Artscape will expand onto Charles Street this year to in an effort to boost the Station North Arts and Entertainment District and bring more people to the galleries, restaurants and shops in Midtown Baltimore's designated arts area.
The arts festival, set for July 18-20, will continue to be centered in Bolton Hill along Mount Royal Avenue. But this year the festival will also occupy Charles Street from Mount Royal north to Lafayette Avenue, with a music stage, food court, street performers and other activities.
Station North, a 100-acre swath north of Penn Station that received city recognition as an arts district in 2002, is working to raise its profile in Baltimore and beyond. While many are familiar with the Charles Theatre and Tapas Teatro restaurant in the 1700 block of N. Charles St., galleries and stores in the area have not received as much attention.
"One of the things that we realized is, some of the folks who come to Artscape maybe only come into the city a few times a year, and this gives them the sense there are other places they can come to in the city," said David Bielenberg, executive director of Station North Arts and Entertainment Inc., a nonprofit that manages the district. "We saw this as a great opportunity to reach some new audiences."
The nonprofit approached the city last year and asked to be included in Artscape, the largest free arts festival in Maryland. Artscape was looking to expand because a large parking lot that had been used as a food court is now the site of construction for apartments and a parking garage.
Expansion onto Maryland Avenue was considered, but development might soon complicate that location, and officials were looking for a more permanent home. Meanwhile, Station North establishments such as the Everyman Theatre offered to help with space and programming for the festival.
"We thought Baltimore's premier arts festival should be on one of its premier streets," said Bill Gilmore, executive director of the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts. "It's definitely going to boost Station North and that community. We want people to park in those neighborhoods, walk in those neighborhoods and become familiar with them."
Since its designation as an arts district, Station North has quietly attracted artists and nurtured the openings of restaurants, galleries and other businesses. But the area has not garnered the kind of fanfare attached to upscale developments such as Harbor East.
