Baltimore 1 Exhibition - Upcoming!

Hey this is coming up! Hey, I helped!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

BALTIMORE 1 Exhibition at Gallery CA

Curated by Marcus Civin

February 17 - May 2, 2014

Opening Reception Thursday, March 20, 2014 6:00 - 9:00 PM

Gallery CA is pleased to announce Baltimore 1, an exhibition of personal objects on loan from City Art residents. Upstairs are artists in affordable housing—people eating or playing guitar, texting, netflixing, painting and reading books. Downstairs in the gallery is some humble evidence of lives lived upstairs; objects wait on practical tables and shelves designed by Jennifer Coster and Marcus Civin. The collection, which is still growing, will be on view in the gallery February 17, 2014, through May 2, 2014. An opening reception will be held at Gallery CA on March 20, 2014, from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM.

Over the course of several Saturdays for the past three months, a team has knocked on doors, reminded neighbors, given out sweets and haunted the building halls and lobby. There are 69 apartments at City Arts; it wasn’t easy, and not everyone is participating, but there are now upwards of 60 objects included in the exhibition. These objects emphasize the diverse interests and experiences of City Arts residents—the whispering of families, the idea of “home”, private inclinations or pride, dazzling.

There are a few jokes, a few nods and smiles. The collection is a portrait of a place at a certain time, a building in a city—an intrinsic Baltimore portrait perhaps, just one Baltimore. Neighbors move in, move out, make a drawing or two, go to work, do laundry, park, bring in the groceries, pet-pet-pet dogs, go out for the fire drill, talk in the elevator, get the mail, pay the rent, take out the trash…How was your day?…Oh, it’s going to snow?

Within the collection are objects including: a fragile dried bat in a shadow frame; an old rusty roller skate (the kind that attaches to the bottom of a shoe): The Flash Brownie, a WWII era camera made in the USA; a circuit-bent child’s keyboard ready to be played; a Marine Band harmonica; panpipes; an antique light table which shows a skull xray; a portrait by a neighbor; a scarred piece of wood; a jubilant twisting red cupcake holder; a biscuit cutter; a purple squishy toy truck; the pet rabbits’ toys.

A team at City Arts has meticulously measured the objects, inventoried, stored and documented them.
Some objects are bent and worn, some have dog hair lingering, strings of hot glue still clinging. People are starting to talk about these objects: These clubs were my Grandfather’s; he used these on the public golf courses around here…This is my favorite record—You know Queen Latifah, remember “Ladies First”?



Workshops will be offered during the exhibition, prompting interaction and inviting response to this
collection of assembled objects. For information on Baltimore 1, including more information about the programming, please visit galleryca.org/baltimore1. If you are interested in leading a workshop in
response to the objects in Baltimore 1, please contact Catherine Akins at Gallery CA by emailing
info@galleryca.org.

Baltimore 1 Team:

Marcus Civin is Faculty in Curatorial Practice at Maryland Institute College of Art. He will be Acting Director of Curatorial Practice in the academic year 2014 2015. This Spring, he is also curating The Empathy Project by Paul Rucker at MICA.

Jennifer Coster is an artist living in Baltimore. In 2012 she received an MFA from MICA and founded the publication project Print/Collect.

Shana Goetsch is an artist and educator in the Baltimore area. She is currently Adjunct Faculty at
Howard Community College and the Regional Coordinator of The Feminist Art Project - Baltimore.