Soon another vacant storefront in Highlandtown will temporarily house an art gallery.
It's all part of the Pop-Up Gallery project, a partnership between
The Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture at UMBC, and the
Highlandtown Arts and Entertainment District.
The second of three Pop-Up Gallery projects in the neighborhood will have an opening March 3 from 5 p.m to 7 p.m. at 3216 Eastern Ave. just east of the
Creative Alliance. The gallery installation will run through March 17.
University of Maryland Baltimore County graduate student Lexie Macchi is curating the three Pop-Ups. That is according to Sandra Abbott, who is also a member of the Highlandtown Arts District and curator of collections and outreach at UMBC's Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture.
The concept of pop-up spaces is to take an unoccupied commercial space and temporarily convert it into a thriving business or art space. Organizers hope to stimulate interest in the property and the neighborhood, feature local artists, and create networking opportunities for local businesses. Pop-Up shops and galleries have gained traction recently across the country as a creative way to generate business in vacant spaces.
With the Highlandtown Pop Up, the goal is to partner with merchants and landlords to bring attention to spaces to stimulate rentals and sales, Abbott says.
Abbott says organizers of the project want to highlight the possibilities of Highlandtown and increase traffic to the area.
In the case of Baltimore's Pop-Up project, the first gallery opened in December and ran for six weeks on South Conkling Street.
Funding for the project is provided in part by UMBC. The Highlandtown Community Association helped obtain funding for the project as well, Abbott says.
Charm City Land Co. LLC donated the space for the project.
Organizers have been invited to speak about the project at the
National Main Streets Conference in April in Baltimore.
"We want it to go viral and then everyone will be doing it," Abbott says.
Writer: Alexandra Wilding
Source: Sandra Abbott, member of the Highlandtown Arts District and curator of collections and outreach at UMBC's Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture.