THE BIG HOPE SHOW - American Visionary Art Museum

THE
BIG HOPE
SHOW
3 OCT 2015 — 4 SEPT 2016
AMERICAN VISIONARY ART MUSEUM
Margaret Munz-Losch Early Bird 2012 Acrylic and colored pencil on panel Courtesy of the artist
“Too much sanity may be madness.
And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.”
—Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
Welcome to our American Visionary Art Museum’s 20th anniversary celebration, featuring
The Big Hope Show—our most unabashedly idealistic exhibition ever. It stars the radiant and transcendent
qualities of hope, though no true understanding of hope can be complete without a cameo appearance by those
ancient dark forces that have long sought hope’s annihilation: cynicism, fear, and despair.
Our Big Hope Show philosophers are wildly diverse, from poets Hafez and Emily Dickinson to
ancient Greek wise man Aristotle and cowboy actor John Wayne. Their insights on hope help illuminate the
art and stories of our twenty-five spectacular Hope Show artists, many of whom were specifically chosen as
transcendent and hope-filled veterans triumphant over some great personal trauma.
Our Big Hope Show takes special delight in honoring a major hope-maker, the now-retired California
Highway Patrol Officer Kevin Briggs, who gently encouraged upwards of 200 would-be suicide jumpers off
the Golden Gate Bridge and back to solid ground. Briggs constitutes caring community policing at its best. In
sharp contrast, Angola inmate Herman Wallace suffered under a criminal justice system at its most flawed.
Our Herman’s House installation documents his miraculous true story of unexpected friendship and ultimate
exoneration.
It is our hope that our national museum’s beloved hometown of Baltimore, Maryland, now famously
struggling despite its many strengths and charms, will be collectively inspired by our exhibition’s many true
stories of possible positive transformation. Indeed, Kevin Briggs will be our inspirational Keynote Speaker at
our Spring 2016, free-to-all, “Big Hope for Baltimore Conference.” Albert Camus said it beautifully: “Where
there is no hope, it is incumbent on us to invent it.” Can there be any better use for our creative imagination?
Let’s give The Duke the last word: “Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes to us at
midnight very clean. It’s perfect when it arrives and puts itself in your hands. It hopes we’ve learned something
from yesterday.” —John Wayne
We have learned so much from exploring with you, our cherished visitor, all those
grand themes from our past exhibitions that have always inspired, challenged, and delighted humankind.
Thank you for being an essential part of our American Visionary Art Museum’s first twenty years, and for
making us very, very hopeful in regard to our next!
Truly, and on behalf of all our staff, volunteers, and board,
Rebecca Alban Hoffberger,
The Big Hope Show Curator, AVAM Founder/Director
ARTHUR HAMMER El Martillo 1997 Oil on canvas Gift of Deirdre Hammer Photo by Dan Meyers
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 28, 2015
The Big Hope Show
October 3, 2015 – September 4, 2016
Baltimore, MD—The Big Hope Show opens on the eve of the American Visionary Art Museum
(AVAM)’s 20th anniversary celebration and is an original and unabashedly idealistic art exhibition that
champions the radiant and transformative power of hope. Over twenty-five visionary artists, among
them many “super survivors” of enormous personal traumas, exhibit soulful creations reflecting their
personal transcendence, and, often, a heightened or newfound creativity and sense of humor.
In playful tribute to this national museum’s much-in-need-of-hope, beloved hometown of Baltimore City,
Maryland, Bobby Adams—an exuberant outsider artist, dog lover and Christmas addict—will share
never-before-seen photos, scrapbooks and assemblages. Adams documents his strange, mid-century
Baltimore upbringing as well as his multi-decade immersion in filmmaker John Waters’ band of inclusive
renegades, the “Dreamlanders.”
A hopeful look as to what constitutes community policing at its best is spotlighted in a video tribute to
Kevin Briggs, the California trooper who so caringly connected with would-be suicide jumpers perched
on the high ledge of the Golden Gate Bridge and successfully helped save upwards of 200 lives. The
Big Hope Show also addresses justice at its worse, with a visceral depiction of the life and artistry of
the late Herman Wallace, an innocent Louisiana man who spent more than four decades in a solitary
confinement cell measuring just 6’ x 9’. Jackie Sumell powerfully conveys Wallace’s experience with
the remarkably humane and hopeful installation of Herman’s House.
In another public first, The Big Hope Show unveils the fiercely blissful art of psychedelic rock pioneer
and Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne, who survived a harrowing robbery attempt while working
as a fry cook at a Long John Silvers. Coyne’s near-death trauma somehow catapulted him to explode
with new talents and wildly unbridled creative endeavors, including transforming The Lips’ concerts into
must-see visual spectacles, releasing new music via flash drives embedded in gummy skulls, opening
a funhouse-style arts venue in Oklahoma City, and even, directing an original science fiction Christmas
film. At AVAM, Coyne will provide visitors a peek into what really fuels his hope and happiness with a
feel-good, visitor immersive, art installation titled, The King’s Mouth, and more.
Inspired by the great Emily Dickinson’s poetic definition of hope: “Hope is the thing with feathers - That
perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all,” three artists, one
a former Penthouse Pet, colored pencil master and wise woman, Margaret Munz-Losch displays her
life-sized, mind-boggling, intricate work Early Bird; cancer survivor, artist and performer Chris RobertsMORE
Antieau shares her most elaborately embroidered fabric story pieces to date; and Nancy Josephson
takes center stage with her 10-ft tall, beaded Bird Goddess sculpture. Film-documentarian Lisa Revson
artfully observes the “why” behind a strangely hopeful societal phenomena in her installation, The Lost
Earring Project: A Ritual of Hope, that asks: “why do so many of us keep holding onto the single mates
to long lost earrings?”
The Big Hope Show’s curator is the American Visionary Art Museum’s founder and director, Rebecca
Alban Hoffberger. Hoffberger remarks, “For me, hope is the acknowledgement that you are in a narrow
space but you have had a glimpse, some flutter, of the possibility to transcend negative confinement
and arrive at some more expansive, better, state of being. Hope is not simply wishful thinking, but
rather a capacity to hold to the belief that change for the better can and will come, even when you can’t
imagine what specific form that change will take.”
“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill
The Big Hope Show aims to inspire a clearer, more hopeful, communal roadmap forward by shining a
big exhibition spotlight on just what ignites and sustains human hope, while, at the same time, artfully
identifying and combating those ancient forces hell-bent on hope’s destruction: cynicism, fear and
despair. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. believed, “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose
infinite hope.” This timely exhibition serves up a tasty buffet of examples for positive change, fueled by
that ultimate superfood—hope.
“The men and women who have every reason to despair, but don’t, may have the most to teach
us, not only about how to hold true to our beliefs, but about how such a life can bring about
seemingly impossible social change.” –Paul Rogat Loeb from The Impossible Will Take a Little
While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear
EXHIBITION PREVIEW PARTY: Friday, October 2, 2015 • 7pm • $20 General, AVAM Members Free,
Tickets on sale thru Missiontix.com • More info @ AVAM.org
exhibition ARTISTS
Anonymous Artists
Bobby Adams
William Allen
Sermet Aslan
Patrick “Smak” Broussard
Philip Carey
Wayne Coyne
Candy Cummings
Deepak Chowdhury
Arthur Hammer
John Root Hopkins
Nancy Josephson
Laurie Lipton
Margaret Munz-Losch
Craig Norton
Dan Patrell
Yanni Posnakoff
Räkan Rapsfeldt
###
Lisa Revson
Chris Roberts-Antieau
Romaine Samworth
Noah Scialom
Isadore Shore
Jackie Sumell
Nada Stone
Frank Warren, Postsecret
George Williams
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 20, 2015
The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne Makes Museum Debut in Baltimore
Visionary rocker’s artwork will be featured in next American Visionary Art Museum exhibition this October
Baltimore, MD—Wayne Coyne, frontman for the boundary-breaking, psychedelic alternative rock
band The Flaming Lips, is creating brand-new visual artwork for the next exhibition at Baltimore’s
American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM). Opening this October, AVAM’s The Big Hope Show will
thematically explore issues relating to hope and transcendent survival and showcase works from dozens
of visionary artists and thinkers, including drawings, sculpture, and an immersive installation (titled The
King’s Mouth) by Coyne. It will be the first museum showing of Coyne’s art.
“Wayne Coyne’s work is among the most jubilant in our The Big Hope Show,” says AVAM founder
Rebecca Hoffberger, who is curating the exhibition. “Surviving a violent, near-death experience
awakened in him a joy and a tsunami of endless creativity rarely seen in anyone. His drawings remind
me of those most beloved by Saint-Exupéry, his lyrics are poetry.”
Indeed, since having a loaded gun put to his head during a robbery attempt in the 1980s, Coyne has
gone on to explore the far reaches of his imagination. He has transformed The Lips’ live shows into
visual spectacles, released new music via flash drives embedded in gummy skulls, created enduring
album cover art, opened a freaky funhouse-style arts venue (The Womb) in his hometown of Oklahoma
City, drawn a pair of edgy comic books, and even directed a science fiction Christmas film.
The AVAM show seems like a natural progression for the visionary rocker, who joins an impressive
roster of pop culture figures previously exhibited at the museum: the list includes writer William S.
Burroughs, rock icon Jimi Hendrix, actor Terrence Howard, chef Mario Batali, and comics legend R.
Crumb.
Now in its twentieth year, the American Visionary Art Museum is the official, national museum and
education center for self-taught, intuitive artistry. Dubbed “one of the most fantastic museums anywhere
in America” by CNN, AVAM is located near Baltimore’s Inner Harbor on a 1.1-acre campus. Its three
renovated industrial buildings house artistic wonders from an array of farmers, housewives, inmates,
mechanics, disabled persons, and even the occasional actor or rock star—all inspired by the fire within.
The Big Hope Show will run through September 4, 2016 and feature, in addition to Coyne’s art, work
from Bobby Adams—Baltimore outsider artist and photographer/ documentarian of John Waters’ films,
fabric artist Chris Roberts-Antieau, drawings by Margaret Munz-Losch, anonymous PostSecrets
selected by Frank Warren, activist artist Jackie Sumell, and many more.
###
WAYNE COYNE The King’s Mouth (detail) 2015 Mixed media installation Courtesy of the artist Photo by John Lewis
galleries
& key points of interest
1st floor:
Ramp: Exhibition Welcome from Rebecca Alban Hoffberger, The Big Hope Show Curator and
AVAM’s Founder & Director. Isadore Shore’s Don Quixote sculpture.
2nd floor:
Bridge:
Covington St. side: Dan Patrell’s Love is Forever windows dedicated to his beloved wife,
Connie Walker, and her family; artwork by Räkan Rapsfeldt.
Long Wall: Exploration of anti-hope forces with William Allen’s Boogeyman sculpture, works
by George Williams, Craig Norton, and anonymous PostSecrets selected by Frank Warren.
Niche: Philip Carey’s Self Portrait of My Health History sculpture and illustrated envelopes.
Key Hwy side: Nada Stone’s 72 Angelic Seals.
Main Gallery: Nancy Josephson’s 10 ft. tall Erzulie Kouvez sculpture; Chris Roberts-Antieau’s
fabric story pieces.
Theater: Rotating videos: Kevin Briggs, The Bridge Between Suicide and Life, courtesy TED, and
The Barefoot Artist by Glenn Holsten and Daniel Traub.
Main Gallery (Key Hwy side): Wayne Coyne’s immersive installation: The King’s Mouth,
featuring brand new music by The Flaming Lips created exclusively for this exhibition, along
with Coyne’s illustrated sci-fi fantasy tale behind the sculpture. Romaine Samworth’s sculptures,
Lisa Revson’s A Ritual of Hope: The Lost Earring Project installation, and 2D works by Margaret
Munz-Losch and Laurie Lipton.
Small Gallery: Jackie Sumell & Herman Wallace’s Herman’s House installation, artwork and
story with Portrait of Herman Wallace by Patrick “Smak” Broussard.
Half Moon Gallery: Bobby Adams collected photographs (1960s-present), and behind-the-scenes
documentation of filmmaker John Waters’ inclusive band of renegades, the “Dreamlanders.” With
Adams’ scrapbooks, assemblages, display cases dedicated to “Its A Wonderful Life,” and his “Odie
Art,” created in loving memory of his beloved toy poodle, Odie.
Hallways:
Covington St. side: Photographs by Noah Scialom, and artwork by Candy Cummings and
Craig Norton.
Key Hwy side: Paintings by Sermet Aslan, Arthur Hammer and Yanni Posnakoff.
SPONSORS
Platinum: Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
Gold: Jane W. Daniels • Dr. & Mrs. Lawrence Pakula
Silver: Marc & Leonor Blum • Brenda Brown Lipitz-Rever Foundation • Todd Wilson
& Ted Delaplaine • Philip & Harriet Klein Foundation • Maryellyn Lynott • Thomas & Linda
McCabe • Arnold & Alison Richman
Bronze: Rheda Becker & Robert Meyerhoff • Emile Bendit • Mary Catherine Bunting
• Suzanne Cohen • Joan Develin Coley & Lee Rice • Richard & Rosalee Davison • Barbara &
Louis Denrich • JoAnn & Jack Fruchtman • Betsy & George Hess • John Sondheim & Emily
Greenberg • Lois & Philip Macht Family Philanthropic Fund • Ben & Esther Rosenbloom
Foundation • Jan Weinberg
Supporter: John & Berthe Ford
20th Anniversary Sponsor: Just Folk
CHRIS ROBERTS-ANTIEAU Albino 2015 Fabric appliqué and thread painting Courtesy of the artist
AVAM 101
AMERICAN VISIONARY ART MUSEUM
THE AMERICAN VISIONARY ART MUSEUM is America’s official national museum and education
center for self-taught, intuitive artistry (deemed so by a unanimous vote of the U.S. Congress). SINCE
ITS OPENING IN 1995, the museum has sought to promote the recognition of intuitive, self-reliant,
creative contribution as both an important historic and essential living piece of treasured human legacy.
The ONE-OF-A-KIND American Visionary Art Museum is located on a 1.1 ACRE WONDERLAND
CAMPUS at 800 Key Highway, Baltimore Inner Harbor. Three renovated historic industrial buildings
house wonders created by farmers, housewives, mechanics, retired folk, the disabled, the homeless, as
well as the occasional neurosurgeon – all INSPIRED BY THE FIRE WITHIN. From carved roots to
embroidered rags, tattoos to toothpicks, ‘the visionary’ transforms dreams, loss, hopes, and ideals into
POWERFUL WORKS OF ART.
WHAT IS A VISIONARY?
Visionaries perceive potential and creative relationships where most of us don’t. English writer Jonathan
Swift put it simply, “Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.” Such vision lies at the heart of all true
invention, whether that special vision manifests as an astonishing work of art like those created by the
intuitive artists featured at the American Visionary Art Museum or as a medical breakthrough, a melody
never before sung, some deeper understanding of the cosmos, or as a way in which life could be better,
more justly lived. Visionaries have always constituted human-kind’s greatest “evolutionaries.”
Without visionaries’ willingness to be called fools, to make mistakes, to be wrong, few new “right” things
would ever be birthed. Visionaries are brave scouts at the frontier of the unknown. They explore their
visions with a passionate single-mindedness. Albert Einstein rightly observed, “Imagination is more
important than knowledge.”
Creative acts intended to uplift, defend, and enlighten fulfill every function that can be asked of a work of
art. They inspire us, make us think in new ways, and birth new beauty and dignity into our world.
WHAT IS ART?
The ancients—the Greeks, Egyptians, Hopis, and New Guinea tribesmen—were among earth’s most
prolific art-making peoples. Yet, none had any word for “art” in their respective languages. Rather, they
each had a word that meant “well-made” or “beautifully performed.”
Our American Visionary Art Museum believes that this view of what art really means is as perfect
an understanding of art as ever was. It speaks to an art incumbent upon all its citizens, pervasive
throughout all the acts of our daily life. Its emphasis is on process and consciousness, not mere artifact.
Martin Luther King, Jr. expressed his profound respect for the true artistry each member of a society can
uniquely evidence to bless our communities, “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep
streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He
should sweep streets so well that all the Hosts of Heaven and earth would pause to say, Here lived a great
streetsweeper who did his job well.”
SOME HANDY INFO
AMERICAN VISIONARY ART MUSEUM (AVAM)
800 Key Highway • Baltimore, MD • 21230 • 410.244.1900 • avam.org
Facebook.com/theavam
OUR HOURS
10:00am–6:00pm, Tuesday–Sunday
CLOSED: Mondays*, Thanksgiving & Christmas Days.
* Open Monday Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as AVAM’s
tribute to teachers—FREE admission for all!
PARKING
Abundant metered parking on Covington Street & Key
Highway. Handicapped accessible.
RESTROOMS
Main Building: Basement & 3rd floor
JRVC Building: All floors
@TheAVAM
@the_avam
REGULAR ADMISSION*
Adult
$15.95
Senior (60 & up)
$13.95
Student
$9.95
Children 6 & under
FREE!
* Admission discounted throughout month of September
GROUP RATES*
Group Rate (Adult)
$10 ea.
Group Rate (College)
$8 ea.
Group Rate (K-12)
$6 ea.
* For Groups of 10 or more people only.
AMERICAN VISIONARY ART MUSEUM
PERMANENT COLLECTION
is the official national museum for self-taught, intuitive
artistry! Since our opening in 1995, the museum has
sought to promote the recognition of intuitive, self-reliant,
creative contribution as both an important historic and
essential living piece of treasured human legacy. Don’t
miss all three historic, renovated buildings that house
wonders created by farmers, housewives, mechanics,
retired folk, the disabled, the homeless, as well as the
occasional neurosurgeon—all inspired by the fire within!
Ongoing • 1st & 2nd flrs, Main Building
Experience the all new updated 1st floor gallery, featuring
even more enchanting wonders from our expansive
permanent collection & a major renovation. We hope you’ll
discover new inspiration & fresh visionary favorites to
cherish in this all new gallery experience!
THE BIG HOPE SHOW
October 3, 2015 — September 4, 2016 • 1st & 2nd flrs
The Big Hope Show opens on the eve of the American
Visionary Art Museum’s 20th anniversary celebration and
is an original and unabashedly idealistic, art exhibition
that champions the radiant and transformative power of
hope. Over twenty-five visionary artists, among them many
“super survivors” of enormous personal traumas, exhibit
soulful creations reflecting their personal transcendence,
and, often, a heightened or newfound creativity and sense
of humor.
MR. EDDY LIVES!
Thru April 2016 • 3rd fl, Main Building
AVAM presents the largest and most comprehensive
exhibition of paintings and portraits by the late Florida
outsider artist Eddy Mumma (aka Mr. Eddy), a recluse
and double amputee whose solace and delight was in the
production of explosively joyful paintings. This voluminous
yearlong show of radiant, playful and evocative works is on
display thru April 2016 in AVAM’s 3rd floor gallery.
JIM ROUSE VISIONARY CENTER
Ongoing • 1st fl: The Cabaret Mechanical Theatre of
London: a collection of whimsical, interactive automata;
Screen Painters Of Baltimore exhibit: a celebration
of the uniquely Baltimore art form with full-size replica
rowhouses displaying screens painted by Baltimore’s
finest & a documentary film that shines a light on the
artists and their desire to paint; Kinetic Sculpture
Race Vehicles (featured in our annual East Coast
Championship Race); DeVon Smith’s Robot Family;
Leonard Knight’s Love Balloon; Andrew Logan’s giant
sculpture of Baltimore icon Divine; 2nd fl: Remembering
Jim Rouse Into Our Future exhibit; Thou Art Creative
Classroom; 3rd fl: Large banquet room for museum events
& private rentals with access to the Bird’s Nest Balcony.
PUBLIC ART
Ongoing • Throughout Museum Grounds
A three-ton, four-story Whirligig by Vollis Simpson;
Nancy Josephson’s mirror-mosaic Gallery-A-Go-Go bus;
Andrew Logan’s Cosmic Egg; Adam Kurtzman’s Giant
Golden Hand; David Hess’s Bird’s Nest Balcony; the
glittering Community Mosaic Wall–the work of a wonderful
apprenticeship program for at-risk youth; Wildflower
Sculpture Garden featuring Ben Wilson’s wooden
Meditation Chapel; Critters by Clyde Jones, & more!
PROGRAMS
&
EVENTS
2015:
THE BIG HOPE SHOW: PREVIEW PARTY!
Fri. Oct. 2 • 7pm • AVAM Members Free, $20 Gen. Public*
AVAM welcomes our newest exhibition with our always popular
Preview Party! Mix & mingle with exhibition artists and make some
new visionary friends! Light hors d’oeuvres and beverages, music, and
fun! *Tickets on-sale @ Missiontix.com, more info @ AVAM.org
EDUCATOR OPEN HOUSE
Thurs. Oct. 15 • 4–7pm • FREE for Teachers!*
Educators of all kinds are invited to this inclusive event where you
can collect visionary resources for the classroom and learn about the
educational programming available here at AVAM. Stop by to pick up
our classroom-ready, interdisciplinary education packet, try your hand
at a visionary activity, and receive a special guided tour through our
new exhibition. *Educators may RSVP to [email protected].
AVAM’S FREE FALL HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION!
Fri. Oct. 30 • 4–7pm: FREE Admission & FREE “Lumin-Eeries”
Workshop* • 7pm: FREE Flick: The Goonies on Fed Hill!
Join AVAM for at our annual freaky Free Fall Halloween Celebration!
BYO glass jar (clean w/ label removed) for a free “Lumin-Eeries”
lantern-making workshop in The Barn, & enjoy free museum
admission from 4-7pm. Then at 7pm, bring a blanket and get cozy on
Federal Hill, as AVAM’s Flicks From The Hill makes a special, onenight-only October appearance with a screening of The Goonies!
20TH ANNIVERSARY GALA & HAIR-BALL AFTER PARTY
Sat. November 21 • 5pm–11pm • Ticket info @ avam.org
Save-the-date for AVAM’s 20th anniversary Gala celebration honoring
Grand Visionary Honoree: Dean Kamen, Artistic Honoree: Bob Adams,
Author/Activist Honoree: Taylor Branch, a salute to U.S. Senator
Barbara Mikulski & surprise guest superstars! Hair-Ball After Party
featuring 3 live bands, DJ, and a parade led by Wayne Coyne of The
Flaming Lips! Tickets for both events on sale in October.
BAZAART HOLIDAY ART MARKET
Sat. November 28 • 10am–5pm • FREE Entry!
AVAM’s annual holiday art market returns! Hundreds of original
creations by over 40 regional artists and craftspeople, including
paintings, sculpture, paper crafts, metalwork, jewelry, textiles, mixed
media, apparel, and other work that simply defies categorization! Shop
local on #SmallBusinessSaturday and support these original makers!
SOCK MONKEY SATURDAY!
Sat. Dec. 12 • 10am–2pm • *FREE Entry!
Don’t let the holidays drive you BANANAS! Relax by making your
very own Sock Monkey—a great last-minute gift, and just something
fun to do with the family. *FREE, but please bring 2 pair (clean &
colorful) socks & your own scissors to get in!
WORKSHOPS:
Shiny Happy Things w/ Bob Benson: 10/10 • 11am–2pm • $50, $35 Members
Build-A-Boo Monster Puppets: 10/17 • 10am–4pm • $125, $100 Members
Mosaics w/ Rick Shelley: 12/5 • 10am–4pm • $100, $75 Members
2016 dates T.B.A., schedule online @ AVAM.org!
CALENDAR
2016:
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY CELEBRATION
Mon. January 18 • 10am–6pm • FREE Admission!
A celebration in honor of the life & dreams of one of history’s greatest
visionaries. AVAM opens its doors for FREE all day! Join us for guided
tours, birthday cake, special performances & more—all celebrating Dr.
Martin Luther King’s vision & legacy.
BIG HOPE FOR BALTIMORE CONFERENCE
Mon. March 28 • Times T.B.A. • FREE!
A free-to-all conference exploring the radiant & transformative power
of hope. Keynote speaker Ret. CA State Trooper Kevin Briggs, who
saved upwards of 200 would-be sucide jumpers on the Golden Gate
Bridge. More speakers T.B.A. *Details T.B.A. via AVAM.org.
KINETIC VOLUNTEER ROUND-UP
April 2016: *Volunteer Meeting dates T.B.A.
WANTED: The Brave, The Talented, The Mediocre, The Unsuspecting
Few... KINETIC VOLUNTEERS to help in the grueling, all-day,
general insanity of our 18th annual Kinetic Sculpture Race! *Details
T.B.A. via AVAM.org.
18TH ANNUAL KINETIC SCULPTURE RACE
Sat. May 7 • All Day! (Race starts @ 10am) • FREE!
A race of wacky, imaginative, totally human powered works of ART
designed to travel on LAND, through the MUD, and over deep harbor
WATERS, constructed out of used bicycles, gears, and parts, created by
a lunatic genius who tinkers around in the garage or backyard (Do you
know this person?). The machines can be simple, small crafts, piloted
by only one brave soul, or they can be over 50 feet long, extremely wellengineered, sophisticated vehicles powered by a team of pilots. *Race
details & Spectator's Guide via KineticBaltimore.com!
VISIONARY PETS ON PARADE
Mon. July 4 • 10am (9:30am Pet Registration) • FREE!
The best dog-gone parade in town! Dress your pet & strut your stuff.
Animal fun! Animal prizes! Trophies awarded for Best Costume, Most
Patriotic, Most Visionary Pet, Owner & Pet look-a-likes, Least likely to
succeed as a Pet, & more! Friendly pets of ALL kinds are welcome.
FLICKS FROM THE HILL
Thursdays in July & August • FREE Screenings @ 9pm on
Federal Hill • AVAM open & free 5–9pm on Flicks nights!
Grab a blanket, picnic under the stars, and watch a great film selection
inspired by AVAM’s current exhibition, plus the museum is open & free
from 5–9pm on Flicks nights! #Flicks was featured on Travel+Leisure’s
list of “The World’s Best Free Stuff!” Check AVAM.org for 2016
Flicks line-up (T.B.A.)
THE BIG HOPE SHOW: FINAL WEEKEND
Sept. 2–4 • Regular Admission Applies
Last chance to see AVAM’s 21st original exhibition. Take one last trip
thru Wayne Coyne’s King’s Mouth installation, experience Bob Adams’
photo documentation of 60s Baltimore & behind-the-scenes of John
Waters’ “Dreamlanders” crew. Stay tuned to AVAM.org for all the
details on our next mega-exhibition!
NANCY JOSEPHSON Erzulie Kouvez (detail) 2015 Mixed media Courtesy of the artist Photo by Mary Dwan