Arts and artists’ hub AREA 405 announced its reopening after being closed since January for the complete removal of lead paint.
The artist gallery and event space will host a new exhibition by Maryland-born artist Theresa Robertson, titled “Theresa Robertson: AREA 405 Portrait Project.” It is the first in a year-long sequence of exhibits, and its opening reception will be held on April 5, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Programs by organizers celebrating AREA 405’s reopening include a Tea Time Artist Talk, a Baltimore Photo Walk led by Baltimore-based photographer Meaze Getachew, and an Ice Cream Social with Area 405’s studio artists.
Robertson’s “AREA 405 Portrait Project” shows artists in the studios of the building, documenting the “artistic practice, sites, and modes of production and expression” (extract from “The Art Studio as Archive” by Jenny Sjöholm) of Baltimore’s artist community. Robertson was inspired to create the Portrait Project attending an art walk in 2023.
“This exhibition originated from a photography project proposed by artist Theresa Robertson, who also participated in the process of the transferal of the building’s ownership as a CBP employee,” said Ellen Janes, Central Baltimore Partnership Executive Director. “With intimate photoshoots and conversations, Theresa aptly captures the moments when the new community converges with the building’s 176-year history, forming a new identity for AREA 405.”
“Despite not being able to capture all tenant artists, this exhibition serves as a testament to Theresa’s and the Central Baltimore Partnership team’s commitment to growing and learning alongside the building’s community,” Janes said. “The 405 Portrait Project will be an ongoing photographic effort to archive the evolving identity of AREA 405 and the relationships among the artists, their studios, the 405 community, and the Central Baltimore Partnership team.”
Located at 405 E. Oliver St. in Baltimore, AREA 405 is housed in a building built 176 years ago and was formerly a brewery and a manufacturing facility. In 2001 it became an art hub when it was purchased by 3 Square Feet LLC. It collaborated with the local community to hold many art activities and exhibitions, and preserved the industrial characteristic that gave the exhibition space its individuality.
In 2021 the building was put on the market, and some artists left for fear of losing their art studio spaces. Central Baltimore Partnership and Baltimore real estate developer Ernst Valery joined to purchase AREA 405 with the mission of maintaining its affordability and vitality. They also aim to improve the building’s functionality and increase the studio space available. The lead paint removal work also revealed the building’s wood, brick, and stone.
“When Hans Namuth captured Jackson Pollock in his studio in 1950, five hundred photographs and two films of the artist at work transformed the relationship between the artist, the process of art making, the art, the artist’s studio, and the public,” said Joyce Liang, the exhibition’s curator. “For the first time, the audience gained access to the details of the artist’s studio — which was once an Ivory Tower, with artists and art working in solitary existence. The foregrounded concept of studios provided flesh of context to the barebones of finished artworks, becoming an inseparable element in the making of an artist’s identity.”
