Community Calendar

Profs and Pints Baltimore presents: “The Emerging World Order,” on global shifts in power and what they portend, with John Rennie Short, geographer and professor emeritus of public policy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and author of Geopolitics: Making Sense of a Changing World.

We are witnessing a transformation in the geopolitical world order and, with it, renewed superpower rivalry and heightened security concerns in hotspots such as the Middle East and the South China Sea.

Why is all of this occurring? Who will gain advantage and who will lose out?

Get a big-picture understanding of recent geopolitical upheaval and what may be ahead with John Rennie Short, a scholar of national security issues who has written several acclaimed books on world trends and given several excellent Profs and Pints talks focused on geopolitical affairs.

He’ll walk us through the most important changes in the geopolitical world order since the end of the Cold War, focusing especially on 21st Century trends that appear likely to usher in increased instability. Among the developments he’ll cover: The emergence of China as a competing superpower. A more assertive Russia’s flexing of muscle against former Soviet republics. The slow but strengthening emergence of a shift in Europe’s focus from economic integration to geopolitical security, with Sweden and Finland’s entering NATO in response to rising fears of Russian aggression.

We’ll examine the implications of our own nation’s withdrawal from its commitment as a global leader and adoption of a more insular foreign policy focused on immediate economic interests.

We’ll contemplate potential future scenarios like the rise of a China-Russia alliance to rival the U.S., and we’ll tackle questions such as whether a more security-minded Europe will become an independent source of power. (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Doors open at 5 pm. The talk starts at 6:30.)

Image: A Risk board as photographed by Ben Stephenson (Creative Commons).

Harford County Public Library hosts a Paleontology Party November 12 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Fallston Library, 1461 Fallston Road. Celebrate Dino-vember by learning how to be a paleontologist. Participants will excavate dinosaur bones while learning about fossils. Each child participating must register prior to the program at https://programs.hcplonline.org/event/14027921. The program is supported by the Fallston Friends of HCPL.

The Furious Bongos are a Frank Zappa tribute band and incredibly maintain this level of excellence, a nine-piece combo of remarkable ability. The Furious Bongos are a dynamic and precise ensemble playing with an outstanding bravura, multi-faceted vocal delivery upfront. Band members from The Furious Bongos have played with artists including BB King, Mick Fleetwood, Vinnie Colaiuta, Googoosh, Dweezil Zappa, LA Philharmonic, Arthur Barrow, Munich Philharmonic, Bryan Beller, Popa Chubby, Yo Yo Ma, Limelight: A Tribute To Rush, Pinetop Perkins, Chicago Lyric Opera, Madison Opera & more. The group describes this venture as “not a strictly tribute project,” but more of a unique band you won’t find anywhere else. The result of their approach is a show that pays respect to Zappa’s legacy, but is also new, different, dangerous and fun, with lots of eyebrows. Kinda like Frank.

The Furious Bongos put on a show that pays respect to Zappa’s legacy, but is also new and different and dangerous and FUN, with lots of eyebrows.

Back for its second year, Abbott and the Big Ten Conference are hosting the We Give Blood Drive competition to entice students, alumni, fans, and community members to rally around their Big Ten school to donate blood, save lives, and address the country's ongoing critical blood shortage.

From August 27 to December 5, anyone eligible to donate blood can do so anywhere, anytime in the U.S. to count for their school. The school with the most donations at the end of the competition will receive $1 million to advance student or community health.

New this year, everyone who donates or attempts to donate blood throughout the competition will receive an exclusive, limited-edition, Homefield-designed T-shirt specific to their school. To receive the shirt:

1. Show up to donate
2. Submit your donation (or attempt to donate) at BigTen.Org/Abbott or by texting DONATE to 222688 (ABBOTT).
3. Click the link sent to your email
4. Use your redemption code
5. Your shirt will be shipped to the address of your choice. 

Last year, the University of Nebraska won, and is using the funds to advance student health on campus. The University of Maryland is competing this year and will host several blood drives on campus and in the surrounding area throughout the competition. To find a blood drive near you, please visit: https://bigten.org/abbott/maryland

This focus exhibition of 10 works explores the relationship between burning fossil fuels—namely, coal—and the emergence of European modernism. Drawing on research conducted by climate scientists and art historians, the exhibition presents a range of paintings and works on paper by Henri Matisse, Claude Monet, James McNeill Whistler, and others to explore the ways that their artistic practices and style emerged, in part, in response to widespread pollution in London and Paris.
Presented as part of the Turn Again to the Earth environmental initiative.

More than 50 works on paper investigate how artists working in Europe and French-occupied northern Africa watched and participated as nature became a resource for people to hoard or share.

Drawn from the BMA’s George A. Lucas Collection, this exhibition of 19th-century art foregrounds the many ways that human relationships, including imperialism and capitalism, affect the environment. Deconstructing Nature is organized thematically, focusing on five environments and the ways artists explored them in their work: The Desert, The Forest, The Field, The City, and The Studio.

Born and raised in Baltimore, George A. Lucas (1824–1909) spent most of his adult life immersed in the Parisian art world and amassed a personal collection of nearly 20,000 works of art. In 1996, the BMA, with funds from the State of Maryland and the generosity of numerous individuals in the community, purchased the George A. Lucas Collection, which had been on extended loan to the Museum for more than 60 years.

In this focus exhibition of approximately 20 photographs, prints, drawings, and textiles, the natural environment is a source of creative inspiration worth celebrating and protecting.

Works by artists such as Winslow Homer, Richard Misrach, Charles Sheeler, and Kiki Smith, among many others, depict the elements of air, water, earth, and fire and address broader themes of ecological awareness and preservation. These themes range from how artists have used visual language to convey the act of locating oneself in nature; works that depict natural forms through the physical integration of environmental components; and artists’ commentary on sites of environmental disaster, the sociopolitical ramifications of human impact, and the potential of symbiotic healing for this planet and its occupants.

For thousands of years, East Asia’s cultures have viewed human life as part of a much larger system that encompasses the natural world. Drawn from the BMA’s collection, this exhibition boasts more than 40 objects—from magnificent ink drawings to beautifully crafted stoneware and poignant contemporary photographs and prints. They bring into the galleries the mountains and seas, wild and supernatural animals, and plant life that are extensive across East Asian imagery and often carry symbolic meaning.

Works on view include robust 13th-century ceramic vessels, delicate porcelain, carved jade, intricately sewn textiles, and large-scale photography; collectively, these artworks represent the impulse to fully understand the natural world as foundational to our existence, as shaped by human life, and as an enduring metaphor of survival.

Baltimore, MD – Make Studio is excited to announce the highlight of our fall programming season, the 8th installment of Cordially Invited! Cordially Invited is our annual invitational exhibition featuring artworks created in innovative U.S. and international studios serving disabled artists.

On view from October 10 – November 15, Make Studio’s CordialIy Invited VIII highlights the phenomenal and thought-provoking art produced in progressive art studios internationally as a way to better understand and appreciate our neurodiverse world. Each year it is our honor to put together this showcase to celebrate how these studios foster and promote exceptional art, advance full inclusion, and ensure the advancement of disabled artists so that their distinctive work can be experienced by all. This year's installment features 28 participating groups, hailing from as near as Rockville, MD and Washington, DC, and as far as Spain and Japan. Over 100 selected artworks will be featured in our gallery and even more will appear in the digital exhibition online. Visitors are encouraged to drop into the gallery during our weekly hours, or visit during special extended hours that will be announced on social media.

A reception will be held on November 7 from 5:00-8:00 PM during Art Around Hampden and First Fridays in Hampden. Details about exhibiting artists and studios, as well as special programming including a virtual artist talk with participating studios, will be shared on Make Studio’s website and social media. A companion display of Make Studio artists’ work will also be on view at University of Maryland, Baltimore’s Campus Center for Disability Employment Awareness Month throughout October.

About Make Studio
Make Studio is a 501(c)3 community-based arts organization located in Baltimore, MD. Founded in 2010 with the aim to put art and abilities to work, Make Studio’s mission is to empower artists with disabilities to grow as professionals with visibility and voice in their communities. We create opportunities for everyone to connect through art.