Creative Alliance provides venue space for
Music, Performance & Film, Youth & Family, Festivals & Community, Exhibitions, Classes, Fundraisers, and Signature Events.
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Watch the world’s greatest stories unroll before your eyes! Baltimore's beloved festival of scrolled panoramas, known as "crankies," returns for its 10th year of fireside wonder! The festival, the largest of its kind in the country, works with artists to showcase crankies from Baltimore and beyond!
Watch the world’s greatest stories unroll before your eyes! Baltimore's beloved festival of scrolled panoramas, known as "crankies," returns for its 10th year of fireside wonder! The festival, the largest of its kind in the country, works with artists to showcase crankies from Baltimore and beyond!
Watch the world’s greatest stories unroll before your eyes! Baltimore's beloved festival of scrolled panoramas, known as "crankies," returns for its 10th year of fireside wonder! The festival, the largest of its kind in the country, works with artists to showcase crankies from Baltimore and beyond!
We cordially invite you to join us for the first ever Baltimore Crankie Festival Open Crank! Perform with your peers, or sit back and take in the beautiful artistry of crankies made by artists and amateurs alike in the community!
Free Family Sundays: Make a Beaded Portrait
Meet us in the Joseph Education Center Studio for a workshop inspired by the special exhibition Joyce J. Scott: Walk a Mile in My Dreams. Experiment with beads and wire to sculpt a portrait of yourself or a loved one! This workshop will be led by Quante Thomas and Susan Tuberville, guest instructors from Creative Alliance’s Kerplunk! program.
Kerplunk! is a free drop-in art class for younger kids and families held at Baltimore’s Creative Alliance. Join Kerplunk! every Saturday to create fun seasonal crafts and art projects based on current exhibitions. Learn more about classes.
Watch the world’s greatest stories unroll before your eyes! Baltimore's beloved festival of scrolled panoramas, known as "crankies," returns for its 10th year of fireside wonder! The festival, the largest of its kind in the country, works with artists to showcase crankies from Baltimore and beyond!
The musical partnership between consummate performer Alasdair Fraser, "the Michael Jordan of Scottish fiddling," and brilliant Californian cellist, Natalie Haas, spans the full spectrum between intimate chamber music and ecstatic dance energy. Over the last 16 years of creating a buzz at festivals and concert halls across the world, they have truly set the standard for fiddle and cello in traditional music. They continue to thrill audiences internationally with their virtuosic playing, their near-telepathic understanding, and the joyful spontaneity and sheer physical presence of their music.
In 2013, a group of jazz players and Korean traditional musicians started to play jam sessions based on traditional Korean folk melodies and shamanistic rhythms, eventually forming SE:UM. The eclectic quintet is composed of saxophonist Hachul Song, trumpeter Jongsang Park, bassist Jaeha Lee, traditional percussionist Minhyeong Lee, and gayageum (twelve-stringed Korean zither) player and music director, Joon Lee. The members of SE:UM have learned to respect one another’s musicalities over the years, and succeeded in breaking down the borders between their musical conventions, finding balance and harmony in their own music.
Curious about crankies? During this workshop, mixed media artist Marian McLaughlin guides you through the process of crafting your own multi-dimensional storytelling device with acrylic paint on fibrous Tyvek paper scrolls. Through crafting crankies, engage in visual, kinetic, and narrative concepts. And then take home a miniature crankie box of your own creation! Prompts are available, or come prepared with a simple story or song to base your crankie on. Materials are provided, no artistic experience is necessary.
Eroding History tells the story of two Black communities on the Deal Island Peninsula that are losing their land and their history due to the intersection of historical racism and modern climate changes. Andre Chung, an in-demand news and portrait photographer who won the 2021 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for Domestic Photography, directed Eroding History. West Baltimore filmmaker and journalist Sean Yoes co-wrote and co-produced it, and longtime Chesapeake Bay chronicler Rona Kobell produced and also co-wrote it.
The Bayberries are a Baltimore-based female trio whose original music weaves together bluegrass and folk sounds, classical styles, and influences from around the globe. Featuring Danielle Williams on mandolin, ukulele, piano, and vocals; Samantha Flores on cello and vocals; and Hana Morford on viola, violin, and vocals. Joined by Rachel May and Daphne Eckman, this is a night of exceptional musicianship, highlighting beautiful voices from the local scene that you need to hear!
Mother's Day is a special holiday around the world. We take this time to honor, thank, and celebrate the important caregivers in our lives. In Latin American tradition, families gather and acknowledge their mama with gifts, food, and live music. CIELO of the Creative Alliance invites you to celebrate all mamas in the Latin American way with performances and music! We will have local food and traditional craft vendors so you can pamper your dear mom with gifts and snacks. Live music by Mambo Machine & Mariachi Imperio. Traditional dance performance by Jóvenes en Acción.
Drum Dr. Dot and Roses n Rust are proud to announce our album release concert for UNBOXED, an eclectic blend of original songs written by Drum Dr. Dot and performed by the beloved Baltimore-based band, Roses n Rust.
We’re bringing The Dude to the big screen for a wild night of nihilists, White Russians, and bowling! Grab your robe and join the nonsense! The Dude abides.
The wildly popular Mortified Baltimore, produced by Alex Hewett and Adam Ruben, stars everyday adults sharing their most embarrassingly real teenage diary entries, poems, love letters, lyrics, and locker notes...in front of total strangers. As we celebrate Pride Month in Baltimore, this edition of Mortified features adults sharing their childhood and adolescent diaries, poetry, locker notes, etc. exploring sexual and gender identity, coming out, and other LGBTQ stories.
Essential Tease instructors Jacqueline Boxx, Ruby Rockafella, and Tempete La Coeur are proud to welcome a bevy of brand-spanking-new burlesque performers to the stage! After completing an 8-week-long workshop that transformed them from the inside out, these students are ready to bring their acts and assets to the stage for the first time ever! Featuring guest MC Maki Roll and special performances by Essential Tease instructors! The show will stream virtually as well as being live on stage!
Referencing Philadelphia-based human rights attorney, Noura Erakat’s speech on November 3rd, 2023, during the protest in solidarity with Palestine, the title encapsulates the project’s concept and curatorial theme. Gathered is a film program, originally showing at three different Philadelphia venues (Asian Arts Initiative, Vox Populi Gallery, and Making Worlds Bookstore) featuring short films by contemporary independent women and LGBTQ+ Palestinian artists with topics exploring orientalism in the media, love stories, experimental films and queer narratives. With films oscillating between love and rage, the event is meant to create a cathartic grieving space for the SWANA and Palestinian community, as it faces constant grief and dehumanization, to remind us of not only the justification of our collective rage but to stand in awe of all that Palestinians are teaching us daily about love and community.
Montreal-born Grenadian-Canadian Kaia Kater's jazz-fueled voice and deft songcraft have garnered acclaim from NPR's Tiny Desk, The Guardian, Rolling Stone and No Depression. Through her artful banjo playing and lush songwriting, Kaia draws on influences rooted in Quebec, the Caribbean, and Appalachia, all of which reflect the diversity of her background; her ties to the Canadian folk music scene; her college years spent soaking up Appalachian music in West Virginia, her father’s experience growing up in Grenada, and her recent work in film composition. Joined by Black Assets, whose southern roots combined with her Baltimore Charm molded her into a powerhouse soul, funk, indie, rock songstress. Black Assets is soul personified and a shining example of how eliminating self-doubt can transform a once negative perception into positivity, she’s captivatingly passionate, and pure talent. This is a night not to be missed!
Seo Jungmin is a Korean Gayageum artist and composer who pushes the boundaries between traditional and contemporary music with her exceptional skills on the 25-string Gayageum. As a member of the renowned Korean traditional music duo Su:m, Seo has earned global recognition through performances at major festivals such as WOMEX, WOMAD, and SXSW.
Be part of history! Tonight's concert will be recorded live for an album release. Join us for an enchanting evening as we pay homage to the unparalleled Duke Ellington, an iconic figure whose musical genius transcended boundaries, leaving an indelible mark on the fabric of modern music. A true pioneer in the realm of jazz, Ellington's compositions surpassed mere entertainment—they emerged as a compelling voice against racial inequality. Through his innovative and emotive arrangements, Ellington not only highlighted the struggles and triumphs of African Americans but also mesmerized diverse audiences with his unique ability to weave intricate stories through sound. His influence reverberates through time, traversing the infectious rhythms of the Harlem Renaissance to the soul-stirring melodies of the Civil Rights era and beyond, encompassing Jazz, swing, fusion, pop, and theatre. In commemoration of his 125th Anniversary, we are honored to be joined by four world-class solo pianists. Baltimore-based Lafayette Gilchrist and Marc Cary, along with Philadelphia-based Orrin Evans and James Hurt, will interpret and expound on Ellington's legacy. Together, they will guide us through the rich tapestry of Ellington's musical journey, bringing to life the enduring power of music to inspire change.
Be part of history! Tonight's concert will be recorded live for an album release. Join us for an enchanting evening as we pay homage to the unparalleled Duke Ellington, an iconic figure whose musical genius transcended boundaries, leaving an indelible mark on the fabric of modern music. A true pioneer in the realm of jazz, Ellington's compositions surpassed mere entertainment—they emerged as a compelling voice against racial inequality. Through his innovative and emotive arrangements, Ellington not only highlighted the struggles and triumphs of African Americans but also mesmerized diverse audiences with his unique ability to weave intricate stories through sound. His influence reverberates through time, traversing the infectious rhythms of the Harlem Renaissance to the soul-stirring melodies of the Civil Rights era and beyond, encompassing Jazz, swing, fusion, pop, and theatre. In commemoration of his 125th Anniversary, we are honored to be joined by four world-class solo pianists. Baltimore-based Lafayette Gilchrist and Marc Cary, along with Philadelphia-based Orrin Evans and James Hurt, will interpret and expound on Ellington's legacy. Together, they will guide us through the rich tapestry of Ellington's musical journey, bringing to life the enduring power of music to inspire change.
Hip Hop beats vs Cult Classics! Can I Kick It? screens cult classics and contemporary martial arts/action favorites while DJ 2-Tone Jones live scores the film, scene-by-scene, with a blend of genres such as hip hop, soul, and funk. Tonight, humans in a fascist, militaristic future wage war with giant alien bugs. In 1959, Robert Heinlein envisioned a future in which humanity is engaged in interstellar conflict with a species of bug-like aliens. His novel, Starship Troopers, went on to win the Hugo Award and was later adapted to film by Paul Verhoeven and Edward Neumeier.
Buy your tickets online, in person, or over the phone by calling 410-276-1651. Members save $3 on almost every show!
Our Box Office is currently open from Noon to 6pm on Fridays and Saturdays and one hour before all ticketed events. We accept cash, cards, and checks. Service fees are waived for in-person ticket purchases.
