For those of us working in arts and culture, September is an especially busy time. School is back in session, and the whirlwind that comes with a new season of performances and exhibitions is well underway. As we roll up our sleeves and dig into our essential work, the need for opportunities to learn from and support one another is great.
Recognizing this need and upholding our belief that our sector is stronger together, the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance (GBCA) is pleased to announce the creation of the Baltimore Informal Educators Roundtable (BIER).
BIER is a community of individual professionals and those affiliated through their organization with GBCA. This community of practice will provide a space in which educators can network with each other, share ideas, grow their own practice, and explore areas of commonalities in their work.
The group will meet approximately six times per year for networking and learning experiences, including workshops, informal lunch and talk sessions, and invitations to cultural events. With this group, GBCA will collect resources and make them available to all members through a shared Google Drive. For more information about BIER, its principles, and its launch events, please click here.
GBCA joins Baltimore Center Stage in welcoming their new Artistic Director, Stevie Walker-Webb, to Baltimore. Walker-Webb is a director, playwright, and educator who was recently nominated for a Tony Award for directing the Broadway production of Ain’t No Mo’, which he also directed at the Public Theater. His work has been commissioned by the National Black Theatre and the American Civil Liberties Union, and he has directed productions with the Paper Mill Playhouse, the New Group, Classic Stage Company, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Walker-Webb is the founder of Hundreds of Thousands, an advocacy organization that uses the arts to raise awareness about the treatment of mentally ill incarcerated people in solitary confinement.
A lecturer at Harvard University, Walker-Webb is the recipient of the Princess Grace Award, the Dramatists Guild’s Lily Award, an Obie Award, and a 2050 fellowship at New York Theatre Workshop. No stranger to Baltimore, he directed Our Town, The Folks at Home, and the past season’s Life is a Dream at Baltimore Center Stage.
Have a great week,
Jeannie
P.S. This week, we are reflecting on September 11 and the many losses of that day and beyond. That day changed our lives and our history forever, and left an indelible mark on our hearts.
