By Alexis TaylorAFRO Managing Editor
Artscape returned to Baltimore at a unique time of yr and in a brand new location over the 2025 Memorial Day weekend.
1000’s packed the downtown Baltimore space to listen to the likes of LeToya Luckett, Tweet, Fantasia, Robin Thicke and extra on Might 24 and 25. The dates for the nation’s largest free arts competition labored within the Metropolis’s favor as deliberate. Baltimore Metropolis Mayor Brandon M. Scott joked with the group at one level about having an Artscape that was not “155 levels” and “raining.”
Many attendees stated they most well-liked the cooler, dryer temperatures skilled this yr over the new, washed-out climate that usually accompanies the competition identified for happening within the warmth of July.
Every year competition attendees are accustomed to pouring into the Mount Vernon, Mount Royal and Station North neighborhoods for the large celebration of artwork in its many types. This yr, Artscape passed off at Warfare Memorial Plaza and within the surrounding areas, stretching to Middle Stage within the Mount Vernon neighborhood.
Robyn Murphy, interim chief government officer of the Baltimore Workplace of Promotion and the Arts, stated transferring the competition to a unique space was according to the mayor’s initiatives to beautify “each a part of Baltimore.”
The competition has been a staple of the regional arts and music scene since 1982. Based on the Metropolis, the competition’s earlier location was tied on to the opening of the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Corridor and efforts to drum up consideration and help for the encircling neighborhood as an arts hub.
Organizers of Artscape 2025 acknowledged forward of the competition that plans included “reimagining how a weekend competition can gas long-term impression by means of artistic placemaking and sustainable neighborhood funding.” This yr’s occasion was sponsored partly by Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, The Mayor’s Workplace of Arts, Tradition and Leisure, Go to Baltimore and plenty of extra.
The competition got here with many distinctive choices. On Friday, Might 23, the inaugural Scout Artwork Honest opened within the Warfare Memorial Constructing. Curated by Derrick Adams and Teri Henderson, the occasion was billed as “an inexpensive artwork honest,” providing works on the market between $150 and $5,000 from 40 totally different artists. The Scout Artwork Honest was an effort of BOPA, the Metropolis of Baltimore and Mayor Brandon M. Scott’s Downtown RISE Initiative.
Kidscape supplied enjoyable for the entire household, whereas the Taste Lab supplied one of the best of Baltimore’s culinary choices. Movie lovers had been additionally welcomed with Past the Reel, programming aimed toward highlighting the work of Baltimore’s tv and movie neighborhood. Artscape after Darkish supplied one thing for native music heads and poets.
True to type, the leisure schedule included a mixture of worldwide acts and native artists. This yr’s predominant stage was situated in entrance of Baltimore Metropolis Corridor. Appeal Metropolis’s personal Gabby Samone made an look recent off of her run to the Prime 7 on American Idol.
“It feels superb,” Samone instructed the AFRO, when requested the way it feels to carry out in her hometown after representing the town on the nationwide stage. “I really feel the love. It’s been tremendous overwhelming. That is my grounding, once I come right here I’m tremendous comfy. I’m simply completely satisfied to be house.”
Kera Spencer rigorously watched the twenty third season of the present, and was very impressed by Samone’s Artscape look.
“She was superb– I really like her,” she stated. “I caught a few episodes and I really feel like she was robbed.”
Spencer responded nicely to the brand new Artscape location.
(AFRO Pictures / James Fields)
“I like the truth that they moved it,” she stated. “The surroundings is welcoming.”
LaBreya Smith, seated at Warfare Memorial Plaza along with her household on Might 24, stated the draw to this yr’s Artscape was “largely the artists.”
“I’m positively right here to see Fantasia– she was my ‘American Idol.’”
Smith responded positively to the numerous adjustments featured as a part of this yr’s competition.
Although Spencer and Smith had been in favor of the competition’s new look, others weren’t impressed.
One competition attendee complained of longer strains for the meals distributors and the “gloominess” of getting artwork distributors situated within the underpass of I-83. Others voiced confusion concerning the new competition map.
Nonetheless, the competition was a win for the town in a weekend packed filled with occasions within the downtown Baltimore space. Along with Artscape, the Maryland Deathfest introduced heavy steel fanatics to the Market Place and Energy Plant Stay space on one finish of the harbor, whereas tens of 1000’s converged on the Baltimore Conference Middle for the Islamic Circle of North America’s Conference at One West Pratt Avenue. On the opposite facet of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, the Sowebo Arts and Music Competition attracted tons of extra to the Southwest Baltimore space on Might 25, proof that Baltimore’s arts and tradition scene is extra alive than ever.
