BmoreArt’s Picks: September 5-11
This Week: Idra Novey with Jordan Tierney + Jenenne Whitfield at The Ivy, The Indigenous Art Gallery opening at Baltimore Center Stage, One Maryland One Book launch, Hard Histories at the BMA, Kim Rice opening reception at Gallery in the Sky, Hoesy Corona at Current Space, ORIGIN opening reception at Baltimore Clayworks, RESONANT SPACE opening reception at MONO Practice, and Soul of the Butterfly at The Peale — PLUS IA&A at Hillyer call for proposals 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!
Idra Novey: TAKE WHAT YOU NEED (With Jordan Tierney & Jenenne Whitfield)
Wednesday, September 6 :: 6pm
@ The Ivy Bookshop
Join us for an evening featuring Idra Novey and her latest novel, TAKE WHAT YOU NEED! Baltimore’s own American Visionary Art Museum features in the novel, and to bring the novel to life, we are thrilled to have Jenenne Whitfield, Director of the American Visionary Art Museum, and Jordan Tierney, 2023 Baker Artist Awardee, to join Novey in conversation.
After our conversation about TAKE WHAT YOU NEED, stay and celebrate the spirit of creating beauty from the overlooked. In the bookstore garden, we’ll build a collaborative sculpture out of discards, in the manner of Jean, the artist in Idra’s novel. We’ll supply the found materials from Baltimore’s urban streams.
Click here to order TAKE WHAT YOU NEED!
Idra Novey’s novel Take What You Need is about an off-the grid artist whose work eventually finds a home at the American Visionary Art Museum. The novel was named one of the New Yorker’s Best Books of 2023 so far, and was a spring fiction pick with The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Take What You Need was a 2023 selection for NPR’s Nerdette Book Club. Novey teaches fiction writing at Princeton University.
Jordan Tierney’s artwork speaks for the urban streams of Baltimore and the beings struggling to survive there. The found wood and trash gathered on foot are her raw materials for sculpture. She won the Baker Artist Award for Visual Art in 2023. Her work is in many public and private collections. https://jordantierney.com/
Jenenne Whitfield, D.D. serves as the Director of the American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM), Baltimore. Prior to her new appointment, she was President of the critically acclaimed Heidelberg Project, founded by Tyree Guyton in Detroit. Under Ms. Whitfield’s direction, The Heidelberg Project has risen to international status and is currently recognized as one of the most influential art environments in the world. Her leadership, knowledge, and experience have prepared her to take the helm after AVAM’s founder and only director, Rebecca Hoffberger retirement. She defines her path as: Developing and cultivating key educational and civic relationships within the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area; Creating national alliances with other visionary art institutions; Enhancing internal operations and infrastructure; Expanding AVAM’s already outstanding local, national, and international status. Whitfield says, “it’s not about replacing, it’s about passing the baton, growing and expanding.” She welcomes the new challenge with open arms.
The Indigenous Art Gallery | Opening Reception
Thursday, September 7 :: 5:30pm
@ Baltimore Center Stage
Baltimore Center Stage in partnership with the Baltimore American Indian Center (BAIC) has opened a new Indigenous Art Gallery at Baltimore Center Stage. This gallery showcases some of the region’s finest contemporary local Native American artists, and highlights the core tenets that Native people are still here, Native people are diverse, and that Native art and practices are connected throughout time. The gallery is free and open to the public during regular box office hours at BCS.
“The Indigenous Art Gallery makes erased histories visible while honoring the tradition and legacies of the Piscataway, Susquehannock, Lenape, and Lumbee peoples and the many Indigenous peoples who care for our lands and waterways today,” noted Annalisa Dias, Director of Artistic Partnerships and Innovation at BCS. “We walk in immense gratitude to the Baltimore American Indian Center for their ongoing trust and collaboration on this project and more. We look forward to deepening our collaboration for years to come.”
“Indigenous art embodies decolonization, incorporates history, past, presence, future, family, economically marginalized communities, and confronts environmental issues, through a balance of beauty, tradition and innovation,” said Tomalita Peterson, Executive Board Secretary at Baltimore American Indian Center. “We are deeply honored for this opportunity to work side by side with Baltimore Center Stage to showcase some of our finest contemporary local Native American artists.”
The new gallery aims to highlight the fact that BCS’ land acknowledgment, a practice of acknowledging the traditional Indigenous stewards of the land on which the theater works at the beginning of public events and in written public materials, is more than just a symbolic gesture; it showcases the vibrant and diverse works of contemporary Native artists in the Baltimore community, highlighting their unique perspectives and creative expressions. BCS has worked with partners at the BAIC to deepen relationships with local Native artists: the gallery features artworks by Baltimore Native artists Judy TallWing (Apache), Ashley Minner Jones (Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina), Joshua Webster (Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina), Dean Tonto Cox (Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina), and Tanelle Schrock (Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina).
“Baltimore Center Stage strives to be a crossroads where people from all backgrounds across the many communities in Greater Baltimore can gather and find a cultural home through art. With that mission, we as an institution recognize the responsibility to make this space a place where Indigenous culture bearers, artists, artisans, makers, and their kin can thrive,” added Adam Frank, Managing Director at BCS.
Admission to the Indigenous Art Gallery is free to the public and open during regular BCS box office hours, Tuesday through Friday, 12PM to 6PM.
One Maryland One Book 2023 Launch [virtual]
Thursday, September 7 :: 6pm
Maryland Humanities welcomes There There author Tommy Orange (Cheyenne and Arapaho) as the organization kicks off it’s One Maryland One Book 2023 programming. Orange will discuss the state of modern Native American literature, how THERE THERE fits into that legacy, and more. A Q&A will follow. Participants must register to receive the link for this virtual event.
Orange’s novel tells the interconnected stories of a cast of twelve Native characters from across generational lines, as they converge toward the Big Oakland Powwow. Together, they give a riveting portrait of the urban Indian experience. Orange will discuss the state of modern Native American literature, how There There fits into that legacy, and what readers can and should think about as they join in during the fall.
Registration: bit.ly/3EfCfgX
Learn more at OneMarylandOneBook.org
