TETRAPAKMAN INVASION!

(above photo by Jonathan Dimes, all others by HOME)

TETRAPAKMAN has made his mark on Baltimore! Those that had the opportunity to help the master artist, learned what it means to reuse materials you would normally throw away and never think about again. Beautiful art AND a beautiful earth?! AWESOME! Through many community workshops, after-school programs and late nights in the studio, TETRAPAKMAN worked with our neighbors to create 2 distinct pieces, now on show throughout the Highlandtown neighborhood.

TETRAPAKMAN sets up for an open and free workshop in Patterson Park

Neighbors were encouraged to casually drop by and put together a few pieces towards the final. 

 We also hosted a few workshops at HOME. We needed all the hands we could get!

WEAVE! NO SLEEPING! TETRAPAKMAN works late into the night. Can you guess how many pieces were joined to make the final piece?

Tetrapakman and HOME Director, Michael Owen live stream the process.

Can you find TETRAPAKMAN in this photo? Highlandtown Elementary's "Green Team" spent many sessions learning, playing and practicing. Students were able to Skype with TETRAPAKMAN, when not in town, to learn more about his processes and other projects on display outside of Baltimore. Thank you Allana Rivera for helping us coordinate with the wonderful students! So many more bridges were made between the residency program and these students, just by bringing in a Spanish speaking artist. They all really loved TETRAPAKMAN's energy and though they were pushed to think abstractly, were engaged throughout the process.

 installing "Green Team's" work at Enoch Pratt's Southeast Anchor Library

some of the neighborhood context around "Community Weave"

A lot of physical labor went into the creation as well as the installation of "Community Weave", now hanging along Eastern Ave, on The Southeast CDC.

Thank you to Promega Corporation for the materials, SECDC and Enoch Pratt for the wall space and the "Green Team" and all our neighbors for the helping hands! 

A huge thank you to TETRAPAKMAN, for bringing your important message to us in the form of social sculpture. Your work has already changed mindsets and brought positive action within our community. We'd love to have you back soon!

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BILINGUAL SIGNAGE AT EACH SITE

HOME'S ENDLESS SUMMER

SUMMER BREAK

HOME's been full since we last spoke! Gregg went home to take care of a cross-country move and we kept rolling with the art. First, Cohesion Theater read a new play, part of ParityFest, dedicated to bringing gender equality to theater production/writing. 




Next, Max Ferency debuted "Dignity Before Bread" to an intimate crowd, followed by a discussion. The lush 14 minute piece blends original music with 3 stories of a student dropping out of school in Baltimore, the M15 Indignados movement in Spain, and the mother of the man who set himself on fire in Tunisia and sparked the Arab Spring.




SECOND HALF

Gregg Deal then came back to Baltimore to put in the last push of his residency, with another Indegnous portrait, a block from HOME...




...as well as his largest mural of the residency "The Duality Of Indigenaity". Click here to see a time-lapse of the mural Gregg put together!




Thank you to The Gibbs/Campbell family and Mr. Yurow for letting Gregg speak on your walls. Thank you Gregg for all of your wonderful work. The art has already sparked so much discussion about Indegenous issues with people right on the street.  It was a pleasure to have you as HOME's first resident. 


PRESENTING HOME's 2ND RESIDENT

Local photographer Webster Phillips, comes from a line of photographers that have been documenting Baltimore for over 70 years. Webster's residency will focus on legacy, specifically through the history of our town. 




One of the projects we will be undertaking is to reproduce this beautiful photograph (taken by Webster's grandfather) as a painted mural! 




Webster will also be collaborating with Baltimore based artist, Mario Sam on a wheatepaste project. Photos of old Baltimore will be blown up and pasted around town, used to retrieve ID's on the individuals in the historic images. Mario will be designing the posters that showcase the photos. 


FREE PHOTO WORKSHOP with Henry Webster Phillips III 


"Candids vs. Portraits" ; Capturing the moment.and setting the stage. 

Discussion and practice of the candid and the portrait shot. Workshop participants will practice candid and portrait photography in a real world setting with a photographer born and raised in Baltimore. 


Saturday, October 3, 2015, 12-3p at the Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave. Baltimore. Participants asked to bring their own digital camera. 


IGNITE BALTIMORE
September 29th, I will be presenting on HOME at Ignite Baltimore. 16 artists, technologists, thinkers, and personalities take the stage with 20 slides and 5 minutes and a microphone. IGNITE's goal is to spark new conversations and collaborations across cultures and disciplines. I'd love to see you there! Tickets are $6 here.

thanks for reading through!

with love,

Michael Owen

Director, HOME Artist Residency

HOME HEATS UP

Home's first resident Gregg Deal has now been at HOME for over a week and has been dropping great art all around town. Here's what he's been up to:

CREATIVE ALLIANCE

The first project was a live painting at a super fun event outside the Creative Alliance. Hip Hop heads and performers from the 90's collaborated with today's scene for an awesome night. Gregg and I worked on a fun piece inspired by A Tribe Called Quest.

 Live painting set up next to local dancers/breakers

Gregg working on the tape

"Street Poetry Is My Every Day" quote: by Tribe Called Quest, photo Citypaper

ARTSCAPE

Artscape is the largest outdoor arts festival, boasting 300k visitors over the weekend. Gregg spent Saturday working on a live painting in collaboration with Section1 a new art park in development for Baltimore. 

Gregg takes a semi-shaded break from the heatwave to watch paint dry. 

Gregg's final piece. Please contact richiebest2@gmail.com for purchase. All proceeds to Section1

Sunday, Gregg was at the GBCA Artscape tent. He worked on more live paintings throughout the day, but the main event was his spoken word performance. Thanks so much to GBCA for the platform and space for all of us lil Baltimore organizations to share our important messages!

Featuring 3 pieces, including "Nobody", Gregg speaks on Indigenous Life

setting up for some live painting

Indiginous Life x Street Life x Art Life

MURALS

Thanks to Mercury Management, we were able to find a few walls through East Baltimore for Gregg's portrait work. His first piece at 1001 N. Luzerne utilizes the unique grate/window in the middle of the wall. 

 From Gregg: 

"This piece is produced to purely interact with the space is resides. The ‘window’ is playing a part in creating the idea that we can see into the heart of the figure. ... I challenged (the residents) to add to the window, making it more of what they wanted to see. Flowers, a heart, whatever. In the these city areas, there is urban decay. Creating art that changes what you’re looking at is provocative, to be sure, but challenging members of the community to look at and engage the work in a way that is not only meaningful to them, but adds new meaning to the work! "

Gregg's second mural was placed on Harford Road, near 25th. 

From Gregg: 

"With the concentration on portraits, it’s been important to create portraits of Indigenous people that exist. To place a portrait of an Indigenous person inside a cityscape that may not hold Indigenous people in an obvious way raises questions, but also makes bold statements. We’re still here, no matter how long you’ve been here, or who owns it, this is still Indian Land, we are diverse, beautiful and still here, among others. While a subtle thing, it’s an important thing, and now we have a beautiful Indigenous grandma smiling at you from the East Side of Baltimore!"

Enjoying Baltimore

A big part of HOME is getting the resident artists into the fabric of the city, specifically the Highlandtown neighborhood. The more an artist understands about the community they are working in, the more relevant the work becomes to the viewer. Thanks to all my friends that have welcomed Gregg with open, loving arms...this is definitely a team effort!

Rooftop chilling with Gregg and Scott Burkholder (friend and former Baltimore Love Project Director)

Alright, we're back to work! Looking forward to sharing more soon.
with love,
Michael