Judging urbanscapes by their appearances can be as misguided as judging books by their covers. Consider the slice of North Avenue between Charles and Howard streets.
A cursory glance reveals several buildings that could use a few essentials, like, say, windows. Or tenants. Fast-food businesses in need of a little sprucing. An iffy motel. That sort of thing.
But a second glance makes this stretch of Baltimore look not just less gritty, but actually blossoming. Take in a wider view that covers some of the surrounding blocks, especially along Charles, and the signs of fresh life jump out - cafes and restaurants with a dynamic vibe, galleries with a flair for the edgy, intimate theaters. Welcome to the Station North Arts and Entertainment District.
This continually developing area of about 100 acres north of Penn Station, designated an arts district by the city in 2002, is about to get what could be its most important close-up, thanks to Artscape.
For the first time, the free arts festival - said to be the largest in the country - will extend beyond its traditional Mount Royal Avenue corridor and spread up Charles Street from the 1400 block, past the train station and as far as Lafayette Avenue, not much more than a stone's throw from North Avenue.
Station North is an official partner of the festival, and the whole area will effectively be drawn into the Artscape scene.
"This is something we've been wanting for a while and really worked for," says Sarah Williams, owner of the Metro Gallery across from the Charles Theatre. "There is so much going on with development in Station North now that it's natural for Artscape to be in the actual arts district."
Natural, but tricky.
"It wasn't an easy decision," says Bill Gilmore, executive director of Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts. "We've looked at this for a couple years. Last fall, we brought in city agencies to discuss it. It's a bold move. You just don't plop down something like Artscape lightly."
Especially when the festival already has a familiar, well-defined and extensive perimeter that follows Mount Royal past the Maryland Institute College of Art in Bolton Hill and fans out at the Cathedral Street split by the Lyric Opera House. But Artscape has adapted and modified itself before.
