Those of us who live here may have forgotten just how incredible Baltimore is—not only for low-cost living—but for living well. High-quality arts experiences can be at the center of our plans any and every day. This year, the 200th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s birth has inspired a remarkable collage of free arts events.
As a Poe devotee, Halloween weekend was truly a high point. The edgy Single Carrot Theater presented Poe Project at the Load of Fun on North Avenue. The Carrots welcomed 35 of us to their theater and then had us walk around the corner and through a graffiti-ed alley to their more intimate rehearsal space. There, we were invited to participate in an evocative performance of Poe-ms, written by Genevieve de Mahy using words from Poe’s cannon. De Mahy’s Poe Project captured the emotional depth of this eerie writer’s personal challenges and tragedies—taking us from the sensuous to the desperate.
“Art & Addiction” was the topic at the BMA on Sunday, when Art on Purpose took great art and made it poignantly relevant for all of us. The event was based on a theme from the Poe exhibition I curated at the Museum—Edgar Allan Poe: A Baltimore Icon, which features works by Édouard Manet, Paul Gauguin, and Henri Matisse (all huge Poe fans!).
Art on Purpose built on the recollections of the unbalanced narrator of Poe’s short story “The Black Cat”, who exclaimed “for what disease is like alcohol?” A scientist, a poet, an installation artist, and a musician revealed the toll addiction has taken on our community. Clarence Brown, a writer and ex-bouncer in recovery, read poems so powerful that I found myself holding my breath until his final words. We cheered for his victory!
More free Poe and Art-Full Life weeks are ahead.
- Catch Art-on-Purpose’s Baltimore Inspired by Poe at the BMA—and while you’re there, see Edgar Allan Poe: A Baltimore Icon. Both exhibitions are on view until January 17.
- View local filmmakers’ original shorts based on Poe’s themes and characters during 48 Hour Film Project: A Cinematic Celebration of Poe, presented December 4 and 11 in the BMA Auditorium, in collaboration with the Baltimore 48 Hour Film Series.
Nevermore 2009 chronicles Baltimore’s response to Poe’s bicentennial. Let me know how you are celebrating Poe’s 200th birthday—and the Art-Full Life in Charm City!
Filed in: Edgar Allan Poe.
Doreen Bolger is always on the move because she can’t stop seeing, supporting, and writing about the arts in and around Baltimore City. Her lengthy love affair for the arts began in Long Island when her father, an executive in the textile industry, brought home breathtaking fabrics every night from the heart of the garment district. 
I have read a lot of stories, tips, quotes about life and living it to the fullest and this one stands out. Others say that one of the hardest questions in life is about “life” itself and how to have it to the full but if we think of it deeply it will only come down to one thing “choice”. Living life to the fullest is a choice. We live the way we want it if we chose to. Some of us are just complicating life. Great post. More power to you.