ARTSCAPE: New dimension in city's revival!

Baltimore, as an arts district took somewhat of a hiatus between the Baltimore City Arts Festival of 1978, to the beginnings of Artscape in 1982. Though I researched what may have been the reason for such a hiatus when the last article of 1978 mentioning the Baltimore City Arts Festival sounded positive regarding it's growth I had little information to work with on why there was a gap in time.

The concept this time, would stick for the next 27 years (and counting). In the place of the ribbon-cutting ceremony, hundreds of multi-colored paper airplanes would be launched to symbolize the festivals change from "order" to "disorder." Mayor Schaefer, in his opening speech reminded Baltimorean's that the Artscape would be phase in Baltimore's renaissance. This new festival would be held on Mt. Royal Avenue. The Lyric theatre would house the artwork of the 21 local artists and sculptures that won prizes in a juried art show. The 1982 message of Artscape was to celebrate a cultural revival in the Mount Royal district similar to New York or Boston.

In criticism to the new Artscape, artists that came from other places in the country or world said it had a long way to go before it would be considered a sister in the art world to New York and Boston. Jan Zandhuis, a glassblower said "that while he supports the city's conscious effort to develop the arts, he believes the market in Baltimore is immature... this community has a long way to go before it becomes sophisticated."

(Information from this article: Jenny Abdo, "Artscape: New dimension in city's revival," Evening Sun, June 12, 1982.)