Great Cider, Food, and Art 2/21

Local Plunge, along with Clementine, the Creative Alliance, Millstone Cellars, and a yet-to-be-named local artist are all teaming up to bring you an evening that will peel back the layers of one of Baltimore’s most historic and well-known neighborhoods. You’ll get a look into the farm-to-table movement, check out the local art scene and enjoy some delicious food and drinks. Read more on our site!

Meet Lucille Ball!

For those of you familiar with the Creative Alliance’s Merry Mart you will notice a familiar face on all of the artwork. She’s the fabulously round Lucille Ball! She is super sassy and proud of her round figure. This lovely lady comes from the imagination of Lucinda of Ladderback Design.

We thought it might be nice to take a little holiday trip down memory lane and look back on some of Lucille Ball’s Merry Mart looks! Not only is Lucille’s figure round but she lives a well rounded life with lots to do over the holidays, such as skating, shopping, warming herself by the fire—and this year, burlesque dancing her way into our hearts!

Check out the gallery! Then come see why Lucille is so excited to strut her stuff at this year’s Merry Mart on Sunday, December 2nd from 11 a.m to 5 p.m. Merry Mart is an annual juried holiday craft show that showcases high-quality handmade arts and crafts from indie crafters, including members of the Charm City Craft Mafia, the Baltimore Etsy Street Team (BEST), and fine artists and craftspeople from Highlandtown and across the region. View a list of this year’s vendors!

Merry Mart!

What do a Robot, an Octopus and a Pokémon have in common? Give up? The answer is Merry Mart! A holiday craft show where you can shop for handmade items including octopus robot shirts, hats inspired by Pokémon and glass robot necklaces, just to name a few of the finds. This Sunday, December 2!

Merry Mart is an annual juried holiday craft market that showcases high-quality handmade arts and crafts from indie crafters, such as members of the Charm City Craft Mafia, the Baltimore Etsy Street Team (BEST), and fine artists and craftspeople from Highlandtown and across the region. Learn more and see some of this year’s artisans!

Art To Dine For

Art To Dine For season of sparkling soirees is here! Click here for a complete party listing! Dust off your fineries and come enjoy libations with collectors, designers, artists, and arts lovers in their artist studios, lofts, elegant homes, or workplaces for an insider’s view of Baltimore’s vivacious art scene. This Fall’s dazzling series features 30 parties from a Deluxe Garden Brunch to disco dancing in Loring Cornish’s new artist studio!

Your food noshing and cocktail conversation supports our programs. (So, two-thirds of your ticket is a tax-deductible contribution.) Hurry! Five of the parties are already sold out. Buy tickets today and/or support the Creative Alliance by sponsoring a host and helping raise funds for CA’s free programs, youth education classes and outreach activities.

Cheers and hope to see you!
— Charlene Conner, Annual Fund Director

Hot off the Press!

(Pictured above: Bank Line Greeting Man by Dominic Terlizzi, from our exhibition Body as Monument)

Presenting our Resident Art Critic, Zbigniew Janowski! “Zbig,” as he’s known to us, hails from Europe, originally. He’s part writer, part art collector. Just ask him about his exceptional private collection of prints right here in Highlandtown.

We just released a catalog for our wonderful show, Body as Monument. Zbig graciously wrote the forward for it. The exhibition raises questions regarding the physical, social and psychic connections between human beings and our natural, physical and virtual landscapes. He writes that there is no “global man” representing one ideal human form. Rather, “local customs and traditions” influence what is ideal, making the body “a fertile ground for art.”

You can read more of Zbig’s writing in his two books: Cartesian Theodicy, Augustinian–Cartesian Index and How to Read Descartes’ Meditations. He received an M.A. in Philosophy (1990) from Catholic University of America, Washington, DC. and Ph.D from the Committee on Social Thought (1996) from The University of Chicago. He speaks Latin, French, German, and Polish. He is also a co-author of a forthcoming book on Polish Romantic poetry, Agememnon’s Tomb: A Polish Oresteia, and editor of Leszek Kolakowski’s My Correct Views on Everything and The Two Eyes of Spinoza and Other Essays on Philosophers.

- Adejoke Tugbiyele, Programs and Exhibitions Manager

Get your dancin’ shoes on! The Old Bay Ceílí Band hit The Patterson on Saturday with their fusion of traditional Irish dance music with a vibrant new energy!


Tickets and more info HERE

Femi “The Dri Fish” and his band the Out of Water eXperience celebrate his birthday this Friday with a cadre of poets, performers and musicians, plus his brand new album Mad As A Hatter!

Tickets and more info HERE

The Beltways (above) & Renegade Soul hit CA tonight, bringing us American roots rock & roll at its finest!

It’s that time of year again! Our BIG SHOW BIG PARTY is tonight!

We’ll be joined by Baltimore’s own Motorettes (above), you don’t want to miss this!

Tickets and more info HERE

Richard Yeagley’s The Tradesmen screens tonight at CA!

More info HERE

WORLD REFUGEE DAYFri Jun 22
Native Ghanaians Kofi Dennis and Kwame Ansah-Brew are Anansegromma, the “royal elders” of their West African village, and astounding performers of their traditional call-and-response style music, storytelling and dance. Opening are two Baltimore documentary shorts on refugee youth followed by a panel discussion.  The second part of the evening is all about music, with recently arrived Kurdish refugees Ghazi Ahmed and Ali Omar on oud and saz, and Iranian native Sina Navazi on kamancheh.  
Come early for international cuisine, craft market & Bhutanese performers on madal and tablas in lobby. 6pm reception and global craft market, 7:30pm show. FREE! More info HERE

WORLD REFUGEE DAY
Fri Jun 22

Native Ghanaians Kofi Dennis and Kwame Ansah-Brew are Anansegromma, the “royal elders” of their West African village, and astounding performers of their traditional call-and-response style music, storytelling and dance. Opening are two Baltimore documentary shorts on refugee youth followed by a panel discussion.  The second part of the evening is all about music, with recently arrived Kurdish refugees Ghazi Ahmed and Ali Omar on oud and saz, and Iranian native Sina Navazi on kamancheh

Come early for international cuisine, craft market & Bhutanese performers on madal and tablas in lobby. 6pm reception and global craft market, 7:30pm show. FREE! More info HERE

Voted Best Arts Showcase in 2011’s Best of Baltimore, the Maryland Traditions Folklife Festival returns to Creative Alliance this year (bigger and better than ever)!
Sat Jun 1611am-7pmRAIN OR SHINE
It’s our daylong, indoor/outdoor, multicultural, interactive, family-friendly festival! A spectrum of MD-based performers, including doo-wop pioneers The Legendary Orioles, Appalachian and shout gospel groups, South African boot dancers, the awesome traditional Greek band Wolfpack, and salsa dancing with La Leyenda. Plus workshops and demos galore!  Mexican yarn painting, Ukrainian egg decorating, Baltimore screen painting, duck decoy carving, quilting & much more. A blacksmith will have his forge fired up in front of The Patterson! To eat, have a taste of Smith Island 7 Layer Cake and other wonderful, distinctive Maryland food. Locally brewed beer, too!
FREE! (We even have free parking and shuttle, you can’t beat this!)
More info HERE

Voted Best Arts Showcase in 2011’s Best of Baltimore, the Maryland Traditions Folklife Festival returns to Creative Alliance this year (bigger and better than ever)!

Sat Jun 16
11am-7pm
RAIN OR SHINE

It’s our daylong, indoor/outdoor, multicultural, interactive, family-friendly festival! A spectrum of MD-based performers, including doo-wop pioneers The Legendary Orioles, Appalachian and shout gospel groups, South African boot dancers, the awesome traditional Greek band Wolfpack, and salsa dancing with La Leyenda. Plus workshops and demos galore!  Mexican yarn painting, Ukrainian egg decorating, Baltimore screen painting, duck decoy carving, quilting & much more. A blacksmith will have his forge fired up in front of The Patterson! To eat, have a taste of Smith Island 7 Layer Cake and other wonderful, distinctive Maryland food. Locally brewed beer, too!

FREE! (We even have free parking and shuttle, you can’t beat this!)

More info HERE

Tilted Torch: Extra! Extra!
Sat Jun 9, 8pm
$16, $11 mbrs.

Read all about it! Recap today’s top stories with news anchor Shortstaxx. Today’s headlines include the latest gossip on Hollywood stars, as portrayed by burlesque queen Gigi Holliday, and a special report on the innovative local sounds by hip hop artist Christylez Bacon. Our beat reporter uncovers healing burlesque practices by Cherrie Sweetbottom. This Just In! Local districts are being scandalized by five alarm fire performances by Malibu and scantily clad Miss Joule! Tonight’s broadcast is made possible by our sponsor Dr. Finius J. Nodnol III, Esq.

Tickets HERE

The images captured by teenage girls from the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women and the Refugee Youth Project offer an up-close look at the texture and feel of Smith Island, whose habitat and unique history are threatened by rising sea levels in the Chesapeake. Led by staff and photographers of the National Geographic Photo Camp, in partnership with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the results include stunning photographs, video and writings.

On view May 31-Jun 23


(MD Traditions Folklife Festival Sat Jun 16)