Japchae and bibimbap, anyone? Starting July 2, those craving Korean cuisine can find both at Peabody Heights Brewery.  

Earlier this week, the Abell brewery announced that it was launching The Concession Stand, the first Peabody Heights-owned food truck. With plans to serve Korean-fusion fare, its name, as Orioles fanatics may have guessed, pays homage to the team’s old stomping grounds.

“We’re located on Old Oriole Park number five, which was a historic stadium that hosted the Orioles and also the Negro Leagues,” said Amy Reid, the brewery’s events manager.

“We have a really cool history where we physically are. We wanted to stay on the theme of baseball history, and The Concession Stand is our way of doing that.”

One motivating force behind the launch of the new truck was to obtain a full liquor license, which, in Baltimore City, means a percentage of a brewery’s bar sales must happen through food. Another goal was for Peabody to establish its own culinary presence, which required a unique menu. 

Chef Anthony Lanasa, who says he was inspired by the Korean heritage of Peabody Heights co-owner Eddie O’Keefe, was the one to make that happen. 

“We got loads of applications from some very qualified people, but [Anthony] just had a really great vibe and just gels really well with the whole Peabody community,” Reid says.

Lanasa’s menu features shareables like mini scallion pancakes, spicy pork belly, and tteokbokki, seared rice cakes in a gochujang and garlic glaze with sesame seeds, mozzarella cheese and scallions. Fans of kimchi, a traditional Korean side dish made with salted and fermented vegetables, can order kimchi-spiced popcorn or kimchi dumplings served with sweet potato noodles as a satisfying snack. 

Entrees, most of which are customizable with ribeye, fried or grilled tofu, or chicken, include japchae (sweet potato glass noodles with veggies), a Korean-style smashburger, and sourdough grilled cheese with kimchi.

“Although these are simple dishes, we thoughtfully prepare them with small unique twists,” said Lanasa, who can’t wait for guests to order the Korean-style fried hotdog (or tofu dog) and bibimbap.

Made with white rice, lettuce, bean sprouts, and a rainbow of fresh veggies with one sunny side up egg, and served with gochujang aioli, “the bibimbap is such an approachable dish,” he said. Lanasa’s adaptation is traditional, with one unique exception: his own housemade scallion vinaigrette utilizes Peabody’s Old Oriole Park lager. He suggests pairing the dish with the brewery’s Butch Garden wheat ale.

Though Lanasa’s use of flavors are extravagant, his price points are within the ballpark limits, with all appetizers priced from $4-10 and entrees ranging anywhere from $10-16. Reid, who has her sights set on the fried Korean tofu dog, applauded Lanasa’s efforts to make sure the menu offered gluten-free and vegan options. 

“I feel like there’s something for everybody with dietary restrictions, and also just in terms of the variety of foods,” she says.

In addition to a full bar in the future, Reid says diners can look forward to collaborations with Baltimore eateries including Ekiben and Toki Underground. For now, she and Lanasa are excited for Peabody Heights to make its culinary mark.

“It’s really exciting, and I think it just makes a lot of sense for us. Food is such a part of all of our events, so it’s cool to have our own branded entity,” she says.

The Concession Stand will coincide with brewery hours. 

The post Peabody Heights Brewery launches first food truck, building toward a full bar appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

A new date is just one of many changes to expect this year at Artscape. This weekend’s festival will have new installations, a divisive new location, and a redefined approach under new leadership. 

Unlike with iterations past, Artscape will take place this year on Memorial Day Weekend underneath the Jones Falls Expressway, its columns freshly painted with new murals to commemorate the festival’s new home downtown. The hope, its organizers say, is that relocating the festival will ultimately reinvigorate the downtown district. 

“Artscape started in Mount Vernon, where MICA, The Lyric, and the BSO were kind of like the heartbeat of the festival. The impact that it had on that district was vast,” said Tonya Miller Hall, creative director of Artscape and Senior Advisor of Arts and Culture for the mayor’s office.

“When we think about how we can use the festival model to transform space and create more sustainability for the community, downtown — particularly the farmers market footprint — really needed a bit of a [boost.]”

But hours away from the festival’s first day, it faces a series of challenges. Already, talent cancellations at the last minute have left participating artists in the dark. Small businesses in Station North, the former home of Artscape, won’t benefit financially as they usually do from their proximity this time around. Relocating the festival beneath the Jones Falls Expressway means that the Baltimore Farmers Market won’t operate Sunday. And the clearing of an encampment in the festival’s planned footprint displaced unhoused locals, though the city denied specifically doing so in preparation of the event.

While Miller Hall acknowledges the friction caused by uprooting a Baltimore tradition, she believes it’s time for Artscape and its impact to expand further. 

“Baltimoreans have got to think more expansively about the city of the future,” she said. 

“People love this festival, and it has been a big part of the Station North District for a long time. But can we not spread the love, take art on the road, and let other neighborhoods benefit from the work of artists?”

For most of its duration, Artscape took place in July — and almost always coincidentally on the hottest three days of the year. With hopes of cooler temperatures this time around, the festival is scheduled for Memorial Day Weekend from May 24-25. For the first time, the 43-year-old event — known as the nation’s largest free outdoor art festival — will move to downtown Baltimore after being held in Mount Vernon, Station North, and Bolton Hill throughout the years.

Artscape will now be held outside of City Hall beneath the Jones Falls Expressway on East Saratoga and Holliday streets. The Baltimore Farmers Market, which takes place beneath the expressway each Sunday from mid-April through December 21 this year, will be closed for the festival. 

The Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts ran the festival for 20 years until last October, when it was announced that the city would be terminating its contract with BOPA. This will be Artscape’s first year under Mayor Brandon Scott’s Downtown Rise Initiative, which was introduced last year with the intention of continuing the progress and development of downtown Baltimore. 

To help with that, Artscape has several new events in store this year. Curated by visual artist and performer Derrick Adams and Baltimore Beat’s Arts & Culture Editor Teri Henderson, the new Scout Art Fair will give guests a chance to shop for local, affordable artwork. All pieces will be priced between $150 and $5,000, and a portion of the proceeds will go towards BOPA programming. 

Another Artscape first is the “Oasis Mural Project,” which the Mayor’s office created to rejuvenate the pillars of the Jones Falls Expressway.  Over the last several weeks, more than 30 local artists — including Ernest Shaw, Camila Leão Lopes, HOPE McCorkle, and Paige Orpin — have transformed the underpass into a tropical oasis.

“[The artists] are excited because they feel like they’re part of a live mural festival,” said Miller Hall.

“Everybody’s vibing and listening to music. The residents and people who are parking their cars are just in awe. And the city workers are like, ‘Oh my God. These guys are so brilliant! I can’t believe they’re painting these columns by hand!’”

Already, Miller Hall is proud to see how this year’s festival model has managed to take care of not just artists but the public, calling Artscape an “economic engine for the city.”

“We have put so many artists to work,” she said. 

“With the murals, with the installations, and with the Scout Fair, so many artists are going to make money. While people may be frustrated that it’s not in Station North, year over year, vendors have lost money — artists have lost money — because of the weather. We’ve tried to address that and create some cover for that so that they’re not losing time,”  she said.

While scoping out its new additions, Artscape-goers can expect returning programming and two stages of live music. Joining nationally acclaimed R&B legends Fantasia Barrino and Robin Thicke, performers on both Saturday and Sunday include local acts like Movakween, Bad Hombres, Ari and the Buffalo Kings, and members of the local nonprofit Ballet After Dark. Artscape regulars can look forward to annual events like the festival’s signature artisan market, and Kidscape, which will feature interactive storytelling, hands-on art activities, and kid-friendly performances.

The concept of a reimagined festival has mixed reviews. Many in Baltimore look forward to enjoying this year’s festival in spring instead of summer, when high temperatures can be dangerous to seniors, younger children, and heat-sensitive guests. And with last year’s heavy rainout, people are also relieved that this year’s festival will be under a bridge, should nasty weather strike.

Miller Hall  also thinks that Artscape’s new and smaller footprint will increase its walkability. She shared that on a recent visit to the underpass, Walking Discovery, a social group that advocates for neurodivergent and disabled Baltimoreans, was pleased with the location.

Yet the decision to move Artscape downtown has seemingly impacted more than just Baltimore’s arts community. The move to a new location coincided with the city clearing an encampment under the Jones Falls Expressway, though city officials have insisted it had nothing to do with the event.

On April 7, the city “resolved” an encampment under the JFX, said Jessica Dortch, spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services. It’s estimated that as many as 30 unsheltered individuals were “residing or passing through” the JFX footprint at any given time.

“Most residents accepted shelter and other services offered by Outreach teams, while others were able to make alternative arrangements,” Dortch said, adding that the services include shelter, behavioral health support, transportation and housing navigation services.

“MOHS does not displace residents, we connect residents to shelter and other supportive services that meet their individual needs. This site was assessed and prioritized for resolution with increased daily engagement occurring months in advance of the Artscape location and date announcement.”

Encampments such as the site under the JFX are “assessed and prioritized based on several risk and environmental factors such as proximity to critical infrastructure, health and safety hazards, and ongoing community concerns,” she added.

The big changes hitting Artscape itself haven’t been rolled out as smoothly as hoped either, leaving a number of artists and farmers’ market vendors with complaints.

JaySwann, an electronic artist, producer and DJ, said an Artscape organizer reached out to him in March asking if he’d perform a DJ set at Artscape. After he didn’t hear back for weeks, he reached back out, and they confirmed that he’d be performing.

After they said they’d be sending him a contract, more weeks went by. When he reached out again on Friday, he was informed that the DJ set had been cancelled because of budgetary concerns.

“It was definitely unfortunate,” he said. “When I first got the news, I was pretty pissed off. I’d been looking forward to it; I’ve been living in Baltimore my whole life. It was going to be a kind of full-circle moment for me because I used to go all the time as a kid. I told my whole family about it, and they were really excited. On top of that, the rate they were going to give me was really good.”

After the news sank in, JaySwann said he reached back out to offer to perform for free. He was told that couldn’t happen, he said. 

As a performer, he said he’s been “trying to wrap my mind around” the decision to move Artscape downtown. Given the fact that past events had been rained out, it made sense to move it up earlier in the year.

The new location, however, could do more harm than good, he said. By moving the location downtown, the city is interfering with other events, such as the Baltimore Farmers’ Market that takes place every Sunday. It will be closed for Artscape this year.

The  reimagined festival will take place at the same time as some other hard-to-miss events in Baltimore like Deathfest, Brew at the Zoo, and the Sowebo Arts and Music Festival.

“I don’t really agree with that. I feel like they’re taking money out of other people’s pockets to make this event go well, but it’s not a guarantee that’s going to happen,” JaySwann said. 

“It seems like they’re really trying to get it right, but they keep missing the mark,” he said. “I don’t know what they could do at this point. I haven’t been to Artscape in quite a long time, but the last few times I went, it was underwhelming and didn’t seem properly planned. It seems like they’re just kind of throwing shit at a wall.”

In a recent Facebook post, Baltimore Farmers Market vendor Albright Farms said staff were saddened by the city’s choice to close the market to make room for Artscape.

 Although Miller Hall told Baltimore Beat that all vendors were notified of the decision to move Artscape to the Jones Falls Expressway in January, the post alleges otherwise. 

“This market has served Baltimore residents for 48 years and is a vital source of fresh vegetables, fruits, meats, milk, and more for thousands in the community. The decision was made without any conversation with the farmers or public — and we, like many, are deeply disappointed,” the post read.

And like other business owners in Station North, Eric Mach, the owner of the Metro Gallery, was upset to learn that Artscape was no longer in the neighborhood, known for its vibrant art district.

“To be honest, it was a little bit heartbreaking,” said Mach, a Baltimore native, about the festival’s relocation.

“We’re located in Station North, literally right in the middle of Artscape, and every year, this was our big weekend. Tons of different events every year were curated by [our staff], and it was something we looked forward to.”

Mach said he and his staff had been planning for Artscape some months in advance before learning that it would be moving downtown. 

“We were like ‘What? It’s moving where? Why is it not in the Arts District?’ It just didn’t make sense,” Mach said.

“We haven’t had any condolences or anything. We found out like everyone else.”

While the new footprint is difficult for many to accept, Miller Hall thinks the big swing will be worth it.  She looks at this year’s Artscape plans and sees major potential.

“I think two things can be true at the same time,” she continued. “Station North can still be a vibrant art district and do vibrant, art-focused things without Artscape. Artscape should not have to belong to one neighborhood only.”

The post Baltimore Braces for A New Artscape Experience appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

It was family members out-of-state who were the ones to tell Maria Gabriela Aldana that the Francis Scott Key Bridge, in her own city, had collapsed. Like many others in Baltimore, she received worried messages from them checking to see if she was safe. As she opened their texts, she was dumbfounded.

Eventually, the bilingual community artist was able to view footage of the early-morning spectacle — the now infamous Dali container ship colliding with the Key Bridge, razing one of its main piers and sending pieces of the landmark tumbling into the Patapsco River. 

The crash claimed the lives of six construction workers: Miguel Ángel Luna González, Alejandro Hernández Fuentes, Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, José Mynor López, Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval, and Carlos Daniel Hernández.

Julio Cervantes Suarez, another worker in that crew, miraculously survived the fall, forced his way out of his car, and found refuge on a piece of wreckage before he was rescued from the water with injuries. Damon Davis, a highway inspector, was able to reach a surviving span of the bridge as the ground fell away behind him.

Until very recently, Aldana couldn’t watch those videos.

“I’m a very emotional person and immediately felt the pain of losing my Latin American brothers,” she said.

“I didn’t want to be alone watching something so traumatic; seeing the last lights flickering across the bridge of those who almost could have fallen, seeing the tiny trucks with husbands, fathers, and brothers inside of them, imagining what the sole survivor must have seen as he fought to stay alive…I just wanted to focus on a project and find out the details of what was happening later.” 

Aldana — also a community organizer, folklorist, oral historian, and educator — is the cofounding director of Art of Solidarity, a nonprofit organization of professional, community-focused artists dedicated to social justice. Born in Nicaragua and raised in Miami, she’s called Baltimore home for 25 years. 

Within a month, Aldana found the project she was looking for. 

Or rather, the right project found its way to her. 

In April, she answered a call from Catalina Rodriguez-Lima, director of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. The Baltimore Museum of Industry was looking for an artist to gather stories for a set of exhibitions on the tragedy and contacted the mayor’s office in search of local candidates. She saw it as a calling from God.

“I thought it would be a beautiful opportunity,” Aldana said.“I’ve always had a tremendous love of learning, and I particularly love learning from firsthand accounts. There’s nothing like it.”

Aldana’s storytelling is integral to two forthcoming BMI exhibits. Expected to debut as soon as May 2027 — roughly three years after the horrific collapse —  two exhibits, one temporary and one long-term, will explore the sudden impact of the tragedy while honoring the city’s Spanish-speaking and Latin American communities. Still in development, they aim to foster visitor discussions and reflections on a devastating piece of local history, expanding on the museum’s “Echoes from the Key Bridge” oral history project.

Bilingual oral histories and videos collected by Aldana of social workers, local business owners, longshoremen, loved ones of the six victims and others will accompany photographs, artwork, and artifacts pertinent to the Key Bridge. The exhibits are preceded by a temporary mural installation courtesy of Texas-based artist Roberto Marquez.  

On loan to the museum from the artist and originally located on Fort Armistead Road where the Key Bridge once stood, the colorful mural “became an impromptu memorial to the men who died,” said the BMI’s executive director Anita Kassof. Two pieces of Marquez’ sentimental work of art sit in the BMI’s classroom, depicting imagery of wreckage, recognizable debris from the Key bridge, red painted-dipped handprints, and a series of handwritten notes. “Be not Afraid. I love you,” one note reads. “Forever in our memories,” begins another.

While honoring the fallen workers, Kassof hopes the two exhibits will teach visitors new things about the Key Bridge, and about the Port of Baltimore. 

“I think we realized that we had a moment of opportunity, in that the eyes of the world were focused on the Port of Baltimore,” said Kassof of the days and weeks after the bridge collapse.

“Baltimore is who we are because of the existence of a deep water port,” Kassof continued. “Baltimore sprung up as an industrial powerhouse, in large measure, because of the existence of the port.”

To cultivate stories explaining the port, the Key Bridge, its collapse, and the people affected, the BMI team knew they had to hire the right storyteller.

“So much of the story revolves around the fact that many of those men on the bridge were immigrants,” Kassof said.

“They were living and working what is, in many ways, a typical experience for immigrants who come in and do that middle-of-the night work that nobody else wants to do. We wanted to honor that,” Kassof said. “And we were lucky enough to find Maria.”

Working closely with the BMI’s collections team, collections manager Curtis Durham and archives manager Maggi Marzolf, Aldana has contributed 32 oral histories and videos related to the bridge collapse so far.  Her goal is to retell the story of the bridge collapse from the perspective of those impacted the most, hopefully laying the foundation for an uptick — and improvements — in community relationships. 

“People use the word resiliency a lot,” Aldana said. “That doesn’t come across to me in these oral histories.”

“I heard a lot of stories about surviving; mothers with children, grandchildren, people who lost their best friend, their business partner, their husband, or their spiritual partner. And in losing that person, you’re still responsible for others, or you’re now working more than you were before to make ends meet.”

One of the most difficult aspects of the experience, besides finding participants, was getting people on the phone. 

“When you tell your story, it is re-traumatizing because you are sharing a part of yourself that you probably think about on a daily basis, or throughout the whole day, and then again the next day. You want to make sure you get it right, because you don’t want to do it again,” she explained.

It was key for Aldana to create a safe and comfortable environment for interview participants, and that meant being intentional about giving them agency, something she feels is essential to honoring subjects. Part of this meant working with the BMI’s collections team on media release forms, allowing subjects to control what ends up being shared, and how.

“There’s no right way to tell your story,” she said. 

“We can pause. We can skip questions. We can edit this when we’re done. We can restrict access to it.  We can also eliminate names.Whatever you need to feel the most comfortable with sharing your story.”

Drawing from the oral history training she received at the Maryland Institute College of Art and Baltimore Racial Justice Action, an anti-racist, anti-oppression organization, Aldana was determined to engage in active listening while interviewing subjects. In doing so, she takes after her parents and grandparents, who ingrained in her the importance of fully engaging when an elder is speaking. 

“I’m stepping into someone’s life, and in that process, I’m trying to metaphorically hold their hand because that’s all you can do,” she said. 

“You can listen, you can hold space for that person, and you can honor the agreements that you had by sharing their story with the same levels of love, grace, and thoughtfulness [as] others…It’s kind of like an orb around them to say, ‘This is difficult. I see you pushing through boundaries and pushing through fear to say something important.’”

At the heart of her work on this project is a mission to dismantle harmful narratives related to her culture. 

“Latin Americans are misrepresented and pushed into one category,” she said.

“We do not have enough educational programs about who we are. There are immeasurable nuances, overlaps, and yet significantly distinguishing characteristics to our languages, foods, customs, histories, and relationships to the USA.”

Aldana takes great pride in sharing stories of her people, who faced struggle and survival in the wake of monumental loss.

“I hope that, at the end of the day, we don’t forget these six victims who lost their lives [doing] invisible jobs. Through these stories, we can honor them and keep them in mind when we think about who was impacted the most.”

The post No invisible jobs: Baltimore Museum of Industry exhibit will highlight immigrant workers who died in the Key Bridge collapse appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

Evan Woodard lights up when he talks about antiques like slate pencils, porcelain dentures and chamber pots, portable toilets used prior to luxuries like indoor plumbing.

“With those, you can tell who was born into money and who was a commoner,” said Woodard. “When you see really nice ones that have white and blue on them, you know that that person had money.” 

The self-taught historian loves to share little-known facts. (Ask him why people used to throw “poison” tomatoes and how those were typically stored.) And he doesn’t like to sit for long. The Patterson Park resident is happiest exploring: digging privies, magnet fishing and collecting local artifacts. 

“I love finding stuff.  I like being out there with my friends just digging holes, having a good time, and then going home to wash everything up,” he said.

Since last year, Woodard has been working to turn that hobby into the Salvage Arc Museum, a collection of glassware, ceramics, old jewelry and other discarded belongings. Expected to open in Fells Point (stay tuned for an update from Woodard on that soon), the museum will combine his restless craving for adventure with his undisputed knack for storytelling. 

The museum is planned as an extension of Woodard’s Salvage Arc Foundation, which he launched last year to offer seminars and workshops, privy-digging demonstrations, and historic exhibitions — all designed to make the history of Baltimore more tactile and engaging. In addition to showcasing the treasures he’s discovered and restored over the years, the museum and community gathering space will support hands-on learning.

“We want to share the history of Baltimore and what happened here in a way where people can actually get involved with it: touch things, see things up close, and hear personal stories,” Woodard said. 

Until late last year, the museum had what seemed like a permanent physical home: an old factory building in Fells Point, on Aliceanna Street.  

“The building is historic — not historically important, but it’s old. I like that,” Woodard said in November 2024. He liked that it came with its own parking lot and a coveted view of the neighborhood’s waterfront — where he’s found many of the museum’s treasures.

At the time, the museum — fully stocked with Woodard’s artifact collection — was receiving some finishing touches, with potential decorative choices that included a textured wall, cloth-covered ceilings and antique flooring. Woodard hoped that the museum would be a physically accessible multipurpose space, with room for school field trips, guest lecturers and comedy performances. He planned to dedicate a portion of the floor plan to a cafe, with provisions such as sandwiches and muffins. 

The building was on track to open this spring, until a handful of financial partners backed out of the project, leaving Woodard to foot museum costs on his own. He made the difficult decision to place everything in storage, where it sits for the time being.

Although the sudden change of plans was disappointing, Woodard is determined to keep pushing forward with his vision.

“It’s definitely a bummer that it’s not happening [right now], but I think people really understand that sometimes, things just don’t work out with timing,” he said.

In the meantime, he has plans to build a stronger Salvage Arc team, sharing that one of his main goals is “finding board members that want to be involved and who understand our mission.”

The Salvage Arc concept began to take form five years ago. Formerly an IT security manager for the Baltimore Ravens, Woodard became fascinated with old items and their origins during the pandemic. In 2020, looking for a way to stave off boredom, he and his friends began to dig through privies: 19th-century outhouse vaults where glass items and household wares were commonly discarded. 

They eventually took up magnet fishing, using strong magnets and ropes to fish metal and trash out of the Inner Harbor. Two years ago, Woodard started the Maryland Magnet Fishing Club, which meets on Thursday evenings at locations like the Bond Street Wharf. Depending on the weather, he said anywhere from 10 to 30 people will participate.

According to Woodard, they typically pull at least 300 pounds of trash out of the water. But every now and then, they score a treasure and find things like a Victorian bench — which looks brand new now, thanks to Woodard. It’s a favorite among Salvage Arc’s fans, who will have a chance to see the beauty up close when the museum opens.

A Black-owned museum set to take its place in a city of mostly white counterparts, the Salvage Arc Museum has a distinctive goal. It not only attempts to preserve local history, but to share a more diverse story of Baltimore’s beginnings. One of Woodard’s hopes is that the museum will challenge historic narratives that overlook minorities and how they’ve shaped the city. 

“I want to show people that Baltimore’s story goes beyond what people see in ‘The Wire.’ There’s a lot more to the city and how great it is,” he says. 

Woodard looks forward to sharing that story with locals in person. Last winter, Baltimore Beat had a chance to experience Salvage Arc’s vision up close at the museum’s original location on Aliceanna Street. Woodard carefully showed off his favorite pieces one breezy fall afternoon.

“Baltimore is known for its beer and its drinking,” Woodard told us, pointing to a set of early beer and soda bottles called torpedoes, meant for storing carbonated drinks.

“Before you had Crown Cork & Seal and other types of bottle closures that would keep [liquids intact], if a drink was carbonated and its cork dried up, it would shoot out. These were designed to lay on their side so that the cork would always stay wet.”

A few feet away, Woodard’s favorite display case held personal items such as a wedding ring made out of pinchbeck: an affordable alternative to gold once used by clockmakers and coach builders. 

Behind a glass perfume bottle half full of amber liquid sat an overflowing bowl of teeth.

“Before we had supermarkets and stuff, people would just buy whole animals and then slaughter them at home. You had to throw your trash and spare parts somewhere,” Woodard said.

Walking with Woodard — taking stock of everything from household wares to offbeat trinkets to old teeth — was almost dreamlike. 

From buttons to teapots to vases to dice, every artifact comes with its own complex history. Figuring out what that is can be full of surprises, but Woodard is used to the challenge. When his new museum opens, he hopes that visitors experience the same feeling of wonder he gets when he discovers a new artifact. 

“You see an item when it’s dirty, and you think it’s one thing, and then you’re like, ‘This is a totally different thing,’” he said.

“That reveal happens thousands of times in one day with all the pieces you have. And when you find pieces that go together, you’re like, ‘Okay. Now I have something else to work with.’ That process takes forever, but it’s worth it.”

The post Finders Keepers: Evan Woodard’s Salvage Arc Museum to Explore Baltimore History Through Recovered Artifacts appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

On September 7, Baltimore-based independent record label Shiny Boy Press hosted its third annual Shiny Fest, a hyper-local art and music festival designed to celebrate lesser-known artists, at Ottobar in Remington. This year, the bash was circus-themed, with guests sipping on Natty Bohs and sporting bright red clown noses as giant balloons flew. 

Headlined by Australian-born punk rock group The Death Set, whose big break occurred in Baltimore some 19 years ago, the lively 10-hour event featured an outdoor market, shawarma eats, four upstairs DJ sets, and 13 live performances. With bands like Mowder Oyal playing everything from hardcore punk to free jazz on the downstairs stage and acts like Nina Gala serving up soft indie ballads, Shiny Fest embodied Baltimore’s kaleidoscopic musicscape.

“Having this blend of scenes, it’s like a little melting pot,” said Shiny Boy co-founder Collin Schnitker, who created Shiny Fest two years ago along with his brother Walsh Kunkel and their friend Dan Gurley. Like Shiny Boy Press, which represents many independent artists, Schnitker says they hoped that Shiny Fest would bring together various creators and artistic paths in Baltimore.

Shiny Boy’s philosophy of championing underdogs — and decentering profit as the impetus of musical creation — is a tribute to their late friend Alex Lori, who was killed in 2020 in a hit-and-run collision. 

“Alex was a realist,” Schnitker said. “He was big on experimentation, and pushing the boundaries of our whole artistic premise. He held us to a standard, that’s for sure. And he didn’t like to compromise much.”

Schnitker recalls a time when he and his ex-partner planned to market their own t-shirts. Lori hated this idea.

“Alex was very against that whole concept because it’s like, why would you take your friends’ money? Why would you try to capitalize on art? We’re definitely not capitalizing with the record label. The whole thing is putting our money into it to help other artists up. That was his mindset.”

The same outlook backs Shiny Fest, which organizers hoped would push musical boundaries to create community. 

“We wanted to be able to put people in a room that wouldn’t normally meet and bring [artists] together regardless of what kind of music they make,” Schnitker said. 

A touchstone for the city’s music revelers, Ottobar proved to be the perfect place to make that happen this year. Organizer Charles Thompson — aka notcharles,a Baltimore producer, engineer, songwriter, DJ, and musician — saw the two-story establishment, with stages on each level, as an ideal fit for Shiny Fest’s revolving door of talent. 

“Last year, the bands were stationed in one area, so this time, I think spreading it out was a good move,” said Thompson, looking back on Shiny Fest’s last iteration at The Compound,an artist-run nonprofit, music venue, and conglomerate of studio and residential spaces meant for artists on Kirk Avenue. 

“Some people just want to dance, and some of the bands aren’t the easiest to dance to. So we thought, ‘Why not put DJs upstairs and have people be able to come and just dance?'” 

DJs Grufton, Matt Hurd, Jacq Jill, and Pangelica made magic happen on the upper level. Downstairs, Baltimore musician Kaleb Baerresen, aka Fuchsia Casual, and bands Holiday Video Star, Grudge, and Music Mouse took to the stage. The remaining performers, Herald, Eyas, Slot, Kaz, Sleeptalk, and Androgynous Bulge, rocked out on the floor. It was the perfect storm.

By splitting the acts up, “we were able to basically double the amount of bands we would have originally,” Thompson said, remarking on the even flow of energy throughout the night.

The chance to share the downstairs floor with clowns, mimes, and musicians was its own unique experience. The audience was awed as singer Eyas sat before them with a keyboard and guitar, her vocals flush with pure emotion. Small children roamed the space carrying wacky balloon animals in between sets as musicians filtered in and out with instruments. Later in the evening, Slot’s lead singer Abby Chapple, who began the band’s electrifying set with one huge primal scream, danced out into an audience of thrashing heads and dancing feet while carrying a megaphone.

Shiny Fest’s tight-knit, quirky atmosphere struck Sleeptalk member Jane-Harriet Glessner, a longtime fan of Ottobar and a friend of several artists on this year’s dynamic lineup. 

“If you’re not here, you’re missing out,” said Glessner. “It’s [been] pretty sick.”

Schnitker, who called this year’s festival “a cross between a carnival and family barbeque,” would like to see it gain more traction in the coming years, allowing more artists to benefit from its inclusive platform. He thinks Lori would be satisfied with how far the event has come.

“I think he’d have a great time,” Schnitker said. “He’d definitely have a lot of opinions, and he’d probably do it better.”

The post Shiny Fest 3 Celebrated DIY Artists, and Big Sounds With 10-Hour Event at Ottobar appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

Launched 12 years ago to support Downtown Baltimore’s gifted creators and cultural venues, the Bromo Arts District is widely known for its biannual Art Walk, allowing attendees to sample the district’s creative delights. 

Its eighth iteration, scheduled to take place September 12 from 5-9 p.m., marks the debut of the district’s new, colorful branding in honor of more than a decade in Baltimore. 

“It started with nine locations and 14 participating organizations, and for our next event, we have 25 locations and over 35 organizations that are participating,” said Emily Breiter, the Bromo Arts District’s executive director. 

“We’ve also seen steady growth throughout the district in terms of new creative spaces that are popping up, the growth and expansion of existing spaces of our anchor organizations, new artists coming into the area, and, of course, new visitors who are constantly experiencing and exploring Bromo.”

This year, the free, self-guided walk includes more than 30 locations and concludes with an afterparty in the Current Space Garden Bar. 

Ahead of this week’s walk, we spoke with Breiter about the lasting impact and new mission of the cultural community, along with its trademark event. 

Baltimore Beat: Each pocket of Baltimore has a distinctive arts presence. What makes the Bromo Arts District stick out? 

Emily Breiter: There’s so much that makes Bromo special and unique. It’s centrally located in the city, which is really incredible in terms of access for everyone. We have several theaters, gallery spaces, artists, studio hubs and collectives. And being downtown, the scale of things is very different from some of the other areas in Baltimore with a high arts density. We have incredible anchor organizations like the Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower, which is our namesake, the Hippodrome Theatre, Arena Players, and the Eubie Blake Cultural Center. We have a healthy mix of groups that have been in the district for a very long time and are very historic, along with many newer organizations that are coming in.

BB: What were the Bromo District’s goals in establishing its biannual Art Walk?

EB: The event was created to showcase all of our unique creative offerings in the district while also creating an opportunity for venues in the south of the district to have more connections with those in the north, and for theaters, galleries, and retailers to be able to work together. We also wanted to improve accessibility to our creative spaces. We know that sometimes, the public might feel intimidated walking into some of these spaces for the first time. We’re providing an opportunity where people can step inside of these spaces and feel comfortable doing so. We also provide funding opportunities for our creatives and participants.

BB: What would you say is the best part of seeing the Art Walk evolve? 

It’s seeing the creative partnerships that come through an event like this, but also outside of the Art Walk. For example, Everyman Theatre has their own theater productions, but then they’re also bringing in local artists like the Black Genius Art Show to be able to exhibit within their space. It’s seeing some of these collaborations that aren’t always the most obvious — in terms of setting and even in terms of the type of artwork that is existing in these spaces — come to life. It happens all the time. 

BB: Times are obviously different than they were when both the district and the walk began. In launching its new brand, why was it crucial to revise the ways we think about and talk about the Bromo Arts district?

EB: We’ve seen a lot of change, but it’s really helped us become intentional about what we are working on. Our focus is on the two Art Walks, but we also want to redirect attention to all of the incredible annual programming taking place in the district. People are always saying there’s not enough time in the evening to be able to experience everything, and that’s really the point of this event. We don’t want you to only come to Bromo twice a year. We want you to [come back to] get a taste of all the different spaces [that are part of] the event. You’re exploring new spaces, revisiting your favorite ones that you’ve been to every single Art Walk, and coming back outside of the Art Walk to be able to experience the rest of the district.

BB: Why are events like the Art Walk important in driving momentum to visit downtown? 

EB: It’s so important to be able to provide these open opportunities for the public to be able to come out and engage. We’ve heard many times from our creative participants that not only are they meeting new audiences during the Art Walk, but that they’re also seeing these audiences come back for future events. They’re buying tickets to other shows. They’re coming for opening exhibits. They’re visiting an artist studio. We’ve also seen this show up through attendees who are meeting artists during the event and following them later. 

BB: What excites you the most about Thursday’s event? 

We have several first time participants that will be at the Art Walk this week. Making Art Matter has a glow-in-the-dark, interactive painting experience, which will be super fun. We have Brush Mural Fest doing one of their community murals during the Art Walk as well. We also have three different dance groups that will be performing at the Eubie Blake Cultural Center. And of course, we always end things with an after party, which will take place from 9 to 11 p.m. at Current Space in their Garden Bar. It’s always such a fun time to be able to gather with everyone at the final end point.

The post New branding but the same love for Baltimore’s craftsmanship: Biannual Bromo Arts District Walk returns this week appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

Rev. Dr. Alvin Hathaway Sr. remembers when Upton — the historically Black West Baltimore neighborhood and cultural epicenter known for treasured landmarks like the Royal Theater — was home to the Mitchells, a family of civil rights firebrands famously dubbed “The Black Kennedys.” 

Hathaway, born in 1951, was a youngster in the Mitchell family’s heyday and grew up with them as neighbors. Little George was his companion on the playground. And his dad, whom Hathaway called “Uncle Clarence,” was a loving male role model in his early years. Unbeknownst to young Hathaway then, he was much more than that. 

Born in Baltimore City in 1911, Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. served as chief lobbyist of the NAACP for close to 30 years. Mitchell was nicknamed “The 101st Senator” for helping to pass crucial civil rights legislation. From 1938 until his death in 1984, the activist was married to Juanita Jackson, known as the first Black woman to practice law in Maryland. Including George, they shared four children — two of whom became state senators — along with several grandchildren who made their mark on politics. 

“Because of the Mitchells, it was nothing to see historic national people in the community — Sammy Davis Jr., Jackie Robinson, Wilma Rudolph, Rosa Parks… it was nothing. [Their family] attracted those people because of their quality and gravitas,” said Hathaway, an activist himself and a former pastor at West Baltimore’s historic Union Baptist Church. 

He’s also the president and CEO of Beloved Community Service Corporation, a nonprofit aiding underserved communities in Baltimore.

Hathaway wants his latest project, Upton’s newly-opened Justice Thurgood Marshall Amenity Center, to honor the legacy of the Mitchells and bring greatness to West Baltimore. The building at 1315 Division Street used to house P.S. 103, or Henry Highland Garnet School, where Marshall attended elementary school. In it, he sees the potential for even more changemakers to come out of the neighborhood.

“Quite honestly, I have the same feeling about the potential of this building that [I get] when I look into the eyes of my grandsons,” Hathaway said.

“I think the biggest hope that I have is that two or three years from now, we’ll see young people walking the streets of Baltimore with the feeling that they are a part of a ‘Justice league,’” he said.

“We’re part of this cadre of participants in the Justice Thurgood Marshall Amenity Center. We now have superpowers, and we’re going to go out and transform our community.”

A neighborhood gathering space meant for locals of all ages, Hathaway hopes the center will prove that rehabilitating urban properties is both achievable and worth the effort.

“People invest in buildings near the Inner Harbor,” Hathaway said. “Those are good, bankable deals. I wanted to prove that we’ve got a good, bankable deal in West Baltimore.” 

About five years and $15 million in the making, the refurbished building will serve as “the hub of the community,” partnering with various institutions like the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the National Park Service to increase accessibility to learning in West Baltimore. Free courses on the likes of aviation, artificial intelligence, and medical protocol will live under one roof.

“People won’t have to go outside of the neighborhood to find resources,” Hathaway said. “They can come to a place where people know their names, know who they are, support them, affirm them, and challenge them to be great. I believe that greatness resides in everyone. We need to help them discover it.”

Leading up to its July 2 opening, the new building welcomed in hundreds of guests  with a VIP reception and a jazz brunch for alumni. Hathaway, who says that tenants will be moving in between now and Oct. 1, excitedly predicts that it will have received more than 1,000 visitors by then. 

The now-retired pastor was inspired more than 20 years ago by the city’s former mayor Sheila Dixon — then a city council member and the head of an initiative to restore P.S. 103 — to refurbish the facility. He took action in 2019, three years after the school was nearly wiped out by a tragic fire.

“I’m a faith person,” he said. “I operate off of the idea that where [God] guides, he provides.”

Initially, Hathaway lacked the funds to renovate the building, but he “had people who believed in the vision.”

With time investors joined, and the reconstruction process began in 2022. To minimize the presence of carcinogens, along with the amount of waste that ended up in landfills, Hathaway and his construction team were careful to ensure that all materials were eco-friendly. Equally important was the task of recreating some of P.S. 103’s original designs. 

“Beloved Community Services Corporation believes in culturally sensitive and culturally relevant community development. The story of the property — who lived there, its position in time — is just as important as its restoration,” Hathaway said. 

With its structural integrity diminished by the fire — not to mention severe mold and water damage in its aftermath — repairing the first level of the school required help from a historic wood restorer. Pale blue walls adorned with white trim and tin ceilings, as were present when the school was built more than 100 years ago, combine to paint a picture of what Henry Highland Garnet School looked like when Marshall was a young student. 

The second floor, destroyed completely by the 2016 fire, afforded Hathaway a clean slate. He was able to add elevators, bathrooms, a “congressional assembly room” with space to seat more than 200 people, and a state-of-the-art movie theater, which will offer first-run movie showings. 

The movie theater is a point of pride for Hathaway. 

“When I have young people on the second floor to see a movie matinee, they’re going to experience the same feeling as if they were in an IMAX theater,” Hathaway said. 

“That’s what I want them to feel. I want them to feel, emotionally, what excellence means and what quality means. When you impact people that way, it can lift their aspirations.”

In the same vein, the second floor’s alumni room will offer former P.S. 103 pupils a space to celebrate pride in their former school and share those memories with young people.

“The alumni room will afford me and others a good opportunity to revisit who attended, [remember] who our friends were, and recapture memories that slipped away,” explained Jeanne Hitchcock, who attended P.S. 103 from 1951 to 1958.

In addition to reviving cherished friendships, the accomplished local activist — well-known for holding various state government positions over 40 years — looks forward to “observing the impact that the center will have on the community and kids it serves.”

The same is true of Hathaway, whose grandsons, aged three, five, and eight, were with him at the building’s ribbon cutting ceremony. 

“This is not a parent feeling. This is a grandpop feeling. I feel like I’ve been the custodian of an amazing property — a major legacy and history — and now I can see it in real time. It’s going to grow beyond my expectations.”

Hathaway thinks Marshall would feel something similar were he alive to see his elementary school today.

“I believe that Thurgood Marshall, just knowing the nature of his personality, would say, ‘Baltimore, why did this take so long?’” he said.

“There’s a saying that the time is always right to do right. Even though it may have taken a long time, I think we’ve done right by his legacy. We’ve done right by the community. We’ve done right by [the building’s] history. I think history will record that the time was right to do right.”

The post New Justice Thurgood Marshall Amenity Center Revives Upton’s Old P.S. 103 Building appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

Earlier this month — in partnership with the Baltimore Office of Promotion and The Arts (BOPA), the Maryland State Arts Council and M&T Bank — Mount Vernon’s Walters Art Museum unveiled the works of this year’s Janet and Walter Sondheim Prize finalists with a new exhibit. 

Now on view in the museum’s Centre Street building through September 8, the exhibition features the creations of ceramist Sam Mack, weaver Hellen Ascoli, and local mixed-media artist Amy Boone-McCreesh, each of whom currently live and work in Baltimore.

The exhibit marks the 19th iteration of BOPA’s annual Janet and Walter Sondheim Art Prize, named in honor of the celebrated late Baltimore couple (a trailblazing dancer and civil rights leader, respectively) and their lasting impact on the city’s arts landscape. 

This year, the distinguished competition, which was created to provide artists in Baltimore with resources to flourish, will conclude on August 22 with a ceremony and reception at the WaltersArt Museum. Each artist will receive the M&T Bank Finalist Award of $2,500 to assist with exhibit costs. One artist will win a coveted studio residency at the Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower, and after a series of final reviews, a jury of historians and curators will choose one lucky winner to receive the top prize: a $30,000 fellowship to help them further their career.

During a preview event for the exhibit on July 16, Boone-McCreesh said it was “incredible” to be named a finalist and showcase her pieces at the Walters.  Her color-rich portfolio includes sculpted and paper-based creations.

“Baltimore is such an incredible art city, [but] it flies under the radar a little bit. Of course, every city has its issues, but I’m just so excited to be recognized as a part of the art community here,” she said.

Complex and effervescent just like Baltimore, Boone-McCreesh’s maximalist works — often including paper, fabric, and found objects — encourage dialogue surrounding beauty, taste, and class disparities. 

 “I think something we don’t think about a lot is having access to beautiful spaces,” Boone-McCreesh said.

“That really is a luxury — like having a view out your window. Or think about how if you rent an apartment or book a hotel room, you’re paying the premium for the view.”

The same applies to indoor creature comforts: being able (or unable) to afford the latest, trendiest, interior decor, and what that says about one’s finances. Perhaps the concept of access to beauty is most evident through Boone-McCreesh’s “Hostile Seating (Ottomans),” in which two lavish ottomans are caged off using steel fencing — designed to mimic window bars seen often here in Baltimore and throughout Boone-McCreesh’s works — to prevent access to seating. The artist also customized the ottomans with handbag-style charms, much like those sold by high-end brands like Louis Vuitton to illustrate the idea that wealth shows itself in many different ways. 

With only three months to prepare for the exhibit, Boone-McCreesh said she enjoyed the challenge of choosing which works made the final cut.

“It was interesting to think about what artwork I had available, and what I could do in the time remaining. It forced me to kind of step back from my work and think about the bigger picture,” she said.

Like Boone-McCreesh, Mack, who was also in attendance on July 16, enjoyed collaborating with the Walters’s team to bring some of their most impactful works to one iconic space. Mack, who is transgender and uses they/he pronouns, is known for art that centers evolution. Their sculptures utilize ceramic, metal, clay, and myriad found objects to explore issues related to transgender life, particularly in the South and Midwest. 

Mack’s portfolio is meant to be a work in progress, they said. Flaws serve a purpose in pieces such as “Historical Present” and “A Practice in Immediacy,” both of which feature the use of ceramic and carpet tile.

“The individual vessels are constructed to crack and break. I’ll build a form of clay and then we’ll fire it, take fresh clay and build it onto that,” said Mack, explaining that creations in their final formats illustrate the journey of a body in transition in a way they hope makes sense to viewers.

While Mack’s  pieces — not unlike those of Boone-McCreesh and Ascoli, whose woven creations encompass themes including oral history and poetry — revolve around serious, personal matters, they hope viewers take note of light-hearted details, like puns, as they take in the works on display.

“There’s so much that’s gone into the exhibit — so much care and attention,” Mack said, 

adding that they’re grateful to have been part of the process. “It’s been very, very, exciting.”

Learn more about the works of this year’s finalists by visiting thewalters.org.

The post The Walters Art Museum Reveals This Year’s Janet and Walter Sondheim Prize Finalists With New Showcase appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

Editor’s note: Click here to go to Mason’s GoFundMe page.

West Baltimore native Charles Mason III was just 10 years old when he was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD). 

“The only way I can describe it is like an out-of-body experience,” said the 33-year-old. He said that one of the warning signs was swollen ankles, which he previously thought were from an injury. 

“I had been tested for diabetes and high blood pressure — all of the things that cause kidney disease — but I didn’t have any of them, so it was really like this moment of confusion, and like, ‘what’s going to happen?’”

According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 1 in 7 U.S. adults live with CKD, which is characterized by a gradual decrease in kidney function over time. Approximately 9 in 10 adults have no idea that they live with the disease, which can result in excess waste and fluid buildup in the body, giving way to ailments such as heart disease and hypertension. 

Despite early setbacks — including a steroid reaction resulting in serious weight gain and seizures that led to a brief coma — Mason learned how to take care of himself over time and grew up to become an esteemed artist. A 2019 graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he received an MFA in Studio Art, Mason’s mixed media works — which range from “sculpt-painting,” to drawing, to photography — explore the Black experience through themes including love, police brutality, and trauma. Along with solo shows in Baltimore, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, his work has been included in exhibits everywhere from Harlem’s Studio Museum to our own Baltimore Museum of Art.

He said he monitors his health closely, including cutting the amount of salt and protein he consumes.

“I’ve had about 23 years with my kidneys. I feel lucky and thankful and blessed that I’ve been able to maintain them for so long,” Mason said. 

But last year, with the state of his kidneys in steady decline, Mason’s doctors advocated a transplant, urging him to get evaluated to receive a living kidney donation.

The living donor process is preceded by intense examinations — which the artist is completing now — to rule out dire medical conditions such as cancer, after which, a healthy person donates one of their two kidneys. According to the National Kidney Foundation, the wait time for living donations is typically shorter than that of deceased kidney donations, meaning that patients can often hold off on dialysis treatment before they receive one. Living donations also tend to last for up to 20 years, approximately twice as long as most deceased donations do. 

“The most grueling part was telling friends and family,” Mason said. “It was a very vulnerable thing for me to decide to even ask for a kidney. It’s such a big deal.”

But with no other option, this past March, he decided to do so. In honor of National Kidney Month, the artist penned a moving open letter on his website to explain his situation.

“This is me being vulnerable with as many people as I can, because I want to live, I want help. and I need a transplant,” Mason wrote. “Even though you may not be able to donate. I am asking that if any and everyone could just spread the word. I can send links and have conversations with whoever would like to know more.” 

In no time, not only did people request to learn more, they made offers to be there for Mason. 

“When I sent the letter, I had a colleague reach out to me immediately,” he said. “I had mentors do the same. I had friends do the same. I just cried. It freaked me out because you don’t know who’s there, who’s looking out, and who genuinely cares about your well-being in a way where they want to get tested or they want to make a call and actually put forth an effort.”

Mason, who currently struggles with fatigue and anemia as side effects of CKD, expects to see significant improvements in his health after the transplant, which he says could take place very soon. 

“The timeline that I understand from doctors and nurses is that it could happen in a couple months,” he said. “Once a match is found, everything happens really quickly.” Right now, he says one potential donor is awaiting test results to see if they are fit to donate, while a few others are in the application process.

Mason’s next step is to set up a GoFundMe page to help with future medical expenses. After surgery, he won’t be cleared to do anything strenuous or drive for at least six weeks.

“I don’t know when I’ll be able to work in the rigorous way that I used to,” Mason said.
“To be honest, it’s scary. But we gotta lean into it. At least, that’s what they say, right? Lean into the unknown because you never know what could happen if you keep striving.”

Though uncertainty scares Mason, he’s prepared to face it head-on with the help of his support system. The biggest thing he’s learned since being diagnosed with CKD is that “we’re not meant to do this life alone.” 

“It’s OK to ask for help,” Mason said. “It’s OK to be scared, to be overwhelmed, to be sad. It’s OK to go through these things because your community will support you.” 

With plans to further advocate for those in need of new kidneys — particularly Black people, who, according to the National Kidney Foundation, are three times as likely as white people to encounter kidney failure — Mason doesn’t ask for much in terms of post-op life. 

“I just want to be good,” he said. “I want to do what I need to do. I want to get stronger. I want to be in a space of humbleness. I want to be in a space of love. All I really want is to be good and to know that I’m good.”

Read Mason’s letter here.

Learn more from the National Kidney Foundation.

The post Baltimore Artist Charles Mason III Needs a New Kidney—and Quickly appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

On May 2, the Baltimore Abortion Fund (BAF) concluded its spring Fund-a-Thon — participating in the National Network of Abortion Funds’ annual fundraising efforts — at the Current Space art gallery in Downtown Baltimore with “Blossom Bash: A Disco Dance Party for Abortion Justice.” 

The BAF team threw a ’70s-inspired garden party with hors d’oeuvres supplied by Broadway Market’s Thai Street, themed libations, ample bubble wands for waving, and a rich array of spring attire. Following a lively showcase courtesy of DC-based performer Pretty Boi Drag, the nonprofit’s co-executive directors shared that donors raised more than $2 million last year.

“This is a powerful example of what we can do when we reach out to our community to talk about why abortion access matters. This is what a community looks like when we show up and we take care of each other, no matter what,” said Lynn McCann-Yeh, who shares BAF’s co-executive director role with Porsha Pinder. 

Commitment to community has always been the driving force behind BAF’s work. Informed by intersectional and anti-racist values, the nonprofit — which strives to bring financial and logistical support to those in need of an abortion — was created in 2014 by volunteers at the D.C. Abortion Fund, many of whom lived in Baltimore and saw a need for increased access to abortions here.

Initially completely volunteer-run, BAF’s team grew in 2021 with Pinder and McCann-Yeh as its first two full-time hires. Today, the duo leads a staff of six and upwards of 100 dedicated volunteers. With additional resources, BAF has been able to broaden its reach beyond Baltimore City, working with 21 clinics to service all Maryland counties. 

At BAF, making sure clients receive access to abortion care could look like almost anything. 

“It’s not just funding for someone’s procedure, but also support with all of the other aspects that go into accessing health care and really trying to be expansive in the way that we provide those services. We’re trying to figure out what people need and get it to them,” McCann-Yeh said. 

Staff work with volunteers to take incoming helpline calls Monday through Thursday, spending anywhere from five minutes to two weeks making sure that clients get to their appointments. Sometimes, this means financing vehicle repairs or booking hotel rooms for clients who are traveling to Maryland from other states. In several cases, clients have relied on BAF for meal stipends or flight arrangements.

“There have been times where we’ve provided child care for someone to be able to have a six-hour appointment. And there have been times where we have literally driven across the state to take someone to their appointment because it’s the only option they had,” Pinder said.

In addition to seeking support for abortion care, clients can also place orders for free contraceptive kits via BAF’s website. Kits, which will be available online when this service resumes after a summer hiatus, include condoms,  pregnancy tests, water-based lube, and Plan B. 

“We’ve gotten very creative over the last few years. We adapt to [client] needs and we aren’t firm in how we operate, because how we operate needs to be as flexible and movable as the times that we’re in.” Pinder said.

Last year, Gov. Wes Moore declared Maryland a “safe haven” for those seeking abortion care, announcing the release of over $3 million in state funding to increase abortion training. This past February, Moore announced additional investments, granting the University of Maryland, Baltimore $10.6 million to administer the state’s Abortion Care Clinical Training Program. 

Of course, things were not always this optimistic. Almost two years ago, the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision resulted in the end of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark decision ensuring the constitutional right to an abortion. Restrictions and bans in other states — many as a result of Roe’s erasure in 2022 — led to a steep increase in travelers to Maryland, where abortion is legal before a pregnancy is viable, meaning that a fetus has a high survivability rate. Typically, this milestone occurs in the third trimester of pregnancy, or 25 weeks gestation. It is also legal after viability if deemed medically necessary or in cases of fetal anomaly, marked by abnormal or unexpected conditions in a fetus’ development.

In the year following Roe v. Wade’s overruling, Nicole Devlin, Planned Parenthood of Maryland’s director of abortion services, said the nonprofit’s clinics administered 45% more abortions than in the previous year. With Florida’s recent ban prohibiting abortion after six weeks gestation, she expects this to continue.

“There’s obviously been a huge demand, and we’re expecting even more,” said Devlin.

Pinder said that BAF has seen a similar increase in out-of-state clients since Roe’s departure.

“The reality is that people have always traveled for abortion. It’s been happening prior to now and will continue to happen for the foreseeable future,” she said. 

Nevertheless, she doesn’t see it as sustainable for BAF’s clients — or realistic for Maryland.

“The thing that’s been really hard is this idea that Maryland is safe and that everything is functioning in the way that it needs to,” Pinder said. “I think that’s just not true. ‘Legal’ does not mean accessible. As long as abortion is restricted anywhere, it’s not really accessible. And it’s not really safe for people to travel somewhere for an abortion and then go home where it’s criminalized.”

Pinder notes that even clients based in Maryland encounter barriers to care. This rings true for a number of BAF’s clients on the Eastern Shore, many of whom drive for hours to visit the nearest Planned Parenthood clinic in Easton. 

Before Maryland can truly be considered a “safe haven” for abortions, BAF hopes to see abortion care facilities and providers distributed more evenly throughout the state.

“Recognizing that abortion care is part of reproductive care and incorporating it into health care facilities as such — in addition to the wonderful independent clinics and providers that just specialize in abortion care — is really needed,” McCann-Yeh said. 

For BAF — which raised $5,000 at the recent Blossom Bash event, bringing this year’s Fund-a-Thon total to $133,000 — so are donations.

“One of the things that we have seen — and that has been reflected in the experiences of many abortion funds across the country — is that community support really swelled when Roe was overturned and we were having this moment of national reckoning. While community support was really wonderful to see in that moment of crisis, donations and support have not really kept up with our demands in the years since,” McCann-Yeh said. 

With volunteer sign-ups at full capacity, McCann-Yeh says the best way to support BAF is through monthly contributions. 

“This gives us a really solid and predictable base of support so that we can continue building out our programs and services and continue to meet the needs of our increasing volume of clients,” she added. 

For the rest of May, BAF’s busy team will be taking a much-needed rest before working upcoming events such as Baltimore Pride. 

“This work can be really challenging,” Pinder said. “It can be very draining on you, and I think the fact that we have been able to do it during some of the most challenging times for [abortion care] access over the last decade has been really incredible. I’m really proud of the resiliency of our organization and of our community. Every time I look backwards, it just makes me so much more motivated to look ahead.”

McCann-Yeh couldn’t agree more. 

“I’m really proud of the amount of money that we’ve been able to get out the door in the form of funding for abortion care and practical support, how we’ve been able to scale that, and how we’re continuing to scale that. We’re showing in real time that it’s possible to create an alternative community of care and an alternative way of being humans in this world, and that we can disrupt some of these forms of systemic oppression that have been in our institution for a long time,” McCann-Yeh said.

She acknowledges that BAF isn’t the first abortion fund — in fact, far from it — to lend these supports.

“This way of looking out for each other and caring for community has been present for a long time in Black and brown communities who have had to work outside of the systems that are in place,” McCann-Yeh said. “I’m really proud to be a part of that. And I’m really proud to continue building off of that and hopefully being able to do more in the years to come.”

The thrill that she and Pinder get from ensuring clients have a choice to take on parenthood is unlike any other. McCann-Yeh hopes donors recognize the power that abortions have to change lives for the better. 

“I think oftentimes, people associate abortion with something that is negative, tragic or full of regret,” McCann-Yeh said. “And while abortion can be those things for people, there’s a whole range of what it can mean for someone to have an abortion that can include relief, peace and joy. As an abortion fund, we feel a lot of joy in being able to support, uplift and affirm our clients’ decision-making, affirm the power that they have, and support them in making decisions that are best for themselves, for their families and their futures.”

The post The Baltimore Abortion Fund Moves Mountains to Make Reproductive Justice a Reality  appeared first on Baltimore Beat.