BmoreArt’s Sixth Issue and Release Party: Photo Essay by Jill Fannon
I don’t care what anybody says: Baltimore has amazing style and knows how to party. In other places, the shoes and the cocktails are more expensive and that’s fine, but this does not necessarily correlate to having a good time. One of the main reasons for creating a beautiful art magazine is to celebrate the people who make our city incomparably awesome, to contradict the stereotypes that persist in mainstream media, and to prove that Baltimore is full of creative and smart people who prefer authenticity over wealth, who want to live a life that is experientally rich, and insist on being seen and heard on their own terms.
BmoreArt hosted our sixth magazine release party on Thursday, November 29 at Union Craft Brewing for a new issue devoted to the theme of home. As in the past, the event location and dress code reflected the theme: the comforts of home, complete with beer, pizza, and creative athleisure for those who wanted to up the ante. Although we could only give out a few style prizes (and there were several fashion designers present at the event so don’t feel bad if you didn’t win) it was a treat to celebrate ourselves in giant fuzzy sweaters, crazy athletic tights and pajamas, onesies and sweat pants, and to appreciate the beautiful sartorial edge that so many people brought to the event.
Six hundred magazines were distributed in one night and it feels so gratifying to know they are now out in the world. Our publication does not fit comfortably into a commercial context, nor does it square up with the contemporary art book world; rather it sits on the cusp of exhibition catalogue, collaborative artwork, commercial magazine, and community resource, and it deserves a release party as unique as it is.
We love our team of artists, writers, photographers, and designers and are so excited to present all the different ways they explored the theme of home. Many thanks to photographer Jill Fannon, who shot a photo essay on fiber artists in the current issue and stepped in last minute as our event photographer after our initial party was postponed because of snow. Thank you, Jill, for making us look as good (or better) in your images as we do in real life, for capturing all sorts of moments, and for really seeing us.
More thank you’s: to Union Craft Brewing for your generosity and delicious beer, for Well Crafted Kitchen for your vast array of yummy pizza, to Suzy Kopf for event planning, to an entire crew of fantastic volunteers (thank you !), to all of our advertisers for helping us to pay for insanely expensive paper, to the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation who believes in what we do, to Patrick Rife and Pixilated for the amazing photo booths, and to everyone who contributed their time, energy, and creativity to this publication! (Cara Ober)
More on the publication: The BmoreArt Journal of Art + Ideas Issue 06: Home features beautiful, creative homes from all over Baltimore and the artists who live in them. It also features a collaborative essay on growing up in East Baltimore by writer Kondwani Fidel and photographer Devin Allen. It calls attention to artists like Erick Antonio Benitez, Oletha DeVane, and Zoë Charlton, who explore the history and politics of home in their work, and architect Steve Ziger, whose impact on Baltimore’s built environment has been inspired by the buildings and art he has encountered here.
This issue includes a fashion shoot of five up-and-coming fiber artists who make wearable sculpture, a conversation with collector Schwanda Rountree, and a discussion of historic black culinary traditions with Chef David Thomas of Ida B’s Table. It features interviews with Homegrown Baltimore, Waller Gallery’s Joy Davis, Afro House Concert Series, and the Press Press team, with profiles on Evergreen Houseguests resident artists and Ed Berlin of The Ivy bookshop. Most importantly, this publication explores what home means to different residents, both transplants who have chosen Baltimore as their adopted home and those born here, and how this concept resonates.
Writers featured in the newest issue include Lexie Mountain, Mark Alice Durant, Angela N. Carroll, Kondwani Fidel, Lisa Snowden-McCray, Rebekah Kirkman, Michael Downs, Christine Manganaro, Sam Sessa, Maura Callahan, Michael Farley, and Bret McCabe with photos by Devin Allen, Justin Tsucalas, Jill Fannon, Kelvin Bulluck, Dave “Wavey” Anderson III, Theresa Keil, E. Brady Robinson, Rachel Rock, Joseph Hyde, and others.
