BmoreArt

BmoreArt’s Picks presents the best weekly art openings, events, and performances happening in Baltimore and surrounding areas. For a more comprehensive perspective, check the BmoreArt Calendar page, which includes ongoing exhibits and performances, and is updated on a daily basis.

To submit your calendar event, email us at [email protected]!

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Visit the Walters the Thursday before Valentine’s Day to express your love of art. Drop a paper heart by your favorite piece, take a photo and tag it with #HeartsforArt on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Once again, the Walters Art Museum joins museums across the U.S. in celebrating Valentine’s Day by inviting visitors to share their love and connect with great works of art.

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Creative Alliance
3134 Eastern Avenue : 21224

Dance magic, dance! Dress like a goblin, sing along, play games, sip Goblin King drink specials, and win stuff! We’re making Labyrinth a wild interactive movie night!

Bowie look alike contest at intermission! And maybe ball juggling…

Your Ridiculous Hosts:
Jen Marsh, The Grand Vendeuse of Colette
Heather Keating, Marketing Maven of Creative Alliance

7:30pm Mingle | 8pm Film | $12, $9 mbrs. | +$3 at the door

$5 Ultimate Fan Packs Available at the Door
Fan Packs include everything you need to “play” the Labyrinth movie game.
Which we made up…

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Peterson Hall, Room 104
McDaniel College : Westminster

McDaniel College hosts a series of lectures by visiting artists during spring 2017.

Ryan Hoover, a Baltimore artist who teaches in the interdisciplinary sculpture department at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), speaks on Thursday, Feb. 9, and mixed-media artist Amber Robles-Gordon, whose artwork represents the female experience, discusses her work on Thursday, March 23.

Both lectures, which are free and open to the public, take place at 7 p.m. in Peterson Hall, room 104, at McDaniel College, 2 College Hill, Westminster, Md.

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 Center for the Arts
Towson University : Towson

This exhibition was inspired by a recent show at the Delaware Art Museum entitled Dark Humor: African American Art from the University Museums, University of Delaware curated by Tiffany Barber. Barber explored the works of black artists who employ “satire, visual puns, farce, absurdity, kitsch, and the bizarre,” to “upend social and aesthetic conventions.”

Works by both Scott and Williams were included in that exhibition. Scott is a Baltimore native and BFA graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art (MFA from the Instituto Allende in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico); Williams earned his MFA at MICA (BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design).

These artists address issues of racism, violence and stereotypes in their works. Scott is an interdisciplinary artist renowned especially for her free-form beaded sculptures. Williams is a painter whose work is driven by narrative and informed by the history of art. Scott is represented by Goya Contemporary, Baltimore Maryland; Williams is represented by David and Schweitzer Contemporary in New York City and Paul Kotula Projects in Detroit.

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 Flashpoint DC
916 G Street, NW : Washington DC

CulturalDC is pleased to present Selfie: Me, Myself and Us by the Sparkplug Collective from February 11 through March 11 at Flashpoint Gallery. The exhibition features innovative work by eight local artists who will examine our cultural obsession with selfies and our narcissistic desire to record and manipulate digital representations of ourselves.

Do selfies represent the downfall of our self-absorbed culture? Are we drowning our deeper selves in a shallow, mesmerizing pool of our own digital reflections? Ultimately, the truth is much more nuanced and complex. People mold their digital identities through selfies, carefully constructing alternate worlds where appearance is more important than reality. Artists have been engaging in this same act of self-portraiture for thousands of years, since paint first appeared on cave walls. In Selfie, the Sparkplug Collective will explore concepts of identity, transformation, and personal deception through painting, sculpture, mixed media, photography, and a site-specific performance.

Image credit: Michael Booker, Etch-A-Sketch Bust, 2016. Oil on woven canvas, 30”x40”

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Corcoran School of Art
500 17th Street, NW : Washington DC

The George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA) and Gallery 102 presents a re-imagined version of the internationally successful original work, “Songs of My People,” which debuted in 1992, looking at African American life through the eyes of 50 African American photographers.

Under the direction of Imani M. Cheers, assistant professor of media and public affairs, the re-imagined work shows a positive, balanced portrayal of the African American community, especially during a time of turbulent social and political unrest.

On Friday, February 10, 2017, Cheers will begin the celebration with a discussion about the lasting impact of this iconic photography project at the Corcoran School of Art and Design. The panel will include Ruddy Roye, Time Magazine’s Instagram Photographer of the Year; Dr. Rhea Combs, curator of film & photography, National Museum of African American History and Culture; Dr. Deborah Willis, university professor and chair of the photography department & imaging at New York University; and Dr. Michael Cheers, one of the original editors and photographers and coordinator of the photojournalism program at San Jose State University. The talk will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Hammer Auditorium, with a reception to follow.

WHEN: 
Exhibit:
Monday, February 6, 2017 – Friday, March 3, 2017
Celebration: 
Friday, February 10, 2017
6:30 p.m.

WHERE: 
Exhibit:
The George Washington University
Smith Hall of Art
Gallery 102
801 22nd Street, NW
Washington, D.C.
Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro (Blue, Orange and Silver lines)

Celebration:
The George Washington University
Corcoran School of Arts and Design
Hammer Auditorium
500 17th Street NW
Washington, D.C.

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Prince George’s African American Museum + Cultural Center
4519 Rhode Island Avenue : North Brentwood

Chocolate Cities Exhibition Series:
Exhibit Curator: Martina Dodd
Program Curator: Chocolate Redux
Music by DJ Underdog of Okayafrica

Chocolate Cities Group Exhibition
February 8, 2017-September 26, 2017
Chocolate Cities Group Exhibition is a multidisciplinary art exhibition highlighting the changing cultural and economic landscape of Washington, DC and Prince George’s County, MD through the eyes of local artists. Through an examination of the history of Chocolate Cities, and an interrogation of current challenges such as economic segregation and gentrification as a form of cultural castration, this exhibition will open up a discourse on historical legacy as well as methods of sustainability in the face of a rapidly changing cultural and economic landscape.

Featured artists: Tim Davis, Lloyd Foster, Lionel Frazier, Sheila Crider, Michael Booker, and Larry Cook.

Sacred Cows – February 8, 2017-May 19, 2017
Imar Hutchins’ portraits are not only adorned in elaborate jewelry and colorful symbolism, but also cloaked in honor. Inspired by the reverence bestowed upon cows in India, Hutchins’ latest series of collage and mixed media work – Sacred Cows – offers unique commentary on the treatment of Black people in America. Through the blending of species, cultures, and belief systems, the artist calls attention to the parallels and paradoxes of sacred cattle and exploited chattel.

http://www.pgaamcc.org/upcoming-exhibition-chocolate-cities-exhibition-series/

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Baltimore Museum of Art
10 Art Museum Drive : 21218

Participate in a lively discussion with Baltimore-based artists and entrepreneurs. Chat with panelists, network during a reception and vendor fair, and participate in a free workshop to strengthen your business skills creatively.

Noon–5 p.m.
Vendor Fair

12:30–1:45 p.m.
Finding Your Niche: Storytelling Workshop
Explore storytelling using archetypes and learn how to develop an authentic story that communicates your brand and connects to customer’s purchasing decisions and brand loyalty. Space is limited. To RSVP, contact Jessica Braiterman at [email protected] or 443-573-1836.

2–3 p.m.
Panel Discussion & Reception
Hear from Myrtis Bedolla of Galerie Myrtis, Pierre and Jamyla Bennu of Exit the Apple and Oyin Handmade, and Jay Jacksonrao, CEO of TNP Studios on the unique ways they develop innovative projects. After the panel discussion, there will be a reception catered by Dovecote Café.

Photo: Afro-punk jewelry by Sarah Juanita available at the vendor fair.

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Gormely Gallery
Notre Dame of Maryland University : 21210

Gormley Gallery Proudly presents Rania Hassan: Paths, featuring an installation of knitting and paintings.

Rania Hassan combines knitting and painting to weave sculptural stories about our connections to time, place, and circumstance. Paths explores the delicate threads of directions presented, journeys chosen, and the things we could have said or done before it was too late. All paths lead you here.

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Center Stage Pearlstone Theater
700 North Calvert Street : 21202

The Baltimore Chapter of Jack and Jill Presents

The Ground On Which We Stand:
An Exploration of Black Excellence

All tickets $15 Proceeds will benefit the Jack & Jill Foundation of America, Inc. and Franklin Square Elementary Middle School in Baltimore City.

Seating is General Admission

Questions? Please contact Center Stage’s Box Office [email protected]

Jack & Jill Baltimore Chapter: http://jackandjillbaltomd.org 
Jack & Jill Foundation:  http://jackandjillfoundation.org 
Franklin Square Elementary Middle School: http://www.franklinsquareschool.org/

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Looking Ahead: Reserve your ticket to our artist talk!

Artists as Culture Producers: Sharon Louden, William Powhida, and Cara Ober in Conversation

Join us on Thursday, March 9 at 6:30 pm with NY-based artist and author Sharon Louden. After the international success of Living and Sustaining a Creative Life: Essays by 40 Working Artists, Louden returns to Baltimore with NY-based artist William Powhida to discuss her newest book Artist as Culture Producer. The informal discussion will focus on Culture Producer’s concept: the value of artists who promote the work of other artists. The talk will include BmoreArt’s Cara Ober, one of the 40 featured artists in the book.

This lecture is free and will be followed by a reception at Motor House for guests. There are 150 seats available, so reserve yours today – here.