Community Calendar

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.

Pop!
A FUN Company Tiny Stages Production
Directed by Julie Herber and Shea-Mikal Green

Run time: Around 45 minutes without an intermission.
This show is geared towards the very young, ages 0-5

About: Bubbles, balloons, and popcorn come to life in this joyful, immersive show filled with music, puppets, and playful surprises. A gentle, sensory adventure where every POP! brings a new delight.

Teapots XI
January 10, 2026 @ 10:00 am – March 7, 2026 @ 5:00 pm

Juried by Pete Pinnell
Opening Reception: Saturday, January 10, 2026, 4:00 – 6:00 pm

Baltimore Clayworks proudly presents our 11th biannual juried exhibition, Teapots XI. The juror, Pete Pinnell, selected the functional and sculptural teapots created by emerging and established artists.

As part of Winter Reading 2026, Harford County Public Library presents Puzzle Pandemonium January 29 from 5 to 7:45 p.m. at the Bel Air Library, 100 East Pennsylvania Avenue. If you love puzzles, this event is for you. Work together in a small group to complete a puzzle. The first group finished wins a prize. Each person attending must register prior to the program at https://programs.hcplonline.org/event/14821822. The program, for those in grade 9 through adult, is supported by the Bel Air Friends of HCPL.

Mindfulness Meditation + Sports & Positive Psychology + Neuroscience + Group Coaching = mPEAK

mPEAK (Mindfulness, Performance Enhancement, Awareness & Knowledge) is a mindfulness training program for anyone seeking to achieve personal and professional goals, as well as attain new levels of performance and success. This cutting-edge training program is built around the latest brain research related to peak performance, resilience, focus, and “flow”.

The mPEAK program enhances the human capacity of mindfulness through established and empirically supported practices and exercises. Mindfulness is effective precisely because it is a way of being and relating to all aspects of life, rather than a specific technique or tool for a particular goal. As with physical training, this brain training program is based upon the understanding that optimal outcomes occur most often when participants continue to engage in the practices and exercises on a daily basis as a part of their training regimen.

This program was specially designed for athletes, first responders, leaders, entrepreneurs, executives, musicians, dancers, and busy professionals or parents who set big goals, face consistent challenges and stretch themselves towards excellence. mPEAK is appropriate for beginner and seasoned mindfulness practitioners alike. Previous meditation experience is not necessary to participate, but can facilitate a deeper learning experience.

Greg Hatza, organ
Peter Fraize, saxophone
Brian Kooken, guitar
Robert Shahid, drums

In 1994, Greg met Joey DeFranscesco who told him the Hammond B-3 was enjoying a popular renaissance. He formed the Greg Hatza ORGANization and has been performing and recording on the instrument non-stop since that time. With the trend towards more advanced electronic keyboard and rhythms now, Greg adapted to the trend, switching from the Hammond B-3 to the electric keyboard and piano.

In the late sixties, Baltimore was still an organ town and had its share of great players. It was here that Greg really got a chance to hone his jazz organ skills by playing with the best musicians in town. Lenny’s club was a great stopping point for national jazz artists who came to Baltimore to perform. He also met and got to play in jam sessions with such personalities as Kenny Burrell, Groove Holmes, Damita Joe, Philly Joe Jones, Roland Kirk, Les McCann, James Moody, and Sonny Stitt.

Vagabond Players presents THE SHARK IS BROKEN
Jan. 9 – Feb. 1, 2026

Vagabond Players continues their historic 110th Season— and celebrates the 50th anniversary of the iconic film JAWS—with the Baltimore premiere of THE SHARK IS BROKEN, written by Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon and directed by Vagabond veteran Stephen Deininger.

Fresh off acclaimed runs in London’s West End and on Broadway, this behind-the-scenes look at one of the most iconic films ever made is as hilarious as it is heartfelt. Return to the waters where it all began: three actors, two fragile egos, and one very uncooperative shark. This could be the biggest disaster in recent Hollywood history, helmed by a director that no one thinks can
pull it off. In between swilling Tab and tanning on deck, Roy Scheider runs interference between neurotic Richard Dreyfus and the acid drunk wit of Robert Shaw as they navigate endless filming delays and screwups on a rickety lobster boat.

Starring returning Vagabond Players actors, Doug Krehbel, Andy Belt and Matthew Lindsay Payne, THE SHARK IS BROKEN offers a delicious insider’s look at the bickering, brawling and back stabbing among a trio of soon-to-be legendary actors who just happen to be making a monster movie that will change the course of cinema history. Frustrations, petty rivalries and no-so-secret vices all come to the surface in a comedy that also contains a deeper story of fathers and sons, their mortality, and the legacy they leave.

THE SHARK IS BROKEN runs January 9 – February 1, 2026, with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. And check out a special “Thursdays on Broadway” performance January 29 at 8 p.m. when all tickets are just $12.

For tickets, cast and show info visit www.vagabondplayers.org. Special discounts and group rates are available online.

How can we break the cycle that compels immigrants and their children to leave homes and families in search of security? From East, Like the Sun follows two generations in two families (and one 19th century ghost) searching for the mother lode - whether it’s gold, or a stable way of life.
Playwright Karen Li, previously produced by Rapid Lemon as part of Variations on Change in 2022, is a Baltimore-based multidisciplinary artist whose other plays have been produced by Strand Theater, Theaterlab, and La Jolla Playhouse. Jalice Ortiz-Corral (Honey Bee Baby, Variations on Courage, Variations on The End) directs.
Performed live on stage at Strand Theater, 5426 Harford Road, Baltimore, MD 21214. Tickets are general admission, $25. A special discounted "Industry Night" performance is just $15, on Monday, January 12. We'll have a talkback with the playwright following the performance on Friday, January 23, and a special "Masked Matinee" on January 18th - audience members will be required to wear masks for that performance.

Big Bang Baby transforms ancestral divinity, folklore, and science into a radiant universe of light, color, and controlled chaos. At its center are fantastical feminine figures creating universes and experiencing their own divinity. Inspired by Afro-Dominican spiritual traditions of “carrying a mystery,” as well as Native Taíno Zemi goddesses, LUSMERLIN celebrates the gift of spiritual presence and creation in women. Across pastel, acrylic and LED-lit sculptural forms, the exhibition asks: What does it mean to be stardust, to be a source of divinity?

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.