Music That Raised Us is a contemporary art exhibition curated by Rhea Beckett, featuring artwork by Black Artist Research Space (BARS) resident artists Aliana Grace Bailey and Christopher “kolpeace” Johnson. 

Inspired by shared moments exchanging playlists, and reminiscing over music, Aliana and kolpeace transform the gallery into a space that celebrates, reflects on and acknowledges Black sonic practices and traditions. 

Working across a range of mediums including fiber art, oil and acrylic paint, and installation, Aliana and Kolpeace consider the way memory and feelings of nostalgia are evoked by sound. Both artists explore various genres of Black music to unpack familial relationships, creating colorful artworks that resonate and respond to moments embedded with music.

The exhibition features images from the I. Henry Phillips Collection, music posters from Globe at MICA, and a video collaboration between media artist J’von Keller and BARS, reflecting the way music has lifted Black people. 

On View: February 10th through April 24th

The Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower will be open on Saturdays from 11am-4pm and by appointment Monday-Friday.

Aliana Grace Bailey’s solo exhibition unfolds in textiles. Her show, “a loving home: lessons in love,” fully embraces the space. The works explore the connection between love, legacy, and home–feeling at home with a person, a community, a space. Feeling at home within yourself—how we choose to love and what impressions we leave behind. Speaking about the Bromo Arts Tower, Bailey says, “The Bromo lobby feels nostalgic—reminiscent of places I call home and the idea of art existing in accessible, comfortable spaces.”

Opening Reception Registration: Thursday, February 10th, 6pm-8pm

VIP Early Preview: For family and VIP Patrons

Scheduling Gallery Visits on Saturdays with Personal Tour: Available to all through March 26th.

The Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower will be open on Saturdays from 11am-4pm and by appointment Monday-Friday. For scheduling a viewing during the week you can email Kirk at KSButts@promotionandarts.org. You can copy me in that email and I'll try to make it as well! agracebailey@gmail.com

Manufactured Narratives highlights fiber artists who weave stories through their artwork. Fiber art is an intrinsically hands-on artistic discipline, as artists manipulate material through intense manual labor. It straddles the line between form and function as many fiber artworks can contain traditional functionality. However, within fiber arts, a distinction is drawn between creating for function or beauty. The difference is the focus on aesthetic value over utility. The narratives created through this work focus on a single question or examine personal experiences. While this juried open-call challenged artists to create textile works with a clear focus on aesthetic value, you'll find boundaries blur and embrace function.

The Latela Curatorial x Artsy: Women in the Arts Online Exhibition is a 6-week virtual exhibition featuring 80+ women artists working across multiple media from DC, MD & VA. Artworks are exhibited by themes or "viewing rooms" and accompanied by six full weeks of online programming, including artist talks, studio visits and more! Purchasing art made by women artists supports the gap in pay, auction market, press and exhibition representation of women in the arts.

Themes Aliana Grace Bailey’s work will be displayed under: The Surrender - Trust & Process 

DC, MD & VA are home to some of the most important museums in the world, however the emerging and mid-career art scenes across this area do not receive the same press, art fair representation or sales as competitive art meccas such as NYC, Miami or LA. Financially supporting this art scene communicates an investment to living artists and current culture; a commitment that is just as important as - if not more important than - appreciating museums and institutions. Purchasing artwork by women artists - especially those working so close in and around the Nation's Capital during this political time - is an investment in the future of #womeninthearts.

My installation is on view at 1612 Bolton Street.

Exhibition Overview

Even as neon has all but been replaced by digital media such as LED, artists continue to find this analog art form an attractive method by which to explore the intersection of text and image. New Constellations: Contemporary Neon Art features the work of seven artists—including three newly commissioned works—that use the medium of neon to translate thoughts, feelings, and visual research into physical form. In recognizing that neon is a commercial language, the artists in this exhibition help prompt certain questions about its use in contemporary art, including: what are the poetic capabilities of neon? If artists are using neon, are they still selling something, even if it’s an idea? And if neon signs are usually declarative and demarcating, how can contemporary versions not just reveal but also blur accepted truths, identities, and realities?

This exhibition takes place in public facing windows along a six block corridor of Bolton Street, from the 1800 to 1300 block, in the Bolton Hill neighborhood of Baltimore. All works in the exhibition will be visible each evening from 5-9 p.m. in their respective windows. This project format aligns with Cardinal’s in interrogating ideas about exhibition formats and the ways that art shapes space.Viewers are encouraged to take a walk along the six-block corridor of Bolton Street, as long as they feel safe and healthy, in order to view this exhibition.

I have work being exhibited at a DC Black-owned art gallery + coffee shop, Creative Grounds DC. The majority of these works are for sale.

"For this exhibition, we wanted artists whose works exude peace, tranquility and harmony. What I learned during the install this weekend is that their art is also an act of freedom which is so liberating for me as the viewer." —Asmara, Owner of Creative Grounds DC

Our Words Will Still Be Heard

Curated in partnership with the Modell Performing Arts Center at the Lyric

Hosted by Jubilee Arts and MICA PLACE

1947 Pennsylvania Ave, Baltimore, MD 21217 and 814 N Collington Ave, Baltimore, MD 21205

April 5 - April 27, 2019 and April 5 - May 15, 2019

Opening Reception: April 5th 4PM - 7PM and TBA

Our Words Will Still Be Heard is the second exhibition planned in conjunction with Rising Up an education program for middle school students organized by the Modell-Lyric theater. Curated by Sarah McCann, the exhibition asks professional artists to create work about the power voice that will be exhibited alongside art and performances of lyrical narratives created by Baltimore middle school students expressing personal stories and their perspectives on life.

At a time when people are being silenced, the arts provide an opportunity to speak out. It is only through the rising up of all voices that true equilibrium and harmony can be achieved.

Transformer presents
E15: A BODY TO FOLLOW

Saturday, July 14 – Saturday, August 18, 2018

OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday, July 14, 6:00 -8:00 pm

Transformer is proud to present A Body to Follow – the culminating exhibition of our 15th Annual Exercises for Emerging Artists Program – E15: FIBERS, featuring artists Aliana Grace Bailey, Rachel Schechtman, Dulcina Abreu, and Alanna Reeves.

Founded in 2004, Transformer’s Exercises For Emerging Artists is an annual peer critique & mentorship program created to support a selected group of DC-based emerging artists each year who are at critical points or crossroads in their professional growth and creative development. 

Focusing on a different artistic discipline each year, E15 brought together four emerging artists, focused on fiber and textile as medium, history, and 'a means of survival', for rigorous peer & mentor critique as they created new work. Through new installation-based projects, varying in material, production, and sustainability, A Body to Follow explores issues surrounding the body, security, and identity, and their connection to nature and family. 

For more information about the exhibition and exercises program, check out our website here: http://www.transformerdc.org/exhibitions/overview/exhibition-e15-a-body-to-follow

“_______hood” (“Blankhood”) is a multimedia exhibition focused on rites of passage. Five artists share their unique stories of coming into their identities. Some question, others challenge, and some simply re-define the boundaries, process, and standards of “What is it to be… [Man, Woman, Adult, Child, Rebel, Authority…]

Featured Artists:
Aliana Grace Bailey, Shoccara Marcus, Eli Matson, Joshua Rashaad McFadden, Nicholas Joseph Contrera

Curated by Jordan T Robinson