Reading

BMOREART’S PICKS: BALTIMORE ART OPENINGS, GALLERIES, AND EVENTS JUNE 18-24

Previous Story
Article Image

Steve Ziger Brings the Intersection of Art, Archi [...]

Next Story
Article Image

Pride 2019 in Photos

This week: Sondheim Artscape Prize Finalist Talks at the Walters, Focacciatown: An operetta by Lex Brown at the BMA, AIRBORNE Exhibition Weekend hosted by the Merriweather District, Barbara Bourland in conversation with Cara Ober at Greedy Reads, Elegant Rendezvous with Joyce J. Scott at the Peale, The Monument Quilt Project at Lewis Museum, The BIG Show Opening + Performance at Creative Alliance, and Olga Presents A Stand-Up Show or The Alibi Play at the Baltimore Theatre Project.

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.

Image result for summer heat gif

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

We’ll send you our top stories of the week, selected event listings, and our favorite calls for entry — right to your inbox every Tuesday.



The Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize Finalists Talk

Thursday, June 20th • 6:30pm + Saturday, June 22nd • 2pm

Walters Art Museum
600 North Charles Street : 21201

The Walters Art Museum, in collaboration with the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts, is proud to present the 14th-annual Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize Finalists Exhibition, and this talk will gather the artists together to discuss their installations.

The exhibition showcases the work of seven finalists in this prestigious competition, which awards a $25,000 fellowship to assist in furthering the career of a visual artist or visual artist collaborators living and working in the greater Baltimore region. This year’s finalists are Negar Ahkami, Akea Brionne Brown, Cheeny Celebrado-Royer, Schroeder Cherry, Phylicia Ghee, Jackie Milad and Stephanie Williams.



Focacciatown: An operetta by Lex Brown

Thursday, June 20th • 7pm

Baltimore Museum of Art
10 Museum Drive : 21218

FREE

Presented in conjunction with Commons Collaboration: Get Your Life!

Focacciatown

Taking place in a medieval future and set in a trendy fast-casual bakery on a military base, this melodrama collapses large-scale political issues like national defense, border control, and AI with lifestyle branding, nuclear family, and a destabilized news cycle. Music composed by Lex Brown and Molly Joyce. Performed by Lex Brown, Sam Garrett, & Atticus Hebson.

Lex Brown is an artist, musician, writer, and essay contributor to the publication accompanying Commons Collaboration: Get Your Life!. Her work plays with the scale of personal and emotional experience in relation to large scale systems of social and economic organization. She has performed and exhibited work at the the New Museum, the High Line, the International Center of Photography, and The Kitchen in New York; REDCAT Theater and The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles; and at the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway. Brown holds degrees from Yale University (MFA) and Princeton University (BA). Consciousness, a survey of Brown’s work spanning the past 8 years, is newly available from GenderFail. Her first paperback work in fiction, My Wet Hot Drone Summer, a sci-fi erotic novella that takes on surveillance and social justice, is available online. This April through June she was a resident artist at Recess Sessions in Brooklyn.



AIRBORNE: The MD AIR Program Exhibition Weekend 

Friday, June 21st – Sunday, June 23rd

2 Merriweather
10960 Grantchester Way : Columbia

Join us for AIRBORNE, the MD AIR exhibition weekend, June 21-23rd. Explore 20,000 sq ft of immersive art created by four nationally acclaimed artists, for one weekend only. Join us on Friday for the opening night with food and libations. Sign up for a kids free play and artist discussions on Saturday and Sunday. Learn more about the MD AIR program and its exciting contributions to the future of the Merriweather District. Mingle with the three MD AIR artists and learn how each one is disrupting the country’s current art landscape.

For more information on the artists, the program as well as updates on community programming please visit www.merriweatherdistrict.com/artists-in-residence/artists-in-residence.


Barbara Bourland in conversation with Cara Ober
Friday, June 21st • 7:30 pm

Greedy Reads
1744 Aliceanna Street : 21231

Barbara Bourland, author of I’LL EAT WHEN I’M DEAD (and Baltimore local!), will be in conversation with Cara Ober, Founding Editor and Publisher of BMore Art, about her new book, FAKE LIKE ME.

Please note: Barbara will be in conversation with Nate Brown on Tuesday, June 18 at 7 pm at 
The Ivy Bookshop, 6080 Falls Road

Read Ober’s book review here.

After a fire decimates her loft, including the seven billboard-size paintings for her next show, a young, no-name painter is left with an impossible task: recreate her art in three months—or ruin her fledgling career. Homeless and desperate, she begs her way into an exclusive retreat in upstate New York famous for its outrageous revelries and glamorous artists, and notorious as the place where brilliant young artist Carey Logan drowned in the lake.

As the young painter works obsessively in Carey’s former studio, uncovers strange secrets and starts to fall—hard and fast—for Carey’s mysterious boyfriend, it’s as if she’s taking her place. But one thought shadows her every move: What really happened to Carey Logan?


Elegant Rendezvous: Joyce J. Scott
Friday, June 21st • 7:30pm

The Peale
225 North Holliday Street : 21202

The Peale is thrilled to launch its new performance and storytelling series, Elegant Rendezvous, with the legendary Joyce J. Scott. Inspired by an 1814 advertisement for the Peale, where Rembrandt Peale called his museum “an elegant Rendezvous for taste, curiosity and leisure,” this new series features Baltimore area creators and innovators sharing their work and stories.

Joyce J. Scott, world-renowned artist, educator and vocalist, launches the new program to benefit the Peale. Born and raised in Baltimore, Joyce is a descendant of African Americans, Native Americans, and Scots, and pulls her inspiration from three generations of artists and storytellers. A Baker Artist Awardee and MacArthur Fellow, Joyce is well-known for combining her variety of artistic skills with social commentary on issues such as racism, classism, sexism, violence, and cultural stereotypes.

Join us from 8pm on Friday, June 21; doors 7:30pm; VIP champagne toast with Joyce Scott at 7pm.
Tickets ($50 GA, $100 7pm Champagne Toast) to benefit the Peale.


Monument Quilt Project
Saturday, June 22nd • 2pm

The Reginald F. Lewis Museum
830 East Pratt Street : 21202

Quilting can be a source of healing to various communities including survivors of rape and abuse. Learn about the Monument Quilt Project that documented the stories of these survivors with red quilt squares shared in public spaces including the National Mall (May 31- June 2).
In conjunction with Linda Day Clark: The Gee’s Bend Photographs

Included with Museum Admission.

Let us know you are coming.



The BIG Show | Opening Reception + Performance

Saturday, June 22nd • 6-8pm / 8pm on stage

The Creative Alliance
3134 Eastern Avenue : 21224

WHAT IS THE BIG SHOW?
The BIG Show, little BIG Show, and BIG Show on Stage is our annual members’ exhibition extravaganza! ANY member can contribute one work of art in this floor-to-ceiling salon-style spectacular and variety show event! All ages welcome! Be a part of the biggest BIG Show yet!!

The BIG Show proudly displays over 175 works of art by professional and novice artists alike, all of whom are current members supporting the Creative Alliance. An annual favorite for audiences and artists, The Big Show is an opportunity for Creative Alliance members to show off their visual creations and purchase affordable artworks from fellow community members. EVERY Creative Alliance member is encouraged to submit one work of art, including 2-D work under 3-feet wide, pedestal or shelf-oriented sculpture, or film/video in a DVD format. Artwork can be in any media.

Members of all ages are encouraged to participate in this members’ exhibition, including youth from 10-17, who will be featured in The little BIG Show. Youth can participate for only $5 (membership for adults start at $40) and can submit one work of art to be displayed near the front of the gallery.

The Big Show on Stage is back for another year of the wildest, wackiest variety show in B’more where the performers are…you! All performance forms and styles are welcome (so long as they are suitable for audiences of ALL AGES). The Big Show on Stage is a chance for our members to show off their talent in front of the Creative Alliance community on one of the best stages in the city. Members are allowed to perform in groups with non-members. Groups MUST have at least one Creative Alliance member.

If you can do it on the stage, you can do it tonight! We welcome musicians, singers, clowns, jugglers, poets, contortionists, comedians, full band performances, and all of the other amazing talents you may have to share.

Don’t miss this opportunity to show off your hidden talents, purchase completely unique and affordable works of art, and support Baltimore’s premier multi-disciplinary arts organization through your continued membership.

Artwork drop-off is only 3 days long from Thursday, June 13th – Saturday, June 15th – so begin working on your masterpiece today, sign-up online for the stage, and join us on June 22nd for the opening reception and performance events!

If you have questions regarding The Big Show on Stage, contact Josh Kohn, Performance Director at [email protected] 

For more information regarding The BIG Show and little BIG Show exhibitions, contact Thomas James, Visual Arts Curator at 410.276.1651 x 216 or [email protected].

Must be an active Creative Alliance Member to register
CLICK HERE TO BECOME A MEMBER


Olga Presents A Stand-Up Show or The Alibi Play
Saturday, June 22nd • 8pm

Baltimore Theatre Project
45 West Pratt Street : 21201

Jen and Pam – aka indie comedy duo OLGA – are super psyched to perform for you a brand new night of stand up comedy!!!

Well, they would be psyched – except Jen’s boyfriend just broke up with her in a frozen yogurt shop. And Pam is unemployed and unable to buy a Bitcoin. And something really, really bad happened just a few hours ago and it might just change both of their lives forever.

Half stand up, half theatre, this new play from the minds of OLGA comedy kaleidoscopes reality, fantasy, and friendship to figure out what it means to be a truly Good Person.

This performance is supported in part by the Maryland State Arts Council (msac.org).

About the performers: OLGA is a Baltimore-based indie comedy duo comprised of Jen Diamond and Pam Hugi. Formed in 2014, OLGA performs long-form improv, original sketches, and duo-stand up. OLGA has performed and taught workshops up and down the East Coast. They both love their moms a lot. www.olgacomedy.com

Showtime:
June 22 @ 8pm 

Tickets:
Pay-What-You-Can
(Suggested Amount: $5 – $25)

Please click below to purchase tickets.

Get Tickets

Related Stories
Baltimore news updates from independent & regional media

Applications open for BMA JJC Residency, a Harborplace obituary, John Waters wins ACE Award, Jacob Kainen documentary, Dalila Scruggs named Augusta Savage Curator of African American Art at SAAM, Junius Wilson carves a backyard masterpiece, William H. Johnson exhibition at SAAM, Kreeger Museum 30th

The best weekly art openings, events, and calls for entry happening in Baltimore and surrounding areas.

Maryland Muse at the Goldstein Treasury Building, Makini performance at UMBC CIRCA, Marjuan Canady screens her film at Motor House, 'Black Art in the Absence of Light' documentary screening at The Driskell Center, Through Our Eyes exhibition opening and reception at The Walters, and more!

Baltimore news updates from independent & regional media

Performance art at the BMA, GBCA honors Kevin Brown, Women's History Month events at the Portrait Gallery, the Rubys return, Joyce J. Scott is a "must see" exhibition, Jinji Chocolate, ...

The best weekly art openings, events, and calls for entry happening in Baltimore and surrounding areas.

This Week: Levester Williams in conversation with Sheila Gaskins and Savannah Knoop at UMBC CADVC, Creatives in the Garden at Stem&Vine, Bill Schmidt, Annette Sauermann, and Madeleine Dietz at C. Grimaldis Gallery, Ornamenta, and more!