free wednesday night concerts

baltimore's back in full swing of summertime activities-- thankfully, many of which are free or very cheap! this weekend i paid a whole $6 for great seats at an orioles game, had a great time at honfest in hampden (see photos), and took advantage of the free outdoor movie series at the village of cross keys. although i found cross keys very odd in that it is an extremely pre-planned enclave that is extremely different from the rest of the city (mostly in terms of demographics), it was a great setting to watch a movie on a calm summer evening. last night's show was avalon, one of barry levinson's classic films about growing up in baltimore-- i'd highly recommend any of the four films.






as for upcoming events, i was excited to read about the summer concert series at the museum of industry, 6-9 on wednesday nights. these are free (!) and look awesome. june 17th features jah works and dj who. by the way, the museum of industry caught me off guard with its fascinating, familiar exhibits-- definitely worth going to.

if you are looking for a neighborhood to check out, i live in remington and find it very genuine in its diversity and appeal. we're home to familiar landmarks such as the dizz, ace of cakes, and the papermoon diner as well as lesser known places like sterling's crab house on the corner of 29th and miles. the wyman park dell, just across from the (free and wonderful) baltimore museum of art, is a lovely spot to catch some afternoon relaxation. we're in walking distance of hampden, druid hill park, and hopkins/charles village. a few shots:

Maryland Traditions Showcase on June 11!

Charm City Confidential is back in action!


I am back in Baltimore after four months in Copenhagen and what a great place it is. From an urban studies perspective, Copenhagen is a really well-planned place with reliable and extensive public transportation, cutting-edge architecture, and incredible designers. I would really recommend it for those interested in learning about the history of a Northern European city-- there are many great museums, and most everything is in English as well as Danish. Here are a few shots of my last day there:





However, the reason for this post is that there is yet another exciting Baltimore event coming up! I trust summer 2009 will be just as fruitful as last summer in terms of quirky events in Charm City. I happen to be interning at the Maryland State Arts Council's Maryland Traditions program and thus am working hard on this event. Below you will find a bit about it:

Maryland Traditions, a program of the Maryland State Arts Council and the Maryland Historical Trust, will present a traditional and folk arts showcase on Thursday, June 11 at the Creative Alliance in Baltimore. The afternoon session— from 4:00 to 7:00 pm— includes a roundtable discussion with Maryland instrument makers, insights from esteemed local cooks, and demonstrations of material arts (such as screen painting and Smith Island cake baking) followed by a dinner of traditional Maryland foodways. The evening portion features performances by boogie-woogie piano master Daryl Davis, ngoni (pre-banjo) player Cheick Hamala Diabate, South Indian Karnatic musicians P.K. and Lalitha Swaminathan and urban hip-hop dance master Junious “House” Brickhouse. The program also includes the Maryland Traditions 2009 ALTA (Achievement in Living Traditions and the Arts) Awards ceremony and recognition of the 2010 recipients of the program’s Master and Apprentice and Project Grants. Tickets are $6 and available at creativealliance.org, by calling 410-276-1651 or at the door.

This weekend, however, don't miss the Frederick Festival of the Arts, the Charles Village Festival (check out their website-- it is really visually interesting!), and the Texas Two-Step dance at the Creative Alliance! More events to come, of course...

here is a little collage i made yesterday...

blog hiatus

hello! i am just letting any readers out there know that i will be studying abroad in copenhagen, denmark next semester (january-may) and thus will not be updating this blog until then. of course there's always options like first fridays on the avenue in hampden, the free walters art museum, the washington monument in mt. vernon (which you can climb to the top of for just $1!), the baltimore basilica (first catholic church in the united states!), lexington market, the museum of industry, little italy, a movie at the charles theatre, the great blacks in wax museum (unveiling their new barack obama wax statue on january 19!), etc.

here's a list of where i get my info, so you can continue to find cool events on your own--
baltimore metromix
City Paper
Baltimore Collegetown Network
baltimore.org
baltimore fun guide
the creative alliance

have fun exploring charm city!

holiday goodness coming up

so the end of 2008 is upon us but the cool events keep comin':
-tomorrow, thursday december 4, sheila dixon and co. will kick off the holiday season in baltimore with the annual lighting of the washington monument in mt. vernon. festivities start at 5:30 and include fireworks!
-parade of lighted boats in the inner harbor, this saturday december 6 from 5-8 pm
-merry mart, the creative alliance holiday craft sale, will be held on sunday december 7 from 11-5 at their lovely highlandtown space.
-also on december 7, local t-shirt company squidfire is hosting their DIY art mart at the lyric opera house in mount royal from 12-6:30.
-and also on sunday december 7 is the 37th annual mayor's christmas parade in hampden! even if you can't make it to the 2:00 function, make sure you stop by hampden's legendary 34th street to see the wonderful lights!
-binge, a letterpress printing demo, open studio and sale on december 14 from 12-8 in hampden.

now if only we didn't have finals to deal with...

crafty weekend!

guys- baltimore just does not stop coming up with cooler and cooler stuff. there are three awesome events scheduled for this saturday alone. take time to check these out!

tomorrow, thursday november 13, a bunch of nonprofit community leaders will be at goucher to discuss going into that field. meet folks from wide angle youth media, greater homewood corporation, urban leadership institute, community law in action... it is at 7:30 p.m. in the piano room of the t/welsh hall.

charm city craft mafia's holiday heap is taking place on saturday, november 15 from 10 am to 5 pm. check out the 50+ craft vendors selling their wares at the really cool st. john's church, 2640 st paul street in charles village.

also on saturday is this series of free workshops on music & the brain at the american visionary art museum. avam is a must-see even if you can't make it this weekend! demonstrations and concerts will take place from 10:30 am- 9 pm. the visioniary is in federal hill, just a short walk away from the inner harbor (which is easy to get to via the collegetown shuttle or light rail). avam is hosting their own holiday art marketplace, bazaart, on november 29. if this is anything like their gift shop, it will be utterly amazing.

yet another cool event taking place this saturday is caleb stine's round the mountain acoustic extravaganza at the creative alliance. although it is a bit pricey ($17), this will be well worth it considering the amount of talent that will be present. hear the baltimore shape note singers and other folk/traditional musicians at 8 pm. the creative alliance is a really, really cool community arts organization in highlandtown. it's not too hard to get there via public transportation. if you have a car, drive yourself and take a gander through patterson park while you're at it.

apparently wham city will be performing their interpretation of jurrasic park at goucher on sunday night! it is free at 8 pm in pearlstone atrium. it seems like there's just too much going on to fit it all in, but let's try, eh?

great halloween lantern parade

if you live in the baltimore area and don't have plans for next saturday, october 25, i would strongly encourage you to go to the

great halloween lantern parade!

an annual fall tradition in the southeastern neighborhoods around patterson park, city paper named this event the most photo-worthy in this year's best of baltimore issue. over 1000 hand-made paper lanterns will make up this year's jabberwocky-themed parade. if you want to participate, come with your lantern/costume to the pulaski monument at 7 pm. to watch, line up on the east side of linwood avenue by 7:30 pm. they also need volunteers-- if you're interested in setting or cleaning up or being a parade marshal, email the creative alliance.

below are some photos from the past weekend's lantern-making workshops: