School 33 blows open the doors of more than 190 studios for the annual Open Studio Tour. “You never know who?s going to walk in,” said sculptor Breon Gilleran about the two-day event.
During the tour, viewers flood close to 20 Baltimore neighborhoods for a chance to speak candidly with artists while strolling among their works-in-progress and completed paintings, sculptures, photography, installations and mixed-media pieces.
Artists are on hand to answer questions, demonstrate their techniques and show off their talents.
“I love the tour, and always have,” said Gilleran, who uses old-fashioned blacksmithing techniques to create metal sculptures. “I just love talking to the kids. I try to develop an enthusiasm in them. I want girls to see they can do this stuff ? forge and bang metal. It?s dirty but it?s really fun. Women can do this funky work.”
The Open Studio Tour takes participants through studios uptown and downtown of artists who rent space at a subsidized rate from School 33 such as Gilleran and independent artists such as Renee Tantillo, who uses discarded objects in her sculptures.
Tantillo opens her studio doors today because “it?s interesting for patrons to see where the artists actually make their stuff. People always ask ?How do you come up with this?? I?m in a big room full of junk with a bunch of tools, and it just happens here.”
The tour is a great experience, especially for children, said painter and sculptor Lania D?Agostino. “They get to see how different types of people work in their different environments.”
D?Agostino?s passion is painting dreamlike imagery and childhood memories on paper and wood panels, she said. “But I make casts of people to support myself. People always have the most questions about that.”
The artist, working on Light Street, creates fiberglass resin figures for museums and specialty prop stores. However, a growing number of her clients are parents wanting a cast of their children, she said.
Making a life size cast begins by taking plaster and silicon rubber molds of live models, D?Agostino explained. “Some of the final figures are very realistic down to the clothing, others become more statuesque, some are bronzed or painted.”
School 33, a program offered by the Baltimore Office of Promotions and the Arts, organizes the Open Studio Tour.
“School 33 does a great job,” Gilleran said. “Their budget is laughable. But they keep on doing it because they love us [the artists] and we love them. I wish the tour was more visible … I wish the city would be jumping … It would be really great to see this town rocking.”
Click here to download a complete list of studios participating in the tour.
Open Studio Tour
Oct. 20 and 21, noon to 5 p.m.
1427 Light Street
Baltimore
Free
410-396-4641
