More than graffiti: Baltimore arts

For a city known more for its "Don't bother me, I'm crabby!" t-shirts than its cultural cognoscenti, it would be easy to assume that Baltimore's fine arts don't extend much further than Sisqo's "Thong Song" and purple Ravens face paint.

But dig deeper, and you will find that aside from ubiquitous pop songs parading the posterior and Sunday morning purple and black, Baltimore is home to an array of celebrated visual art, music and theater. For those new to the area, here are the basics of Charm City Culture 101:

The Baltimore Museum of Art

Located right in Hopkins' backyard, the Baltimore Museum of Art, which exhibits works by artists ranging from Rembrandt to Picasso, grants free admission to students. The most impressive wing of the museum, the Cone Collection, was donated by two wealthy unwed sisters, Claribel and Etta Cone. Under the tutelage of their friend, fellow Baltimorean Gertrude Stein, the Cone sisters began collecting contemporary art around the turn of the century and immediately befriended Pablo Picasso, who at the time was an impoverished young artist living in Paris. The sisters also developed a close friendship with Henri Matisse, another Parisian who is heavily featured in their collection.

Over the years, the Cone family became wealthier and wealthier through the textile industry, and the extra money manifested itself on the sisters' growing art collection. After Claribel passed away in 1929, Etta was given the sole responsibly of maintaining the collection, and was urged by museums such as New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art to bequeath the collection to a major established institution. Instead, Etta decided to bolster the art scene in the city she loved, and donated the collection to the relatively new Baltimore Museum of Art.

Today, the museum still derives much of its prestige from the Cone Collection -- which has been valued at around $1 billion -- but also features a contemporary wing that is home to works by Jasper Johns, Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol. The museum also has an outdoor sculpture garden, which hosts many concerts throughout the year and provides an aesthetically-pleasing walk to class for students living on the south side of campus.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

Founded in 1916, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, or BSO, became the country's first orchestra to be established as part of the municipal government. Though it was privatized in 1942, the orchestra maintained ties to the government -- in 1987, during Soviet perestroika, the BSO served as ambassador when it became the first American orchestra to tour the USSR in 11 years.

Just as the Baltimore Museum of Art reached apotheosis through the patronage of the Cone sisters, the BSO owes Joseph Meyerhoff for its similar rise to greatness. Meyerhoff -- another philanthropic Baltimorean who enjoyed supporting the arts -- became the president of the BSO in 1965, and shared most of his 18-year tenure with visionary musical director Sergiu Comissiona.

Meyerhoff and Maestro Comissiona's presence is still felt today (the BSO plays most of their shows at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, and Comissiona is now conductor laureate), yet the BSO is far from living in the past. In 1987, the orchestra won its first Grammy Award for a recording of cello concertos featuring acclaimed soloist Yo-Yo Ma.

While continually adding to their prolific discography, the orchestra will be back for its 88th season this fall, with musical director Yuri Temirkanov blending a score of performances with popular musicians to beloved classical favorites.

The Hippodrome Theatre (at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center)

Baltimore has always been a tough place for theater venues to stay afloat, and if walls could talk, those at the Hippodrome Theatre would most certainly concur. The beloved Baltimore mainstay reopened its curtains on Feb. 10, 2004, after having been closed since 1990. In the seven months since its opening, the Hippodrome has brought numerous Broadway shows to Eutaw Street, including The Phantom of the Opera, which opened on Aug. 11.

Since the Hippodrome Theatre's opening act on Nov. 23, 1914 -- which included jugglers and four elephants -- its history has been more depressing than King Lear.

The theater briefly closed during the Great Depression, and in 1949, the management decided that vaudeville was a thing of the past and that they would only show movies. A month later, due to suffering sales, they began doing vaudeville again, only to go back to movies full-time in 1951.

In 1964, the Hippodrome was turned back into a "legitimate theater," becoming the only venue of its kind in Baltimore. However, the theater had trouble attracting audiences during the '70s and '80s, and wound up playing mostly "blaxploitation" and x-rated films.

After a $65 million renovation financed by the Hippodrome Foundation, the state of Maryland, and media conglomerate Clear Channel, the Hippodrome Theatre at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center has returned, once again providing legitimate theater for the masses. Bringing a season full of its "Broadway in Baltimore" program -- slated to include Thoroughly Modern Millie, Oklahoma! and The Lion King -- the Hippodrome has created a haven for stage-starved Baltimoreans who thought they had witnessed the tragic denouement of the performing arts in Charm City.