The 49th annual Downtown Partnership Monument Lighting goes virtual this year!

Tune into WJZ Channel 13 from 7:30 – 8pm on Thursday, December 3, for festive performances and special guests to count down the lighting of the Washington Monument in Mount Vernon Place.

There won’t be anything to see or do in Mt. Vernon Place that night because of public health concerns. But Downtown Partnership is already planning to bring back the holiday village and fireworks for the lighting’s 50th anniversary in 2021.

Find more information here and join in the annual tradition on December 3!

The Bulletin of the History of Medicine, a journal edited and produced in Baltimore at the Program in Arts, Humanities, and Health, at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, are sponsoring a juried online exhibition of photographs that document our city’s experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic. One photograph will be selected for publication as the cover image of the Bulletin’s special issue on the pandemic and a further two will be published in the journal. The top ten photos will be displayed by LEDBaltimore, the LED billboard in Station North. There will also be an online exhibition.

The application deadline has been extended to Saturday, November 21, 2020.

1. There is no submission fee; each photographer may enter up to 3 photographs.

2. Images must have been taken during 2020 within Baltimore City.

3. Photographers juried into the exhibition will be informed by Dec. 1, 2020. J.M. Giordano will be jurying the exhibition.

4. The photograph chosen as the Bulletin cover image will be awarded $650; two additional photographs will be awarded $250 each.

Submit your application here.

Request for Proposals – Art of Activism Exhibition and Outdoor Banner Display

Maryland Hall, in partnership with the Banneker Douglass Museum and Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture, invites Maryland-based Black artists, whose work encapsulates activism and social justice through education, to send proposals to take – one of six – 5 ft. x 9 ft tall Black Lives Matter banners, which are currently hanging on the front steps of Maryland Hall, to use as a canvas for justice. Selected artists are asked to challenge viewers’ perception of art by using their individual banner as a platform to discuss social oppression and systemic patterns through visual or performance art. Artists will receive a payment of $1,000 to design and create their banners. 

Applications are due by Friday, November 13, 2020. Apply here.

The 6 artists selected by a panel of jurors, in addition to having their finished banners displayed on our campus, will participate in a curated exhibition, Art of Activism, which will be on display at Maryland Hall from (January 8 – February 27, 2021). Hand-selected protest art from private collections will be shown throughout the building to complement current activist art.

Finally, additional artists will be chosen to create work on smaller Black Lives Matter banners that will hang at the Banneker Douglass Museum and will coincide with the Art of Activism showcase at Maryland Hall.

Read more and download the full request for proposal here: https://www.marylandhall.org/galleries/exhibitions-calendar/art-of-activism/

Shop Art This Holiday Season

Artists Sunday is an alliance of more than 2,000 artists, local arts agencies, cities, counties, state agencies, chambers of commerce, and organizations coming together to encourage consumers to shop with their favorite local artists and craftsmen during the holiday season. Artists Sunday takes place the Sunday after Thanksgiving, this year on Sunday, November 29.

Artists and art organizations across the country are hosting events and promotions to engage with consumers nationwide and encourage them to “shop art” for the holidays. Participation is free for artists, economic development agencies and non-profit organizations.

Learn more about Artists Sunday, view the full calendar of events and see sample artwork at https://artistssunday.com/.