Moving On Up: The Maryland Art Place moves to a new home on Saratoga Street.
by Cara Ober
On Maryland’s cultural landscape it is difficult to find another arts institution as well respected as Maryland Art Place. Known as MAP, the nonprofit art center offers educational programming as well as curated and democratically selected exhibitions in a photogenic, modern setting that would make any Chelsea gallery jealous—high ceilings, three large galleries, professional lighting, steel and glass accents, and shiny wood floors. Despite its swanky appearance and professional clout, MAP is also somewhat of a well-kept secret, nestled into a back corner of Baltimore’s tourist-laden Power Plant Live! complex.
The center is poised to reinvent itself in the heart of Baltimore’s newest arts district. This month, MAP moves back to its first permanent home at 218 West Saratoga Street. Originally envisioned as an ‘Avenue of the Arts’ by Mayor Kurt Schmoke in 1994, the Westside Arts District is flanked by Camden Yards, Lexington Market, and the University of Maryland Hospital and Medical School. In recent years, the area has attracted cultural centers including the Bromo-Seltzer Arts Tower, the Hippodrome Theater, and Everyman Theatre’s new home, as well as independently-run art and music venues like the Sub-basement Artist Studios, the H&H Arts Building, and the new Current Gallery.
To read the whole article, click here.
