Radar Redux.com is expanding the traditional concept of journalism, to cover a wide array of Baltimore Arts and Culture.
Maryland Art Place was established in 1982, during a national call to action by artists to take control of how their work was to be presented. Work often otherwise ignored. To do this they acquired and opened their own exhibition spaces, to administer them and show work that was not being seen. Most major cities soon had one in place. These lean organizations, with their progressive and at times trangessive programming soon were embroiled in an ongoing political battle with right wing conservatives who used them as a whipping boy, braying on as to here is further proof of the debasement of the establishment.
The National Endowment for the Arts, who help to fund these alt organizations, was subjected to assault by a Republican congress on the pretense of spending taxpayer money on objectionable perversion — meaning her exhibitions and performances overtly touting gay rights and feminism. Refusing to be silenced during this period, organizations like MAP remained focused on programming that was decidedly provocative and at times overtly political. They managed to find funding else where. Through fundraising in their community and by finding non-government grants provided by private foundations
Unfortunately the culture wars continue but in general have turned their gaze from the arts and more frightening directly into public discourse through the manical rambling of the likes of blubbering Glen Beck and scowling Rush. Propa-tainment.
The alternative arts organizations, like MAP, that managed to stay in operation through the many transitions are now in their third decade of operations and as such have, by the very nature of these things, become more institutionalized. Their politics is broader, more sublime and mature. Once taboo topics are now accepted as the public norm. But for these institutions to remain really viable they have had to repeatedly question their mission and how to best serve the changing needs of their communities.
As a part of this reassessment many have successfully turned their organizations into very expansive innovative incubators for the regional contemporary art community and the public at large. This is especially true in cities like Baltimore where there is no established Contemporary Museum in the traditional sense. Here MAP fits the bill.
Today MAP, after a move from their original Saratoga Street location, is located in the heart of downtown in the Power Plant Live! section of the Inner Harbor, thanks to their longstanding affiliation with art patrons the Cordish family, well-known Baltimore based Real Estate developers. The galleries are pristine and NY professional. Former MAP executive director Julie Cavnor left her position last year after a long and successful tenure. She was much admired. Her administration was marked by a strong connection with the younger members of the arts community, queues from the local artist warehouse milieu, and a quality artist advisory boards. During this period MAPS reputation blossomed.
After a national search Cathy Byrd was selected to replace Ms. Cavnor. Some were surprised by the choice, as Ms Byrd had been working in Atlanta and as she was not a Baltimore insider, presumably knew little to nothing at all about the city. But as a dynamic thoughtful woman with much experience and a strong personality to match, Ms. Byrd brings a fresh approach to all aspects of her work here. Her rapid fire networking and new programming is all to be applauded and admired.
MAPS latest show Instant Messages and Reinvent is an example of an exhibition befitting Ms. Byrd’s agenda. As she kindly accepted our invitation for a short interview on the topic, posted below along with images from the exhibition, we will leave it to her to explain from here.
Interview, conducted on December 18, 2009
RADAR REDUX: Hi Cathy, thank you for agreeing to speak with us. You moved to Baltimore from Atlanta to take your recent position as the new executive director of Maryland Art Place. How have you found your experience leading one of the region’s premier alternative art spaces so far?
Cathy Byrd: Yes, I moved from Atlanta for this opportunity. I’m thrilled to be working for Maryland Art Place and Baltimore is a wonderful land of opportunity for the sort of collaborations and partnerships that interest me.
RR: What are some if the new programming you instituted at MAP?
CB: Since I arrived, MAP has presented a number of firsts, including Rush Hour: Art Beats Traffic, a series of evening events especially designed to invite our downtown neighbors see an exhibition, drink a glass of wine and meet our curators and artists. I taught our first curatorial workshop: Curating 101. That was a big success! And we initiated our first collaboration with a group of Maryland College Institute of Art graphic design students.
RR: What cultural partnerships you have formed?
CB: I’ve been reaching out to develop partnerships with the art schools, the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Contemporary Museum, as well as The Walters, the Reginald Lewis Museum, Maryland State Arts Council, the Community Foundation and the Bureau of Promotion and Arts. I’m hoping to involve participants in the High Zero and Transmodern festivals in a series of public art performances that I’m curating from the MAP platform.
RR: Your current exhibition Instant Messages is a result of such a partnership. Tell us about the exhibition and how did the partnership work out.
CB: We invited Ellen Lupton and MICA grad students in graphic design to develop and present the exhibition Instant Messages (December 1 – Jan 9). In early December, MAP staged our first-ever Family Day with Ellen and the students. Super fun on a snowy day!
Photos by Jess Kemp
RR: There is a public art component to the exhibition, correct?
CB: I love how public art and performance invite unexpected encounters with contemporary art. Reinvent, MAP’s first installation in a series of temporary public art projects was created to engage anyone that walks through our building’s entry hallway.
Reinvent represents what I consider to be MAP’s dynamic—one of innovation and change. Lauren Adams, Christina Beard and Christopher McCampbell, three of MICA’s participating artists, designed and installed the project. The linear cut-vinyl display begins with a city stoplight, and moves through a series of evolving shapes to end with a burst of energy in a 3-D digital network.
It’s a wonderful 70-foot-long installation that will be on view for an entire year!
RR: What’s next for MAP? And what do you have planned for the upcoming year you would like to share with us.
CB: There’s a lot to look forward to in 2010!
February-March: Losing Yourself in the 21st Century, an exhibition of work in new and performative media by 13 young women artists.
April: Our annual Out of Order event, a one-night chance for local artists to exhibit and sell their work to the benefit of MAP.
May through July 2010: Our second MAP/MICA project!
Bearing Witness, a multi-venue retrospective featuring the work of Brooklyn-based artists Jacqueline Tarry and Bradley McCallum. Baltimore’s Contemporary Museum and The Walters are among the other participating sites. The project is organized by MICA’s Exhibition Development Seminar with MICA prof Jennie Hirsch and Irene Hoffman, director of the Contemporary Museum.
June 23: Miami-based artist Susan Lee-Chun’s Let’s Suzercise!, a participatory public art performance in Inner Harbor.
And more! Keep an eye on mdartplace.org for future developments!
RR: We will.
Ms. Byrd’s biography:
Cathy Byrd is the new Executive Director of Maryland Art Place, Baltimore. A cultural activist, Cathy is invested in collaborations and partnerships that engage both artists and communities in the creative process. From 2001 to 2009, she directed the Georgia State University Ernest G. Welch School of Art and Design Gallery, Atlanta, where she conceived, organized and presented programming that extended beyond the gallery walls and into the city. A widely published critical art writer, Cathy has edited and published two books:Potentially Harmful: The Art of American Censorship (2006), and Reconstructing Atlanta (2008).
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