BmoreArt’s Picks: August 30 – September 5

This Week: Joyce J. Scott at Banneker-Douglass Museum, WTMD First Thursday Festival, SHAN Wallace hosts “The Queer Agenda: THE WATERMELON WOMAN” screening at SNF Parkway, The One and the Many opening reception at Baltimore Jewelry Center, The Space Between Us curated by Lily Xiao opening reception at Gallery CA, Jani Hileman and Adiante Franszoon have opening receptions at Creative Alliance, and the 2022 Black Femme Supremacy Film Festival — PLUS Maryland Film Festival RFP for Graphic Design Services 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!

Araminta with Rifle and Vévé by Dr. Joyce J. Scott
Thursday, September 1
@ Banneker-Douglass Museum

Come to the Banneker-Douglass Museum starting September 1st to stand in awe of the monumental sculpture, Araminta with Rifle and Vévé (2017), created by MacArthur “Genius” Fellow Dr. Joyce J. Scott. Viewing the sculpture is a perfect introduction to our upcoming exhibit, The Radical Voice of Blackness Speaks of Resistance and Joy, a majestic continuation of the Harriet Tubman Bicentennial celebration, and a great way to start off International Underground Railroad Month.

Standing at 10 feet tall, the Harriet Tubman monument is made of painted milled foam with found objects, blown glass, and mixed media appliqués. Tubman holds in her hands a beaded rifle adorned with flowers and a beaded staff, called a vévé.

Provocative and piercing, the sculpture was originally a part of Joyce J. Scott’s 2018 exhibition entitled Harriet Tubman and Other Truths at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, N.J. The Banneker-Douglass Museum is honored to have it as its new temporary home, on view right outside of the museum doors through September 30, 2023 as a part of The Radical Voice of Blackness Speaks of Resistance and Joy exhibition opening November 10, 2022.

WTMD September First Thursday Festival
Thursday, September 1 • 5:30pm
@ Canton Waterfront Park

We’re PUMPED to hang with you on Thursday, September 1 at Canton Waterfront Park!

WTMD and Brewers Hill present the First Thursday Festival—our region’s largest FREE music festival!

  • Rock out with Neal Francis, Illiterate Light and Pressing Strings.
  • Get down at the east side DJ stage with Lemz and Emily Rabbit.
  • Enjoy delicious local eats from a variety of vendors in the McCormick Spice food court.
  • Cool down with a Reyka Vodka cocktail or an ice cold beer from Monument City Brewing.
  • Support local artisans, makers, and manufacturers by shopping our Made In Baltimore Maker’s Village.

There’s something for everyone at First Thursdays. Its where community happens. See you soon, Baltimore!

The Queer Agenda: THE WATERMELON WOMAN
Thursday, September 1 • 7pm
@ SNF Parkway

As queer kids there weren’t many examples, or cinema, accessible to us youngin’s, especially in Baltimore when you barely left your zipcode. As a young girl, I remember vividly searching for queer and gay life on the television screen, and never really finding the spectrum in which I was a part of. I especially want this series to prioritize a multiplicity of queer and gay narratives. – SHAN Wallace

Baltimore Living Archives Artist in Residence SHAN Wallace is a nomadic award-winning visual artist, photographer, and educator from East Baltimore. She is inspired by the nuances of day-to-day life of her surroundings in Baltimore, not as fixed narratives but a multiplicity of experiences. She uses her lens, collage and one site installations as the basis of her work, demonstrating the cultural and political narratives of black life, confronting oppressive politics and histories within communities of the African diaspora, and challenging ideas surrounding existing collections, culture and archives of Blackness. During the month of September, Wallace curates a series of films called The Queer Agenda featuring some of her favorite queer classics.

The Watermelon Woman Synopsis
Cheryl Dunye plays a version of herself in this witty, nimble landmark of New Queer Cinema. A video store clerk and fledgling filmmaker, Cheryl becomes obsessed with the “most beautiful mammy,” a character she sees in a 1930s movie. Determined to find out who the actress she knows only as the “Watermelon Woman” was and make her the subject of a documentary, she starts researching and is bowled over to discover that not only was Fae Richards (Lisa Marie Bronson) a fellow Philadelphian but also a lesbian. The project is not without drama as Cheryl’s singular focus causes friction between her and her friend Tamara (Valarie Walker) and as she begins to see parallels between Fae’s problematic relationship with a white director and her own budding romance with white Diana (fellow filmmaker Guinevere Turner).

“The Watermelon Woman is a lesbian classic. This 90’s autofiction is a top tier Black Queer Cinema. Looking forward to revisiting this film on the big screen.” – SHAN Wallace

Read more of this week’s picks at BmoreArt.