Best of Baltimore
Best of Baltimore 2024: Arts & Culture
Our annual celebration of the best that Charm City has to offer.
Edited by Lydia Woolever
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCHAUN CHAMPION
Artist to Watch
BRIA STERLING-WILSON
The works of Bria Sterling-Wilson, pictured above, bring to mind that feminist quote: Women are “not fragile like a flower,” but “fragile like a bomb.” Her contemporary collages are at once a loud clash of color, texture, and shape and incredibly intimate and introspective, with a nostalgic touch. The 30-year-old Baltimore native and Creative Alliance resident artist culls clippings from magazines, newspapers, fabrics, and found imagery to craft evocative scenes that explore the experience of Black Americans, especially Black women. Throughout the process, she challenges the reductive ways in which their stories are told in this country and, in turn, reclaims the narrative. From last year’s Ebony cover starring pop icon Janelle Monáe to this summer’s multidisciplinary ode to her grandmother at the Waller Gallery, it’s as if Sterling-Wilson’s many moving parts are a metaphor. Her subjects—sophisticated, sensual, resilient—contain multitudes. And clearly the artist does, too.
⇓ Article continues below ⇓
BOOK
BEHIND YOU IS THE SEA by SUSAN MUADDI DARRAJ
Baltimore has always been a city of immigrants, from the earliest European settlers through the Latin-American communities of modern-day, with our once-Ellis Island-like port, ever-evolving makeup, and microcosm of American history entrenched in this town’s very identity. And now, thanks to local author and Harford County Community College professor Susan Muaddi Darraj, another narrative has emerged to help tell that full story. Set in Baltimore, her acclaimed debut novel follows the interwoven lives of three Palestinian immigrant families, reflecting her own first-generation experience. At times humorous, at others heartbreaking, and always deeply human in a way that transcends politics and war, Darraj presents a diverse and dynamic portrayal of the American immigrant. As she told us last fall, and as the title suggests, “There’s nothing but what is in front of you. You have to survive here.”
COLLABORATION
NO STONE LEFT UNTURNED: THE ELIZABETH TALFORD SCOTT INITIATIVE
Maryland Institute College of Art professor Deyane Moses deserves a “Best” of her own. For “community leader.” Or “creative visionary.” Throughout her career, the local artist, activist, and archivist has worked to highlight overlooked Black history, from launching the Maryland Institute Black Archives to establishing Tom Miller Week in honor of the late Sandtown screenprinter. And this spring, she led MICA students in organizing this monumental, multi-institution retrospective of legendary artist Elizabeth Talford Scott. With exhibitions and events all over town—from the Reginald F. Lewis Museum to the George Peabody Library, the Baltimore Museum of Art to Morgan State University, and many others in between—it was a collaboration of epic proportions, one only fitting for the mixed-media master and mother of Joyce J. Scott. Not to mention a testament to the kind of magic that can be made when the centers of arts and culture unite.
MY FAVORITE PLACE TO COMMUNE WITH NATURE:
“The Rawlings Conservatory at Druid Hill Park.”
—DERRICK ADAMS,ARTIST
EXHIBITION
JOYCE J. SCOTT: WALK A MILE IN MY DREAMS
It was an iconic moment in Baltimore history when, this spring and summer, a 50-year retrospective of Joyce J. Scott swept through several rooms of the Baltimore Museum of Art, showcasing the vast and visionary career of this 75-year-old, Sandtown-born, MacArthur- Fellow polymath who has become a pillar of both the local and national arts scenes. Across nearly 140 objects—intricate textiles, elaborate jewelry, evocative sculptures—the interactive exhibition showcased the profound poignancy of this prolific maker, who has used her at-times tongue-in-cheek work to reckon with issues like racism, sexism, and environmental destruction. Visitors were given the opportunity to add to a community weaving project, an exercise in mindfully leaving one’s own mark. “I feel I am supposed to make this world better for others,” Scott told us ahead of the exhibit, “in whatever way I can.”
GALLERY
CURRENT SPACE
At the heart of what makes the Baltimore arts scene so authentically itself is that, even amidst change, the city’s relatively affordable rents and embrace of self expression keep it a breeding ground for the DIY. In many ways, we have Current Space to thank for that, with the artist-run, Bromo Arts District-based gallery serving as a community hub for all walks of creative life over the past 20 years. Where else than at 421 Howard Street can you attend a cosmic-themed art exhibition, a Latinx dance party, a queer literary reading, and a concert by renowned jazz musician Lafayette Gilchrist all in a single month? This year, the veteran venue also hosted the Baker Artist Awards showcase, and, on August 23-25, they’ll be throwing an anniversary bash, with performances by scene-setting artists like Ami Dang, Amy Reid, and Kotic Couture.
COURTESY OF PUBLIC MECHANICS/FRANK HAMILTON
PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION
GHOST RIVERS
Whether you knew it or not, if you’ve found yourself walking through Remington lately, you’ve likely been following a ghost river—or the public art installation known as Ghost Rivers, permanently installed throughout the neighborhood last fall. At your feet, bright pink lines have been painted across the streets and sidewalks, shadowing the Sumwalt Run that once openly flowed from the Wyman Park Dell down to the Jones Falls. Imagined by artist Bruce Willen, this mile-and-a-half, self-led walking tour moves between 12 decorative, historically detailed signs to shine a light on just one of Baltimore’s many now-buried waterways. In an instant, it changes how you see the local landscape. We find ourselves forever now imagining what lies beneath.
SOUNDS OF THE CITY
COOL STUFF FOR YOUR EARS
MUSICIAN
LANDIS EXPANDIS
Few artists embody the weird-and-wonderful charm of this town more than Landis Expandis, who, after a cancer scare, has returned to the local scene with his funkpunk sound and MTV-worthy music videos. Thank goodness for that.
BAND
ENSLOW
From their Tiny Desk-style videos to their Taylor Swift tribute concerts, we can’t stop watching this Baltimore-based quintet, whose honeyed harmonies are the stuff of pop stardom.
PODCAST
THE TRUTH IN THIS ART
Across 754 episodes, host Rob Lee draws out an impressive range of local movers-and-shakers on his prolific podcast, yielding a treasure trove of creative wisdom.
READING SERIES
HIDDEN PALACE
Once a month, in partnership with the Greedy Reads bookstore, Fadensonnen transforms its Old Goucher wine bar into a free gathering space to showcase the wonders of written and spoken word.
VENUE
1919
Every seat or inch of standing room is front row at this beloved Fells Point bar, where the back room regularly hosts a revolving roster of pinkgrass, rockabilly, and roots-music shows. We consider Caleb Stine’s annual residency a must-see each year.
⇓ Article continues below ⇓
LIVING LEGEND
ANDRÉ DE SHIELDS
When it comes to the Hall of Fame of Baltimoreans, the virtuosic, ever-dapper André De Shields can be firmly found at the top of the heap. From Baltimore City College to Broadway, the 78-year-old, Upton-born thespian has turned big dreams into an illustrious career, with a playbill that includes starring roles in the original casts of The Wiz and The Full Monty, the critically acclaimed Hadestown, and most recently, the iconic Death of a Salesman, earning Tony, Emmy, and Grammy awards along the way. We say, give the man an Oscar already! Meanwhile, in his hometown, De Shields has been honored with a street (the 1800 block of North Division), a holiday (September 21), and even the keys to the city. As he told the Beat last year, “I am who I am because I was made in Baltimore.” (Check out a profile on De Shields in our September issue, on newsstands now.)
MURAL
THE ALLIGATORS
Turn a corner in Baltimore and you’re bound to bump into any one of 200-plus murals that beautify our city streets. One especially enchanting example is this trio of reptiles in Remington, where for nearly 40 years on the edge of the Jones Falls Expressway, the local landmark has served as a sort of gateway into its increasingly hip neighborhood. Luckily, this spring artist John Ellsberry returned to his original canvas, and, with the help of a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, ensured its longevity by giving those gators a fresh coat of paint. Bright pops of pinks and greens now make it impossible to miss.
COURTESY OF SECHEL PR/STEFAN VLEMING
INSTAGRAM WINNER
STAVROS HALKIAS
Unless you were living under a rock last fall, you got to know “Ronnie,” the rabid Ravens superfan revved up about the local team’s trip to the playoffs. Dreamed up by Greektown son turned cult-followed comedian Stavros Halkias—aka @stavvybaby2—the viral social-media skits were stuffed with crass humor, Joe Flacco standom, and local namedrops like Cal Ripken and the White Marsh Mall, all delivered in a long-O, hard-P Bawlmerese accent. Peak performance art, if you ask us, whether or not you know anything about football. Best of all was when DJ Mighty Mark remixed Ronnie’s Super Bowl affirmations (and a video of Coach Harbaugh’s dance moves) into a Baltimore Club banger.
PLAYWRIGHT
DAN RODRICKS
Just because you can write a column doesn’t mean you can write a play, let alone act in one. Well, turns out The Baltimore Sun’s longtime columnist Dan Rodricks can do it all. Two years ago, he presented a sold-out run of his original play, the funny and poignant Baltimore: You Have No Idea, about some of the many characters he’s encountered over the years. (If you missed it, you’re in luck, with a revival at the BMA in December.) This February, he also gave us Baltimore Docket, a play about Baltimore’s sometimes Kafkaesque court system. The play managed to be laugh-out-loud funny and gut-punchingly sad, and starred the likes of Sun alum Milton Kent, longtime journalist Linda Foy, and Rodrick’s son, Nick. And the playwright presided over it all, like some larger-than-life reincarnation of Jimmy Breslin.
⇓ Article continues below ⇓
Explore The Winners
Best of Baltimore 2024
Home & Service
Edited by Janelle Erlichman Diamond and Christianna Mccausland
Best of Baltimore 2024
Lifestyle & Wellness
Edited by Janelle Erlichman Diamond and Christianna McCausland
