Eight local artists or artist teams have been selected to take part in Neighborhood Lights, the community-based artist-in-residence program for the second annual Light City festival.
Under the program, the artists will be matched with community groups to create an illuminated visual or performance art project within the neighborhood of residency as part of next year’s Light City festival, which will run from March 31 to April 8.
For 2017, Neighborhood Lights is running in eight neighborhoods, up from five in 2016, and project budgets for each neighborhood have increased to $15,000, up from $10,000 in 2016.
The 2017 neighborhoods are: Hamilton-Lauraville, Waverly, Sandtown-Winchester, Station North, Coldstream Homestead Montebello (CHM), Little Italy, Hampden and Greater Mondawmin.
The selected artists and artist teams are: Jonathan Taube for Coldstream Homestead Montebello; April Danielle Lewis/Labbodies for Greater Mondawmin; Maura Dwyer for Hamilton-Lauraville; Isaac Ewart for Hampden; Laure Drogoul for Little Italy; Malaika Aminata Clements for Sandtown-Winchester; Wickerham & Lomax for Station North; and Jose Andres Rosero-Curet for Waverly.
The Baltimore Office of Promotion + the Arts is organizing Light City, even amid ongoing litigation over the event. Representatives say more information about the Neighborhood Lights projects will be available in January.
Here is information from BOPA about the artists who will be involved in Neighborhood Lights.
- Jonathan Taube (Resident Artist: Coldstream Homestead Montebello) — Jonathan Taube is an interdisciplinary sculptor practicing architecture in Baltimore. Taube, a native of New Orleans, graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 2010 and holds a master’s degree in architecture from Tulane University. Taube is looking forward to picking up his socially engaged sculpture practice now back in the magnetic Baltimore City. In 2008, Taube directed a large scale civic action called the Baltimore Sweep Action Parade in partnership with the Walters Art Museum and MICA. He is excited to be exploring the medium of light in the urban and public space in CHM.
- April Danielle Lewis | Labbodies (Resident Artists: Greater Mondawmin) — April Danielle Lewis is an artist, organizer, curator and community cultivator. In 2009, April earned a Bachelor of Science degree in art and design with a concentration in printmaking from Towson University and an associate of art’s degree in visual art from Anne Arundel Community College in 2006. Labbodies is a performance art laboratory that provides opportunities for performance artists to exhibit their work. Labbodies has been commissioned by The Baltimore Museum of Art, Art in Odd Places, Transmodern Festival, Artscape, Light City, Bromo Arts and Entertainment District and Station North Arts and Entertainment District to create their signature interactive performance art events.
- Maura Dwyer of Spectrum Studio (Resident Artist: Hamilton-Lauraville) — Maura Dwyer is an interdisciplinary artist from Baltimore currently working on ways to contribute to community and awareness-driven art practices. In her professional work, she partners with artists, schools, non-profits and small businesses to create murals and teach workshops. She finds the most joy in working on original content that speaks to a collective experience that may be under-told, whether a live performance, a short film, mural or illustration.
- Isaac Ewart (Resident Artist: Hampden) — Born in California, Isaac Ewart has been a Baltimore City resident for the last four years. His love for art-making came from his father; Isaac remembers running around his father’s art openings as a child. His passion for art-making led him to start his own painting practice. Eventually he was struck with the notion that these paintings needed to move. His animations focus on the tactile quality of fine art blended with a passion for storytelling.
- Laure Drogoul (Resident Artist: Little Italy) — Laure Drogoul is an interdisciplinary artist, olfactory spelunker and cobbler of situations who lives in Baltimore. Laure works with a wide range of media including projects in which she creates sculpture, performances and events that invite the viewer to be an active participant. She has exhibited and performed internationally and nationally, including at the International House of Japan in Tokyo, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington Project for the Arts, Baltimore Museum of Art, PS122 and the Center for Architecture in New York. She has received Maryland State Artist awards and a Franklin Furnace Award for Performance Art and has been a recipient of a US/Japan Creative Artist Fellowship. In 2006, Drogoul won the Janet and Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize.
- Malaika Aminata Clements (Resident Artist: Sandtown-Winchester) — Malaika Aminata Clements is a freelance life experiencer whose ultimate purpose is to promote self-acceptance and understanding through creative expression. In 2013, she graduated from Morgan State University with a degree in print journalism, and has since worked on a number of different projects that use the mediums of writing, videography, photography, music, dance and theatre to share stories that are often ignored. Through OurNature, a creative catalyst co-founded by Malaika in 2010, Malaika aims to build community by creating spaces where genuine human interaction can take place.
- Wickerham & Lomax (Resident Artists: Station North) — Wickerham & Lomax is the collaborative name of Baltimore-based artists Daniel Wickerham (born in Columbus, OH) and Malcolm Lomax (born in Abbeville, SC). Their practice is based on the accelerated exchange of frivolous information, gossip, and codified language that crystallizes into accessible forms in hopes of giving dignity to that exchange.
- Jose Andres Rosero-Curet (Resident Artist: Waverly) — Jose Rosero is a Puerto Rican-born arts technologist from Baltimore. Since 2014, Jose has performed live video projection for notable acts such as TT the Artist, Black Sage, Hi$to and Mighty Mark. His work has been featured at events including the Transmodern Festival, Art/Sound Now, Light City 2016 and Fields Festival. Jose’s dynamic visuals and interactive installations guide audiences into new realms through creative use of light and sound.
