Black History Month in 2023 coincides with the 50th anniversary of the birth of hip hop, which was celebrated at Sunday night’s Grammy Awards. That intersection is also being celebrated in Baltimore. Between now and March 18, 2023, Tahir Hemphill’s Rap Research Lab will occupy the Center for Art, Design & Visual Culture at University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), turning the gallery into an active research laboratory and studio focused on data visualization of rap culture and history. Research projects, both from Hemphill and students, will be exhibited in the gallery.
For the third year, Arts for Learning Maryland is presenting Blacktastic: A Children’s Festival of Black History & Culture starting February 23. What started during the pandemic when many children were stuck at home, has continued with participation growing by more than 30,000 children last year. The reason — the production is top notch, the artistry (all Maryland artists) is excellent and offers children an inspired and interactive way to learn about renowned Black Marylanders. The performances, workshops, and the activity book, are designed to build pride of place among young people.
You can check out descriptions of the workshops, meet the artists, and register here! And because teaching Black History should not be limited to one month, teachers can have access to the recorded content and activity book throughout the rest of the year, integrating the content at their own pace.
Beyond the confines of Black History Month and back to hip hop, the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) will open a groundbreaking exhibition that explores the conceptual, cultural, and aesthetic attributes that have made hip hop a global phenomenon and established it as the artistic canon of our time. Opening on April 5, 2023, The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century features more than 90 works of art by some of today’s most important and celebrated artists, including Derrick Adams, Mark Bradford, Lauren Halsey, Julie Mehretu, Adam Pendleton, Tschabalala Self, Hank Willis Thomas, and Carrie Mae Weems, as well as several others with ties to Baltimore and St. Louis, such as Devin Allen, Monica Ikegwu, Amani Lewis, Anthony Olubunmi Akinbola, Damon Davis, and Jen Everett.
The Culture is a ticketed exhibition co-organized by the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) and the Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM), and is accompanied by an expansive catalog with contributions from more than 50 artists, writers, scholars, curators, and arts leaders.
In other news, The Ambassador Theater renovation on Liberty Heights Avenue in the Howard Park neighborhood is making progress. Arts Space, the Minneapolis-based developers undertaking the project, held a meeting last week at the Forest Park Senior Center to report to the community and provide information about the project team. From their website, Art Space reports: “The dream to restore the Ambassador Theater has been long in the making…In the spring of 2018, Artspace was invited to Baltimore in partnership with local partner, Healthy Neighborhoods Inc., by the Mayor and leaders from the Howard Park, Forest Park, and other northwest Baltimore neighborhoods to assess the Ambassador Theater's potential for redevelopment as(sic) arts and cultural community center.”
The Northwest area of the city greatly needs such a hub, which is expected to be a tremendous resource as a home for performing and visual arts. Given its location, it will have regional benefits drawing artists and audiences from Baltimore City and beyond. The venue’s scheduled completion is slated for 2024-25.
All my best,
Jeannie
