BmoreArt’s Picks: October 4-10

This Week:  Sonya A. Lawyer at Stevenson University, Irene Chan at UMBC CIRCA, Ayanna Greene, Will Watson, and Jill Orlov at Bromo Arts Tower, When Will it End (Reboot) at Current, ABUNDANCE exhibition opens at AVAM, International Edgar Allan Poe Festival and Awards, Valeska Populoh leads a lantern making workshop at the Patterson, 20th Annual Pigtown Festival, and Fickle Mirror closes at Academy Art Museum — PLUS Hyperalleric Journalism Fellowship for Curators call for applications and more featured opportunities!

BmoreArt’s Picks presents the best weekly art openings, events, and performances happening in Baltimore and surrounding areas. For a more comprehensive perspective, check the BmoreArt Calendar page, which includes ongoing exhibits and performances, and is updated on a daily basis.

To submit your calendar event, email us at events@bmoreart.com!

SALYSÉ, a new standard: Sonya A. Lawyer’s Fashion Photography
Ongoing through November 17
@ Stevenson University, Manning Academic Center 2nd Floor Gallery

The Exhibition Department at Stevenson University is pleased to announce the 2022 fall featured faculty exhibition, SALYSÉ, a new standard, in the Manning Academic Center 2nd Floor gallery. On view are select excerpts from Lawyer’s photographic editorials published in SALYSÉ, magazine, an online and print-on-demand magazine. The gallery is open M-F 9am to 7pm and Saturday 9am to 4pm.

SALYSÉ, a new standard exhibition is Lawyer’s contribution in showcasing  “the beauty in all of us so that people of color from all over the world see themselves represented. The time is long past to create a new beauty standard.” Included in the exhibition are 35 images featuring beautiful women of color, photographed by a black woman, and some models are wearing black female designer creations. Lawyer’s editorials are shot in the studio as well as on location. <

Lawyer is also the publisher of SALYSÉ. The magazine launched in January 2015. Lawyer’s editorial vision is about sophistication, authenticity, with a touch of eccentricity.  Her inspiration for starting the publication was to “make her own lane” in promoting her editorial photography portfolio. The scope of the publication expanded to include many more fashion photographers. As of the fall of 2021, there have been 7 volumes and over 450 digitally-printed editions published. To view all editions, go to www.salyse.com.

Irene Chan: The Thomas Project and other recent work
Wednesday, October 5 • 12-1pm
@ UMBC CIRCA

Irene Chan is a multidisciplinary artist who works conceptually in print media, papermaking, installation, storytelling performance, and book arts on subjects of Taoism, personal immigrant narratives, and forgotten histories. Her books and works on paper have been exhibited internationally and held in 97 public collections including the Walker Art Center, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Tate Modern, Victoria & Albert Museum, and the British Library in London. Chan established Ch’An (ch’ ahn) Press through which she has self-published prints and 39 artist books to date. She is the recipient of grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York Arts Council, Maryland State Arts Council, Washington D.C. Commission of the Arts and Humanities, of fellowships to 23 artist residencies, and has exhibited and performed in 38 venues in the last ten years. The Thomas Project is currently exhibiting with SPARK: New Light at The Peale in Baltimore until September 25.

CIRCA is committed to making its events accessible to everyone. Please send an email to circa@umbc.edu to request specific accommodations. 

Emerge Baltimore :: Ayanna Greene, Jill Orlov, and Will Watson | Opening Reception
Thursday, October 6 • 6-8pm | Ongoing through November 23
@ Bromo Arts Tower

EMERGE BALTIMORE EXHIBITION SERIES CLOSES THE YEAR WITH THREE NEW ARTISTS

BOPA presents three solo exhibitions unfolding simultaneously across Bromo’s galleries

The Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA) is thrilled to announce the third edition of its up-and-coming artist series Emerge Baltimore at the Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower. This exhibition is made possible through the generous support of the Maryland State Arts Council. The opening reception for this installment of the popular exhibition series will be held on Thursday, October 6, 2022, from 6:00–8:00 p.m. featuring the work of fashion designer Ayanna Greene, tiny sculptures by Jill Orlov, and paintings from Will Watson. All three of these artists’ narratives will unfold simultaneously in the Bromo galleries from October 6–November 23, 2022. Curated by Kirk Shannon-Butts, this installation features fashion design, painting, and sculpture.

In the Lobby Gallery, Ayanna Greene’s designs will dazzle observers with her sexy fashion aesthetic, I Am The Phoenix. This exhibition will cultivate a red-carpet air and downtown chic exuberance complete with feathers and beads. Having recently returned from an artist residency in Governor’s Island, New York, house painter Will Watson will showcase brand-new paintings at his exhibition in the Mezzanine Gallery, “While We’re Young.” Watson’s work reveals his personal reflection in memories based on family, youth, and good times, and explores the question, “Where do memories go?” For her show in the Gallery Two, “Borrowed Time, Borrowed Books,” metal miniaturist Jill Orlov presents magnificent tiny sculptures of familiar places recreated from film and literature. Viewers won’t be able to resist getting pulled into each little world — Orlov’s attention to each little detail is astounding.

This trio of artists showcases the diversity — in medium, process, and product — of Baltimore City artists and highlights the bold, modern, and expressive vision of our creative community. Shannon-Butts says, “My goal is to make the Bromo Arts Tower the art epicenter of the burgeoning Bromo Arts District. It is important to curate this kind of space and provide a platform for the best and brightest emerging talents in all disciplines to tell their version of the American story thoughtfully and artistically. I see the Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower as the new home for Baltimore’s most promising up-and-coming creative voices. The reception of Emerge Baltimore has been remarkable and will return next year with a fresh coterie of artists.”

Exhibition Dates: October 6, – November 23, 2022

• Lobby Gallery — Ayanna Greene

• Mezzanine Gallery — Will Watson

• Gallery Two — Jill Orlov

This is the third and final phase of the Emerge Baltimore artist series for 2022. Throughout the year, BOPA will have featured the work of 10 emerging Baltimore-based artists working in mediums from glass and acrylic to metal and fiber. The Emerge Baltimore artist exhibition series is a continuation of BOPA’s efforts to raise the profiles of promising Baltimore artists — and the city itself — as a vibrant destination for working creatives.

Read more of this week’s picks at BmoreArt.