Photograph by Edward Winter
Three idealistic young artists work as a collective in East Baltimore as the ironically named Baltimore Development Cooperative. Each summer since 2007, they’ve planted an urban farm/community garden at Participation Park (formerly vacant land they grabbed as squatters).
When the first frost arrives and the cultivating season ends, BDC expands its radical, urban practice. You have a chance to find out how by attending STEW, a once-a-month experience at 2640; the next feast will be Friday, January 22.
Co-organized with Red Emma’s Bookstore Coffeehouse, this grassroots effort asks, in its organizers’ words: “Can we build urban democracy over a collective dinner table?” This is about the meaning of sharing food, conversation, and values, all in a magical stew of its own.
“The spirited DIY event is also about challenging established
institutions … to seek new, more transformative roles in
the 21st century or risk becoming irrelevant …”
I was fortunate enough to make it to STEW’s inaugural dinner in late November. There, 70 or so people—both friends and strangers—came together over organic, locally sourced, and incredibly delicious food (vegan options abounded). Thanksgiving was still in the air. But here those warm feelings were without the stress.
Photograph by Edward Winter
BDC artists Scott Berzofsky, Dane Nester, and Nicholas Wisniewski, all MICA grads and co-winners of the 2009 Walter and Janet Sondheim Prize, collaborated with chef Matt Day and his friends and family to produce a memorable four-course meal. Without question, they served the very best carrots I have ever eaten.
All of this was $10 or less based on a sliding scale so no one would be turned away.
Courses were punctuated by presentations from three worthy local initiatives. We were then asked to choose which of these would win the money raised from dinner. With true democracy in action, all three won awards:
- $175 for Odonian Records (a record label, CD-R duplication service, and distribution network for social justice musicians);
- $175 for the Annex Theatre Gallery (a new visual arts component for a theatre group already performing and making puppets at the Copy Cat Annex);
- $350 for The Baltimore Algebra Project (a democratic, student-run program focused on tutoring math one-on-one to middle and high school students).
The spirited DIY event is also about challenging established institutions (for example, museums and philanthropic organizations) to seek new, more transformative roles in the 21st century or risk becoming irrelevant to the communities we believe we serve. Artists like those who lead BDC are redefining the meaning and purpose of art as well as the way we experience their work. This is not about our looking and thinking; it is about full participation—mind, body, and soul. I have to wonder: what would that look like at the BMA?
Last night, I was lucky enough to run into the Baltimore Development Cooperative at the Metro Gallery and snag an advance copy of the menu and program for the next STEW. This will be great!
- Matt Day and friends are cooking again. You’ll have four courses:
- Micro greens and apples with bread and Baltimore honey;
- A bowl of beets and winter vegetable broth with thyme;
- For stew, chicken and dumplings or (presumably for the vegans among you) root vegetables and potato dumplings;
- And, finally, your choice from a stunning list of sweets that includes handmade ice cream and apple dumplings.
- You’ll get to vote for funds to benefit one of three significant community initiatives (I’d find it hard to choose just one):
- Open Space, an artist run gallery and performance space in Remington.
- Baltimore Free Use, a program at the Men’s Center in East Baltimore that provides community members with the repair and fabrication skills to use discarded materials creatively.
- Wide Angle Youth Media, a community arts group that aims to give voice to Baltimore City’s youth.
For tickets, stop by Red Emma’s. For more information, visit www.stewbaltimore.org or email stew@redemmas.org.
Filed in: Baltimore Development Cooperative.
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. 