The inaugural Charm City Tattoo Invitational Conference will be held during the first weekend in May at The Butterfly Room in Pigtown. Most of the artists have never tattooed in Baltimore City, so the conference is a first in more ways than one.
From May 1–3, more than 30 world-renowned tattoo artists from around the country will be at the conference for live tattooing, along with local vendors providing food, drinks, music, and art. Presented by Rose Hill Gift Shop and Transmission Tattoo, the event will be an intimate gathering of tattoo artists and enthusiasts, with organizers hoping to create a unique experience that blends the magic of tattoo and the charm of Baltimore.
Andy Hefner, owner of Transmission Tattoo, spoke to Baltimore Fishbowl about what differentiates this conference from events like the Baltimore Tattoo Arts Festival, which takes place at the Baltimore Convention Center every year. That festival is a national touring convention, which is much larger in scale.
“This is more of an intimate event, focuses more on the art,” Hefner said. “These are hand-picked tattooers from all over the country that all have a unique voice. A lot of them have never been to Baltimore before, have never worked in Baltimore. So, it’s really our mission to get eyes on folks that we feel are pushing boundaries or doing stuff that’s really interesting in a time where tattooing…has become more homogenized by the internet.”
Hefner is designing the Charm City Tattoo Invitational using the basic template his friend, Nick Sharratt, used to create the Windy City Tattoo Invitational in Chicago, which has been running for three years. He is expanding on it a bit, though, and catering it towards Baltimore culture.
To that end, while most of the tattoo artists have not worked in Baltimore before, the food and drink vendors are very local, indeed.
“Everyone that’s working the event outside of tattooing are local vendors,” Hefner said. “So, we have our friends from Animal Boy, which is a sandwich shop in Lauraville/Hamilton. We have Tia’s Italian Ice from right on The Avenue in Hampden. And Black Acres Roastery is going to be there.”
Hefner noted that while there will be beer and wine served, there will also be plenty of non-alcoholic and mocktail options available. One of the drinks vendors will be Modern World, a small store in Hampden he co-owns with his partner, Laurie Hefner. The store sells a wide variety of non-alcoholic beverages along with conservas (tinned fish) and home goods.
The weekend kicks off on that Friday evening from 7–10 p.m. with an art exhibition featuring past and present voices and artists in the tattoo world. There will be no live tattooing on Friday night, and entry to the art exhibition is free. Saturday’s hours are from 12–10 p.m. and Sunday’s hours are from 11 a.m.–7 p.m.
Tickets will cost $20 per day for that Saturday and Sunday, or $30 for the entire weekend. Attendees can only purchase tickets at the door, as there will be no presale or online ticket sales. While Friday evening’s event is free, Hefner said they will accept cash or credit cards at the door on Saturday and Sunday. Tattoo artist and vendor policies vary, however, so Hefner suggested being prepared with both kinds of payment.
There is no minimum age to attend the conference, but in Baltimore City a person must be at least 18 years old to get a tattoo. Since beer and wine vendors will be at the event, there will be two kinds of wristbands: for those over 18 years of age and over 21 years of age.
Each artist’s profile is listed on Charm City Tattoo Invitational’s Instagram page, so visitors can see where they are from, preview their work, and perhaps plan their days accordingly.
