Arts & Culture – Bolton Hill

The Bolton Hill Bulletin

Arts & Culture

Baltimore Museum of Art celebrates MICA 200, Bolton Hill artist

The Baltimore Museum of Art’s exhibition, BMA Celebrates MICA 200, celebrates the Maryland Institute College of Art’s (MICA) 200th anniversary. It draws from BMA’s collection to highlight the “breadth and depth of MICA’s programs across all media.” The exhibition runs through Jan. 3, 2027, and features 17 artists affiliated with MICA, including Grace Turnbull (1880-1976) who was raised in Bolton Hill. At the entrance, prominently displayed, is Turnbull’s sculpture “Figure Design,” a single nude figure created in 1937, a period when the Baltimore Sun declared she had achieved her best work (Sept. 21, 1980).

Within Walking Distance: community artists celebrate MICA’s 200th

BHCA in partnership with MICA, will host a special art exhibition that will showcase the diverse creative talent in the greater MICA neighborhood. It opens with a reception on Thursday, June 18 from 6 to 8 p.m. at MICA’s Meyerhoff Gallery, Fox Building, 1305 W Mt Royal Ave.

Artist (and art promoter) of the month: Francine Marchese

Much credit for the work associated with the upcoming art show, Within Walking Distance: Local Artists in Celebration of the 200th, should be given to Bolton Hill neighbor and artist Francine Marchese. Because Marchese has written numerous profiles of local artists for the Bulletin, it seemed fitting to learn more about her.

Jeanne O’Donnell: from D.C.’s Color School to Bolton Hill

The walls of Jeanne O’Donnell’s lovely home on Park Avenue display her artwork: paintings that are complex, lyrical and full of life. Some reflect the places that she has lived, some take on abstracted motifs of foliage and flowers and, most recently, intertwined figures and faces.

ARTIST OF THE MONTH: Jimmy Rouse’s maximalist art

With the fresh memory of the magnolia trees in bloom, and the fountains and parks coming to life, it is a good time to appreciate the art of our Bolton Hill neighbor Jimmy Rouse. The picturesque streets of Bolton Hill and nearby neighborhoods in which he has lived and worked have been the subject of his art since the beginning of his career.

Artists are invited to submit work for MICA-BHCA community exhibition

BHCA is partnering with the Maryland Institute College of Art in an open call for artists for an upcoming exhibition at the Meyerhoff Gallery. This community-focused exhibition, to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of MICA, will showcase the creative talent in the neighborhood. The exhibition will run from June 19 – July 19, with an opening reception on June 18, from 6-8 p.m

Free winter concert Wednesday centers on oratorio and opera

Two Bolton Hill music maestros will perform classical and opera compositions on Wednesday, March 18, at the second free winter public concert at Corpus Christi church, beginning at 6 p.m. The concert is hosted by BHCA and the Basilica Oratory at Corpus Christi.

Artist of the month: John Loggins’s Photographic Documentation

Most of us are proud of our travel photos, and we all have snapped a few good ones from an airplane window. Yet the photography of John Loggins rises above the best. Most recently, en route to Puerto Rico from the airspace near DCA, John captured District’s landmarks, the U.S. Capital and the Washington Monument, covered in snow. On his descent, he documented the frothy white of the ocean’s waves and the blue seaside of San Juan.

BHCA will kick off free winter concerts at Corpus Christi starting Feb. 25

BHCA and the Archdiocese of Baltimore will cohost three winter concerts at the former Corpus Christi Catholic Church, now known as The Basilica Oratory at Corpus Christi. The first features a local band that plays old time and bluegrass music, the Pinkie Pickers, led by Bolton Hill resident Gabriel Fricks.

Leo Wanenchak’s music: I do it because I can’t not do it

Passing by the 1400 block of Bolton Hill, you just might catch Leo Wanenchak playing the piano by the front window of his home.

Wanenchak, an accomplished pianist, organist, composer and music teacher, is the Associate Conductor of the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Director of the Larks, a women’s vocal group, and Musical Director of the ParkinSonics choral group sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Center for Music and Medicine.