Community Calendar

When was the last time you unplugged?

Disconnect, slow down, and rediscover what it means to be present inside the BMA’s historic Spring House, where acclaimed American conceptual artist Rachel Lee Hovnanian presents the Nature Deficit Disorder immersion room this spring. The powerful installation challenges our digital dependence and rekindles our connection to the natural world.

Inspired by journalist Richard Louv’s term “nature deficit disorder,” described as a growing disconnection from nature, often linked to diminished focus and negative moods, Hovnanian transforms the Spring House into a simulated nighttime forest.

“My work has long explored how technology shapes attention, mental health, and human connection. This installation emerged from my observations of society’s growing digital dependence, alongside my own experience of it.” –Rachel Lee Hovnanian
Away from the constant ping of notifications and endless scrolling, surrender your phone, surround yourself with fir trees, and let lantern light guide you. Hear the crunch of leaves beneath your feet and watch the flicker of a campfire casting shadows across the room.

In a world where we check our phones every other minute, Hovnanian invites you to linger for at least five minutes in the immersion room and consider what is lost when we give our attention to apps and devices rather than real-life experiences.

“What do we lose when our lives are constantly mediated by screens? I hope to offer a pause—an invitation to rediscover how it feels to be fully present.” –Rachel Lee Hovnanian

Between 1946 and 1953, Henri Matisse created 28 lithographic portraits for Poésies Antillaises (Antillean Poetry), a book of poems by John-Antoine Nau. Published posthumously in 1972, this rare volume remains one of Matisse’s least-known illustrated works.

Inspired by his brief 1930 visit to Martinique, Matisse translated Nau’s evocative poems—celebrating travel, music, and oceanic landscapes—into vibrant portraits. These reflect the artist’s collaborations with notable Caribbean and international models and are presented alongside works by two leading artists from Martinique and Guadeloupe, Germaine Casse and Serge Hélénon. This focus exhibition illuminates aspects of the transatlantic artistic circles active during the late French colonial period.

Exhibition
Transformations: Lain Singh Bangdel, Art, Nepal
February 4 – May 16 (closed March 15-22)
Monday – Saturday 11 am – 4 pm
Asian Arts Gallery, Center for the Arts, Towson University
1 Fine Arts Drive, Towson, MD 21204

Explore the remarkable artistic journey and cultural legacy of Lain Singh Bangdel (1919–2002), widely regarded as the “Father of Modern Art” in Nepal. This collection of paintings—spanning the 1940s to the 1980s— reflects and reframes the cultural, political, and emotional realities of Bangdel’s time and traces his evolving vision as he navigated multiple worlds: colonial and postcolonial South Asia, cosmopolitan Europe, and an emerging modern Nepal.

On View February 4 - May 16 (closed March 15 - 22)

Explore the remarkable artistic journey and cultural legacy of Lain Singh Bangdel (1919–2002), widely regarded as the “Father of Modern Art” in Nepal. This collection of paintings—spanning the 1940s to the 1980s— reflects and reframes the cultural, political, and emotional realities of Bangdel’s time and traces his evolving vision as he navigated multiple worlds: colonial and postcolonial South Asia, cosmopolitan Europe, and an emerging modern Nepal.

Gallery Hours: Monday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

This journal discussion brings together a seminal article on pharmacologic treatment considerations among Orthodox Jewish adults (Feinberg, early 2000s) and a more recent comparative study examining mental health diagnoses, symptoms, treatment, and medication use within Orthodox Jewish populations. Offers 1.0 Category II CEUs through JCS Institute for Professional Development.

Profs and Pints Baltimore presents: “The Webb Telescope and NASA's Next Really Big Thing,” with Ori Fox, deputy project scientist for the Roman Space Telescope at the Space Telescope Science Institute.

[Doors open at 5. The talk starts at 6:30. The room is open seating.]

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is now a household name, having produced spectacular images of the most distant objects in our universe and revolutionized our understanding of what exists beyond our planet. Yet NASA is already far along in thinking about its next really big telescope, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which is expected to launch as early as Fall 2026. With Roman and Webb in the sky at the same time, astrophysics is expected to undergo another revolution.

Learn about the latest developments in both scientific undertakings from Ori Fox, who previously gave an excellent Profs and Pints talk on the Webb telescope, for which he served as an instrument scientist, and now plays a key role in the planning of the Roman telescope at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), the Roman’s science and operations center.

He’ll discuss how the Roman space telescope will be able to survey the sky 1,000 times faster than Hubble, as well as how it will collect near-infrared imaging and spectroscopic data with Hubble-quality resolution and sensitivity over fields of view 200 times greater than the Hubble’s. The Roman’s data will enrich all areas of astrophysics by enabling studies of nearly every class of astronomical object, phenomenon, and environment across the observable universe. The Roman’s scientific goals will include discovering thousands of new planets and pinpointing the source of a mysterious force called Dark Energy that permeates our Universe.

Dr. Fox also will give us a detailed update on tantalizing new images and scientific results from the Webb. They include the discovery of the most distant galaxies ever observed, high-resolution images of extraordinary explosions, and details about far-away exoplanets beyond our wildest imagination.

Listening to him will be a stellar experience. (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID.)

Image: A rendering of the planned Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Enjoy music of Cambodia and the world, while celebrating TU students who are expanding their musical horizons. The Cambodian Classical Ensemble performs on pin peat instruments, a centuries’ old tradition that accompanies Khmer classical dance and sacred, royal, and religious ceremonies. The World Music Ensemble plays arrangements from various non-Western musical traditions.

Members of the singing public are welcome to join Baltimore Choral Arts at Peabody for Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem. In this unique come-and-sing workshop format, you will be a member of the audience AND a member of the choir.

This free three-day workshop will give you a front row seat as we "pull back the curtain" to share how a major choral-orchestral work is prepared. The skilled students in Peabody's graduate conducting studio, led by Baltimore's own Marin Alsop, will lead the student orchestra through movements of the Requiem as we sing the choral parts to this beloved piece.

Schedule

Wednesday, April 29: 7-9 pm at Grace United Methodist Church

Sunday, May 3: 4-5:30 pm; 6-9 pm at Peabody Institute

Monday, May 4: 7-10 pm at Peabody Institute

Please note that participants are expected to attend all three days of the workshop.