This large-scale participatory media project will utilize the concept of a traditional quilt through submissions and the lens of current video technology.
Through this OPEN CALL, (for Baltimore City and Baltimore County residents) Media Artist Mandy Morrison with Curator Aleem Allison, will select a collection of uploaded short videos that explore themes commonly portrayed in traditional quilts, such as comfort, friendship, love, gratitude, history, family, inequality, emotional and physical scarring, and loss. Using video mapping, these individual short videos will be organized into a larger projected time-based "Media Quilt” to be projected in Gallery 410, a downtown (Bromo Arts District) gallery space with large street-facing windows.
The installation is set to run from January 30-March 25, 2025, and the opening on January 30 will coincide with an exhibition opening at Maryland Art Place. The gallery’s location on the corner of Mulberry and Eutaw Streets, is an area with significant car and foot traffic. The all-glass windows of the gallery will create an immersive and dynamic display, especially during the dark evening winter months (January-March) when the projection will be most striking.
This is a project that portends to bring a wide range of individual art and arts-adjacent communities into dialogue that will consist of one singular and evolving piece.
Along with the exhibition and opening, there will be community engagement initiatives involving both contributing artists and local communities with a primary focus on those who live in or have businesses in the Bromo-Arts District.
Planned engagement activities include:Intermittent Friday and Saturday night media-jam sessions with refreshments during the exhibition of "A Media Quilt Project" and an Artist Talk and Roundtable with participants hosted by Allison and Morrison.
All selected artists will receive a modest honorarium, and be listed in publicity/promotional materials.
DEADLINE for submissions be on Dec. 15 (11:29PM)
This project is administered by Maryland Art Place with the support of the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation and the Maryland State Council on the Arts
Bios
Mandy Morrison: Having a practice that spans over three decades, Morrison has lived, worked and traveled to many parts of the globe. With experiences that have provided a lens into varied occupations, her work has been influenced by how divisions of labor reinforce class and social order. With an interest in the meaning of physical as well as digital spaces she views varying structures as conferring distinct forms of entitlement on different populations. Her interdisciplinary practice spans performance, video, writing and photography and her singular and participatory projects have included dancers, youth groups, and community stakeholders. Her work has been performed, exhibited and screened internationally at festivals, galleries and museums, including the Peale Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Queens Museum, Kunstlerhaus e.V., Hamburg, and CINESONIKA in Vancouver. Grants, fellowships and residencies include Tree of Life Foundation, the Puffin Foundation, Maryland State Arts Council, the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, Illinois Arts Council, the New York State Council on the Arts, Wexner Center for the Arts, Foundation B.a.d. and the Sacatar Institute in Bahia, Brazil.
Aleem Allison’s journey into museums began with an interest in exploring cultural heritage across all walks of life. From an early age, his path through museums started in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan, expanded to museums in Germany and Japan. Building his practice through Morgan State University’s Museum Studies graduate program, he has participated in various initiatives aimed at bridging the gaps between museums and a variety of cultural communities. As a cohort in 2023-24 Elizabeth Talford Scott Community Initiative - “No Stone Left Unturned,” he helped to lead a series of exhibitions that expanded the recognition of Talford Scott’s quilt oeuvre with presentations of her work alongside collaborative projects in the Baltimore museum area. He has also been able to develop his practice through his life experiences as a veteran of the US Air Force, classroom educator, and world traveler.