Stalino’s exploration of what it means to lose someone but find yourself all over again. 7-11 p.m. June 29. Current Space, 421 N. Howard St.

Theater

Mortified: PRIDE Edition
Some of us dread those childhood journal entries and notebooks full of poems coming back to haunt us. Mortified embraces them. This Pride-themed version of the Creative Alliance storytelling series will feature adolescent artifacts exploring sexual and gender identity, coming out, and other experiences from the LGBTQ+ community. 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. June 15. Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave.

A Midsummer Night’s Bash
Say a fitting farewell to Single Carrot Theatre’s Remington home with full night of Shakespearean shenanigans. Start the evening with the troupe’s raucous performance of Drunk Shakespeare [and other dead white guys], then stick around for bites, drinks, dancing, and more at the Howard Street theater. 7 p.m. June 22. Single Carrot Theatre, 2600 N. Howard St.

Literature

D. Watkins in Conversation with Lisa Snowden-McCray
Five years ago, D. Watkins found a national audience with his viral essay “Too Poor for Pop Culture.” Now a professor, Editor at Large for Salon, and founder of the BMORE Writers Project, Watkins has become an essential voice. In honor of the fifth anniversary of his first print publication, Watkins joins Baltimore Beat editor Lisa Snowden-McCray for a conversation about how things have and haven’t changed since that first essay and what his latest book, We Speak for Ourselves, can add to the story. 7 p.m. June 26. Red Emma’s, 1225 Cathedral St.

Barbara Bourland—Fake Like Me
Humor, mystery, and sharp observation abound in Barbara Bourland’s follow-up to 2017’s I’ll Eat When I’m Dead, Fake Like Me, in which she moves the focus from a Manhattan magazine to the dueling egos of the contemporary art world. Settle into Greedy Reads’ cozy Fells Point home for a conversation with Bourland and BMore Art’s Cara Ober to celebrate the new release. 7:30 June 21. Greedy Reads, 1744 Aliceanna St.

Film

First Look: Dark City: Beneath the Beat
This celebration of community and Baltimore Club comes from one of the genre’s greatest voices, TT The Artist. Head to the SNF Parkway and follow the red carpet in for a first look at Dark City: Beneath The Beat, TT’s documentary following some of the city’s best local musicians, DJs, poets, dancers, and producers as they build and perpetuate a close-knit creative community that rises above Baltimore’s less-than-sterling reputation. 6:30 p.m. Red Carpet Pre-show, 7:15 p.m. Film Presentation, 8:30 p.m. Director Interview and Q&A, June 26. SNF Parkway Theatre, 3 W. North Ave.

Each year, an artist in the Baltimore area is recognized for his or her outstanding work by way of the Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize, which awards a $25,000 fellowship.

Those curious to learn more about the artists and see their work can catch a group exhibit at the Baltimore Museum of Art, which has been on view since June, showcasing a sampling of work by each finalist.

Mediums and styles cross the spectrum—photography, painting, fiber art, video installation, and sculpture—but one thing is certain: Work by this year’s group of Sondheim finalists addressed hard-hitting issues faced by America, such as racial and gender inequality, immigration, and slavery.

Past winners of the prestigious award have included artistic duo Wickerham and Lomax (2015) and musical instrument creator and innovator Neil Feather (2014).

A crowd gathered for the awards ceremony last night at the BMA coinciding with Artscape next weekend. Among the finalists this year were Erick Antonio Benitez, Nakeya Brown, Sutton Demlong, Nate Larson, Eunice Park, and Stephen Towns.

Erick Antonio Benitez, a Salvadorean-American artist, whose work focuses on the refugee and migrant experience, won the 2018 Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize.

“This work is very timely and important to me,” Benitez said at the ceremony. “I wanted to create something that would highlight true realities.”

The 30-year-old MICA grad said that he plans to spend the $25,000 prize to help fund more trips to the U.S.-Mexico border to collect more objects for future installations. The remaining artists received $2,500 each.

The Sondheim Artscape Prize exhibition of work by all seven finalists will remain on view at the BMA through August 5.

Visual Art

Young Blood
Art has the power to reflect the culture in which it was made, often expressing ideas that cannot be articulated as effectively through words alone. In the case of the exhibit Young Blood at Maryland Art Place, we see—through painting, sculpture, installation, photography, and animation—what inspires and stimulates the minds of our local creative youth culture. Each year, MAP celebrates recent Baltimore-area masters of fine art grads with an exhibit of their work.

This year’s Young Blood showcases pieces by graduates of Maryland Institute College of Art; University of Maryland, College Park; University of Maryland, Baltimore County; and Towson University, including Caroline Hatfield, Mollye Bendell, Mitchell Noah, Madeline Stratton, Ryan Lytle, and Sara Kaltwasser. Through Aug. 25, with an opening reception from 6-9 p.m. July 11 and an artist talk at 1 p.m. Aug. 18 at MAP, 218 W. Saratoga St.

Sondheim Artscape Prize exhibition
From sculpture to photography to painting, fiber art, and video installation, work by this year’s Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize finalists is visually spellbinding, and the artists don’t shy away from exploring such issues as spirituality, race, gender, and immigration. Baltimore-area visual artist finalists Erick Antonio Benitez, Nakeya Brown, Sutton Demlong, Nate Larson, Eunice Park, and Stephen Towns are each exhibiting selected works at the Baltimore Museum of Art through August 5. The winner will be announced during a ceremony at 7 p.m. July 14 and awarded a $25,000 fellowship. Exhibit runs through Aug. 5, awards ceremony at 7 p.m. July 14 at the BMA, 10 Art Museum Drive.

Summer ’18
The current show at C. Grimaldis Gallery in Mount Vernon revisits the exhibitions shown over the past year while giving a little preview of what’s to come. This survey exhibition features pieces by British sculptor Anthony Caro, abstract expressionist Grace Hartigan, and Korean light artist Chul Hyun Ahn. It also debuts work by 2018 Guggenheim Fellow Rania Matar, Colin Van Winkle, and 2017 Rome Prize recipient Beverly McIver. Through Aug. 18 at C. Grimaldis Gallery, 523 N. Charles St.

Intimate Women
Intimate Women, currently on view at Full Circle Gallery, explores the relationship between women’s minds and bodies through photography-based collage and sculpture by women artists. Their inner worlds are revealed through stories of culture, gender roles, and sexuality. As curator JiaJia Chen puts it in a statement about the show, “Every work in the exhibition is an adjective, presenting personal but universal subject matter from different perspectives.” Artists include Asha Holmes, Jianan Liu, Layla Choi, Michelle Cuevas, and Rachel Hartman. Through Aug. 4 at Full Circle Gallery, 33 E. 21st St.

Music

Jack Novotny Sextet
The Jack Novotny Sextet will bring their original music, composed in the spirit of the great jazz masters, to An die Musik. They’ve studied the nuances, style, and flavor of works by icons such as John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Wayne Shorter, Charles Mingus, and Ornette Coleman, and expand upon and integrate those ideas into their own pieces, rather than duplicate the originals or even replicate improvs.

“Performing new material that has never been heard is exhilarating for our group,” says Jack Novotny, saxist in the group. The sextet also includes bassist Juini Booth, pianist Benito Gonzalez, trumpeter Marlon Jordan, tenor saxophonist Edwin Bayard, and Baltimore drummer Nasar Abadey as a guest, filling in for regular drummer Mark Lomax II. Novotny will play tenor/soprano saxophone and flute. 8:30 and 10 p.m. July 12 at An die Musik, 409 N. Charles St,.

Literary Arts

John Lingan
Rockville-based John Lingan, who has written for the Oxford American, New York Times Magazine, and others, brings us his debut book, Homeplace: A Southern Town, a Country Legend, and the Last Days of a Mountaintop Honky-Tonk. Lignan spent four years researching the early-American town of Winchester, VA, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. He first went there to seek out Jim McCoy, a honky-tonk owner and the DJ who first gave Patsy Cline airtime. What he uncovered though was a story about a town facing an identity crisis. He’ll launch his book tour this month with a reading and signing at Bird in Hand. 7 p.m. July 17 at Bird in Hand, 11 E. 33rd St.

Miscellanea

Cirque du Soleil Crystal
Cirque du Soleil’s show Crystal explores the artistic limits of ice through jaw-dropping acrobatics on the ice and in the air—synchronized skating and adrenaline-pounding extreme skating will be performed alongside traditional circus arts like trapeze. This dreamlike world is brought to life with visual projections and an original score. July 5-8 at Royal Farms Arena, 201 W. Baltimore St.

Artscape
Our beloved Artscape returns this month, taking over 16 blocks of Baltimore and boasting three outdoor stages, 11 indoor venues, over 200 concerts, an artist market with more than 150 vendors and craftspeople, plus large-scale projects showcasing visual and performing arts, visual art exhibitions, film, street theater, and youth-focused entertainment. Performances include theater, dance, comedy, and more. And all of the above is free. It’s a great way to celebrate the city and all the arts in one fell swoop. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. July 20 and 21, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. July 22 at Mount Royal Avenue & Cathedral Street, Charles Street, Bolton Hill, and Station North Arts & Entertainment District neighborhoods.

Ratscape
After a two-year hiatus, the wonderfully bizarre Ratscape will return this year in conjunction with Artscape. A lineup of more than 40 local bands spanning rock, rap, punk, experimental, hardcore, and more will perform free shows at the Ynot Lot, an outdoors venue in Station North, throughout the weekend: JPEGMAFIA, Jeff Carey, and Bound by the Grave on Friday; Butch Dawson, Joe Bidan, and Homosuperior on Saturday; Wume, Sneaks, and HexGirlfriends Sunday. The grassroots festival is produced by Baltimore Music Preservation, aka Joshua Christy Schuelpner, Mike Franklin, and Caroline Devereaux. 2 to 10 p.m. July 20-22 at the Ynot Lot,1904 N. Charles St.

It might seem like Stephen Towns got his lucky break this year, landing a solo exhibition of story quilts at the Baltimore Museum of Art and being named a Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize finalist. But for those who know him, this recognition was a long time coming.

The 38-year-old has made art all his life, since his childhood growing up in Lincolnville, South Carolina, the youngest of 11 kids, and he’s been at it professionally for nearly 20 years, having earned a BFA in fine arts from the University of South Carolina. With a day job with MICA’s Office of Community Engagement and a studio inside Area 405, Towns is first and foremost a painter, but he may become best known for his fiber art.

It’s a new direction and one that’s gotten him a plethora of national attention, with a shoutout from The New York Times and props from internationally known artist Mark Bradford, who says Towns has created a new genre entirely, a hybrid of figurative painting and story quilts.

How has living in Baltimore informed your work?
I grew up in the South, and I would take field trips to plantations. Everything in Charleston is sort of beautiful and idyllic. Baltimore was a wakeup call, seeing these economic and racial disparities. In the South, everybody is nice, but behind people’s niceties, there’s a hidden thing that’s not hidden here in the North. I had always made stuff about history and explored it, but not as intensely as I explored it here. I wanted to know why things are the way they are. That’s why I go back to antebellum slavery and the psychology of that time period in my work.

Talk about the Catholic iconography in your work. I’m thinking mostly of the figures with gold-leaf halos who appear to be modern-day saints.
I think the halos are a response to my growing up a Jehovah’s Witness with the idea that God is above everything and humans are sinners. I adopted Catholic iconography to say that we all are beautiful people. I wanted to focus specifically on people of color, because it’s hard to tell someone they’re a terrible person when they have this iridescent golden halo behind them. . . . My teacher at the University of South Carolina was the person who introduced me to medieval and Byzantine art. We’d have to paint reproductions of some of these paintings, and that’s not something I would’ve been able to explore as a Jehovah’s Witness because all of that stuff is looked at as stuff you should not be participating in. So college was a way for me to explore that.

What of your religious upbringing remains with you?
I am continually searching for my own inner self goodness and inner beauty. I listen to a lot of spiritual books and podcasts, and I’ve gone to a lot of different churches. I’ve gone beyond the stage of finding sanctuary in a physical space and have found a sanctuary in my own artwork. It’s just that: seeing that me being human is good enough.

Tell me about the recurring butterflies in your work.
Butterflies represent spirituality and also the idea of metamorphosis and migration. People look at them as these fragile beings that you can break with your hands, but they’re resilient in their path and making their way to their destination. I mirrored that when I think of black Americans, who have survived being captured, the transatlantic slave trade, American slavery, and the Civil Rights movement. That’s a powerful lineage.

You’ve recently moved from painting to fiber art. How has it felt, process-wise, to be quilting?
I realized how challenging it is, how meticulous it is, how physically painful it is on your hands—your fingers being stuck with needles and bleeding. It really put me in the mind of labor. Paintings are a laborious process, but making quilts are an even more laborious process. So the idea of labor goes along with slavery, cotton, and fabric—all these ideas are layered into the work.

On that note, congrats on your solo show of story quilts at the BMA—that is huge!
Thank you.

Has it been overwhelming for you at all, getting so much attention?
It’s been good because I feel like I’ve been working really hard for the past 18 years, trying to make work and have people look at it and talk about it. Now I’ve finally been afforded that opportunity. It is a bit overwhelming—the emails and navigating the art world—but if I want to continue making the work, [this is] part of the process. . . . It’s also been really exciting to see what [BMA director] Christopher Bedford has done with the BMA and seeing some of the artists he’s brought in. It feels like a totally different space. Even the idea of bringing my body of work into the American wing was a really brave decision.

As opposed to the contemporary wing?
Yeah. I am around these structures and furniture and old paintings, and the reason all of this stuff exists is because of slavery. So this story [told through his exhibit Rumination and a Reckoning] creates context for everything else that’s shown in that space.

Your most recent pieces, some of which will be shown in the Sondheim Artscape finalist exhibit at the BMA, are the first to incorporate both painting and quilting. Are you working with a theme?
This series is based on my reading and listening to books about slave ships. The figures with the quilt attached to the painting are in the shape of a slave ship. In my head, some of these people have survived and some have not survived the Middle Passage. In each of the works, you see a [quilted] reflection in the water representative of how people’s futures were uncertain. There were rumors like the white men were going to eat them. People were being taken to a new place, having to learn a new language . . . things I hadn’t taken into consideration.

Is it important to you to bring these stories forth through your work? Does it matter whether viewers know the history?
I realize that some people just have to look at artwork and appreciate it as a pretty picture. For me as the artist, I know what they’re about. When my work is in the right context, then people understand it. Without that, people make up their own stories—which is why, I think, the work was taken down at Goucher [College in 2017]. The work [paintings depicting people with nooses around their necks] meant something else to somebody else . . . and it took on a whole different life. But in the end, there were conversations with students, staff, and faculty; there was an artist talk; and it was refreshing to hear people speak up. So really, the work did its work, being taken down in the space.

Weren’t those pieces later shown in a group exhibit of censored work at the Motor House?
Yeah, Leslie King Hammond wanted to put together different artists whose work has been censored, and I was a part of that.

That’s like a rite of passage, right?
Yes [laughs].

UPDATE: 7/16/2017

FORCE: Cindy Cheng has won the 2017 Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize at a ceremony at the Walters Art Museum.

Cheng, who teaches drawing at the Maryland Institute College of Art, creates complex constructions and installations that investigate the relationship between drawings and objects and are incubators for history, memory and reflections on the physical and abstract self. Her work has been the focus of shows in Baltimore, Toronto, and later this year in Portland, Oregon. 

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Every year, the arts community waits anxiously for the announcement of the finalists for the Janet and Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize, the city’s largest visual art award that brings with it a $25,000 fellowship.

And each summer, those finalists exhibit their work at a show that is one of the highlights of the summer, showcasing the depth and range of artistic excellence in the Baltimore and Washington D.C. region (this year, all seven artists are Charm City residents). This show also gives visitors the rare treat of seeing contemporary art displayed at The Walters Art Museum, which has a collection that mostly predates the 20th century.

As is typically the case, this show—which opens to the public on Saturday, June 17—is markedly different from last year’s, which dealt with themes including sexual violence, the inequalities of the African-American experience, and our relationship with the environment. This crop of winners is just as varied, but even if the subject is serious in nature—for example, the value of personal information in commercial culture, and the inability of art to capture reality, the artist explores it in a bright, lively, even playful, way that draws the viewer further in.

Mequitta Ahuja
Ahuja’s newest paintings are self-portraits, but that doesn’t mean they’re just about her. She uses figurative painting as a way to explore conventions over centuries, and her work finds inspiration in the symbolism of early American art. “My work is a form of tribute, analysis, and intervention,” Ahuja said in her artist statement, “by positioning a woman of color as primary picture-maker, in whose hands the figurative tradition is refashioned.”

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Mary Anne Arntzen
Several forms dominate Arntzen’s canvasses—interlocking tubes, repeating stripes, and folded chevron shapes to name a few. Her work resembles sections of a quilt as they repeat and mirror each other across square frames. “The physical state of paint is crucial to my process: I paint thickly then thinly, dig through, wipe off, and repaint,” Arntzen said in her artist statement. “I braid painted marks together like strands of rope or allow them to misbehave, taking on the chaos of knotted strings.”

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Cindy Cheng
Cheng’s practice is based on drawing, but her work also takes on a form that merges sculpture and assemblage. “By creating works that incorporate thoughtfulness with a sense of play and optimism, I hope to make my practice accessible to anyone who cares to spend time with the work,” Cheng said. Take, for example, the work above, Untitled (Straight and Narrow), which incorporates foam, sawdust, and plexiglass along with ceramic figures made by Cheng herself.

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Sara Dittrich
Dittrich wants to give viewers a renewed awareness of their bodies. For example, she wore enormous celluclay and foam feet and hands she fashioned and shot pictures of herself moving haphazardly, which became the work Arrhythmia of the Body #1-20. As she said in her artist statement, she “uses devices such as repetition, absurdity, and collaboration to filter in the physical rhythms and movments of the body created by the accumulation of footsteps, breaths, and heartbeats.” 

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Benjamin Kelley
Using four seemingly unrelated events—including the fossilization of a tree in a peat bog, astronauts departing for a space mission in 1995, and the opening of the Walters in 1934—Kelley explores how objects were shaped by these happenings and became relics. Take, for instance, his piece Residual Evolutions, (above) which incorporates a cylindrical tube that runs along one gallery wall, containing an ancient bog oak and the right glove from an astronaut’s space suit.

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Kyle Tata
Tata’s newest work utilizes patters derived from security-tinted envelopes, which he uses to mask film images. It gives the effect of seeing figures and colors through a screen. “This series investigates the notion that within an increasingly immaterial culture, personal information can become as valuable as currency,” Tata said in his artist statement.

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Amy Yee
“I’m interested in the failure of art,” Yee says matter-of-factly in her artist statement. She’s also curious about art objects and the problems they run into when pretending to be “the real thing,” and she wants the media she works with to clash with the subject matter. Like her piece The Field (Arranged), where she has organized on shelves Giant-brand Kleenex boxes that have a design of waving grass. The white Kleenex peak out of the boxes, mimicking the grass. 

The finalists’ exhibit is on view until August 13.

Exhibits

Artists for Truth Benefit Exhibition
June 2-23, SpaceCamp Gallery, 16 W. North Ave.  Some of Baltimore’s greatest artistic minds have come together to form a fundraising and educational platform they called Artists For Truth. They aim to support information literacy and freedoms, and to explore the artist’s role in amplifying, reflecting, and addressing societal concerns. Their exhibition at SpaceCamp features 250 artworks by 150 artists, hailing from Baltimore and across the United States, and the works will all be for sale through a silent auction. The exhibition will raise funds for organizations that work to combat the spread of misinformation, teach news literacy, ensure the right to share and access factual information, and protect the rights of truth-tellers in our democracy. Proceeds from the auction benefit Enoch Pratt Free Library (Baltimore), Baltimore Action Legal Team (Baltimore), News Literacy Project (Bethesda), and the Center for Media Justice (Oakland, CA).    

2017 Sondheim Artscape Prize Finalists Exhibition Opening
June 17-Aug. 13, The Walters Art Museum, 600 N. Charles St. The finalists for the city’s top visual art prize never fail to astound and inspire. Each year for the past 12 years, this acclaimed group from the greater Baltimore region is showcased at an exhibit as they vie for a $25,000 fellowship. This year’s finalists are Mequitta Ahuja, Mary Anne Arntzen, Cindy Cheng, Sara Dittrich, Benjamin Kelley, Kyle Tata and Amy Yee. The competition winner will be announced during an award ceremony and reception on Saturday, July 15.

Deconstructed
June 10-July 1, Terrault Contemporary, 218 W. Saratoga St. 3rd Floor  Whether temporary, permanent or in this context imagined, humankind has been making structures as long as we’ve existed. These structures mark time, history and memories, sometimes functional and others monumental. The artists in Deconstructed, which is curated by Esther Ruiz, all employ their individual aesthetic in making their own “structures”. Borrowing likeness from household items, architecture, formalism, symbols, and found materials, these artists deconstruct preconceived elements of structure to create distinct visual languages. At times combining the familiar with the unfamiliar and juxtaposing abstraction with representation while deconstructing defined uses of material, scale and imagery. 

‘Sindikit presents Lauren Davies and Melissa Webb
Through July 1, 405 E. Oliver St.  Check out the work of Joan Mitchell Foundation Award winner Lauren Davis, and Melissa Webb, who is presenting her first new installation work since she started facilitating and curating exhibitions as exhibitions manager at School 33.

Murmurs: New Works by Lydia Petit
June 10, Hotel Indigo, 24 W. Franklin St. Check out the latest works from Platform Gallery co-founder Lydia Petit, curated by Maryland Art Place’s Amy Cavanaugh Royce.

Events

Highlandtown’s Inaugural Art Walk
Friday, June 2, various locations  Baltimore’s east side arts district is the latest area to encourage cultural appreciation with a stroll through its many galleries and cultural centers. Stop by Y:ART for a solo show by abstract painter Effie Gereny, or check out Highlandtown Gallery’s Our Baltimore show, which showcases all things Charm City.

West Baltimore Celebrates 10th Boundary Block Party
June 3, Pennsylvania Avenue Triangle Park, Fremont and Pennsylvania Ave.  Organized by the The No Boundaries Coalition, and Pennsylvania Avenue’s own community arts program, Jubilee Arts, the Boundary Block Party is an annual event the brings residents in the 21217 zip code together across race and class lines. The block party will feature marching bands, local music acts Eze Jackson, Mova Dween, and About The Flute Maker, face painting, mural painting, a community-run produce stall, free food and voter registration.

Books In Bloom: The Inaugural Book Festival of Downtown Columbia
June 11, Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods, Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia As part of Columbia’s 50th anniversary celebration, this new festival will brings together some of the country’s best and brightest writers for a daylong festival celebrating the joy of books and reading. Attend readings by Baltimore’s own April Ryan, panel discussions, a poetry wall, and pop-up bookstore by Politics & Prose.

The Storyteller Series: An Acoustic Evening at Cask & Grain
June 21, 2823 O’Donnell St. Last month, new Canton restaurant hot spot Cask & Grain introduced its Storytellers Series, which features acoustic performances by local and regional artists. This second event will highlight the soulful blues of Maryland native Jordan Sokel of the Annapolis-based trio Pressing Strings. Guests enjoy a three-course dinner with beverages served a la carte in the upstairs dining room.

BmoreArt Panel with ARTS.BLACK
June 24, The Motor House, 120 W. North Ave.  This second iteration of BmoreArt’s discussion series will focus on ARTS.BLACK and its founding editors Jessica Lynne and Taylore Renee Aldridge. Arts.Black is a journal of art criticism from Black perspectives predicated on the belief that art criticism should be an accessible dialogue—a tool through which we question, celebrate, and talk back to the global world of contemporary art.

Performances

Flock of Dimes and Amy Reid
June 8, Ottobar, 2549 N. Howard St. Jenn Wassner is one of the powerhouses of Baltimore’s music scene, with her Joni Mitchell-esque introspective lyrics and her soulful alto. Her solo project Flock of Dimes is showcased at the Ottobar, along with Chiffon’s Amy Reid. 

Maryland Traditions Folklife Festival
June 10, Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave. This celebration of Maryland’s many cultures is one of the most unique and fun events of the year. This year, learn Native American round dancing, hear the story of Baltimore jazz, and experience the beauty of Beijing opera, among many, many more participatory activities and performances. The festival was created 16 years ago by folklorists Elaine Eff and Rory Turner  as part of the Maryland State Arts Council‘s longstanding folklife program, Maryland Traditions works to identify, support, and present Maryland folklife from the Appalachian Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay.

ART/SOUND/NOW
June 22, The Walters Art Museum, 600 N. Charles St. This innovative experience brings live performance into the galleries on fourth Thursday nights in the summer. Experience the collections in new ways as musicians provide intriguing soundscapes in the galleries for one night only. Pop and electronic artist Pangelica will explore our emotional attachments to inanimate objects and the hidden sacrifice of luxury in the museum’s Treasury, while jazz bassist Jeron White, trumpeter Brandon Woody, and drummer Kweku Sumbry will reflect on the pluralism of cultures and beliefs represented in the Walters’ Icons gallery, which houses Jewish, Ethiopian Christian, and Eastern Orthodox objects. 

News

• Bill Gilmore, chief executive officer of the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA), announced today that he will resign after 37 years with the organization. To ensure continuity during this transition, Gilmore will remain on board until his replacement has been chosen. BOPA, a nonprofit 501 (c)(3), is the city’s arts council, events center and film office. “It has been an honor and a pleasure to work with Team BOPA, the most outstanding and dedicated staff on planet Earth. The work that we have accomplished together has had a profound, long lasting and positive effect on the City of Baltimore,” said Bill Gilmore.
Gilmore began his career at the organization as a graphic designer. Under his leadership, BOPA has produced nationally renowned events such as Artscape and Light City along with the Baltimore Farmers’ Market & Bazaar, the holiday celebrations for New Year’s Eve and Fourth of July, the unveiling of public art including sculptures of Governor William Donald Schaefer, musician Frank Zappa and Orioles Hall-of-Famer Brooks Robinson as well as various parades. He was also the founder of the Baltimore Book Festival, and originated Free Fall Baltimore, providing citywide cultural access for the month of October.

• Baltimore Design School, Maryland’s only school dedicated to preparing middle and high school students for careers in design, will graduate its first class of seniors on Saturday, June 3. This marks a major milestone for the school, which provides an innovative model in which design and creative problem-solving pervades and informs all aspects of the rigorous curriculum. Each of the 36 graduating seniors has been accepted to a two- or four-year higher education institution, many with scholarships. BDS graduates will be primed to become designers and architects who see design as a way of living an ethical, productive, and rewarding life.

Justin Bieber
July 7. Royal Farms Arena, 201 W. Baltimore St. 7:30 p.m. $47.50-113. 410-347-2020.
They say the higher you fly, the harder you fall, and boy, did Justin Bieber shoot straight for the sky. From a YouTube discovery at age 12 to a debut album at age 15 to platinum sales less than two months later, this Canadian pop star went from a cute haircut to an overnight media sensation. Sweet dance moves, swoon-worthy vocals, and a picture-perfect romance with Disney star Selena Gomez solidified his success, but then came his turbulent late teens, a time of fast cars, mouthy remarks, and overall bad-boy behavior that tested the conviction of even his most die-hard “Beliebers.” But, lo and behold, the Biebs is now making a miraculous comeback, with apologetic appearances on Ellen, new number one singles, and a world tour, aptly titled Purpose. His Instagram followers exceed 67 million, his latest album is packed with party-starters (we unabashedly have “Sorry” on repeat), and all the while, his newsworthy tattoo tally continues to climb. For one Thursday night, don your purple hoodies, get ready to catch finger-lip kisses, and see if you still belieb.

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Cinema Al Fresco
July 1-Aug. 26. Little Italy, at the corner of High & Stiles Sts. Fri. Music 7 p.m., movie 9 p.m. Free. Few things say “Baltimore summer” quite like sitting in the parking lot of Da Mimmo Ristorante, watching old movies outside on a summer evening, amidst row homes and twinkling stars. Such is the beauty of Little Italy’s Cinema al Fresco open-air film series, now in its 17th season. On Friday nights through the end of August, gather some friends and unfold some lawn chairs for live music, free popcorn, and the main event, starting this month with the ever-comedic Moonstruck, followed by the likes of Diner, The Sound of Music, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

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Flicks From the Hill
July 7-Aug. 25. American Visionary Art Museum, 800 Key Hwy. 9 p.m. Free. 410-244-1900. As the sun begins to set, pack a blanket and picnic for this beloved Baltimore tradition on Federal Hill. For the 11th summer, AVAM drops a giant screen down the side of the museum on Thursday nights for harbor-side films beneath the stars. Snuggle up with friends, snack on eats from local food trucks, and catch some favorite flicks, like last year’s Labyrinth and Big Fish.

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Kimono and Obi
July 10-Jan. 15, 2017. The Baltimore Museum of Art, 10 Art Museum Dr. Wed.-Fri. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sat.-Sun. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Free. 443-573-1700. During Japan’s Edo period, the Land of the Rising Sun was kept in the fashion dark ages, as common folk were forbidden from wearing showy clothing, especially colors like purple and red. When the laws were lifted in 1868, the country was entering an industrial age, and with its newfound prosperity, citizens were once again free to flaunt fineries in their own personal style. Embroidered kimonos and embellished obi sashes became en vogue, which are now on display at the BMA.

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Baltimore Caribbean Carnival
July 9-10. Clifton Park, 2701 St. Lo Dr. Sat. 12-10 p.m., Sun. 12-9 p.m. Free. For the 35th year, the paths of Clifton Park will transform into a full-on fiesta during this annual celebration of Caribbean culture. Beginning with a party-starting parade on East 33rd Street, you can follow thousands of spectators as hundreds of colorful costumes, festive performers, and the sounds of soca and calypso musicians march for five full hours. Afterward, attend the two-day festival, with live music and entertainment, authentic food and drink, and arts and crafts until 9 or 10 p.m. Grab some jerk chicken, sip some summer wine, and saunter beneath the stilt dancers on your way to seeing the steel drums.

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Artscape
July 15-17. Mount Royal Avenue & Cathedral Street. Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.- 8 p.m. Free. 410-752-8632. In the middle of the month, Station North will transform into an otherworldly galaxy as Artscape returns for the 35th year with an all-new outer space theme. From iconic art cars to big name concerts (read: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Wyclef Jean), this weekend block party is the largest free arts festival in the U.S., with thousands of guests, dozens of food vendors, and hundreds of artists, musicians, and performers. It’s a Baltimore tradition not to miss.

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Baltimore Pride
July 23-24. Mount Vernon, Druid Hill Park, & other locations. Times vary. Free. 410-777-8145. With the LGBTQ community finally finding its place at the forefront of national conversation, there’s no better time to celebrate its achievements as well as acknowledge the road ahead. For an entire weekend, Baltimore will throw the largest event of its kind in the state, with an afternoon parade and evening street party in Mount Vernon, followed by an all-day festival in Druid Hill Park. Compete in a high-heel race down Cathedral, get your groove on in a streetwide dance party, and don your brightest colors at this big shebang.

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The Music of David Bowie
July 30. Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St. 7:30 p.m. $25-65. 410-783-8000. It was six months ago that Ziggy Stardust left this earth, but it’s safe to say that his legacy will not be forgotten. Through music, art, and fashion, David Bowie transcended definition—always moving forward, unafraid of taking risks or thinking outside of the box. For one night, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will honor the rock-and-roll superstar’s influence, joined by a full band.

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Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize Exhibition
To July 31. The Baltimore Museum of Art, 10 Art Museum Dr. Wed.-Fri. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sat.-Sun. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Free. 443-573-1700. In conjunction with our city arts festival, the BMA presents the 2016 finalists for the prestigious Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize. Highlighting some of the most talented artists in the region, the exhibit features the works of local visionaries like art activist organization FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture, painter Darcie Book, videographers Theo Anthony and Stephanie Barber, and photographers Eric Kruszewski, Christos Palios, and Larry Cook, whose work is pictured above. Explore the exhibit, and attend the award ceremony on July 9.