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.

The Annapolis Book Festival has been one of the premier community events in the region for over 20 years. The Festival brings together nationally renowned authors with thousands of book fans for author talks, panel discussions, book signings, and other activities. Interactive, multi-generational and free of charge, the Festival has something for book lovers of all ages. Combining entertainment, ComicKey! (a family-friendly comic con), a literary marketplace, children’s activities, and food trucks with compelling author panels, the Festival attracts more than 4,000 attendees each year. To learn more about the Festival, visit keyschool.org/annapolisbookfestival

Opening Reception: March 21, 2026, 4:00 – 6:00 pm

Contemporary Porcelain: From Tradition to Innovation explores the enduring legacy of porcelain while showcasing the bold ways artists are redefining this historic material today. Long celebrated for its refinement, translucency, and technical precision, porcelain has deep roots in global traditions.

Featuring works by contemporary ceramic artists, the exhibition highlights porcelain’s remarkable versatility. This exhibition invites viewers to reconsider what porcelain can be, and how tradition can spark transformation rather than limit it.

Participating Artists
Sam Chung, Elaine Coleman, Tom Coleman, Julia Galloway, Martha Grover, Bryan Hopkins, Cliff Lee, Heesoo Lee, Steven Young Lee, Kyounghwa Oh, Yoko Sekino-Bove

Also on Exhibition
Elements of Mechanisms
Elements of Mechanisms examines the intersection of form, function, and movement through works that draw inspiration from mechanical systems and engineered structures.

Community Arts Spring Showcase
The Community Arts Spring Showcase celebrates the creativity, voices, and shared experiences of our community.

Maryland Art Place, in partnership with Hotel Indigo Baltimore, is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Maryland-based artist, Roo Taylor. The exhibition is on view at Hotel Indigo, located at 24 West Franklin St. from April 17 - July 17.
A public reception will take place on Wednesday, April 22 from 5 PM to 7 PM.

About the Artist:
Roo Taylor (b. 2003) is a Baltimore-based artist originally from Denver, Colorado. She earned her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and is currently a resident artist at the Creative Alliance in Baltimore. Working primarily with high-flow acrylic paint and acrylic ink, Taylor uses transparency and layered color to create abstract landscapes. Her work explores the interplay between the natural world and human relationships, exploring the emotional and atmospheric depth through fluid, natural spaces. Her artwork has been exhibited in galleries across Baltimore, Denver and New York, as well as internationally at the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art in Japan.

Using light and color as metaphors for energy, Roo Taylor’s work traces the through lines between the natural world and human connection. Rooted in a deep reverence for transparency and hue, each piece is meant to reflect on the connection between feeling and form. Taylor invites viewers to experience emotional resonance as something inherently natural, alive, layered, and luminous.

Please join us on Wednesday, April 22 from 5 PM to 7 PM for a champagne reception at Hotel Indigo located at 24 West Franklin St.

Arthur and Friends Make a Musical!
Book and Lyrics by John Maclay
Music and Lyrics by Brett Ryback
Based on the Arthur book series by Marc Brown

Directed by Zack Callis
Choreographed by Kiersten Gasemy

Run time: Around one (1) hour and fifteen (15) minutes with no intermission.
This show is appropriate for audiences of all ages.

About: Mr. Ratburn's class is putting on a show – but Arthur's not so sure he's ready! With help from his family and friends, Arthur learns that being yourself is the best part of any performance. A fun, feel-good musical for the whole family!

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.

You are invited to IMET’s Open House on Saturday, May 2, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

This family-friendly event is a chance to experience IMET’s research up close through hands-on science activities, conversations with scientists, and interactive demonstrations exploring marine science in the harbor and throughout the Chesapeake Bay. We hope you will join us and help spread the word within your networks.

Guests will also enjoy The Ocean Is Aware: A Suite For Creative Musicians by CIRCA-IMET Artist-in-Residence Matt Belzer. This performance explores how sea life interacts with its environment, their perception of time, and their awareness of humans and each other through jazz, Afro-Cuban music, and funk. 

Additional activities include hands-on experiences with research tools like microscopes and pipettes, opportunities to meet marine scientists, community partners, food trucks, a photo area, and, for the first time, an IMET raffle.

Arthur and Friends Make a Musical!
Book and Lyrics by John Maclay
Music and Lyrics by Brett Ryback
Based on the Arthur book series by Marc Brown

Directed by Zack Callis
Choreographed by Kiersten Gasemy

Run time: Around one (1) hour and fifteen (15) minutes with no intermission.
This show is appropriate for audiences of all ages.

About: Mr. Ratburn's class is putting on a show – but Arthur's not so sure he's ready! With help from his family and friends, Arthur learns that being yourself is the best part of any performance. A fun, feel-good musical for the whole family!

Calling all crafters! The Polish Heritage Association of Maryland, Inc. (PHAM) will hold two sessions of a workshop in Polish traditional paper-cutting on Saturday, May 2, 2026, at the Polish Home Club in Fells Point. Sessions featuring Maryland Traditions Master artist Carla Hazard Tomaszewski are at 10:30 am and 2:00 pm. The Polish Home Club is located at 512 South Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21231, and there are both metered and unmetered parking on the street, as well as three parking garages within a couple of blocks away. Tickets cost $25.00 and will be available through the website soon, at https://www.phaofmd.org/events. Persons of age 16 and younger must be accompanied by a participating adult. Come and learn how to make a wycinanka (Polish paper-cutting artwork)!