There are plenty of exhibits opening this spring at the local museums. From arts and crafts to the secrets of Earth, the museums in Annapolis, D.C., Baltimore, and beyond are all hosting temporary exhibits of some sort. Temporary exhibits are an awesome way to get a crash course on a numerous number of topics and a great way to spend the weekend with your family or friends.
Maryland Hall, Annapolis –
Vantage Point: Paintings by Sally Davies
- February 20 through May 23 - Openshaw Balcony Gallery, 3rd floor
- Sally Davies paints the human figure from dramatic vantage points and plays with light and shadows to create a strong emotional impact, drawing the viewer into the unfolding narrative.
From Our Living Room to Yours: The Leroy E. Hoffberger School of Painting
- March 5 through May 2 - Martino Gallery, 2nd floor
- The graduate program at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, MD has made a permanent name for itself in the world of contemporary art and education as one of the nation’s top painting programs because of its community structure, unique specialized curriculum, and in-depth visiting artist and critic relationships.
Unnatural Causes: Earth Day 50th Anniversary
- March 5 through May 2 - Chaney Gallery, 2nd Floor
- Unnatural Causes celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day with a show about climate change and biodiversity. The group exhibition is curated by and features work by Four Alarm Artists, a collective group founded by Blake Conroy, Bridget Parlato and Lynne Parks.
River Arts, Chestertown –
Seeing Red
- February 5 through March 1 – Main Gallery
- Red! The color red brings to mind both images and emotions: hearts, fire, roses, love, anger, passion.
Amazing People
- February 5 through March 1 - Studio Gallery
- Amazing People is an oral history exhibition curated by Lani Seikaly and Gordon Wallace. The show will feature stories of the challenges and impact poverty has on children through adulthood as told by local, young men and women who have experienced it. The story tellers are all amazing people from whom we have much to learn. The exhibit will include portraits, highlighted excerpts from interviews and short videos.
Abstract & Ceramics
- March 4 through March 29
- The definition of abstract art, such as it is, refers to a visual language of color, shape, line, and form from which compositions exist with a degree of independence from visual reference. Moving from its origins in the 20th century, into the 21st century, the genre has expanded to respond to the stimuli of the times, which may include new materials or new perspectives on the tried and true. Artists are casting about for ways to utilize a broader range of materials, including found or reclaimed objects, metals, fabric, or photography. All of these can be found in this wide-ranging show, by local artists who opened up to interpret “abstract” broadly and spectacularly.
Annual Earth Stewardship Exhibition
- April 1 through April 22
- Each April, RiverArts celebrates the community’s long tradition of environmental conservation by hosting an annual Stewardship Exhibition. Artists and poets are invited to submit work that reflects a moment, experience, realization or vision of nature that inspires a new outlook or reflects on an annual; Earth themed exhibit. Poetry and all varieties of two- and three-dimensional artwork, which are relevant to the theme, will be considered.
Judged Fine Art and Craft
- April 29 through May 31
- This annual exhibition showcases the region’s finest art and craft work. Artists working in painting, drawing, printmaking, mixed media, sculpture and fine craft (including metal, wood, fiber, ceramics, glass and jewelry) are encouraged to submit to the exhibit.
Ward Museum, Salisbury–
50 Years of Excellence: Sculptures from the Ward World Championship
- January 17 through May 17
- April 2020 will bring the 50th annual Ward World Championship Wildfowl Carving Competition and Art Festival. In celebration of this milestone, the Ward Museum’s LaMay Gallery will feature some of the “Best in World” winning pieces, starting with the very first from 1971. See some of the finest examples of gunning decoys and many of the most innovative interpretive sculptures the wildfowl carving community has to offer.
Smithsonian, D.C.
Creating Icons: How We Remember Woman Suffrage, History Museum
- March 6, 2020 through March 7, 2021
- Highlighting women’s achievements in winning suffrage, it invites audiences to explore how the country celebrates milestones, what people as a nation remember, what (and who) has been forgotten or silenced over time and how those exclusions helped create the cracks and fissures in a movement that continues to impact women’s politics and activism.
Beauty Rich and Rare, Natural History Museum
- Open until July 5
- Beauty Rich and Rare follows Captain James Cook’s 1768 voyage to Tahiti, New Zealand, and Australia. Throughout the voyage, English naturalist Sir Joseph Banks and his companions captured Australia's flora and fauna in meticulous detail.
Challenging the Face of Science: The Bearded Lady Project, Natural History Museum
- Open until April 2020
- “The Bearded Lady Project” is a traveling exhibition composed of a series of 38 black-and-white portraits taken by art photographer Kelsey Vance. The photographs showcase female paleontologists conducting in the field, laboratories, offices, and museums. The paleontologists posed for the large-format camera wearing fake beards to challenge the public perception of what a scientist looks like.
American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore
The Secret Life of Earth: Alive! Awake! (and possibly really angry)
- Open until September 6
- Beckoning all Earthlings — from climate change skeptics to the world's leading eco-scientists and kid activists — to an exhibition that's one-part visual Earth love feast and two parts environmental crash course on the wonders and fragility of life on our one blue homegirl planet.
