Artscape 2025: Unapologetically Baltimore in Photos

This year marks BmoreArt’s first-ever official participation in Artscape! We have always covered it as a media partner in the past, but the weather and its requirement that art be exhibited outside has always been a barrier for us. Being inside the SCOUT Art Fair with all of the Baltimore-based artists and co-hosting the Thursday night Vernissage Event proved to be a perfect venue for us.

There was massive foot traffic from Friday through Sunday and I am pleased to report that we had an incredible weekend! Never have I encountered so many people, wide-eyed and excited about art and artists! It was a high energy, positive love fest all weekend long. Initial reports from the first day of Artscape are claiming about 100,000 visitors just on Saturday; everyone wanted to come inside the gorgeous War Memorial Building.

I want to acknowledge that change is uncomfortable and a lot of Baltimoreans love the Artscape of the past. It can be difficult to give something new a chance. For anything gained, there are always going to be losses, but in the conversations I had all weekend long, people at the fair kept repeating the same thing over and over: This Artscape is an elevation. People were impressed.

While the overall reviews of this year’s Artscape are mixed, and I think we should evaluate it in order to make positive changes for next year, we can all agree on one thing: the weather was incredible. Hosting the nation’s largest outdoor free arts festival on Memorial Day weekend, for two days instead of three, was a gamble, but with massive crowds Saturday and nearly the same on Sunday, it seems to have paid off.

From where I sat, just inside the vestibule at the art fair, this year’s Artscape was a game changer for many of us. The SCOUT Team of Tonya Miller Hall, Derrick Adams, and Teri Henderson made it work – Baltimore has never had an art fair like this before! People were actually buying the art and interacting with the artists! This is the first time I can remember Artscape centering living, working, Baltimore-based artists in a meaningful way.

Moving Artscape from the Bolton Hill area has a number of pros and cons, but in past years it kept Penn Station travel from functioning, it closed down MICA, UB, and the Symphony, and it disrupted residential areas. In contrast, putting the festival in the space for the Sunday Farmer’s Market where vendors could be protected from sun and rain and closing off downtown streets without blocking Mercy Hospital traffic, while not perfect, seemed to work pretty well.

I participated in one of the Conversations Series talks at Baltimore Center Stage on Saturday and, to my surprise, the venue was standing room only. I had worried it would be too much of a walk from the festival. Similarly, The Peale Museum exhibit of Sondheim Semi-Finalists attracted about 20,000 people over the weekend, a record for the nation’s first purpose-built museum, and a great opportunity for festival-goers to experience the work of so many regional artists.

I hope you will enjoy these photos from the festival from Mollye Miller, the artist whose work graces the cover of our newest print journal! And you can see more photos from the SCOUT Art Fair here.