scroll: i don't care i love it

T H E S C R O L L T E A MTHE CONTEMPORARY

THIS FIRST EDITION OF SCROLL WAS PRODUCED BY MAX ANDERSON, KIMI HANAUER, AND LEE HEINEMANN.

Max Anderson is an artist and curator from Dallas, TX. He is a 2015 BFA candidate at the Maryland Institute College of Art, studying Painting and Interdisciplinary Sculpture. He is a founding member of Process Collective: a community curatorial collaborative, facilitating art events and projects in Baltimore. He has a keen interest in programming, technology, and science fiction.

Kimi Hanauer is an artist and curator from Pittsburgh, PA via Tel-Aviv, Israel. She is a 2015 BFA candidate at the Maryland Institute College of Art, studying Interdisciplinary Sculpture. Since moving to Station North, Kimi has been coordinating curatorial projects and events at Penthouse Gallery and other spaces in the area. She is a founding member of Process Collective: a community curatorial collaborative, a France-Merrick Fellow, and plays in the band Adventures from Pittsburgh, PA.

Lee Heinemann is an artist, production designer, and youth worker from Kansas City, MO. He is a 2015 BFA candidate at the Maryland Institute College of Art, studying Interdisciplinary Sculpture. He is a founding member of Process Collective: a community curatorial collaborative, and also teaches a weekly visual art class at 901 Arts in Better Waverly. Lee is a 2014–15 France-Merrick Fellow and will spend the next year developing Get Your Life! Productions, a futuristic video production company in collaboration with urban teenagers. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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I DON’T CARE I LOVE IT

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Hello and thank you for picking up the inaugural issue of Scroll: I Don’t Care I Love It!

We began this project soon after joining The Contemporary as interns in 2013. We realized, as artists who originally hailed from Dallas, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh via Tel Aviv, Israel, that we were overwhelmed by how much we did not know about the city and local cultures of our newly adopted home, Baltimore. Working with The Contemporary, we became engaged in the museum’s three key principles: artists matter, collaboration is key, and audience is everywhere, making it clear that we needed to further our own exploration of our surroundings in this city.

We felt contained in our own community and the canon of cultural figures that went along with our scene. I Don’t Care I Love It is our response to the systems of historical hierarchies of privilege and access that determine what culture is visible to us and what culture is not. Through this process we aimed to expand our view past familiar settings and subjects, to engage with people and groups we were previously unaware of or had only admired from afar.

WHO DECIDES WHAT IS CONTEMPORARY?

The Contemporary’s departure from a permanent physical space theoretically expands the museum’s presence to the entirety of Baltimore. Scroll: I Don’t Care I Love It responds to this potential by creating a space which is inclusive of people, places, and things that are seldom represented in traditional institutions and histories.

WHAT MAKES A TASTEMAKER?

For Scroll: I Don’t Care I Love It we prompted select local figures, groups, and organizations that represent a diverse range of communities and ideologies, to engage with us in a dialogue about the things that mattered to them most — happenings, significant community members, local phenomena, and neighborhood specific events. We then contacted the people and organizations suggested to us and had this same conversation with them.

This initial inquiry, and subsequent research, grew rhizomatically into a network of cultural makers, sites, and phenomena that attempt to represent many diverse perspectives. Scroll: I Don’t Care I Love It documents these exchanges, discoveries, and investigations to offer insight to an expanded landscape of Baltimore’s cultural activity.

Throughout our research, we met with people from different areas, as well as educational and cultural backgrounds. With every new conversation, we were most excited to find that no matter how different these individuals’ output or reach, they all seem to share similar goals in striving to strengthen, produce, and create change in Baltimore. These conversations brought to light the gaps of access and communication that exist between different communities; gaps that are very difficult to cross regardless of the shared goals we have in mind.

WHAT IS OUR ROLE AS THE INSTITUTION?

We learned a lot throughout this process about Baltimore’s history, treasures, irregularities, problems, and met some of those working to make it a better place. Investigating Baltimore did not simplify or solidify our understandings of the city, rather it revealed how complex and nuanced the city is, and how much we still do not know or have access to. This process also made clear that there are communities, cultures, and practices in this city that want to keep their subcultures private and underground. Their existence hinges on their autonomy from any form of mainstream and their inability to be defined, dissected, or otherwise institutionalized.

We want to acknowledge that in seeking out and documenting culture existing outside of traditional hierarchies, we are inherently creating hierarchies of our own. In truth, our attempt to be as inclusive as possible still only represents a segment. However, the limitations of our document only emphasize the importance of continuing this search for more understanding, more connections, and more awareness in our community.

We would like to take this opportunity to invite you to take part in this edition of Scroll by exploring your surrounding city and the aspects of culture that exist beyond your immediate reach. The promotion of awareness and communication within and beyond our communities can be the key to bridging the gaps of access that are so present in our city.

Many thanks to those who generously gave their time and input to this project. Keep up the good work!

Max Anderson, Kimi Hanauer, Lee Heinemann


Atomic Books

Book Thing

Aly Garrison

Graf�ti

BAYNARDWOODS

Robert BellKweisi Mfume

Elijah Cummings

Thom Saunders

The Walters Art Museum and The National Great Blacks in Wax Museum, founded and currently directed by Dr. Joanne Martin, weresites for artist Isaac Julien’s 2004 �lm Baltimore,which was commissioned by The Contemporaryin 2004.

Baltimore Museum of Art

The Baltimore Sun

BmoreArt

Walters Art Museum

The Contemporary

H&H Building

City Paper

Joe MacLeod was theCreative Director at CityPaper for 25 years.

Joe MacLeod and his Twitter account

DJ Vjuan Allure at Third Saturdays at Paradox

DJ Rosie at Club Hippo’s Thursday Hip-Hop Nights

Diana Siemer at the Esperanza Center

Michael Farley (Ellen Degenerate)

La Sirenita in Highlandtown

Jerry Carryout

ELLEPEREZ

MUSE 360

JASONHARRIS

The Contemporary is currently hosting its 2014Speak Series: CoHosts at the BSA which is in collaboration with thirteen galleries including Open Space, Current Space, and Gallery Four (which is run by Dustin Carlson).

OPEN SPACE

DDM

Current Space and Community Darkroom

Dustin Carlson

The Red Room

Color Wheel Printing

The Compound

Unchained Talent

Everyone’s Place

Peter Bruun

Bashi Rose

The Eubie Blake Center

Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA)

Maurissa Stone-Bass

Ras Tre Subira

Dirk JosephChristina McCleary

The Mansion

Floristree

Weird Magazine

Szechuan Best

Village Thrift

Style-T

Book Thing

Hooligan Express

Natural History Museum

Copycat Theater

Soft House

The Good Son

Space Mountain

Magic Town

The Nowarehouse

Mega Mega Omega

Ghost Beach

Scapescape

Club Paradox

Sound Garden

Watching thedirtbike ridersin the summer.

Charm City Circulator

Charm City Art Space

Celebrated Summer Records

Golden West

Gunpowder Falls State Park

Stout

A389 Recordings

Lumbini

Lexington Market

“Max Guy of Rock512Devilbrought me here a few years

ago and I’ve loved it ever since.”Elle Perez on La Sirenita

Color Wheel Printing, Copycat Theater, The Good Son, and Soft Houseare or were located in the Copycat Building.

“More than anything, Open Spacehas represented the power of

this amazing love that radiatesthrough Baltimore.”

Max Guy on Open Space

“I resisted for a long time,but the French toast sold me.

I can no longer live that lie.Golden West rocks.”

Justice Tripp on Golden West

React! Records

JUSTICETRIPP

Lexington Market

Lexington Market

Lexington Market

Black River Waste Water Treatment Plant

The Copycat

“The Copycat is the closestthing we have to Paradise

Garage and Studio 54.” DDm on The Copycat

ROCK512

DEVIL

DR.JOANNEMARTIN

Twig Harper & Carly Ptak

Seawall Development

WombWork

The Windup Space

People weinterviewed

Culture they suggested

Descriptions ofconnectionsbetween culture

Quotations

Connections betweensuggestions

Connections betweeninterviewees

Connections betweenmultiple suggestions

Connections betweenrelated suggestions

Connections betweenquotes and suggestions

Mo’s Seafood

Mondawmin Mall

Massey’s Carry Out

The Rotunda Movie Theater

Ultimately, our conversations with local makers and facilitators led to a massive network — one that piqued our interest in exploring where certain things connected but also where there were gaps. This diagram visualizes our process while also mapping out some of the networks of interconnectivity at play within the city. It attempts to highlight the spaces in which different individuals and institutions, that represent a vast range of backgrounds and expanses of culture, may share similar

“THERE IS A CHALLENGE WITH SEGREGATION IN BALTIMORE. NOT IN THE JIM CROW SENSE, BUT THERE ARE GAPS THAT HAVE TO BE BRIDGED. PEOPLE DON’T KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON UP THE STREET FROM THEM… IT COULD BE REALLY VALUABLE TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON THROUGHOUT THE CITY.”

—SHARAYNA CHRISTMAS-ROSE, MUSE 360

Atomic Books

Book Thing

Aly Garrison

Graf�ti

BAYNARDWOODS

Robert BellKweisi Mfume

Elijah Cummings

Thom Saunders

The Walters Art Museum and The National Great Blacks in Wax Museum, founded and currently directed by Dr. Joanne Martin, weresites for artist Isaac Julien’s 2004 �lm Baltimore,which was commissioned by The Contemporaryin 2004.

Baltimore Museum of Art

The Baltimore Sun

BmoreArt

Walters Art Museum

The Contemporary

H&H Building

City Paper

Joe MacLeod was theCreative Director at CityPaper for 25 years.

Joe MacLeod and his Twitter account

DJ Vjuan Allure at Third Saturdays at Paradox

DJ Rosie at Club Hippo’s Thursday Hip-Hop Nights

Diana Siemer at the Esperanza Center

Michael Farley (Ellen Degenerate)

La Sirenita in Highlandtown

Jerry Carryout

ELLEPEREZ

MUSE 360

JASONHARRIS

The Contemporary is currently hosting its 2014Speak Series: CoHosts at the BSA which is in collaboration with thirteen galleries including Open Space, Current Space, and Gallery Four (which is run by Dustin Carlson).

OPEN SPACE

DDM

Current Space and Community Darkroom

Dustin Carlson

The Red Room

Color Wheel Printing

The Compound

Unchained Talent

Everyone’s Place

Peter Bruun

Bashi Rose

The Eubie Blake Center

Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA)

Maurissa Stone-Bass

Ras Tre Subira

Dirk JosephChristina McCleary

The Mansion

Floristree

Weird Magazine

Szechuan Best

Village Thrift

Style-T

Book Thing

Hooligan Express

Natural History Museum

Copycat Theater

Soft House

The Good Son

Space Mountain

Magic Town

The Nowarehouse

Mega Mega Omega

Ghost Beach

Scapescape

Club Paradox

Sound Garden

Watching thedirtbike ridersin the summer.

Charm City Circulator

Charm City Art Space

Celebrated Summer Records

Golden West

Gunpowder Falls State Park

Stout

A389 Recordings

Lumbini

Lexington Market

“Max Guy of Rock512Devilbrought me here a few years

ago and I’ve loved it ever since.”Elle Perez on La Sirenita

Color Wheel Printing, Copycat Theater, The Good Son, and Soft Houseare or were located in the Copycat Building.

“More than anything, Open Spacehas represented the power of

this amazing love that radiatesthrough Baltimore.”

Max Guy on Open Space

“I resisted for a long time,but the French toast sold me.

I can no longer live that lie.Golden West rocks.”

Justice Tripp on Golden West

React! Records

JUSTICETRIPP

Lexington Market

Lexington Market

Lexington Market

Black River Waste Water Treatment Plant

The Copycat

“The Copycat is the closestthing we have to Paradise

Garage and Studio 54.” DDm on The Copycat

ROCK512

DEVIL

DR.JOANNEMARTIN

Twig Harper & Carly Ptak

Seawall Development

WombWork

The Windup Space

People weinterviewed

Culture they suggested

Descriptions ofconnectionsbetween culture

Quotations

Connections betweensuggestions

Connections betweeninterviewees

Connections betweenmultiple suggestions

Connections betweenrelated suggestions

Connections betweenquotes and suggestions

Mo’s Seafood

Mondawmin Mall

Massey’s Carry Out

The Rotunda Movie Theater

Ultimately, our conversations with local makers and facilitators led to a massive network — one that piqued our interest in exploring where certain things connected but also where there were gaps. This diagram visualizes our process while also mapping out some of the networks of interconnectivity at play within the city. It attempts to highlight the spaces in which different individuals and institutions, that represent a vast range of backgrounds and expanses of culture, may share similar

values and ideas. It also points out the areas of local culture that have a cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural relevance while shining light on equally significant phenomena with more specific audiences. We imagine that the connections we drew are really only a fraction of the associations and links that can be found between our interviewees and their subsequent lists. So, we invite you to make your own connections! We will certainly keep looking and exploring.

“THERE IS A CHALLENGE WITH SEGREGATION IN BALTIMORE. NOT IN THE JIM CROW SENSE, BUT THERE ARE GAPS THAT HAVE TO BE BRIDGED. PEOPLE DON’T KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON UP THE STREET FROM THEM… IT COULD BE REALLY VALUABLE TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON THROUGHOUT THE CITY.”

—SHARAYNA CHRISTMAS-ROSE, MUSE 360

COULD YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND AND CONNECTION TO THE CITY? My name is Jason Harris. I am a writer, person, educator. I’ve been in Baltimore since the day the Ravens won the Super Bowl [January 28, 2001]. I pulled up in Hamilton and people were firing guns! I was like “I thought this was a quiet neighborhood!” Baltimore is an interesting place in that it’s very insular, but it’s a port city. It’s insular but anyone can show up. At the same time, in regards to this whole conversation about artists that operate in the community out of the limelight, Baltimore has a community of artists who are a big deal outside of Baltimore but come home and quietly cut the grass. It was interesting to come here and see these people who are a big deal elsewhere and nobody really cares here.

This whole idea of having that conversation of who is represented as doing stuff in the community is part of a greater conversation about hierarchy. As a writer, I am interested in deconstructing hierarchy. One of my touchstones is William Gibson — he said the future is here, it’s just not widely distributed. And, Octavia Butler, of course, for any writer of color that writes speculative fiction is like our patron saint. She said the biggest weakness of the human race is the need for hierarchy. You see it here in Baltimore. The whole idea that we have to have this conversation; who are the people we aren’t seeing, the fact that it is a necessary conversation is indicative of the state of affairs. This whole thing with City Paper and that it’s basically been absorbed by the Baltimore Sun. The idea that you have to have an alternative to the organ that reports: it’s indicative of the fact that there are voices that aren’t heard. And what happens now that this has been absorbed by the institution it was reacting towards? What does that mean for the voices that used the City Paper as a public window? What happens to those voices?

I never knew there were black businesses on Read Street. Baltimore has a lot of hidden history because of how the discussion is formed. The work I’ve taken up is centered on asking a wide cross section of people what we want as a city. People don’t think beyond their next check. If anything, planning is centered on what you’re going to purchase next. Is that really how we want to frame our lives? A few years ago, I undertook this project called Ground Level Futurism. The idea is to ask three questions: who has more of an influence on your life, the government or corporations? Ten years from now what will be the headlines of local, national, and global news? Your municipality declares bankruptcy and your community decides you are the person who will secure resources — what are the first three things you will secure? The way futurism, as far I observe it, functions nowadays is in the service of capitalism. We go and see Tom Cruise drive up a wall in a nice Audi in Minority Report Five, and it’s like, “Oh wow, that’s the future.” It’s like trickle down futurism. Or, for the military, “What gun is Arnold Schwarzenegger holding in this movie?” I think futurism and speculative fiction can be retrofitted for the purpose of social justice — that’s the core of what I’m working on.

In 2012, I published an anthology called REDLINES: Balti-more 2028 I approached writers and asked them to write a story about Baltimore in the year 2028. I’m not interested in Bruce Willis saving the world. I’m interested in what the rest of us are doing while Bruce Willis is chasing the Fifth Element or whatever. In this point of history, we as a human

“THE WHOLE IDEA THAT WE HAVE TO HAVE THIS CONVERSATION; WHO ARE THE PEOPLE WE AREN’T SEEING, THE FACT THAT IT IS A NECESSARY CONVERSATION IS INDICATIVE OF THE STATE OF AFFAIRS.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Jason Harris is an author and educator. He works in science and speculative fiction that he defines as “new futurism.” Jason recently organized and edited REDLINES: Baltimore 2028, a sci-fi anthology about Baltimore in the year 2028.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

J A S O N H A R R I SWRITER EDUCATOR


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JASON’S LISTSIGNIFICANT BALTIMORE

PEOPLE ⁄ PLACES ⁄ THINGS- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -CHRISTINA MCCLEARY: Christina McCleary, Jason’s wife, is a sculptor and director of the ceramics department at the Columbia Art Center. She is a native of Edmondson Village. Her father, Tracy McCleary, was the bandleader for the historic World Theater on Philadelphia Street for about thirty-five years before his retirement. christinamccleary.com

DIRK JOSEPH: Dirk Joseph is an educator and artist. He runs various art workshops in schools that do not have dedicated art programs. His work is steeped in technology, programming, and science fiction.aziarts.com

MAURISSA STONE-BASS: Maurissa Stone-Bass directs The Living Well studio. It provides living and studio space as well as art programs and workshops for community consumption. She teaches at the University of Baltimore and also runs Iona Concepts, Inc., a company dedicated to the consultation and cementation of communities’ rights. livewellbemore.com 2443 N Charles St, 21218

RAS TRE SUBIRA: Ras Tre Subira is a documentary filmmaker and educator. He is also associated with Afrikan Youth Alchemy and is a former Open Society Institute fellow. youtube.com/user/tresubira

AFRIKAN YOUTH ALCHEMY (AYA): Afrikan Youth Alchemy is a youth development organization and rites of passage program that serves to promote African cultural ties and ancestry to Baltimore’s youth. AYA sends its members to Ghana and Ethiopia every summer through fundraising.ayainc.org

community have to make some decisions on where we want to go and we can’t leave that in the hands of people who make money off those decisions.

REDLINES IS ABOUT YOU BEING AN EDITOR SEEKING DIFFERENT VOICES. HOW DOES THAT COMPARE TO YOUR WORK AS AN AUTHOR?So, I wrote a story about Baltimore six or seven years ago. I liked the idea of picking a date and speculating upon it. But if I just wrote REDLINES it would just be my vision. So I thought it was important to pick a spectrum of authors, different ages, races, genders, and orientations. I like the idea of approaching it from the near future. I wanted people to think about something tangible. I liked having diverse voices. We have to make decisions as a community and we can’t exclude people for any reason. The decisions that are made to exclude people are usually window dressing and it just comes down to money and resources. It’s incumbent upon me, artistically or whatever, to make a comment on the way decisions are being made in this culture.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Dr. Joanne Martin is the co-founder and director of the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum. The museum has served Baltimore since 1983 by displaying important and seldom discussed events in black history through a personal and

wholly unique museum experience.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

D R . J O A N N E M A R T I NNATIONAL GREAT BLACKS IN WAX MUSEUM

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DR. MARTIN’S LISTSIGNIFICANT BALTIMORE PEOPLE ⁄ PLACES ⁄ THINGS

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -KWEISI MFUME: Kweisi Mfume is the former President and CEO of the NAACP, as well as a former Congressman from Baltimore.kweisimfume.com

THOM SAUNDERS: Thom Saunders runs Renaissance Productions and Tours in Baltimore. His company provides the city with a tour of Baltimore’s ancestry and history. Saunders is also an expert on Baltimore jazz and music in general.renaissanceproductions.biz

ELIJAH CUMMINGS: Elijah Cummings has been the Democratic Congressman for Baltimore’s 7th congressional district since 1996. He served in the Maryland House of Delegates for thirteen years.cummings.house.gov

ROBERT BELL: Robert Bell is the first African American to hold the position of Chief Judge on the Maryland Court of Appeals. Serving from 1993 to 2013, he is a symbol cultural progression in Baltimore and American politics.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_M._Bell

IS THERE A UNIFYING ISSUE THAT CONCERNS THE FOUR CULTURAL FIGURES YOU CHOSE FOR YOUR LIST? These four guys are each a product of the Black Power, Black Consciousness, Civil Rights Movements. They were among the generation of young Blacks who dared to be black and not Negro or Colored. That was revolutionary! And that spirit of militancy can be seen in the careers they chose for themselves and the not-afraid-to-swim-against-the-tide characters they are. They embody a brashness born out of the reality of living on the fault lines of an era that included both lynching and anti-war protests.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Open Space is a Baltimore-based and collectively-run art space that has been active since 2009. Open Space curates and designs a wide range of programming, working with artists from local and international realms. In 2013, they lost their Remington space to a fire. We spoke with current Open Space members Margo Benson Malter and Nick Peelor about the development and ideas behind Open Space and some of their upcoming initiatives such as the Alternative

Artscape Fair happening July 2014.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

O P E N S P A C ECOLLECTIVE ARTSPACE

COULD YOU GIVE US SOME BACKGROUND ON OPEN SPACE AND THE WORK THAT YOU DO?Nick: It was started by not us, we’re like second down the line. But I don’t know, the people that started it I don’t think had an ultra specific…

Margo: Their original idea was to start an artist’s bookstore. They found the original space on Craigslist. They initially built out the gallery and apartment. We were living in the Copycat and got priced out.

N: When we got involved we built a library and a performance space, but I think at that time there were like fifteen people doing Open Space, now it’s probably like ten or something. Originally the vibe was trying to have shows that were all the same quality but the content and curatorial style was varied. Chris and Connor are comics dudes: that’s where a lot of the books and drawings stuff came from. I was involved in the Sculpture Yard Wars shows.

HOW HAS EVERYTHING BEEN GOING NOW THAT YOU DON’T HAVE ONE SPECIFIC SPACE?M: All we’ve done since the fire is PMF [the annual Publications and Multiples Fair at the D Center] which is always really great. It felt extra special this year. It’s been rough trying to find a new space because we’ve been having to do a lot more administrative things. We never had to really worry about rent before. If we needed money we would just throw a party but now we don’t have anything ready. I’m getting really burnt out but we’re not going to stop.

N: One idea we’re percolating on is trying to have a show in a thrift store.

M: The new Savers in Towson has like a bazaar; they have a separate section that’s just booths people can rent. We’re talking about doing a show over there.

That was our annual open call show that would happen on the Fourth of July. It was always like a contest where you built a sculpture in the gallery the day of and it was judged. That’s how our bar got built. We did a putt-putt course and we did a video show for unsolicited commercials for Baltimore stuff. The winning one was for the Circulator — that was the only open call thing we ever did. Everything else was more heavily curated. One or two people would have a project and everyone would chip in for installation. We would do a group curated show every year. The last one was Future Daze which was based on sci-fi. Every member would bring in about five artists and we would vote. The top seven people would get into the show. Those shows always came together very beautifully.

N: I don’t think there’s a ton of ego stuff involved with the selection. Everyone was totally stoked about the show. We all trust each other’s tastes. It doesn’t feel bad to turn each other down.

N: I feel like it would be cooler than doing a pop-up show in Station North.

M: We’ve had offers that are like “you can come fix up the space and put up a show,” but that doesn’t really seem worth it to us.

N: I think PMF is cool because there are a lot of chance encounters.

M: I think a similar thing could happen at a show at Savers.

N: It wouldn’t really aid in weird gentrification stuff. We also did a closed network show for PMF.

M: …like you would go into the D Center and if you connected to a Wi-Fi network called Open Space it would take you to a page of specific work.

IT SEEMS LIKE WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT IS THAT IN NOT HAVING A PERMANENT SPACE YOU’RE ABLE TO INTERRUPT PEOPLE’S DAILY ROUTINE. COULD YOU TALK ABOUT WHY THAT’S IMPORTANT?M: We just want the work to be as accessible as possible. Sometimes with doing a DIY space it’s harder to get to and that’s a goal we have in terms of relocating.

N: I think one reason PMF is so rad is because there’s no work that’s priced over $100. It’s really affordable. That might not be a main motivation we have but I think it’s part of keeping things accessible. When we were doing the library we were encouraging people to make cheaper multiples. Your twenty-two year old friend is probably not going to buy a $400 painting.

TELL US ABOUT THE BALTIMORE ALTERNATIVE ARTS FAIR, THE OPEN SPACE CURATED ANSWER TO ARTSCAPE THAT WILL REPRESENT ARTIST-RUN AND NONPROFIT EXHIBITION SPACES AND GALLERIES. M: We have a lot of applications from all over. I’m hoping that all the Baltimore spaces participate. People have always tried to do an art walk but it only really makes sense now. PMF was the one time of year that everyone would have exhibitions up at once. I’m hoping that the Artscape fair will function in that way too. It’s nice to have moments of all coming together.

N: I’m hoping that doing this will help people who are not as in the loop hear about people’s cool spaces and what they’re doing. Hopefully it will bring a little more arts patronage to Baltimore.

M: Nobody is showing work at these spaces that isn’t reasonably affordable.

N: I just hope that it will be a way for people to find out about cool spaces around the country too. I remember when I was fourteen or fifteen, it was the first time I went to a DIY music show, it changed my worldview. I thought of Denver as a boring place, then suddenly I found out about this amazing community and it changed my life. I hope some cool suburban teenager will find out about cool art spaces in Baltimore. I hope people will see something they aren’t used to seeing and be interested.

M: I hope they fall in love. Being able to do art with different people is so great…

N: Hopefully next year there will be even more people applying. I hope that maybe if people are finding out about these spaces in Baltimore, it will be easier to keep them going. Every time we would have an Open Space show, we would see faces we had never seen before.

M: There were a lot of ways in which the fire was a positive thing. We had reached a capacity in that space. There’s really no reason to think of it as a tragedy.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -NICK AND MARGO’S LIST

SIGNIFICANT BALTIMORE PEOPLE ⁄ PLACES ⁄ THINGS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -THE RED ROOM: The Red Room is a collectively-run artist space and venue that has been active since 1996. Dedicated specifically to improvised experimental music, The Red Room has been running High Zero Festival for the past fifteen years. High Zero focuses primarily on spontaneous collaboration between its performers.redroom.org 425 E 31st St, 21218

BOOK THING: The Book Thing, founded in 1999, operates a dedicated storefront every weekend full of donated books that any-one can take for free.bookthing.org 3001 Vineyard Ln, 21218

DUSTIN CARLSON: Dustin Carlson runs Gallery Four in Downtown Baltimore. Gallery Four contains living and studio space for six artists as well as an exhibition space. Dustin Carlson is also concerned with urban intervention; he is reclaiming derelict buildings for community and collective use.galleryfour.net 405 W Franklin St, 21201

THE COMPOUND: The Compound is a former East Baltimore factory reclaimed by Nick Wisniewski. It is a living and studio space dedicated to communal living. It also houses a sprawling library, archive, and urban farm. 2239 Kirk Ave, 21218

TWIG HARPER AND CARLY PTAK: Twig and Carly run Tarantula Hill, a multi-purpose artist space located in West Baltimore. They recently started renting an isolation tank and a cabin in West Virginia. Carly operates a hypnotherapy business and the pair run the Heresee music label.heresee.com/tarantulalink.htm 2118 W Pratt St, 21223

SEAWALL DEVELOPMENT: Seawall is a development firm reformatting row houses and buildings in Baltimore to provide affordable living. They built the new Single Carrot Theater on Howard Street. They are currently planning to redevelop three city blocks in Remington.seawalldevelopment.com 1500 Union Ave, 21211

COLOR WHEEL PRINTING: Founded by Liz Donadio, Color Wheel Printing is an artist-run digital printing studio located in the Copycat, which is a building of live ⁄ work spaces for artists located in the Station North Arts and Entertainment District.colorwheeldigital.com 1511 Guilford Ave, C401, 21202


Vendors at PMFV. Photo courtesy of Open Space.

LEXINGTONMARKET

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -400 W Lexington St

Baltimore, MD, 21201- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

lexingtonmarket.com

STYLE-T- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

110 N Howard StBaltimore, MD 21201

THE PARADOX - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

1310 Russell StBaltimore, MD 21230

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -thedox.com

MONDAWMINMALL

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2401

Liberty Heights AveBaltimore, MD 21215

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - mondawmin.com

MUSE 360 /THE EUBIE

BLAKE CENTER- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

847 N Howard StBaltimore, MD 21201

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -muse360.org

eubieblake.org

BALTIMORESCHOOL FOR

THE ARTS- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

712 Cathedral StBaltimore, MD 21201

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -bsfa.org

RED ROOM- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

411 E Baltimore StBaltimore, MD 21202

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -redroom.org

ROCK512DEVIL- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

512 W Franklin StBaltimore, MD 21201

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -rock512devil.us

H&H BUILDING - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

405 W Franklin StBaltimore, MD 21201

OLD TOWN MALL

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -801–899

Hargrove AlleyBaltimore, MD 21202

EVERYONE’S PLACE

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1356 W North Ave

Baltimore, MD 21217

CHARM CITYART SPACE

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -1731 Maryland Ave

Baltimore, MD 21201- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ccspace.org

CHARM CITYWINGS AND

WAFFLES- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 807 Washington BlvdBaltimore, MD 21230

GOLDEN WEST- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

1105 W 36th StBaltimore, MD 21211

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -goldenwestcafe.com

MAGIC TOWN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -2900 Greenmount AveBaltimore, MD 21218

THE COPYCATBUILDING

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -1501 Guilford Ave

Baltimore, MD 21202- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - copycatstudiorentals.com

THE ROTUNDASHOPPING

CENTER- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

711 W 40th StBaltimore, MD 21211

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -grandrotunda.com

THE NATIONAL GREAT BLACKSIN WAX MUSEM- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -1601 E North Ave, #3Baltimore, MD 21213

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -greatblacksinwax.org

THE LIVING WELL

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -2443 N Charles St

Baltimore, MD 21218 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

livewellbemore.com

BOOK THING- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

3001 Vineyard LnBaltimore, MD 21218

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - bookthing.org

WOMBWORK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

3724 Kimble RdBaltimore, MD 21218

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -wombwork.com

CELEBRATED SUMMER RECORDS

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -3616 Falls Rd

Baltimore, MD 21211- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -celebratedsummerecords.

blogspot.com

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Baltimore native Justice Tripp has been involved in the hardcore ⁄ punk scenes in the area since he was as young as eleven. Today, he still takes an active role in the scene and plays in the band Angel Du$t. Justice is also well known for playing in the band Trapped Under Ice, which has toured internationally. Trapped Under Ice played their last show at

the 2013 This Is Hardcore Festival in Philadelphia, PA. The band is currently on a hiatus. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

J U S T I C E T R I P PHARDCORE PUNK MUSICIAN


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -JUSTICE’S LIST

SIGNIFICANT BALTIMORE PEOPLE ⁄ PLACES ⁄ THINGS- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -REACT! RECORDS:REACT! Records is a Baltimore-based hardcore record label. itstimetoreact.com

CHARM CITY ART SPACE: Charm City Art Space is an outlet for DIY performance, music, and art founded in 2002.ccspace.org 1731 Maryland Ave, 21201

CELEBRATED SUMMER:Celebrated Summer is a record store that recently reopened in Hampden. celebratedsummerecords.blogspot.com 3616 Falls Rd, 21211

GOLDEN WEST: Golden West Cafe is a restaurant, bar, and venue in Hampden.goldenwestcafe.com 1105 W 36th St, 21211

LEXINGTON MARKET: Lexington Market is the largest continuously running market in the world. For more than 230 years Lexington Market has served as one of Baltimore’s most prominent social centers.lexingtonmarket.com 400 W Lexington St, 21201

STOUT:Stout is a band formed in Baltimore in 1996. They are known for their dark sound and terrifying live performance style. Stout is still active today. facebook.com/pages/Stout/227504600596

GUNPOWDER FALLS STATE PARK:Gunpowder Falls State Park is an 18,000-acre Maryland state park spanning Baltimore and Harford counties. Kingsville, MD 21234

A389 RECORDINGS:A389 Recordings is a Baltimore-based record label that represents a growing roster of dark hardcore, punk, and metal bands that tour and record internationally. Every year A389 Recordings puts on a huge music festival called A389 Fest that gathers people from all over to the city.a389records.com

LUMBINI: Lumbini is an Indian and Nepalese restaurant named for a Buddhist pilgrimage site in Nepal.lumbinirestaurant.com 322 N Charles St, 21201

THE BACK RIVER WASTE TREATMENT PLANT: The Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant is a water treatment facility on the west shore of the Back River. It opened in 1911 and treats 180 million gallons of water a day. 8201 Eastern Blvd, 21224

COULD YOU GIVE SOME BACKGROUND ON WHAT YOU DO, SOME CURRENT AND PAST PROJECTS?For the last fifteen years, I’ve been playing locally, then later touring much of the world in hardcore punk rock bands. I played guitar in a band called Nick x Fury, sang in Trapped Under Ice, and now I sing in Angel Du$t.

HOW DID YOU FIRST GET INTO PUNK AND PLAYING MUSIC?I saw a local Essex band called Misdirected at the The Alley off of Eastern Avenue when I was eleven — that was huge for me. When I was maybe thirteen, I saw Hatebreed with Mushmouth and Death Threat at the Sidebar Tavern off of Lexington Street. At that point in my life, it was the scariest thing I had ever seen. The small club was packed with skinheads, jean shorts, and bandanas so far over people’s eyes that they couldn’t see where they landed their spinkicks. That’s the night I decided who I wanted to be in my life.

HOW HAS THE PUNK ⁄ HARDCORE COMMUNITY IN THIS AREA EVOLVED OVER THE YEARS?With a lot of things, I wonder if my perception has changed as I’ve matured, or if things are really all that different from how I remember them being over the last fifteen years — a lot of bands and venues that you really love slip through the cracks. When I was in high school, my only aspiration was to move into the “Broasis,” a cool punk warehouse that had so many cool shows until police raided the joint a time or two. I thought my life was over when they called it quits. A lot of faces change. When I was a young teen, there was a fear of Nazi skinheads showing up to the gig and intimidating people. I haven’t seen anything like that in a long time. I think the hardcore scene and Baltimore are both growing more diverse and accepting, which is a great thing. With that being said, I wish there was more youth involvement in Baltimore. Hardcore music is a young person’s game.

WE WERE INTERESTED TO SEE THE BACK RIVER WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT MAKE YOUR LIST, CAN YOU EXPLAIN THAT CHOICE? A lot of my childhood was spent close enough to the Back River Wastewater Treatment plant — or as some would call it, “the doo doo eggs” — that I could smell it if the weather was just right. After a long trip away from Baltimore, it’s almost a refreshing smell.

Angel Du$t performing live.

Photo by Justin Frisky.

HOW HAS BALTIMORE’S CULTURAL LANDSCAPE CHANGED IN THE TIME YOU HAVE BEEN HERE OR IN THE TIME YOU HAVE BEEN ACTIVE AS DDM? It’s becoming more diverse as far as the music scene is concerned. You’re starting to see more integration and collaboration between different scenes and genres.

WHAT ASPECTS OF CULTURE IN BALTIMORE DO YOU FEEL ARE OVERLOOKED?The marching band scene. The recreation centers (what’s left of them) and the high school rivalries (besides City College vs. Polytechnic).

HOW DO YOU SEE CULTURE AS A MEANS OF EMPOWERMENT?Baltimore has a rich history of being a hip town — a lot of great hairstylists and behind-the-scenes people in entertainment are natives. Our children need to know that.

HOW IS BALTIMORE CULTURE DIVIDED? (THIS COULD BE IN REFERENCE TO DIVISIONS BETWEEN LOCAL QUEER CULTURES AND HIP HOP ⁄ RAP CULTURES OR JUST CULTURES IN GENERAL) HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR YOU TO IDENTIFY AS A PART OF A SPECIFIC CULTURE? I think fear and mindset keep us divided. A lot of Baltimoreans have things in common with each other, but the communication isn’t always there. If we had more dialogue we would not be so segregated.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -DDm (Dappa Dan Midas) is known as Baltimore’s first openly gay rapper to receive widespread attention. DDm seeks

to educate while spreading his influence throughout Baltimore and hip-hop and R&B culture.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

D D MMUSICIAN ACTIVIST

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

DDM’S LISTSIGNIFICANT BALTIMORE PEOPLE ⁄ PLACES ⁄ THINGS

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -THE PARADOX ON THIRD SATURDAYS:The Paradox is a historic dance club set apart in East Baltimore. Located in a renovated factory, it has been hosting Baltimore’s premiere club and hip-hop artists since 1991.thedox.com 1310 Russell St, 21230

SCAPESCAPE MUSIC FESTIVAL:Scapescape is a four day annual alternative to Baltimore’s ArtScape art fair. It promotes local inclusiveness rather than attempting to book national artists and acts.scapescape.wordpress.com

WATCHING THE DIRT BIKE RIDERS IN THE SUMMER

MONDAWMIN MALL:Mondawmin Mall has been present in Baltimore since 1956. In 2008 it was renovated and now provides more services geared towards public welfare.mondawmin.com 2401 Liberty Heights Ave, 21215

THE CHARM CITY CIRCULATOR:The Circulator is a free bus system in Baltimore. It features five lines and attempts to bridge community hubs in the city.charmcitycirculator.com

MO’S SEAFOOD RESTAURANT:Mo’s has provided seafood in six locations throughout Baltimore over the past twenty years. DDm specifically recommends their crab cakes. mosseafood.com 7600 Eastern Ave, 21224

SOUND GARDEN:Located in Fell’s Point, the Sound Garden provides new and used CDs and records. It was listed by Rolling Stone as the second best music store in the USA.cdjoint.com 1616 Thames St, 21231

THE ROTUNDA MOVIE THEATER (CHEAPEST 3D MOVIES IN TOWN):The Rotunda Movie Theater has the cheapest 3D movies in town. The Rotunda Mall which houses the theater is also home to Baltimore’s Clear Channel HQ and every radio station under its umbrella.rotundabaltimore.com 711 W 40th St, 21804

THE COPYCAT BUILDING:The Copycat Building has been providing artists with living and studio space since 1983. It has been home to countless artist and musicians, including the Wham City Collective. It continues to be central to Baltimore’s art community.copycatstudiorentals.com 1511 Guliford Ave, 21202


Angel Du$t performing live.

Photo by Justin Frisky.

DDm photo by Max Milli.

WHAT WERE YOU CONSIDERING WHEN PUTTING THESE LISTS TOGETHER?We appreciate the transience of many projects, spaces, and happenings in Baltimore. It seems like things change so rapidly that we forget that houses once had different names, like The Bahamas was once the Copycat Theater and Wham City before that. I think we feel it’s unfair to speculate otherwise.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Rock512Devil is an art space, bookstore, and two-part curatorial project. Co-founded by Max Guy, Chloe Maratta, and Flannery Silva, it facilitates a range of art events that circulate around their split curatorial practice of “rock” and “devil.” Rock512Devil also houses a growing collection of independent publications, artist books, and printed matter. Rock512Devil sent us two lists, the first is Chloe and Flannery’s list of significant people, places, and things; the second is Max’s list of experimental art and music house venues that have come and gone throughout his time in Baltimore.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

R O C K 5 1 2 D E V I LART SPACE

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

CHLOE & FLANNERY’S LISTSIGNIFICANT BALTIMORE

PEOPLE ⁄ PLACES ⁄ THINGS- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -MAGIC TOWN:Magic Town is a local beauty and variety store. 2900 Greenmount Ave, 21218

THE SOUND BOOTH AT FLORISTREE

WEIRD MAGAZINE:Weird Magazine is a quarterly anti-magazine curated by Noel Freibert. wweeiirrdd.tumblr.com

SZECHUAN BEST:Szechuan Best is the collaborative curatorial project of artists Max Guy and Peggy Chiang named for Chiang’s family’s defunct restaurant in Randallstown, MD. szechuanbest.tumblr.com

SMOOTHIES FROM LEXINGTON MARKET:Lexington Market is the largest continuously running market in the world. It has existed for more than 230 years.lexingtonmarket.com 400 W Lexington St, 21201

STYLE-T:Style-T is a clothing store specializing in contemporary and vintage streetwear. 110 N Howard St, 21201

DIRTY LEGS FROM SITTING ON THE FLOOR AT THE BOOK THING:The Book Thing, founded in 1999, operates a dedicated storefront every weekend full of donated books that anyone can take for free.bookthing.org 3001 Vineyard Ln, 21218

VILLAGE THRIFT R.I.P.:Village Thrift was a thrift store in Reservoir Hill that closed in 2013. 790 W North Ave, 21217

HOOLIGAN EXPRESS:Hooligan Express is a blog and regular feature of radio station 92Q’s website where DJ Squirrel Wyde features new music.hooliganexpress.blogspot.com


Photo of a clubgoer

at The Paradox by Elle Perez.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

MAX’S LISTPAST EXPERIMENTAL ART ⁄ MUSIC HOUSE VENUES

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -GHOST BEACH:Ghost Beach was the bedroom of Anoushe Shoja-Chaghorvand at The Annex where she hosted live music and performance art. 419 E Oliver St, Apt 4E, 21202

SPACE MOUNTAIN:Space Mountain was a house that hosted music shows and parties. The tenants also ran a bike repair operation out of the kitchen. 1756 Park Ave, 21217

THE MANSION:The Mansion was a house inhabited by a large rotating group of tenants — punk shows and parties were held in the basement, which also had a half-pipe. 1600 Block of Park Ave, 21217

THE COPYCAT THEATRE:The Copycat Theatre is an experimental theater that produced performances including Rooms Play which took audiences through twenty interactive rooms. 1511 Guilford Ave, B403, 21202

SOFT HOUSESoft House at the Copycat Building hosted arts events including Soft Fest, an immersive music festival.softhouse.tumblr.com 1511 Guilford Ave, B502, 21202

THE GOOD SONThe Good Son was in the Copycat Building and held music shows in 2010–11. 1511 Guilford Ave, 21202

THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM:The Natural History Museum was a rowhouse that hosted music shows in the basement and art exhibitions in the living room. 2400 Block of Barclay St, 21218

OPEN SPACE:Open Space is a curatorial collective that founded a space above an auto shop in Remington in 2009. It left that space due to a fire in 2013.openspace.com 2720 Sisson St, 21211

MEGA MEGA OMEGA:Mega Mega Omega was a pseudo fraternity house of MICA students. Bolton Hill, 21217

THE NOWAREHOUSE:The Nowarehouse, in Pigtown, hosted touring hardcore and metal bands. They held three annual Memorial Day Massacre events that coincided with Maryland Deathfest. The police busted the last one which caused it to fold in 2009. 1235 Burgundy St, 21230


Photo of a clubgoer

at The Paradox by Elle Perez.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Elle Perez is a MICA graduate and photographer who focuses her work on the experiences and depictions of queer Americans. She is currently organizing and documenting Baltimore’s drag ballroom and pageant scene while receiving

her MFA in Photography from Yale University School of Art.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

E L L E P E R E ZARTIST CURATOR

HOW HAS BALTIMORE’S CULTURAL LANDSCAPE CHANGED IN THE TIME YOU HAVE BEEN HERE OR IN THE TIME YOU HAVE BEEN WORKING?I first started living in Baltimore in 2007 — so I’m still really new to the city. But even only being here for that short a period of time, I’ve seen a lot of changes for good and for maybe not so good. The corporatization of Baltimore is something I’m personally conflicted on — I remember the city before it had any Starbucks, and before Harbor East was a ‘thing.’ But, those soulless corporate enterprises bring jobs, which is the #1 thing that we need. So for that, I’m glad. I think that Baltimore’s visual arts community has grown, or at least social media has allowed it to be louder and reverberate nationally. I think a lot of money recently has been coming into the visual arts scene in the form of grants and other prizes, which is absolutely amazing on one hand, because uh, hello, everyone I know is broke. But, I also think a lot about where it’s coming from and whose interests are behind the influx. Gentrification has sped up. We’re not exactly Brooklyn yet, but I am encouraged by my community being conscious of these things, questioning, and working against them.

WHAT ASPECTS OF CULTURE IN BALTIMORE DO YOU FEEL ARE OVERLOOKED?I think that Black and Latin@ culture in Baltimore is so often overlooked and doesn’t get as much value. Race tensions are real in this city and they come from our history, and I think that the visual arts community (the community that I’m a part of) sometimes likes to think that it is somehow above institutional and systemic racism. We’re not, and value being attributed (re: money) to certain events, producers, and venues, and that value attribution is one of the ways that systemic racism sinks into our communities. Like, I remember people would talk to me about how “not queer” Baltimore is, and I’m just like, “Have you ever been to Paradox? Have you ever been to Club Hippo on Thursday night? Why not?” And no one wants to tell you “why not”, but the “why nots” are the racial tensions and unreasonable fears that have been drilled into a lot of people’s heads, dividing this city up into “safe” and “not safe” Baltimore instead of “a place that is complicated for many reasons.”

HOW DO YOU SEE CULTURE AS A MEANS OF EMPOWERMENT?Culture, specifically nightlife, gives you an opportunity to be your fullest expression of yourself that you can’t be during the day for whatever reason. Nightlife lets you be the sexiest, craziest, most beautiful version of yourself and that is empowering. Culture can also open up communities by facilitating interactions that you don’t get in your day to day for a variety of reasons. It is most empowering when it is subversive of the daily dominant cultural systems that we all live in and turns the things that we think we “know” on their heads.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ELLE’S LISTSIGNIFICANT BALTIMORE

PEOPLE ⁄ PLACES ⁄ THINGS- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -ALY GARRISON: Aly Garrison organizes and performs in Latina drag shows throughout Baltimore and Washington DC.

DJ ROSIE AT CLUB HIPPO’S THURSDAY HIP-HOP NIGHTS:Club Hippo has been a staple of Baltimore queer nightlife since 1972 and hosts a weekly Hip-Hop Night with DJ Rosie. clubhippo.com 1 W Eager St, 21201

DIANA SIEMER AT THE ESPERANZA CENTER:The Esperanza Center is an organization providing local immigrants with healthcare, social services, referrals, language classes, and legal services. Diana Siemer runs the free English for Speakers of Other Languages program. 430 S Broadway, 21231

JERRY CARRYOUT: Jerry Carryout is a carry-out restaurant in the Station North Arts and Entertainment District. It is open late and offers a diverse range of options from Chinese food to pizza. 27 E North Ave, 21202

DJ VJUAN ALLURE AT THIRD SATURDAYS AT PARADOX:During the queer monthly dance party at the Paradox, DJ Vjuan Allure plays vogue house in the back room and there’s hip-hop in the front room.vjuanallure.com 1310 Russell St, 21230

CHARM CITY WINGS & WAFFLES:Charm City Wings & Waffles is a restaurant in Southwest Baltimore specializing in chicken and waffles. 807 Washington Blvd, 21230

MICHAEL FARLEY (ELLEN DEGENERATE): Michael Farley is an artist, critic, and drag queen. He performs as Ellen Degenerate in a variety of venues and reviews art and culture for City Paper.

LA SIRENITA IN HIGHLANDTOWN:La Sirenita is an authentic Mexican restaurant in Highlandtown decorated with a mermaid theme. 3928 Eastern Ave, 21224

JOE MACLEOD AND HIS TWITTER (JOEMACLEOD666)Joe MacLeod was the Creative Director of City Paper for twenty-five years before losing his job in City Paper’s sale to the Baltimore Sun. He tweets to roughly 1,400 Twitter followers. twitter.com/JOEMACLEOD666

ANDREW, GINEVRA, MONIQUE, AND MICHAEL AT CURRENT SPACE:Current Space is an artist-run gallery, studio, and headquarters for cultural production founded in 2004. currentspace.com 421 N Howard St, 21201

“EDUCATION IS THE ONE THING WORLDWIDE THAT CAN FREE PEOPLE. ESPECIALLY PEOPLE WHO HAVE A HISTORY OF OPPRESSION.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Muse 360 is an arts education program founded in 2005 by Sharayna Christmas-Rose. Muse 360 aims to broadly educate and empower Baltimore youth and adults through three core programs: Rayn Fall Dance Studio, Dancing Many Drums: An Arts Education Program, and Sacred Circle: Adult Wellness Program. Muse 360 also offers other

opportunities for youth to perform, fundraise, and travel internationally. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

M U S E 3 6 0HIGH QUALITY ARTS EDUCATION

CAN YOU GIVE US SOME BACKGROUND ON MUSE 360 AND THE WORK THAT YOU DO? Muse 360 Arts is a nonprofit that focuses on youth development through high quality arts. We focus on performing and visual arts. We have three core programs. Rayn Fall Dance Studio, which I started in 2004, is a preparatory dance program. Dancing Many Drums takes students internationally to study the African diaspora. We’ve been doing that since 2007. We also have a new program, Spark of Genius Youth Entrepreneur Project; it’s about encouraging young people to open businesses in the arts. It’s in residence at the Crossroads School down in the harbor. Our vision is to facilitate change in the community. We don’t say we’re a community arts organization because when people think about community arts, the misconception is that they don’t do high quality work. We are an organization that’s open to all people from all backgrounds, and we have the same expectations across the board. Do we reach the community in our efforts? Yes, but we are not only focused on community programs. We are focused on developing the youth so they have the skills to take them to the next level.

Muse 360 started when I graduated from Morgan State. I’m from New York. I grew up dancing at a prestigious dance institution: Dance Theatre of Harlem. It’s the largest African American ballet company in the world. When I was growing up I didn’t always want to do it. When I was a teenager I wanted to hang out with my friends, but my mother kept me in it from three up through high school. I moved to Baltimore to go to Morgan State. I studied finance. I became a maverick in the financial field. I did not think about dance or the arts, but when I graduated Morgan State I knew I wanted to give back. One way was through teaching free dance lessons — that’s how Rayn Fall Studios was born. From that, I realized that youth could not only benefit from dance lessons but from the allied arts — things I was exposed to growing up in Harlem. That’s when I started Dancing Many Drums and we started touring. In 2009, we went to Jamaica, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, New Orleans, and we just came back from the Dominican Republic. This summer, we will be traveling to an island called Eleuthera, which is off of the coast of the Bahamas. We are partnering with Morgan State and Unchained Talent. The last program was started by two students who started in Rayn Fall. Spark of Genius was born because we actually don’t get very much funding. They wanted to start their own little business and I encouraged them to do so. It all started with my background in dance and really wanting to see the best brought out of our youth.

CAN YOU ELABORATE ON THE EXPECTATIONS OF COMMUNITY ARTS ORGANIZATIONS AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT YOU DO AND COMMUNITY ART?So, I think that funders perceive us as a community arts program, and then they think they know what it is that we do. There’s nothing wrong with community arts; but when people think about a community arts program they think the art is being made on a very basic level.

Muse 360 performing at Uh-Oh: Whoop Dee Doo in 2012 at The Contemporary.


My organization serves mostly people of color. We’re in Baltimore and we aren’t a conservatory, so people automatically label us as a community arts program. How do you define a community? Bolton Hill is a community. Roland Park is a community. So, if I did arts there would it still be community arts? I think that “community” in the funding world means low-income, at-risk youth — areas where the poverty level is 20%. We serve those kids, but I am starting to look at community through many lenses, and that just makes it really broad. We are just a little bit different. When I was living in New York, nobody said I was going to a community dance class. In New York, what made community dance classes “community” was that they were held on Saturdays and had all age levels. When I started going to the preparatory classes during the week, they weren’t described as such. It’s not that you have to separate it, but there is a difference in terms of what is produced.

HOW DO YOU SEE CULTURE AND THE ARTS AS A MEANS OF EMPOWERING?I believe the arts help you see people in a more human way. I use art to see people’s abilities and actions. Education is the one thing worldwide that can free people — especially people who have a history of oppression. Even if you’re just the kid that gets picked on at school; you come here and you produce great art. We’re going to highlight that, and then you can use that empowerment as you move on. When I worked on Wall Street, which was horrible, I didn’t learn about people, I just learned how to assimilate. When I started to run Muse 360, I had to deal with so many personalities. It was tough; I really had to learn how to control my emotions, but now I’m able to see people.

We just came back from the Dominican Republic. One of my youths, Nia, she dances and is really into theater. There’s a museum dedicated to resistance in Santo Domingo. What is the history of resisting oppression? The museum represented three sisters called the Mirabal Sisters, or the Butterfly Sisters [Dominican sisters assassinated in 1960 after actively opposing dictator Rafael Trujillo]. Nia decided to bring one of those sisters to life and asked her fellow scholars to help her develop a short video that would basically show them vanishing and butterflies erupting from their spirits. The end product was her playing the video for the audience, then the lights came down on her and she became this character. When I was sixteen I didn’t do stuff like that. You wouldn’t go to Nia’s school and think she could do something like that. You can’t just use academics to help kids reach their full potential. They need experience in the arts. I feel like even the most scientific kids have an artistic path they want to pursue. Everyone can use art to help them succeed. I used art to get into the financial world. When I would interview for jobs, people loved that I used to dance. It’s what set me apart from the people who came from Harvard and other Ivy League schools. In Muse 360, we use the arts to push kids to a level they may never reach if they were somewhere else. Then, later in life, they can reference it. They may not go into the arts, but they have the chance to say they went to the Dominican Republic to shoot a short film when they were sixteen. How many people can say that? I can’t say that!

Muse 360 performing at Uh-Oh: Whoop Dee Doo in 2012 at The Contemporary.

Rayn Fall Dance Studio dancers. Photo courtesy of Muse 360.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -SHARAYNA’S LIST

SIGNIFICANT BALTIMORE PEOPLE ⁄ PLACES ⁄ THINGS- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -WOMBWORK: WombWork is a production company serving Baltimore by providing the city’s youth with access to the performative arts. It emphasizes African history and the importance of ancestry in our contemporary culture.wombwork.com 3724 Kimble Rd, 21218

D.R.A.M.A. (DIRECT RESPONSES ALLEVIATE MISDIRECTED AGGRESSION):D.R.A.M.A. was founded by performer and activist Bashi Rose. D.R.A.M.A. takes place within five Maryland prisons, helping incarcerated people use theater and film to communicate through conflict, form relationships, and ultimately mitigate violence.

BALTIMORE SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS:The Baltimore School for the Arts is an arts high school founded in 1980. The BSA provides training in the visual arts, music, theater, and dance, paired with a robust academic curriculum. The students are chosen solely on their auditions and portfolios — location, grade point average, and financial background are not taken into account during the admission process. bsfa.org 712 Cathedral St, 21201

UNCHAINED TALENT:Unchained Talent is an after school performing arts and youth mentoring program that teaches leadership and preparation through the arts. It is a nonprofit organization that implements art as a hook to keep underserved and at risk youth engaged in education and community.unchainedtalent.org 3500 Hillen Rd, 21218

EVERYONE’S PLACE:Everyone’s Place is a bookstore and African Cultural Center. It is dedicated to representing the African diaspora and African ancestry through their selection of books and programming. 1356 W North Ave, 21217

EUBIE BLAKE CENTER:The Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute and Cultural Center has served Baltimore for over three decades. It hosts after school arts programs, performing arts programs, an art gallery, historical preservation, and production facilities.eubieblake.org 847 N Howard St, 21201

PETER BRUUN:Peter Bruun is an artist working in Baltimore and currently organizing Autumn Leaves. The project has charged seven artists and arts organizations with the task of making a portrait of one of forty-nine prominent people over the age of fifty in Baltimore.bruunstudios.com



HOW HAS BALTIMORE’S CULTURAL LANDSCAPE CHANGED SINCE YOU BEGAN YOUR CAREER HERE? When I first moved here, The Contemporary was directly across the street. One of the first stories I did was a profile of Sue Spaid. I could see the museum from my house. Station North has changed a great deal — some people would use the word gentrification, but with so much vacancy, it doesn’t mean the same thing here. All the venues north of North Avenue have popped up, the west side is seeing more new galleries, but some of the warehouses have died down. And, the Urbanite folded leaving fewer print venues.

WHAT DO YOU THINK DEFINES BALTIMORE AS A CITY? I don’t believe in all the things people say define cities; I don’t think they can be defined with much of anything shorter than Joyce’s Ulysses. A city is defined by the interactions, often random, of the people who live there. With that being said, all cities are defined by their size, and therefore, the number of interactions that can and do happen. People use the phrase “Smaltimore,” but they generally really mean a very small segment of the city. Segregation is still one of the predominant things that defines the city.

DO YOU SEE CULTURE AS A MEANS OF EMPOWERING INDIVIDUALS ⁄ COMMUNITIES ⁄ ETC? Culture is both a way of empowering and disempowering individuals and communities. Culture is, perhaps, the echo of all the ways we communicate with one another and communication is as often used to disempower as to empower. As a reporter, I try to use my own life in the city and allow the paper to reflect it back on itself. I wish I could have the illusion that this reflection empowers people but I don’t know if it does.

HOW HAS YOUR POSITION AT CITY PAPER CHANGED YOUR RELATIONSHIP TO LOCAL CULTURE? It is my job to know what is going on, but also to take a distance from it. I have to be willing to be hated and be equally immune from the desire to be liked. I have to take a certain level of responsibility for my aesthetic feelings. And I have to try to balance which events we can cover in a way that tries to reflect back what is actually happening, which means that I must also suspend my own judgments. There is also a certain sense that showing up matters. Even if I know we can’t write on a show, or someone else is writing on it, I feel it is important to represent the paper there (and as a result, maybe hear something about some other story I wasn’t expecting). This, of course, leads to constant guilt and failure, because one is never able to get to everything.

HAVE YOU WITNESSED CITY PAPER’S RELATIONSHIP TO THE COMMUNITY CHANGE?During the period in which the paper was sold, we saw a huge outpouring of support, which was quite nice. We were owned by a Pennsylvania media company and have been bought by the much larger Sun ⁄ Tribune, which changes our relation to the community in ways I don’t yet understand. We are no longer in a small Mt. Vernon mansion but the giant Sun building. But there is also a sense of more local control that is good coming with it. As far as the arts community is concerned, I have tried to continue to develop the paper’s relationship so that people are willing to come to us as a source. Getting outside of my easy cultural areas remains one of the bigger challenges — how do we find out more of what is going on? How do we cover a larger section of the community, whatever that means?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Baynard Woods is the Senior Editor of the City Paper, Baltimore’s free, weekly alternative newspaper. Woods is interested in journalism, the Socratic life, and Greek Mythology. We spoke with Baynard about his perspective on the

city and the role that City Paper plays. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

B A Y N A R D W O O D SJOURNALIST EDITOR

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BAYNARD’S LISTSIGNIFICANT BALTIMORE

PEOPLE ⁄ PLACES ⁄ THINGS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -THE WINDUP SPACE: The Windup Space is a music and arts venue. It has a stage that is decorated like the Black Lodge from the TV show Twin Peaks.thewindupspace.com 12 W North Ave, 21201

ATOMIC BOOKS: Atomic Books in an independent comic bookstore open since 1992. It focuses on collecting independent comics and zines as well as traditional comics and collectables.atomicbooks.com 3620 Falls Rd, 21211

THE CONTEMPORARY: The Contemporary is a nomadic, non-collecting art museum located in Baltimore. contemporary.org

BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART: Incorporated in 1914, the Baltimore Museum of Art focuses its collection on the 19th century through the present. artbma.org 10 Art Museum Dr, 21218

CITY PAPER:City Paper has been Baltimore’s alternate newspaper since 1977. It utilizes a free circulation method, providing the city with 1800 locations and 1600 yellow street vending machines.citypaper.com 501 N Calvert St, 21278

THE BALTIMORE SUN: The Baltimore Sun is Maryland’s largest circulated daily newspaper. It was founded in 1837, and has since incorporated over thirty other Baltimore-circulated newspapers, magazines, and websites.baltimoresun.com 501 N Calvert St, 21278

BMOREART:BmoreArt is a local prominent contemporary art blog. Created by Cara Ober in 2007, it provides a comprehensive database of Baltimore’s art events and openings.bmoreart.com

H & H: The H&H Building is a converted warehouse that provides artist housing, studios, galleries, and show spaces—all over a sporting goods store. 405 W Franklin St, 21201

THE WALTERS ART MUSEUM:The Walters Art Museum is home to a vast collection of art from the third millennium B.C. to the early 20th century. thewalters.org 600 N Charles St, 21201


DIRECTOR’S NOTE:

The conception of Scroll, and subsequent release of this inaugural issue, I Don’t Care I Love It, is a major nod at the three guiding principles we hold at The Contemporary: artists matter, collaboration is key, and audience is everywhere. The individuals and collectives that were called to interview for this project represent a diverse range of creative practices because all artists matter, but more importantly, they are needed to adequately reflect the spectrum of talents working within our cultural landscape. Collaboration is key is an essential function of our museum, as evident internally by the cooperative power of this three person intern team but also externally via the natures of much of the work represented in these pages — people are not doing much alone but a lot together, and it’s tremendous. Our last principle, audience is everywhere, is proven again by the diversity of the interviewees and the networks they call home — networks I am so excited we got to discover as a result of the conversations that led to this publication.

It should also be mentioned that we are tasked every day with exploring the city. As a nomadic museum, we spend our mornings investigating sites and spaces for potential projects, our afternoons discovering artists and collaborators, and our evenings pondering the pockets of the city we have yet to meet or wish to understand further. We are, in a sense, always looking and are fortunate to operate in a city that is almost devastatingly worthy of this kind of examination. Baltimore is fantastic — sure, it is undeniably a complicated place, but it is also layered and fearless and wise. And sadly, like many other cities, there is simply never enough time nor the resources and platforms needed to represent every wonderful and interesting cultural happening. For this reason, I am so proud of the spirit of this project. It has enriched us as individuals, as a team, as a museum, and (with any luck) in relationship to you, our reader, patron, and audience.

At this point, I wish to thank the many contributors of this inaugural issue of Scroll — first and foremost, the interviewees: Jason Harris, Dr. Joanne Martin, Margo Malter and Nick Peelor, Justice Tripp, DDm, Max Guy, Chloe Maratta and Flannery Silva, Elle Perez, Sharayna Christmas-Rose, and Baynard Woods. Your interests, insights, and enthusiasm are invaluable to us as I am sure they will be for anyone that reads this. Thank you for your patience, humor, and call to collaboration. It is a testament to the power of this city.

Scroll was an extraordinary effort on behalf of our small but mighty staff. I cannot express enough the crucial role played by our Program Manager, Ginevra Shay, who worked closely with Max, Kimi, and Lee for many months on every facet of this publication. She is an incredible educator and created a safe space for them to challenge and be challenged — it was beautiful to witness and no easy feat! Additional thanks are especially owed to our Business Manager, Lu Zhang, for her keen and diligent editorial eye. I thank Tony Venne for his guidance and for advising our team on all matters related to the design and production of this first issue. I salute The Contemporary’s Board of Trustees for supporting an internship program that is robust and prioritizes the need for continued community conversation and critical inquiry.

Finally, and again and again, I thank Max Anderson, Kimi Hanauer, and Lee Heinemann for setting the bar high and giving our future interns a run for their money. It has been a treat to see the city through your eyes and via the voices of the outstanding interviewee list you have put together. Your sensitivity to issues surrounding hierarchy, race, class, and inclusion are beyond your years, and I am repeatedly awed at your stances in the world. It was a pleasure working with you and, while I’m sure we could all agree that you invested far more hours and energy into this internship than actually required by any institutional standard, it was inspiring to watch you ‘not care and love it’. Bravo.

Deana HaggagDirector

Copyright © 2014 by Contemporary Museum, Inc. All rights reserved.

Printed bySchool Paper Express84 East Main StWappingers Falls, NY 12590in the United States of America.

This publication was produced and designed by the intern staff at Contemporary Museum, Inc. (The Contemporary). Each annual issue of Scroll will explore a different cultural topic related to the mission and efforts of The Contemporary and will be available, for free, in print and online.

scroll: i don't care i love it

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