Artscape?s lineup will leave you breathless. More than 120 of the most creative minds will converge July 20-22 in Baltimore City for Artscape ? billed as America?s largest free public arts festival.
From edible art and the infamous art cars to paintings and outdoor sculptures, Artscape, in its 26th year, exhibits all mediums imaginable on- and offsite.
“What we find is people really get the super-experimental work, and the general public is very excited to see what?s beyond what they can sample normally on TV or in a small arts store,” said Gary Kachadourian, visual arts coordinator with the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, which organizes the festival.
For the first time, the annual festival will include an art exhibit at its food court.
Sculptor and performance artist Laure Drogoul curates the exhibit, Ceci n?est pas a Booth, Kiosk or Gazebo and other Radical Shacks, which she likens to a shantytown that embodies the unique, often chaotic atmosphere of a food court.
“What happens between the viewers and the artists is what defines the piece,” said Drogoul, who was awarded $25,000 in 2006 for her work in the Janet & Walter Sondheim Prize competition for regional artists. Works from this year?s finalists are on display at the Baltimore Museum of Art and Maryland Institute College of Art in the city.
In the food court exhibit, snowballs, cotton candy, a cooling station, a musical instrument seen in B-movies, a kiosk reminiscent of Baltimore?s sewers and kinetic sculptures that move viewers are a few of the objects and installations, Drogoul explained.
Artscape presents completed works of art as well as works in progress.
Under blue-topped tents, 11 groups will show viewers how they work and answer questions about their methods during Art Demo Dayz.
A dozen Baltimore Clayworks? sculptors are scheduled to demonstrate clay throwing and hand-building techniques.
Clayworks? artists include Sam Wallace, who creates traditional Jamaican folk pottery; Trisha Kyner, who produces large-scale, theatrical pieces; and Jim Dugan at the emblematic sculptor?s wheel.
“Clay is such a malleable medium; it can work for you and against you,” said Ann Hazels, Clayworks? gallery manager and events coordinator.
Artscape is Baltimore?s best festival, she added. “It links anything and everything. You?re bound to find something that?s going to give you a good taste of the city.”
IF YOU GO
If you go » 26th Annual Artscape
1200 block of Mount Royal Avenue and several sites throughout Baltimore City and Baltimore County
» Noon to 10 p.m. July 20
» Noon to 10 p.m. July 21
» Noon to 8 p.m. July 22
For a complete list of of each day’s events, visit The Examiner’s Events Calendar.
