Baker Artist Awards

Rachel's favorites from the Baker Artist Awards
Next Monday, the Baker Artist Awards will give out their first round of "B-Grants" for the year. Are you on the site yet, oh artist friends of mine?
If you're somehow living in a hole (one with internet connection? where is this hole?) and don't know about the grants - allow us to school you. The Baker Art Awards were developed in 2008 to promote and support the arts in Baltimore by way of a free website for artists to upload images of their work. Everyone gets a personal "nomination" page which is shared with internet users round the world on the main Baker site (thus putting Baltimore on the map as a place where folks make some pretty cool stuff - rather than just reenacting scenes from The Wire all day). Site users are allowed to comment on, favorite, share, and view artists work & profiles. A select jury chooses from the full pool of artists (which includes dancers, musicians, filmmakers and writers, along with visual artists) for prize winners for both the Mary Saywers Baker prize ($25,000 awarded to three individuals in January) and "B-Grants" (smaller prizes of $1000 each, given out in November, December and January). It's free to start your own nomination page, and the only requirement is that you are a resident of the Baltimore region. (See HERE for details).
In addition to all that, you can also curate your own favorites page - so when you're sick of uploading your own images, you can gaze dreamily at the work of your fellow Baltimoreans and pump your fists with pride.

Above is a collection of some of my personal favorites from the nomination pool so far. You can check out who made what by clicking right HERE... And if you're still reading this blogpost and haven't abandoned it to sign up for your own nomination page yet, CLICK HERE.

This Weekend: Monster Craft Mash

The trickin' and treatin' begins on Monday, and that frees up the whole weekend to shop for treats of the crafty sort. So why not head down to Dupont Circle in the District, for the DC Craft Mafia's Monster Craft Mash. Held in the parking lot at St. Lukes Episcopal Church, over 40 talented crafters will be featured.

Sugar Paperie & Found Studios will be there, as well as local favorites like NAMOO, Jill Popowich Designs in Metal, Yummy & Company, Design by Night, among others. So come on down - we'd love to see you!

Free Accounting Workshop for Artists!

Maryland Lawyers for the Arts and Maryland Art Place present
Accounting for Artists on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2 to 4 pm
at Power Plant Live, 8 Market Place, Suite 100, Baltimore, Maryland 21202

CPA Jonathan Mayo, City Paper's Best Accountant for Starving Artists, covers basic accounting for artists, including recordkeeping, spreadsheets, accounting software, and taxes. Artists have to spend money on materials, studio space and research trips. Come to this session to learn how and why you should keep great records and which of those expenses are deductible. Free, but reservations required. RSVP to emily@mdartplace.org.

Annex Theater Presents 3 Penny Opera

Annex Theater Presents: Three Penny Opera!

Opens November 11th

Autograph Playhouse

9 W. 25^th Street

Baltimore, MD

(for tickets - click here)

We are SO excited about this new play! Read below from our pals from the Annex Theater in Baltimore!

"The exciting new adaptation of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s classic musical will be performed November 10^th-20^th at the newly reopened Autograph Playhouse at 9 W. 25^th Street as part of the Annex Theater’s first full season focusing on Myth and Power Dynamics.

Under the direction of Evan Moritz (CITYPAPER Best of Baltimore, Best Director, 2010) and the musical direction of Walker Teret (Celebration, Walker and Jay), The Threepenny Opera will be the Annex Theater’s most ambitious project to date and includes the use of interactive video elements, a full band, and large-scale costume and set designs.

First performed in Berlin in 1928, productions of The Threepenny Opera declined with the rise of Nazism, due in no small part to the strong critique of the exploitation of the destitute by the powerful featured within the play. Adding to the successful production history the play has enjoyed since that time, the Annex Theater’s adaptation of this genre-bending musical focuses less on political Fascism, and more on the various ways in which powerful technologies push us from our fellow man and our own humanity."

Summit of Awesome!

Hello Craft's 3rd annual SUMMIT OF AWESOME is in town this week! Baltimore is playing host to the three day convention for crafters and business owners at the 1840's ballroom in downtown. I'm scheduled for three talks, and get to sit in on the other sessions all weekend, which has been fantastic so far. Yesterday I spoke about being part of an artist collective, and organizing a craft fair and went to sessions on taking better photography and comparing different credit card options. Today there are workshops, more sessions, and lots of good people!
Thanks to Alpha Graphics for doing free printing for my talk today on applying to craft fairs (anyone wanting help applying to OUR next fair - this might be a good one to come to and ask lots of questions!!) and thanks to Lovely Yarns in Hampden for donating yarn to our "Make Something Awesome" project in the crafting zone downstairs at the conference.

This is a really beneficial (and FUN) place to be for a few days. I'd love to hear which seminars you went to!!

HOLIDAY HEAP APPLICATIONS - CLOSED

Thanks to everyone who applied to HOLIDAY HEAP 2011!

As usual, we got an absolutely overwhelming number of great applications, and it's been a true challenge to sort through and pick our favorites from such a big pool of talent.

Applications are officially closed at this point, and we will be notifying applicants TONIGHT (10/17) around 10pm. We wish everyone a great start to their fall season!

Yours in craft,

CCCM

BEST for BREASTS!

Our friends at the Baltimore Etsy Street Team have been busy! Over the past few months, these crafty ladies have been creating pasties using the medium of their choice in an effort to reach out to our local community and help make the day to day lives of breast cancer patients a little easier. With over 40 active members, including some who have survived breast cancer, the members of BEST have used ceramic, fabric, feathers, metal and other materials to craft these pasties. Come in and check them out!

All proceeds collected from the BEST for Breasts sale will be donated to the Red Devils, a Maryland organization that funds services to improve the quality of life for breast cancer patients and their families.

For more information about the Red Devils or to make a personal donation, check out their site at:
http://www.the-red-devils.org/wp3/