While most students departed Charm City during the summer, those who remained were rewarded with a festival spanning several city blocks and a parking lot. The spacious fair was the 24th iteration of an annual event put on by the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts. Artscape ran from July 22 to July 24 and spanned Mt. Royal Street (just south of Penn Station) and large portions of the campuses of the Maryland Institute, College of Art (MICA) and the University of Baltimore.
Artscape started out as a relatively small festival put on by the Mayor's Advisory Committee on Art and Culture, which would later merge to form the present-day Artscape organization. Its humble beginnings as a place for artists to show their wares would expand into a festival consisting of artists, musicians, film-makers, trinket dealers and food stands. The festival now works closely with the Baltimore Museum, local artists and colleges like MICA and the University of Baltimore. WBAL (an NBC-affiliate) has also recently signed on as a television and radio sponsor. This year Artscape welcomed the fashion community with a collection of local designers showing off their wares on the runway. The designers included 79 Clothing and the Hardy Project. Designs from the Edge, whose Oh, Said Rose! store is located in Hamden, were also present in the fashion show.
My Artscape experience commenced at the DJ Culture Stage, located only a few yards from the busy traffic of Charles Street. The sounds of motor vehicles were drowned out by the retro dance music of Baltimore's own Afrobeat Society. The group, formed by saxophone player Chris Pumphrey, consisted of around 20 people: a group of brass players, a cadre of female dancers and the strong vocals of Tom Boram. After the concert, I toured the artisan tents, stopping every so often to peer at the paintings, sculptures, hand-made jewelery, clothing and metal works of local artists. I found the Maryland Film Festival tent and watched some short films by local artists along with the premiere of Don Hertzfeldt's new animated film, The Meaning of Life. I also watched part of a fashion show before proceeding onto the food area.
Even though Artscape is primarily an art show, food took up a sizable amount of space at the festival. Because of this, some critics accuse Artscape of giving art a back seat to its food offerings. A group of such critics organized Foodscape, a satirical show that showed art and had no food.
After my experience at Artscape, however, I felt critics were treating the festival unfairly, since food is just another great aspect of the overall festival experience. I enjoyed the large selection of food ranging from classic hot dogs to exotic cuisine. There was the usual fare you'd expect at an open-air festival, like Polish sausages, fried dough and Italian ice.
I found myself enjoying pieces of fried alligator and sipping a metal mug's worth of Wild Bill's Olde Fashion Soda as I listened to a trio of disgruntled graphics artists performing on the University of Baltimore stage. The band, Double Dagger, consisted of MICA students and played hardcore punk rock while screaming about the troubles of graphic art.
The famous R&B band Boyz II Men performed on the massive Sun/Live! Stage on the 1400 block of Cathedral Street. They drew a large crowd, as did other notable performers such as Shaggy, Busy in Green and Stand of Time. Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley's band, O'Malley's March, performed for Artscapers on Saturday. It was rumored to be one of O'Malley's last performances as the pressures of running for Maryland Governor threaten to end his Celtic rock career.
Next year will be the 25th anniversary of Artscape, and Tracy Baskerville, the communications director of the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, says that organizers are looking to do something special. Although she was scant on details, she did suggest that certain new successful trends in Artscape are going to be expanded upon. The DJ Culture Stage, which was added this year to make a total of four performance stages, will definitely stay. In addition, due to concerns that the festival lacked activities for kids, the children's section will continue to expand.
According to Baskerville, at its core, Artscape still sticks to its original roots. "It's about being able to visit the artist market and talking to the artist about their wares," she said. "Whether you are looking for paintings or jewelery or sculptures, you get to talk to the artists and buy original art."
Her sentiments mirror what I felt Artscape does best: It provides a picture of the eclectic art community that has thrived in Baltimore for years, all in a fun summer festival environment.
