Latest news with #BaltimoreOfficeofPromotionandtheArts
Technical.ly
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Technical.ly
Artscape 2025 brings tech and talent downtown
Baltimore's beloved free arts festival is switching things up for 2025 — and not just with its art. Artscape has moved downtown and takes place earlier in the year than usual, over Memorial Day weekend on May 24-25. The new timing and location come with a message: The festival, produced by the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts (BOPA), isn't just about creativity. It's about innovation. For a large part of its nearly 40-year run, Artscape has spotlighted creative collisions, putting Baltimore painters and poets alongside coders and gamers. This year's festival continues that fusion, alongside other new additions like the Scout Art Fair curated by the acclaimed Baltimore-born visual artist Derrick Adams and the Baltimore Beat's arts editor Teri Henderson. Think augmented reality maps, immersive installations and a statue that turns into digital art when you scan it with your phone. These aren't just gimmicks. They're signs that Baltimore's tech scene is increasingly woven into its cultural fabric. For instance, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County is helping bring the interactive vision to life, according to organizers. Thanks to a collaboration with the local design firm Raunjiba, QR codes scattered throughout the festival footprint will unlock a 3D AR map to help attendees explore the newly reimagined layout. And when you find the fest's statue, scan it, and watch the sculpture go 3D. Panels that bridge the creative and the scientific Over at Baltimore Center Stage, the 'In Conversation' series dives deeper into the art-tech crossover. In 'Science & Dance: Orbiting the Self,' CEO Andrew Parlock of Space Phoenix moderates a discussion connecting choreography with the science of motion and identity. Prefer fashion to footwork? 'The Science of Beauty: Styles by Science' breaks down how AI, design and smart tools are rewriting industry norms. Entrepreneur Keisha McClain leads this talk on how algorithms and innovation are fueling your next look. Spotlight on the next generation 'In Conversation' is one of two new Artscape tracks this year, both taking place at Baltimore Center Stage. The second, 'Beyond the Reel,' focuses on cinema and features a mix of screenings and discussions. As part of it, on Sunday at Ikonic Live, middle and high school students from the region will participate in a showcase and affiliated panel curated by Wide Angle Youth Media. Beyond that and the annual Kidscape programming track, the Baltimore Underground Science Space will showcase another bridge of science and art — that is, art made up of living organisms, like yeast. Will you be taking in tech at this year's Artscape? If so, send us your photos at baltimore@ and you might get featured in our next Baltimore newsletter!
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Baltimore mayor creates new office to unite city arts
BALTIMORE — Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott has created a new office to consolidate all the city's arts offerings from the festivals to film. The Mayor's Office of Arts, Culture, and Entertainment follows the example of cities such as Atlanta, Chicago and Austin, which groups together different genres under one big tent, Scott said Wednesday in a news release, 'improving coordination, growing cultural infrastructure, and driving strategic outcomes.' In addition to hosting such public events as AFRAM and Artscape, the new office will also operate the programs that provide grants to individual artists and cultural groups. These events used to be run by the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, the city's previous events-planning and grant-making organization. The city's contract with the financially flagging quasi-governmental agency was terminated last year by Scott. But since then, interim BOPA CEO Robyn Murphy appeared with Scott at news conferences announcing plans for such popular festivals as Artscape. Murphy couldn't be reached immediately for comment. The new office will be directed by Linzy Jackson III, the city's director of external partnerships and the producer of Baltimore's AFRAM and Charm City Live. He will be supported in his new role by Tonya Miller Hall, the mayor's senior adviser for arts and culture. Scott said that Baltimore was visited last year by more than 28 million tourists. 'Baltimore has serious momentum right now,' he said. 'And more and more people are seeing it for themselves.' The news release predicted that creating a centralized agency to manage the city's arts, events, nightlife and film will grow revenues, increase operational efficiency and provide critical assistance for grassroots artists and neighborhood-based cultural organizations. The new agency 'isn't just a new office,' Jackson said in the news release. 'It's a new way of connecting Baltimore and showing who we are. It's where murals meet music, festivals meet film, and community voices take center stage.' _____
