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Baltimore Museum of Art unveils massive installation by Mickalene Thomas
Out queer/lesbian artist finds inspiration in ‘60s, ‘70s liberation, aesthetics
Since he became director of the Baltimore Museum of Art three years ago, Christopher Bedford has made it clear he wants to expose visitors to diverse voices and perspectives.
One sign of his effort is an 18-month exhibit that opened this fall featuring Mickalene Thomas, a 48-year-old black queer/lesbian artist from Camden, N.J.
In “Mickalene Thomas: A Moment’s Pleasure,” the artist has taken over a part of the museum that isn’t typically used for exhibits, the two-story East Lobby, and made it the backdrop for her work. She also brought in more than two dozen other artists to be part of her installation.
“Mickalene’s ambitious reinstallation of the East Lobby offers a new and exciting aesthetic experience — one that engages the senses at every turn and offers the community a dynamic new space in which to connect with each other, the work and the museum,” Bedford says. “It is transformative in its own right as an astounding work of art and in its revisioning of what the museum can and should feel like to visitors.”
Whereas museum architect John Russell Pope wanted the museum to be Baltimore’s porch when he designed the original building in the 1920s, Bedford says, “I think what Mickalene Thomas has conceived is Baltimore’s living room.”
Thomas, who is often included in lists and articles focusing on the country’s leading queer artists, creates visually and conceptually layered compositions using a wide range of media. Best known for her elaborate paintings composed of acrylic, enamel and rhinestones, she also makes collages, photographs, videos and room-sized installations.
Her genre-busting work includes portraits, landscapes and interiors that blend art history and pop culture to explore themes of gender, identity, sexuality, race, beauty, equity, power, “sense of self” and the human body. She looks at femininity and womanhood against the backdrop of the civil rights movement in the U. S. and the societal upheaval of the 1970s and 1980s.
The Baltimore exhibit is one of three she has on display right now, along with others at the Contemporary Art Center in New Orleans and the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Whitney Museum of American Art, as well as Washington’s Smithsonian American Art Museum and many others.
A graduate of the Pratt Institute and the Yale University School of Art, now based in New York, Thomas has also become a celebrity and a mentor for young artists. She’s one of the founders of the Josie Club, a group of “black queer women.” She has been chosen to design the custom outer “wrap” for a Rolls Royce Red Phantom that Sotheby’s is auctioning to help the global charity known as (RED) raise funds to eradicate AIDS. The Los Angeles Times said she is to contemporary painting what Daft Punk is to music, “one of the more original remix artists working today.” Smithsonian Magazine called her a “Renaissance rock star.”
At the Art Basel Miami festival this month, Thomas and her partner and collaborator Racquel Chevremont were spotted all over town, from the opening of Thomas’s show at the Bass Museum to the debut of the new Rubell Museum in Allapattah, another high-profile collection that includes her work.
At the Baltimore Museum of Art, Thomas has turned the East Lobby into a community gathering spot that doubles as a showcase for her work and those of others in the exhibit. It’s one of the largest commissions she’s ever undertaken and the first major presentation of the museum’s 2020 Vision initiative, which highlights female-identifying artists
The transformation starts on the exterior, where she has installed a vinyl mural that looks like three oversized Baltimore row house facades, one in brick, one with siding and one in FormStone.
The residential theme continues inside the entrance. Every surface of the lobby has been covered with materials that evoke a domestic setting, including wallpaper, carpet, linoleum flooring, faux wood paneling and a wall of house plants.
On the second-level mezzanine, Thomas created a tableau of a living room and then juxtaposed it with a large mural of a sofa and hanging lamp. Her vivid colors, geometric patterns and textures bring to mind the aesthetics of the 1970s and 1980s, a period she sees as particularly significant for African Americans.
On the Murray J. Rymland Terrace, an area not usually accessible to the public, Thomas created a temporary “Terrace Gallery” that consists of two rooms, one fitted out like a den with a large TV and one that resembles a club basement.
These spaces are filled with works by 16 other artists. Halfway through the show, the works now on display will be replaced with works by 16 more artists. A back door in the club basement leads to a small outdoor space, complete with Astroturf, that’s reminiscent of the sort of postage stamp-sized back yards many Baltimore row houses have.
The East Lobby of the museum’s 1982 wing has typically served as a circulation space leading to the visitor information counter, the gift shop, Gertrude’s Chesapeake Kitchen restaurant and galleries elsewhere in the building.
Thomas says she gave the lobby a more residential feel as a way of encouraging artists and visitors to make it their own space, and do what they want with it.
She said other artists might have created a single sculpture or painting in the lobby, but she wanted to do something that was “more transformative” and inviting to the community at large.
“How does one do that in this space?” she says. “It’s about really changing the façade. It’s about changing the interior. But also allowing this lobby to be open in a way, where all of my touches are along the side, on the periphery. So what you do, you open up the space architecturally and you allow this now to be performative, occupied space for the organization and community that decides to come in here to take over.
“The organization and artists that we’re working with, this gives them opportunity to use this as their platform, to use this space, this lobby, as their space,” she says. “To take ownership of that, whether it be a dance performance that could be here, whether it could be musicians … or a place of conversation. This becomes their landscape, their museum, that they can transform and use as their living room.”
Thomas says the Baltimore exhibit reflects a “black aesthetic” that’s evident in all of her work.
“Black aesthetic is black art,” she said. “Black living. Black love. Black materials. Black poetry. Black literature. Black music.”She used colors and materials that evoke the 1970s, she said, because she believes that was a key period for blacks and women, in terms of civil rights and artistic expression.
“Historically, when you think of black women owning their beauty, their hairstyles, when you think of styles and music, everything happened in the late ’60s, ’70s,” she says.
She takes a holistic approach to presenting art. At the public opening of the exhibit, she designed her own signature cocktail for the event and offered custom nail art in a pop-up nail shop. Her installation also includes costumes for museum staffers working in the lobby, created by Dominican-born fashion designer Jose Duran.
The other artists she enlisted range from some who are nationally prominent and have been widely displayed, to others who have never had work shown in a major museum before. All have ties to Baltimore and their work includes paintings, prints and drawings as well as videos. The Terrace Gallery will also be a setting for a series of events, including film screenings, artist talks, performances and workshops.
Featured artists include Derrick Adams, Zoe Charlton, Theresa Chromati, Dominiqua Eldridge, Devin Morris, Clifford Owens and D’Metrius John Rice. Videos are by Abdu Ali and Karryl Eugene; Erick Antonio Benitez, Nicoletta Darita de la Brown, Kotic Couture, Markele Cullins, Emily Eaglin, Hunter Hooligan and TT the Artist.
“A Moment’s Pleasure” is the first presentation in a new initiative called the Robert E. Meyerhoff and Rheda Becker Biennial Commission, which will bring a new exhibit to the museum’s east lobby every two years.
Meyerhoff and Becker established the commission in 2018 to give contemporary artists a platform within the museum to carry out ambitious projects that engage the community, in one of the most accessible parts of the building. According to Bedford, the goal is “making the museum experience more welcoming to a broader range of visitors through exceptional art.”
Bedford curated the Thomas exhibit with Meyerhoff-Becker curatorial fellow Cynthia Hodge-Thorne and curatorial assistants Katie Cooke and Carlyn Thomas. He praises Thomas for including others.
“Many other artists would have taken a commission like this and it would have been all about them, all the time. In the case of Mickalene Thomas, it is not all about her, all the time. In fact, there is an ego-less dimension to this installation that I think is timely, laudable and quite uniquely her.”
“Mickalene Thomas: A Moment’s Pleasure” is a free exhibit that will run through May 2, 2021. Located at 10 Art Museum Drive in north Baltimore, the museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
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Rainbows in Revolt on a mission to make LGBTQ artists’ voices heard
Rainbows in Revolt on a mission to make LGBTQ artists’ voices heard
Last month’s Pride celebration in D.C. was so fun. Walking around my first Capital Pride with a $15 lemonade I was loving the madness and the color. Artists and small businesses battling banks you’ve never heard of collecting your personal information so you can spin a wheel to snag free merch. Great music blaring, people actually smiling and enjoying themselves, the “Great” American State Fair could never!
The Monument Stage was on Pennsylvania Avenue, directly in front of the National Gallery of Art and I can’t think of a better venue to see live music. How does someone get on the lineup for Pride? How do we accelerate the visibility of the most talented voices in our community to perform in places like this?
There is certainly not a talent gap, but there is a visibility gap. Chappell Roan went from playing for two people in a parking lot to owning the main stage at Coachella in one year. Whether it is shadowbanning or bias in AI, algorithms have been shown to suppress queer artists. In a digital age, how can queer people break through and show the world how talented they are?
Allison and Matt of Rainbows in Revolt are on a mission to make openly LGBTQ+ artists’ voices heard. Their goal is to find “musicians whose queerness is central to their identity as an artist,” and accelerate them to a place where they can actually reach fans.
The only time queer events seem to be in the spotlight is June, but this should be year round, according to Allison and Matt. Rainbows in Revolt wants to act as a “nucleus” for different sub-communities, finding common ground in the universal language of music.
Matt and Allison founded Rainbows as a way to make cheaper, higher quality merchandise for queer artists. While Rainbows has already pledged 20% of their profits to the LGBTQ+ community, with 10% to Whitman-Walker Health and 10% to LGBTQ+ organizations in need, this is just the beginning of the work that they do.
Rainbows “does the dirty work” that artists normally struggle to do on their own with limited resources. Interviews, artist profiles, social promotion, playlist discovery, radio outreach, and merch-funded support. This work is normally expensive, time consuming, and requires lots of different skills. Musicians don’t want to be editing clips to post online. Standup comedians don’t want to make graphics for their tour dates. They want to write more. They want to focus on their craft.
In addition to helping artists find their audience, Rainbows has built other digital tools to help queer people connect, including an interactive Safe Space Map for most major cities. It is hard to know which places are truly safe and supportive just from a simple Google search. Attitudes and actions change, and there should be a simple way for queer people to find other places that align with them. The Safe Spaces Maps are all up to date, and are tagged and filterable. Instead of relying on forums and word of mouth, Rainbows has created a centralized way to find authentic community quickly.
I had a chance to talk with Allison and Matt at Pride where Lily Erin, one of their signature artists, was performing on the Monument stage. Lily Erin is a folk singer who is familiar and forging her own path. Her bittersweet sound echoes through Acadia, and her garb mirrors the New England athletes I grew up with. Gorp Core meets streetwear. A graphic tee, hiking shorts, and creamsicle Jordans.
Her debut single, “Bus Stop,” tells a sad story about unconditional love, and the conditions that still seem to come with it. Graduating into lockdown, Erin needed a new way to connect with herself and others. Lily made “Bus Stop” without an intention to share it, but doing so was a liberation. People have been responding to her honesty around queer-ness, family, and the “ghosts which haunt us” even in the daytime.
Rainbows in Revolt has helped Lily Erin go from bars and backyards to The Monument Stage at Pride. This is a meteoric rise, and a testament to both Erin’s talent and the work of Rainbows to promote her. “A little encouragement goes a long way with early artists,” and by “planting a seed” Rainbows is already seeing their artist garden grow. Community is power, and Erin is a perfect example of how effective simple modern techniques of promotion can be.
A next step for Rainbows is putting on shows themselves. On Oct. 3, Rainbows in Revolt will host an Evening with Ray Boltz at the National City Christian Church. Boltz grew up in the Catholic Church and for many years was the soundtrack to many services, youth camps, and church groups. He was celebrated by millions until he came out in 2008. Allison remembers her community “never playing his music again.”
Rainbows in Revolt is helping him to return to the church, and proving that identity does not need to be exclusive. We live in a complicated world with complicated lines being drawn. Boltz proves that these lines don’t exist, and will be breaking down barriers to bring together communities. To Allison, “a trans woman standing next to a straight white man in church is a powerful teacher.”
The Safe Space maps bridge all types of spaces, and one of the unlikely ones is, perhaps, churches. Matt said that “BYU has only nine safe spaces around their campus and seven of them are churches.” Not all churches are anti-gay, and many times they are the only place for people to find community.
Rainbows in Revolt is just getting started bridging gaps and building community.
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Summer in the City: Free exhibits, movies, more fill D.C.’s calendar
America 250 celebrations continue
From late-night museum visits and outdoor jazz concerts to free movie screenings and America250 exhibitions, Washington’s summer calendar is packed with events that don’t charge admission. Here’s a look at some of the free activities happening across the District through September and beyond.
Museum exhibitions
The Renwick Gallery is presenting State Fairs: Growing American Craft, an exhibition that looks at unique and unconventional crafts from the 19th century to the present. It will run until Sept. 7, and admission is free.
The Arts and Industries Building, located next to the Smithsonian Castle, is presenting the exhibition Voices and Votes: Exploring Democracy Across America. The exhibition features the development of American independence and what that has meant over time, beginning with the Revolutionary War. Admission to the museum is free, and the exhibition runs until Sept. 7.
The National Gallery of Art presents Dear America, an exhibit featuring more than 100 pieces of work, including letters, photographs, and drawings that depict American landscapes and depictions of freedom. The exhibition will run until Sept. 20.
The National Museum of Women in the Arts is exhibiting Burnished: Pueblo Pottery until Sept. 27. The exhibit features pottery from the Southwest, and while most of the pottery belongs to women artists, a few also reflect those who have advocated for women.
Extending past this summer, the exhibition ¡Puro Ritmo! The Musical Journey of Salsa will be at the National Museum of the American Latino until July 2028. The exhibition shows how Afro-Cuban music has become a staple in the U.S. Admission is free.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library will feature the exhibition District Vibes / American Pride: How DC Changed American Culture, which will highlight all of the ways D.C. has impacted American life. The exhibit will run until Sept. 27.
At the Folger Shakespeare Library, the exhibit Imagining Shakespeare: Mythmaking and Storytelling in the Regency Era will be on view through Aug. 2. All the portraits on display come from the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery in London.
The United States Botanic Garden will be open until 8 p.m. on Aug. 20 and Sept. 17, as part of America’s State Flowers: An America250 Celebration. The evenings will include live music, mocktails, ice cream, and snacks.
The National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden will have extended hours, staying open until 8 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday until Sept. 3.
Live performances
On Aug. 7, the postgame Nationals concert series will continue with Jordan Davis performing. To see the concert, guests just need to buy tickets to the Nationals game.
Jazz in the Garden will run each Friday until Aug. 14. The event has free admission, but those interested have to enter a lottery due to the high demand for the event.
From May to October, Capital Harvest Market occurs every Wednesday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. The market features fresh foods, crafts, and recipes for unique dishes. A full list of vendors is available on Capital Harvest’s website.
Live! Concert Series on the Plaza will feature live performances at Woodrow Wilson Plaza until Sept. 25. The performances run Monday to Friday from 12-1 p.m. Admission is free to the performances.
DowntownDC Live! at Anthem Row is running until July 30, with free performances every Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The final performance will feature HUE and a vintage flea market hosted by Get Flee Marketplace.
Located in Adams Morgan, AdMo Vibe will present live performances every Thursday at 6 p.m. in Kalorama Park. Guests are encouraged to check out Adams Morgan before and after shows, and it is an event for all ages.
Other events
Union Market is hosting drive-in movies on Aug. 8, featuring “Monsters, Inc.”, and Sept. 12, featuring “Wicked.” On Aug. 8, the parking lot will open at 7:30 p.m., with the movie starting at 8:25 p.m. On Sept. 12, the parking lot will open at 6:35 p.m., and the movie will start at 7:30 p.m.
Sunset Cinema at the Wharf will also be available one day a month. On Aug. 12, “10 Things I Hate About You” will premiere, and on Aug. 26, “Project Hail Mary.” No tickets are necessary.
The Library of Congress will also show movies. On Aug. 6, guests are invited to watch “Apollo 13.” The movie will be shown at 8 p.m., with additional live performances beginning at 7 p.m.
For fans of Asian media, the Okaton convention will be at Walter E. Washington Convention Center from July 31-Aug. 2. Festivities will include cosplay contests, skits, live music, and panel discussions.
Washington Spirit’s season also begins in August. The Spirit is Washington’s National Women’s League, with matchups occurring between the San Diego Wave, the North Carolina Courage, the Orlando Pride, and the Bay FC.
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Summer in D.C. brings sports, Restaurant Week, festivals, and more
Summer in D.C. just hits different. Congress is out, school is out, the sun is out, thighs are out. With the skies clearing from Canadian smoke, here are a few ways to stay entertained.
Dining
Summer restaurant week: The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) is once again hosting Summer Restaurant Week, Aug. 18-24. This weeklong dining experience showcases the dynamic dining scene of the DMV, including 2026 RAMMY Award-winning favorites (the annual D.C. food awards show that took place June 29). Participating restaurants will offer three-course brunch and lunch selections for $25 or $35 per person, and three-course dinners for $40, $55 and $65 per person.
New Restaurants: A handful of new spots have opened, so the summer is a great time to check them out:
- Oribu: A new Mediterranean-Japanese restaurant in the Grand Hyatt hotel, which just underwent a remodeling effort. The sleek restaurant brings upscale charm, with dishes like Wagyu beef tartare with potato pavé and caviar.
- The Oak Room: A snazzy old-school American grill has just opened in Georgetown, alongside its sister upstairs supper club (Bernadette’s) restaurant, in the old El Centro space.
- Uchi: This showy Japanese sushi-forward chain has landed in Dupont with a chef’s tasting menu of favorites like fatty tuna.
- Kathmandu: Recalling the capital of Nepal, this warm, buzzy subterranean restaurant right in the heart of U Street brings spice, flair, and rare ingredients to its dishes (see: buffalo burgers) and drinks.
Sports
- Washington Spirit Pride Night OUT: On Sunday, Aug. 23, head to Audi Field for a massive, high-energy game following the exciting month of World Cup. The designated Pride Night OUT game promises boisterous crowds plus pre- and post-game community engagements.
- Washington Tennis Open – Now called the Mubadala DC Open, this annual tournament is only combined mens’ and womens’ 500-level tennis tournament in the world. The open is one of D.C.’s longest-standing sports traditions, and will take place at the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center July 25-Aug. 2. Naomi Osaka, Venus Williams, Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe, and others are expected to play.
Festivals
- Afro Plus Fest: This huge, three-day Afro-Caribbean Hip-Hop Festival brings together headliners Davido, Alkaline, and Wizkid, plus Tems and Ayra Starr. The event moves from RFK to the Northwest Stadium Complex for three days, Sept. 4-6.
- Capital Fringe Festival: Running from July 11-21, this massive celebration features dozens of live theater, comedy, dance, and boundary-pushing nighttime performances across multiple DC neighborhoods.
- The National Book Festival returns, with headliners like Cynthia Erivo, and Martin Scorsese. The one-day festival, Saturday, Aug. 22, brings together bookworms and word nerds under the theme “America 250: It’s Your Story.” There are talks, workshops, musical sessions and more.
- All Things Go: A three-day festival Sept. 25-27 at Merriweather Post Pavilion featuring Mitski, Hayley Williams, Brandi Carlile, MUNA, Zara Larsson, Ethel Cain, and many, many more artists. There are single-day and three-day tickets. Featuring and highlighting female artists, the festival has turned into a must-see for many LGBTQ audience members.
- Fuchsia Fest: The inaugural Fuchsia Fest is a new multi-day celebration created to celebrate LGBTQ community and expression, bringing together a mix of community gatherings, entertainment, and nightlife. The event takes place Sept. 18-20 and is hosted by Capital Pride.
Art and Music
- United We Dance: A high-energy rave with house, techno, bass, and festival music, on Aug. 1 at the 9:30 Club.
- The Fray. On Aug. 14, this American rock band famous for How To Save A Life is at Merriweather Post Pavilion.
- Kesha: Kesha’s high-energy The Freedom Tour comes to the D.C. area on Aug. 14 at Jiffy Lube Live.
- ALOK: On Sept. 3 at Lincoln Theater, ALOK (they/them) performs. The poet, comedian, and actor is putting on a new comedy show.
- 2charm, the emerging Australian electronic club-pop duo popular with the queer community, which blends hyperpop and dance music, comes to the Atlantis.
- Sapphic Dance Party: a vibrant, inclusive nightlife and social event designed specifically for queer women, lesbians, bisexuals, trans individuals, and nonbinary folks, at Atlantis on Aug. 21.
- Jazz in the Garden: The most quintessential of D.C. activities returns Friday evenings through Aug. 14. This season’s theme, “American Sounds,” is a nod to the nation’s 250th anniversary. Tunes themes range from Appalachian and Americana to Creole jazz, Hill Country blues, contemporary jazz, and more. Tickets are available through a lottery system a week before each event.
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