[HN Gopher] Baltimore Museum of Art will host an exhibition cura...
___________________________________________________________________
Baltimore Museum of Art will host an exhibition curated by the
museum's guards
Author : hampelm
Score : 332 points
Date : 2021-07-20 13:12 UTC (9 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (artbma.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (artbma.org)
| mirekrusin wrote:
| That's called full-stack.
| mirekrusin wrote:
| I should have said - if they can also paint, that's full stack
| right there!
| rocketpastsix wrote:
| This is really fun IMO. The article makes a point that the
| security guards probably know the art pieces better than most
| people since they are constantly patrolling and looking around.
| Plus it gives them a chance to have some fun curating the
| collection.
| wpietri wrote:
| What interests me is it's not just the pieces they know well:
| it's the audiences. I am a huge fan of analytics and user
| testing because it helps me understand the experiences of the
| people I'm building for. I would love to hear how the guards
| think about art in terms of the zillion people they've seen
| react to it.
| beardyw wrote:
| I would imagine they must be building that in, or it just
| becomes a random collection of art.
| rocketpastsix wrote:
| yea definitely, it will be super interesting to here the
| "why" behind their selections. Is it because they know its a
| big crowd pleaser, or do they like the piece for personal
| reasons. That will be fun to know.
| johnchristopher wrote:
| I could walk around Guernica or la Joconde all day for years
| and I wouldn't grasp their significance and values without
| external insights. Only their aesthetics and at a non historic
| level.
| te_chris wrote:
| You refuse to read the explainer plaques?
| arbitrage wrote:
| i mean, the primary aesthetics of guernica are "it's BIG" and
| "war is bad". i suspect you can pick up on those broad themes
| on your own.
| mejutoco wrote:
| Art is not a formalism only. Knowing that Guernica was the
| location of one (maybe the) first bombing of civilians, or
| how it was protected, insured during the covil war, or why
| (as there were before) there are 2 guys with rifles
| guarding it, all adds to understand the artwork. Some of
| these things cannot be learned from staring at the artwork.
| xivzgrev wrote:
| Maybe, but I would be open to seeing what insights they come
| up on their own. I think that's the great thing about art -
| there's no right way to interpret it, and I wouldn't assume
| that guards are only capable of appraising on aesthetic
| level. The article also cited it would be done in
| collaboration with other folks from the museum, so I think
| it's going to be well done / may surprise you.
| alistairSH wrote:
| The security staff isn't building the exhibit in a vacuum.
| They're working alongside professional curators.
| naturalauction wrote:
| Sure but the guards likely overhear all the external insights
| given out in tours and when subject matter experts see and
| discuss the piece.
| gautamcgoel wrote:
| A few years ago I was in Baltimore for a conference at Johns
| Hopkins. Decided to visit the museum. I was blown away by how
| good it is, and it's completely free. Definitely recommend it if
| you're ever in Baltimore.
| b0rsuk wrote:
| This is peculiar because it treats security guards as humans and
| challenges unspoken hierarchy. It also implies the museum doesn't
| save on security (17 guards is a lot) and there isn't a big
| turnover (unless there's a special type of security guard that
| mostly works in museums). It's borderline unthinkable in the 5th
| roundest country in the world where I live. They would hire
| students.
|
| I was hoping it would be more about burglaries, stealing famous
| works of arts, selling stolen works etc. The law enforcement /
| security perspective. Instead it appears to be a pretty standard
| exhibition except with an unusual method of selecting curators.
| safog wrote:
| > This is peculiar because it treats security guards as humans
| and challenges unspoken hierarchy.
|
| I still find it a bit condescending / annoying. I read things
| like "offering a particularly human-centered lens through which
| to consider the objects" as let the plebs have their night out
| once in a while. They'll still get "mentored" by curators
| apparently, so it's not like they're just using their
| understanding to pick, they'll probably get brainwashed a bit.
|
| One interesting experiment would be to put a button / ticket
| scanner near each artwork and ask the visitors to vote on what
| they liked. Maybe give them a theme and ask them to pick 2-3
| pieces of art that matched that theme and put an exhibition on
| at the end of a month or so with the most picked works.
| thearn4 wrote:
| My dad used to be a security guard at the Cleveland Museum of
| Art. What's funny is that often guests would ask him and the
| other guards about specific pieces or artists as if he was a
| subject matter expert (although he has always been an art
| enthusiast, he doesn't have a professional art background).
| Eventually, he started doing his own background reading,
| because he really enjoyed these conversations.
|
| After years of viewing exhibits (both permanent and temporary),
| many on the non-curator staff do end up with a substantially
| deep view of the art that they protect. This exhibit should be
| really fascinating.
| loonster wrote:
| I would assume a place like that would have security 24/7.
| 24x7/40=4.2 Security Guards.
|
| It's not much more than 1 watching cameras and 3 rovers.
| pradn wrote:
| I think their selection makes sense. The day-to-day experience
| of a guard at a museum is to tell people to stand a bit farther
| away and not take photos (in some galleries). What would be
| more interesting is if they channeled their long presence among
| artworks, and their ability to observe crowds and their
| transience.
| arbitrage wrote:
| Hello there in Poland : )
|
| Indeed, in the US, there are museum guards who only work in
| museums. Sometimes, they are called docents. As with most
| things in the states, however, there is a lot of regional
| variation.
|
| What's especially interesting here is that an organisation is
| treating its employees like human beings, as you said. It would
| be weird for any museum here to say, "I think people would like
| to know what our employees appreciate in art." Not weird in
| that it's unthinkable; weird in that it just never happens that
| way in the States.
| notwhereyouare wrote:
| > (17 guards is a lot)
|
| and that's just the ones that wanted to partake
| pradn wrote:
| Also notable is the Broad Museum in Los Angeles. Their guards are
| also docents, so you are encouraged to talk to them about the art
| and ask them questions. After experiencing this more human
| interaction, it was a bit of a shock for me to go down the street
| to the Museum of Contemporary Art, where I asked a guard a
| question and they flat out rejected my asking, haha!
|
| Arts workers need to be paid well and also have enriching roles
| in the museums. And I don't think this sort of thing necessarily
| requires a 4-year degree or whatnot. I believe people are
| naturally curious, and we need to lean into that.
| dfxm12 wrote:
| Docents are usually volunteers, so it's not like there are
| general budgeting concerns. There's also usually bodies to fill
| these positions since it's almost like a title/labor of love
| for someone who doesn't need the money or a resume builder for
| someone who does in the art world, where good paying jobs are
| hard to come by.
|
| It must put a lot of pressure on a security guard to do double
| duty like that. What if someone defaces a Warhol while they're
| talking to someone else about it? I'm sure The Broad probably
| has redundant controls in place, but in general, you shouldn't
| really expect to be able to bother or distract security guards.
|
| It's not about leaning into a person's natural curiosity; most
| museums take care of all the staff with regards to entrance &
| tours if requested. It's about liability, insurance, etc.
| xanaxagoras wrote:
| They don't produce anything of value, they provide a service
| that basically anyone can do. They're free to take the job or
| not take it. Who doesn't need to paid well in your utopia?
| spbaar wrote:
| Everyone should be paid well, which imo means healthcare,
| retirement, and not crazy hours to pay for room and board.
| Utopia right?
| xanaxagoras wrote:
| Paid well is a relative concept. One is paid well relative
| to other people, who are not paid as much. "Everyone should
| be paid well" - yes, that is exactly the kind of deluded
| thinking that "Utopia" refers to.
| dogorman wrote:
| This is an excellent idea. The guards are doubtlessly more in
| touch with the culture of the common people of Baltimore than the
| professional curators could hope to be.
| mabub24 wrote:
| Interestingly, I see the value in what you are proposing, but
| also the value in the different points of view and challenging
| artworks that the curators present. A gallery and museum can
| conform to local tastes, and also challenge them for the
| better. Maintaining a balance between those two ambitions is
| how you end up with museums and galleries that are woven into a
| local area and art scene, honouring local history and culture
| while fostering the vital energy required for dynamic and
| creative art.
| blunte wrote:
| At the very least, they will have perspectives and
| sensibilities which are possibly representative of a different
| group of people that can be enlightening and can broaden the
| interests of regular museum goers.
| Jeremy1026 wrote:
| Its nice to see my city on the front page, for a good reason.
| rampantprint wrote:
| Similar project from 2020 at MoMA:
| https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5203
| bane wrote:
| If anybody ever visits Washington D.C., it's very easy to get
| overwhelmed with the world class Smithsonian and National Gallery
| museums (amongst the dozens of others). But I highly recommend
| taking the time to go to Baltimore and visiting this museum as
| well as the nearby Walters Art Museum, both also very very good
| museums.
|
| Other great places for awesome museums within a day-drive of
| D.C.:
|
| Richmond, VA - Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
|
| Dulles, VA - Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum
|
| Various National Battlefields sprinkled all over the area
|
| A bit further out, but possible in a day and easily world class,
| the Philadelphia Museum of Art
| Rebelgecko wrote:
| Since this is HN, I can wholeheartedly recommend the National
| Cryptologic Museum (between DC and Baltimore, pay really good
| attention to the signs so you don't make a wrong turn and
| having an awkward interaction with NSA Police). In addition to
| math stuff, there's a lot of exhibits on the history of
| computing that is kept pretty well up to date (when I went ~5
| years ago they already had a display talking about Heartbleed).
| atombender wrote:
| And while one is in that general area, don't miss a visit to
| Glenstone [1], a superb combination of art, architecture, and
| modern museum in the Potomac area, just west of D.C.
|
| While the art collection is fantastic (hosted in an older set
| of gallery buildings by Charles Gwathmey, and a newer building
| by Thomas Phifer and Partners), the huge park it's located in
| makes it a particularly unique experience, featuring permanent
| outdoor pieces by the likes of Andy Goldsworthy, Richard Serra,
| and Michael Heizer.
|
| I've been to many of the art and science museums in D.C. and
| Baltimore, but Glenstone is my favourite.
|
| [1] https://www.glenstone.org/
| imjared wrote:
| After 10+ years in the area, I just discovered a few weeks
| ago that this place exists while looking at a map to plan a
| bike ride. I couldn't believe that some of what's there is
| from the same world class artists that I saw at the
| Guggenheim in Spain (Jeff Koons, Richard Serra). I thought
| for sure Google Maps was playing a trick on me since no
| friends have ever mentioned it and I certainly haven't been.
| It's now on my shortlist of places to check out when the
| weather cools off a bit.
| jfengel wrote:
| Note that those Smithsonian museums are all free. It was weird
| growing up here -- in most other places, you're expected to pay
| for museums.
|
| The Walters and Baltimore Art Museum are also free.
|
| Note that Udvar-Hazy is in the slightly odd position that it's
| technically free but parking is $15. It's very far from
| downtown, and driving is pretty much the best way there. But
| the exhibits are beyond cool -- a Space Shuttle, a Concorde, a
| Blackbird, and a ton of other very cool aircraft.
| whimsicalism wrote:
| As a fellow person who grew up in DC, it definitely spoils
| you - I feel surprised every time I have to pay for a museum,
| especially because the prices are often so high !
| mesofile wrote:
| For any art aficionados visiting Baltimore, I'd also recommend
| the American Visionary Art Museum, a fantastic experience.
| https://www.avam.org/
| moron4hire wrote:
| Came here to say the same thing. It's a brilliantly wonderful
| place.
|
| Also in DC, don't forget the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture
| Garden. It's one of my favorite modern art museums in the
| world, and I live 20 minutes from it. I don't go anywhere
| near often enough.
| whimsicalism wrote:
| > Hirshhorn Museum
|
| One of the best in DC, although it is currently closed.
| alaxsxaq wrote:
| When I'm in DC for a conference at the convention center,
| part of my breakfast routine is a walk to the Sculpture
| Garden at the Hirshhorn with a take-out breakfast. I always
| make a point to listen to the Sunset Song exhibit through
| at least once.
| millerthomas wrote:
| This is fantastic. I hope it's paired with a livable wage.
| throwaway290232 wrote:
| Looks like it's getting hugged to death:
| https://web.archive.org/web/20210716193902/https://artbma.or...
|
| I love the BMA. It's a free museum with a great restaurant, cool
| exhibits, a nice park across the street. Nearby is The Book
| Thing, a free book store. Also another (non-free) book & record
| store, Normal's. And another, Urban Reads. And another
| bookstore/coffee shop, Bird in Hand. And a farmer's market. And a
| vegan restaurant. And the quirkiest diner ever, Papermoon. And a
| small rock venue. And a worker-owned co-op coffeeshop that
| President Obama visited. All in a four block radius.
|
| Dang, I miss Baltimore.
| willis936 wrote:
| Quirky diners are one of the biggest things I miss from
| seacoast NH.
|
| What is there to do for tech work in Baltimore? All jobs I've
| seen are in the MIC, which I dislike.
| cardine wrote:
| Our startup (Cortx) does natural language generation work, is
| located in Fells Point, and is currently hiring Machine
| Learning Engineers and Full Stack Engineers :)
| mendeza wrote:
| I am living in Baltimore and work out of DC as an ML
| engineer. The commute sucks, but with because of covid, I
| have been WFH. DC has a lot of tech companies, but lots of
| connections to defense.
| whimsicalism wrote:
| The county or the city? Do you take the MARC?
|
| I am curious why someone would do this commute, it seems
| like there are lots of cheaper options closer to DC with
| their own semi-urban area.
| throwaway6734 wrote:
| You can buy a home in Baltimore near Penn station for
| pretty cheap. There's also a big difference between urban
| and semi urban
| neutronicus wrote:
| A lot of times the answer is a domestic partner working
| at one of the Baltimore hospitals
| mendeza wrote:
| The city. I considered the MARC, but I have to go out to
| Herndon, VA and Fairfax, VA area so its just more
| convenient to drive. It's a tough commute at times, but a
| good podcast gets me through the drive. I have been WFH
| for all of 2020 an 2021, so now I just stay in Baltimore.
| WFH shift is working out great!
| etempleton wrote:
| There are quite a large number of well regarded universities
| and hospitals. In addition, Under Armour and a few other
| Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in Baltimore.
|
| Baltimore is a cool town. People have a perception of it
| based on national media, and don't get me wrong, it has it's
| share of issues, but every city does. It is one of the
| quirkiest, weirdest cities in the US. It is not quite a
| northern city and not quite southern either.
| whimsicalism wrote:
| > It is not quite a northern city and not quite southern
| either.
|
| That's because it is in the mid-atlantic!
|
| Baltimore reminds me of DC ~20 years ago.
| brianlweiner wrote:
| There's still lots of non Military / Fed stuff! And it's
| getting better.
|
| https://www.sparkpost.com/ https://www.cloudtamer.io/
| https://www.contrastsecurity.com/
|
| A few off the top of my head. I'm currently working
| (remotely) for a BigCo that acquired my startup employer last
| year.
|
| Technical.ly can be a good resource for local postings. I've
| worked as a SWE in Baltimore for 10 years and have never had
| employment issues. I don't quite make SV money, but I make
| solid 6 figures and can afford a very nice home on just my
| salary and send my kids to private school, etc.
| alexjplant wrote:
| If you (OP of the parent's parent) do interview in the area
| be sure to dig in to find what the company's lines of
| business are. CloudTamer, for instance, is ostensibly a
| commercial product-based company but does business with
| federal agencies and contractors (per their web site) and
| was at the AWS Public Sector Summit a few years ago. A
| different company that I interviewed at in an adjacent
| space (security vs CloudTamer's compliance) was in a
| similar position... they were selling their product to the
| Air Force but swore up and down that they'd never contract
| with them outside of being a vendor. I was skeptical and my
| suspicions were proven correct six months later when they
| put out a press release announcing the award of an Air
| Force contract.
|
| Maryland/Northern Virginia are _not_ the places to be if
| you want career options outside of government [contracting]
| work. It's not un-doable but you'll be much better served
| looking for work in a place where 80% of the value of the
| economy doesn't revolve around Washington-type work.
| RicoElectrico wrote:
| Can anyone give a perspective why is it the case? In
| Europe it seems impossible not to have commercial
| software positions in a big local hub city - and in US
| whole areas seem to be devoid of them as HN crowd
| implies.
| alexjplant wrote:
| It's because Washington, DC is the nation's capital and
| where our legislative bodies, heads of state, and our
| various departments (ministries) are based out of. There
| are also many military bases in close proximity and the
| military headquarters (Pentagon) is across the river in
| Virginia.
|
| I think people are misinterpreting my comment... there
| _are_ non-defense/government jobs in the area but they
| are dwarfed by the number of such jobs because of the
| pervasive nature of the aforementioned entities. When I
| lived in the area more than 90% of LinkedIn recruiter
| messages that I got were about these jobs. This ceased
| being the case after I moved even when I was still in the
| defense contracting industry.
| alistairSH wrote:
| See my sibling comment. I think the OP overstated the
| lack of non-government jobs in the area. I've lived here
| (Dulles tech corridor) most of my life and work in non-
| government software.
| whimsicalism wrote:
| TBF, "Washington-type" work also includes journalism and
| NGOs, so it could be the place to live (along with NYC)
| if you want to do tech in either of those fields.
| alistairSH wrote:
| _Maryland /Northern Virginia are _not_ the places to be
| if you want career options outside of government
| [contracting] work._
|
| While it's true that .gov work is huge in DC metro (and
| extending to Baltimore), there are MANY companies
| completely outside, or on the periphery, and even more if
| you just want to eliminate military jobs.
|
| Amazon has large AWS offices, plus HQ2 is spinning up.
| Google and Microsoft both have substantial presences
| (albeit much of that is .gov work). Walmart has their
| innovation centre here (Walmart Labs?). Oracle. VW of A.
| Several universities. Smaller companies like Ellucian (my
| employer). Freddie and Fannie (.gov-adjacent). The list
| is long.
| settrans wrote:
| What is there to do for tech work in seacoast NH? (And why
| would you leave?)
| willis936 wrote:
| A fair amount for someone on the hardware side,
| surprisingly. Analog Devices and a mixed bag of
| test/measurement and signal integrity companies.
|
| The answer is the one you would most likely guess: two body
| problem. We both miss NH quite a bit, but we're along for
| the ride until they finish their PhD.
| crispyambulance wrote:
| Johns Hopkins APL is not far south on 95 from Baltimore. It
| does MIC stuff, but is also involved with various space
| programs. There are a bunch of small and large tech companies
| in and around Baltimore and Baltimore county. I've worked in
| Columbia, Linthicum, and Rockville MD. (Rockville commute was
| insane before the new highway, now it would doable for folks
| who don't mind driving a lot).
|
| I lived there for 12 years. Generally speaking, Baltimore is
| good if you want relatively affordable housing. A number of
| neighborhoods are great for DINKS (dual-income, no kids).
| Public schooling is a hard no-go unless you really get
| involved and enroll your kids in a carefully selected charter
| or magnet school. There are some excellent private schools.
| Baltimore county has options too if you want something that's
| more suburban.
|
| As far a crime goes, the city has some really profound
| problems that are the result of white flight and systematic
| disinvestment. It was hit hard by the crack epidemic and has
| not really recovered. The TV shows "The Wire" and especially
| "The Corner" capture the flavor of the rough parts of
| Baltimore more than residents would like to admit. As far as
| safety is concerned, like other big cities, it's not really a
| problem for folks that would read HN, unless you enjoy
| hanging out in bars at 2am and getting into arguments with
| armed drug-trade people. Don't leave anything in your car,
| get a security system for your house.
| willis936 wrote:
| APL space stuff sounds pretty good, but they move so slowly
| that 4 months notice isn't enough. I simply didn't have the
| time to wait for them.
| cdstyh wrote:
| Wait for them for what?
| pp19dd wrote:
| Re: JH APL, also, there's the Space Telescope Institute,
| which will be running the James Webb Space Telescope.
| pessimizer wrote:
| All good points, except Baltimore was/is a heroin town, not
| a crack town, and The Wire was more like 80s/90s Chicago
| than Baltimore. Baltimore's drug trade (when I lived there)
| was run by many little gangs largely made up of childhood
| friends and just claiming a few blocks as territory. This
| actually makes it more dangerous, not less. The Corner is
| accurate, however, probably because Charles Dutton was
| involved.
|
| Just like every city, it works hard to make sure upper-
| middle class white people are safe, but definitely don't
| leave anything valuable in your car. Don't even leave
| pennies in a tray visible from the outside.
| whimsicalism wrote:
| > by many little gangs largely made up of childhood
| friends
|
| This is my impression of how most gangs work. Did the
| Wire give a different impression?
| closeparen wrote:
| The Avon Barksdale gang is a professional, almost
| corporate empire. The inner circle is family but it runs
| from neighborhood boys as foot soldiers all the way up
| through a "COO" type (Stringer Bell) attending business
| school in the evenings. At one point the various gangs of
| Baltimore are amalgamated into a trade association that
| meets in hotel ballrooms and follows the Roberts Rules of
| Order. Leading to one of the greatest exchanges on TV
| ever:
|
| "Is you taking notes on a criminal fucking conspiracy?"
|
| "The Roberts Rules say the meeting got to have minutes!"
| doom2 wrote:
| > The TV shows "The Wire" and especially "The Corner"
| capture the flavor of the rough parts of Baltimore more
| than residents would like to admit.
|
| I think The Wire was pretty accurate and a lot of
| Baltimoreans aren't in denial about what kind of city it
| was/is. However, if you're only hanging out and working
| with folks who don't leave the White L[1], you'd think the
| rest of Baltimore is pretty awful and if it wasn't for
| work/family, they'd leave ASAP. Not to discredit the
| concerns folks have, just saying that the loudest voices
| also seem to be the most negative without being
| constructive (just check various FB "safety" groups, e.g.,
| Mt Vernon Safety, or Nextdoor).
|
| I recently moved from Baltimore to Philadelphia and in many
| ways it seems like a bigger version of Baltimore. Lots of
| white/black segregation, crime (it's already above 300
| homicides for 2021), potholes and generally poor road
| maintenance, poorly run city gov't, etc. Yet somehow there
| doesn't seem to be the same level of negativity about the
| city here.
|
| [1] https://www.baltimoresun.com/citypaper/bcpnews-two-
| baltimore...
| throwaway6734 wrote:
| I think part of the reason is that Baltimore has pumped
| up murder rates due to it being an independent city. The
| situation is bad, but that inflates the number.
| whimsicalism wrote:
| > Public schooling is a hard no-go unless you really get
| involved and enroll your kids in a carefully selected
| charter or magnet school
|
| You can go to these schools, ultimately it is about whether
| you are okay with your child being a racial minority. BCC
| is one such example of a school (maybe you would put that
| in the carefully selected magnet category).
| crispyambulance wrote:
| Yes, I absolutely would put "BCC" in the category of
| select magnet schools which are appropriate for college-
| bound kids.
| artie_effim wrote:
| there is this tee - Baltimore, Actually I Like It - you need it
| fam. Been here for 31 years, working in IT now, raising a
| family and all that. Balto is cool.
|
| https://atomicbooks.com/products/baltimore-actually-shirt
| f6v wrote:
| Is The Wire real?
| ruined wrote:
| no, the real omar was unfortunately heterosexual.
| falcor84 wrote:
| I think it's as real as is possible for a piece of fiction
| to be
| cdstyh wrote:
| Yes. Worse things happen everyday in every hood in
| America.
| saghm wrote:
| No, it's a fictional TV show
| f6v wrote:
| I'm glad I didn't ask about Santa then.
| doom2 wrote:
| I've seen this t-shirt around. As a Baltimore native, it sort
| of irritates me even though it's tongue in cheek! It assumes
| that Baltimore is a bad/unlikable place that people need to
| learn to love (or need to convince others that it's worth
| living in).
|
| In fact, I think there's a lot to like about the city right
| off the bat and that many people are drawn to it without
| feeling like they're being forced to live there.
|
| I don't know, maybe we can start with the positive image of
| the city rather than having a base assumption that it's some
| kind of hellscape. Doesn't mean we should ignore the
| negatives, just that the negatives don't need to precede the
| rest. I don't hear NYC residents say "New York...it isn't all
| rats and homeless people!"
| germinalphrase wrote:
| Certainly, there is a media component to it. I live in
| Minneapolis. If you ask my relatives in wisconsin, they'd
| say that 'Murder'apolis has been, and continues to be, a
| flaming hellhole of constant arson and carjackings ever
| since George Floyd was murdered. They watch local
| television news (with a sprinkling of Facebook garbage
| newsfeed) and don't know enough to realize their entire
| mental model of the place is wildly skewed.
|
| Likewise, I've never stepped foot into Baltimore, but I've
| watched The Wire so...
| throwaway6734 wrote:
| Sadly the book thing had been in a mostly closed state for the
| past few years due to tax issues.
|
| Luckily though greenmount is starting to clean up. Red Emma's
| is moving into the neighborhood soon as well
| smoldesu wrote:
| I used to head out there annually for... convention stuff, but
| I quite liked the city when I was passing through. Conditions
| there seem to be improving rapidly, too!
| matthewdgreen wrote:
| It really gets better every year.
| throwaway6734 wrote:
| Amen to that! It's been exciting watching the city come back
| from 2015
| leetcrew wrote:
| I'm a lifelong resident, but I can't say I share your
| optimism. the per capita murder rate is still well above
| the worst years in the 90s, with 2019 setting an all time
| high. the population is still falling, rapidly in poorer
| neighborhoods but offset somewhat by growth in the
| wealthier ones. our current mayor has not been convicted of
| any crimes committed while in office (a low bar in other
| cities), but otherwise does not seem far from the standard
| fare. at least one key employer (t rowe) is hedging its bet
| with new offices outside the city limits. what exactly are
| you seeing improve? I guess it's a great time to sell
| property in the white L or be employed by the johns hopkins
| medical system, but other than that, I'm not seeing it.
| throwaway6734 wrote:
| I thought trowe was moving to harbor east?
|
| My optimism is based on the consistent development in the
| L and it's expansion outwards. Hopkins medical will soon
| be connected to harbor east with the Perkins development.
| Station north continues to fill out. There's also been
| lots of development in federal hill and locust point.
|
| The murder rate is indeed ridiculously high, but I think
| it will subside as more development happens in the city
| as there will be more opportunity available.
| self_buddliea wrote:
| That reminds me, I really need to watch Pink Flamingos by John
| Waters.
| jazzkingrt wrote:
| Recently visisted a "staff show" at Pace Gallery, in which the
| entire staff (assistants, front desk, archivists, art handlers,
| ...) was invited to submit their own art.
|
| It seems to have done well!
|
| https://www.pacegallery.com/exhibitions/atmospheres/
| [deleted]
| seemslegit wrote:
| Key quote:
|
| >In addition, the team is working with renowned art historian and
| curator Dr. Lowery Stokes Sims, who is providing additional
| mentorship and professional development.
|
| In art as in politics - nothing says grassroots like the
| additional mentorship and professional development by a renowned
| establishment member.
| mnot wrote:
| I was a guard at the BMA when I was in university - great group
| of people, this is a wonderful idea.
| lindseymysse wrote:
| My vacations in the before times were to go to Europe to copy
| paintings. I sometimes spend a week at an institution just
| copying paintings, so I get to know the guards. So many of them
| are spectacular artists in their own right.
|
| In my utopian vision of the world, museum guards are given
| rolling pedestals and pencils and told to roam the galleries
| copying. They can pay attention to what's going on around them
| and draw.
|
| The result is that we have people there to answer questions and
| make sure nothing bad happens, but also is someone who's just
| getting better and better at drawing and painting. Then that
| person can become a great artist in their own right.
|
| Our society's reward is an enormous amount of people who can
| paint really well. Murals everywhere. Good paintings everywhere.
| CyberRabbi wrote:
| I love your utopian vision, seconded. In fact, something like
| this would boost the economy ever so slightly, creating a new
| source of skilled productivity. Guards with new skills would
| gain the option of becoming illustrators, likely slightly but
| perhaps noticeably increasing the supply of illustrators
| available to lend their services to new projects.
| [deleted]
| jedimastert wrote:
| I think guards are in a really interesting position. Art curators
| are going to have inherit biases that are pretty hard to get
| past: It takes a certain kind of person to become one in the
| first place, and they're inherently affected by the state of the
| modern art world by being plugged in and a part of it as part of
| their job.
|
| A guard, on the other hand, will probably not have any of these
| biases, while being exposed to far more art than the general
| public on an incidental basis. I wonder how many picked he job
| because of an existing love of art, vs just being a job?
| donohoe wrote:
| Maybe a few?
|
| "The group reflects a broad range of backgrounds and interests
| with officers who are also artists, chefs, musicians, scholars,
| and writers."
| ww520 wrote:
| They will probably pick some pieces that have repeated viewing
| quality. Most pieces become boring after seeing them day in day
| out. The ones they still enjoy after seeing them daily are
| something special. Looking forward to see the list.
| delaynomore wrote:
| >about ways to fulfill the museum's commitment to be more
| diverse, more inclusive, and more representative of the community
| it serves.
|
| A truly innovative and interesting DEI initiative. I hope we see
| more of this elsewhere.
| spoonjim wrote:
| It's cool but it feels a little noblesse oblige which I thought
| was a faux pas in the US? I thought you're not supposed to
| acknowledge class boundaries?
| IggleSniggle wrote:
| Interesting take!
|
| The US is a very big place, closer to the European Union than
| it is generally portrayed. And, within the US, each city is its
| own complex ecosystem (as all cities are).
|
| In Baltimore, class boundaries and class-related issues are
| common discussion points. It is often painted in racial terms
| (especially to outside audiences), but it's pretty widely
| acknowledged from the inside that the racial issue is primarily
| a class issue. I think being a majority-black democratic city
| helps make this frank acknowledgement possible.
|
| Baltimore also has some relatively old (in US terms)
| institutions that inherit some class politics from "the Old
| World." There is very much a "Johns Hopkins" subclass with its
| own rules of aristocracy...along with other institutions
| founded around the same time like Peabody Conservatory. In part
| because housing is cheaply available, Baltimore has a thriving
| arts scene, supported by a number of different colleges and
| universities, but especially MICA.
|
| "The Wire" is a pretty good investigation of the class system
| in Baltimore in many respects, although I think it's a bit
| dated now. In particular, the Port City crowd often gets left
| out of casual conversation, but it's still a powerful force in
| the city.
|
| This is very partial list, just trying to give a sense that
| there's a lot of awareness and acknowledgement of class within
| the city. The rules of conduct between the various groups are
| very, very different. More obviously so than in most other
| places that I've lived.
|
| There is a pretty healthy tech/entrepreneur environment in
| Baltimore too, that lives sort of at the place where the
| various class-groups wash into each-other.
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