Arts & Culture
Fall Arts Preview: Can’t-Miss Cultural Events to Experience in Baltimore This Season
Over the next few months, brand-new seasons of cultural programming begin again at venues all across the city—bringing with them fresh exhibitions, plays, performances, and much more.
The year begins to slow with the arrival of autumn, but the same cannot be said for the local arts scene. Over the next few months, brand-new seasons of cultural programming begin again at both small and large venues all across Baltimore, bringing with them fresh exhibitions, plays, performances, and much more—altogether showcasing the bona fide abundance of our local creative community.
Make the most of your fall by attending a few of the events featured in our September issue’s Fall Arts Preview. But don’t stop there—there are so many incredible offerings this time of year, we couldn’t fit all of them in. Long live the local arts!
9/6-10/11: ALL WATER HAS A PERFECT MEMORY
Curated by Beat arts-and-culture editor Teri Henderson, and featuring works by local and international artists Fleesie Hubbard, Jamilla Okubo, and Jessica Whittingham, this exhibition explores how water represents transformation, creativity, and spirituality across the Black diaspora. Don’t miss the opening reception on Friday September 6 from 7-10 p.m. Current Space, 421 N. Howard St. Sat. 1-5 p.m. Free.
9/14: LOVE GROOVE FESTIVAL
In 2017, a new arts festival was born in Baltimore that has since grown into a beloved annual tradition worth attending not just for its impressive lineup of dozens of local musicians, artists, and other craftspeople, but also its mission—as its name implies—to bring the city good vibes. Best of all, it’s free to the public, with its founder, multitalented local musician John Tyler, ensuring access for all ages. This year, it begins with a Bike Party ride to boot. Robert C. Marshall Park, 1329 Pennsylvania Ave. 12-7 p.m. Free-$30.
9/20-10/13: JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE
The Baltimore August Wilson Celebration, an unprecedented collaboration among the local theater community, began earlier this year as the brainchild of Chesapeake Shakespeare founder Lesley Malin. Now through 2027, several troupes, from Arena Players to Everyman Theater, will perform the complete American Century Cycle by the festival’s namesake playwright, who candidly captures the African-American experience through each of these 10 plays. In this, the second show, follow the story of Herald Loomis as he searches for his peace and identity. Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, 7 S. Calvert St. Thurs.-Sat. Times vary. $31-69.
9/21: THE HFSTIVAL
For Baltimoreans of a certain age, three little letters, HFS, bring back a slew of memories from when the region’s beloved alt-rock radio station, 99.1 FM, was the place for alternative music. It also hosted its annual music festival, drawing the biggest names of the day, like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against the Machine, and more. Now, after nearly 20 years, the HFStival is ready to rock again, this time at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. Expect throwback bands like Bush and Incubus, plus more recent indie acts like The Postal Service and Death Cab For Cutie. Nationals Park, 1500 S. Capitol St. S.E., Washington, D.C. 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. $150-250.
9/21: YO-YO MA + JONATHON HEYWARD
Call it a duet for the ages. For one night only, the world-famous, Grammy Award-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma will take to the Meyerhoff stage to kick off the new season of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, performing alongside maestro Jonathon Heyward, as well as surprise guests and student performers from OrchKids. Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St. 8 p.m. Prices vary.
9/26-11/30: WALK ON BY
You might not know it, but one of Baltimore’s official sister cities is all the way across the pond in the Netherlands. Since 1985, Rotterdam and Baltimore have shared a cultural cross-promotion, and now a new Creative Alliance exhibition aims to explore that relationship even further, delving into the diverse stories of Black artists from both historic industrial port cities, including local photographer Schaun Champion and painter Charles Wallace III. Curated by visual arts director (and Waller Gallery founder) Joy Davis, it aims to be a one-of-a-kind opportunity for creative exchange. Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave. Fri.-Sat. 12-6 p.m. Free.
9/27-29: THE BALTIMORE BOOK FESTIVAL
Baltimore has long been “the city that reads,” and for one long weekend, that literary heritage is on full display during the annual Baltimore Book Festival, hosted by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts in partnership with Waverly Main Street, Red Emma’s bookstore, and Peabody Heights Brewery. Celebrate the rich local literary scene by exploring past and present authors, witnessing live discussions, participating in activities, and more. Waverly Main St. Sat. 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Sun. 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
10/5-6: BOPA OPEN STUDIO TOUR
Once a year, an opportunity arises to experience the local art scene in a way like no other. For one fall weekend, the city’s Open Studio Tour takes art lovers on a sneak peek of more than 100 studios and showrooms run by a variety of Baltimore artists—from painters, photographers, and sculptors to gallery owners. Hosted by the School 33 Art Center, it’s a highly anticipated citywide event with a two-day open-door policy, allowing the public to simply pop in and pull back the curtain on our city talents at work. Locations and times vary. Free.
10/13-8/31/2025: GOOD SPORTS: THE WISDOM & FUN OF FAIR PLAY
Is there anything more magical than when a new exhibition opens up at AVAM? This Federal Hill institution is known for its one-of-a-kind art collection and exhibits that deeply explore our shared humanity. In this sprawling new show—what they call one of their “mega” exhibits, up through late next year—the museum turns its attention toward an unlikely subject: sports. Across a wide range of works by both local and global visionary artists, it gets to the heart of our universal enjoyment of play, while also celebrating wellness of mind, body, and spirit. American Visionary Art Museum, 800 Key Hwy. Wed.-Sun. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Free-$15.95.
10/18: SWEATY EYEBALLS
The Baltimore arts scene is known for its music, its paintings, its theater, but no appreciator of all things creative should sleep on its small-but-mighty animation scene. In 2012, the Sweaty Eyeballs Animation Festival was founded by Towson professor Phil Davis as a way to celebrate exactly that, with the annual juried event featuring international screenings, local-talent showcases, youth productions, workshops, and more at theater venues across the city. It’s a fun and colorful affair featuring works for all ages. Locations, times, and prices vary.
10/18-12/7: THE TEXTURES OF US
Many Baltimoreans, and much of the world, became acquainted with the works of then-amateur photographer Devin Allen when, after the police-involved death of Freddie Gray, his image of the ensuing uprising wound up on the cover of Time magazine. Since then, though, Allen’s work has become synonymous with Baltimore, even as his career has grown far beyond our local city limits, with his photographs featured in the likes of The New York Times and held in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian. Explore his works in a new light during this intimate show in Old Goucher. Galerie Myrtis, 2224 N. Charles St. Thurs.-Sat. 2-6 p.m. Free.
10/20-11/17: QUEENS GIRL
Over the last few years, Baltimore audiences have gotten to know the “Queens Girl,” aka Jacqueline Marie Butler, the young Black girl at the heart of this award-winning trilogy. In the first play, her world is turned upside down when she’s sent to a predominantly white school in Greenwich Village in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. Each subsequent play is a journey of self-discovery, and in this final act, Black in the Green Mountains, she reaches Bennington College in Vermont against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. Followers and newcomers alike should consider Everyman’s new production a can’t-miss. Everyman Theatre, 315 W. Fayette St. Times and prices vary.
11/16: QUEERING THE COLLECTION
Now an international movement, “Queering the Collection” invites LGBTQ+-identifying perspective into arts institutions for conversations connecting art history with modern perspectives. In this latest installation at The Walters, Baltimore-based multidisciplinary artist Jacob Budenz presents an afternoon performance to spark dialogue about the relationship between medieval representations of Christian European patriarchal figures and representations of Mother Earth during times of climate change and societal collision. Afterward, the Annex Theater actor will talk with European Art curator Christine Sciacca about the intersections of queerness and mysticism in art. The Walters Art Museum, 600 N. Charles St. 2 p.m. Free.
11/3-4/6/2025: LATOYA RUBY FRAZIER
Showcasing exhibitions on women artists, Indigenous artists, and, now, those centered on the environment, the Baltimore Museum of Art has been meeting the moment through its latest initiatives, serving as a leader in the broader movement for arts institutions everywhere to diversify their spaces and the dialogues within them. Their Turn Again to the Earth project is inspired by the writings of environmental activist (and one-time Baltimorean) Rachel Carson. First up? Artist LaToya Ruby Frazier’s More Than Conquerors: A Monument for Community Health Workers of Baltimore, Maryland 2021-2022. Across a socially distanced series of powerful portraits and narratives, Frazier’s installation celebrates local essential workers through the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, in a seismic shift in terms of how we experience both space and time. Baltimore Museum of Art, 10 Art Museum Dr. Wed.-Sun. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Free.
11/30-12/22: BLACK NATIVITY
One of the last times ArtsCentric put on this iconic Christmas retelling by celebrated playwright Langston Hughes, we declared that “there wasn’t a soul in the audience who wasn’t stomping their feet and clapping along.” That’s likely to be the case again when the Remington-based theater troupe teams up with Mt. Vernon’s Center Stage for this holiday classic, presented through the African-American perspective, featuring original music by local composer Cedric D. Lyles. Baltimore Center Stage, 700 N. Calvert. Times and prices vary.
TO 9/1/2025: iWITNESS: MEDIA + THE MOVEMENT
In honor of the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, this compelling exhibit dives into the ways in which media, from radio and television to print, impacted the Civil Rights Movement, with a particular examination of roles played by Baltimore’s own stations, publications, and more. Reginald F. Lewis Museum, 830 E. Pratt St. Mon., Thurs.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun. 12-5 p.m. Free-$12.