Events

Paula Fernandes and Michael Donnenberg open their home to share a collection of Pueblo pottery amassed over the last 30 years by their friend and neighbor, Curt Decker. His collection showcases pieces from 12 of the 19 Pueblo tribes, including Acoma, Santa Domingo, Santa Clara, Hopi, San Ildefonso, and Tesuque, as well as several Anasazi pieces reflective of the early potters (around 1200 AD). Sizes range from small effigy of owls to large water vessels and many fine line painted vessels. Enjoy a homemade brunch as you peruse this unique and beautiful collection of Indigenous art.

Jennifer Hardy opens her home to showcase her collection of Maryland, Baltimore, and DMV visual artists, including Shinique Smith (Baltimore); David Driskell, Tawny Chatmon, and AfriCOBRA artist Frank Smith (Baltimore); and Elizabeth Catlett and Sam Gilliam (DMV). Her collection also includes Black and international artists like Kehinde Wiley, Radcliffe Bailey, and Joan Mitchell. Delight in classic Maryland bites and refreshments, including local wine and crabcakes surrounded by exceptional art!

Join in an exhilarating night with musician, professor, and multi-disciplinary creative Wendel Patrick as he shares his artistry and provides insight into his artistic process. The composer, producer, beatmaker, pianist, sonic architect, photographer, and videographer, has been referred to as “David Foster Wallace reincarnated as a sound engineer” by Urbanite Magazine and “wildly talented” by the Baltimore Sun. Wendel Patrick has made a name for himself internationally as a music producer of remarkable vision and skill. He was named the 2022 Renaissance Man of the Year at the Baltimore Crown Awards, was the 2021-2022 Nasir Jones Hip Hop Fellow at Harvard University, and most recently, he won a Capital Emmy as co-producer of Maryland Public Television’s Artworks: The Art of Curation – Execution. Chef Chef Sean Guy of Water for Chocolate provides a delicious spread of upscale comfort cuisine for this intimate night of conversation and performance.

You and nineteen of your invited guests enjoy an exclusive three-course immersive dinner event crafted by Chef Idalee DiGregorio, including a signature cocktail, wine, amuse bouche, main course, and dessert. Collaborate with Chef Idalee on your menu for a truly delicious experience! The banquet table for 20 is set in Project 1628, an art gallery in Baltimore's historic Bolton Hill, featuring the work of artist Rob Calvert. Rob's two- and three-dimensional artwork reflects his background as an artist and architect. His paintings and drawings evoke more than they describe of their organic origins.

Enjoy fabulous art in various media from veteran and emerging Black artists, while expanding your view of the art scene in Baltimore. Learn how aesthetics and techniques emerge from lived experiences perhaps unfamiliar to many non-Black art lovers. Explore the obstacles they may have faced to being appreciated and collected and how persisting in that environment can be understood as a form of racial justice activism. Taste an array of delicious pastry art accompanied by tea, coffee, wine, and punch, while taking in the expansive view of Baltimore's Outer Harbor. Peruse art for sale—sculpture, painting, prints, writing, and jewelry will all be represented—listen to readings, taste beautiful delicacies, and get curious about the vibrant Black art scene in Baltimore!

Try your hand at the ancient and revered art of Persian/Farsi calligraphy! With tools used in the 14th and 15th centuries, create your own work of art with direction from Nahid Tootoonchi, a professor of graphic design in Towson University’s College of Fine Arts and Communications. Enjoy a presentation from Nahid about the history and modern transformation of Persian calligraphy while indulging in delicious food from Mira Kitchen Collective and admiring the Romanesque arches and dramatic views of Penn Station from artist Carol Higgs’ Station North loft. Leave the party with a special gift from Nahid: your name beautifully written in Farsi.

Baltimore artist Jay Wolf Schlossberg-Cohen invites you into his private studio for an intimate afternoon of conversation and art-making. After an engaging discussion about the practice of community-based art and how it relates to social justice, enjoy light refreshments and then, get messy! Create art based on a social justice theme with your fellow attendees using one of Jay's pieces. Experience firsthand what it is like to create art with a purpose!

Enter into a cabinet of curiosities, and explore an expansive collection of everyday objects and art pieces amassed during the host's 40-year career in Africa and Haiti. Artist Carla Stetson, presents mixed media works from her series, Ornithography, as well as other large-scale ink drawings and paintings. Sip on bissap—hibiscus juice from West Africa—and mulled wine and dine on Soup Joumou, Haiti's national dish, which represents freedom and independence from the enslavement of French colonizers.

Diane Stollenwerk and artist Mary Ann Mears (mother to Delegate Elizabeth Embry) host an evening of lively discussion at the intersection of art and politics in Mary Ann's breathtaking, art-filled home. Tour her studio, enjoy delicious food, and be part of the conversation with state-level political and business luminaries, including host and former Delegate Maggie McIntosh, Senate President Bill Ferguson, and Mark Anthony Thomas, President and CEO of the Greater Baltimore Committee, who recently named Culture and the Creative Arts as one of the top three growth areas for the Baltimore region. A real treat for politically-engaged people who care deeply about the future of the arts!

Jewelry designer Shana Kroiz and her husband, hair stylist Edward Seidel, host a lively dinner where guests are encouraged to play with their food! Gourmet cook Eddie prepares foods in interesting shapes, colors, textures, and patterns that guests can sculpt into visual presentations, inspired by the organic designs of Shana's jewelry. Shana discusses her inspiration and production and invites guests to visit her in-house studio and showroom.