Alt-rockers Cake, R&B legend Dionne Warwick and pop crooner Robin Thicke will be the headline musical acts at this year's Artscape, organizers announced Wednesday.
Warwick, whose smooth, jazz-influenced vocals have made her one of the most successful female singers of the past 50 years, will take to the stage at 8 p.m. Friday, July 17. The Sacramento, Calif.-based Cake, whose area concert appearances always draw large crowds for their hybrid mix of rock, ska and other musical styles, is slated for 6:30 p.m. Saturday, July 18. The Grammy Award-winning Thicke, who has sold more than 2 million albums, is scheduled to perform at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, July 19.
Also playing on the festival's main stage, alongside the Maryland Institute College of Art, will be the soul group Robert Randolph & the Family Band (8:30 p.m. July 18). Throughout the weekend, a lineup of local bands, including the Cheaters, Bio Ritmo and Whop N the Global Soul Revue, will be featured on the Festival Stage, on Mount Royal Avenue. Jazz and blues groups, including Matt Wigler, the Felicia Carter Quintet and the Todd Marcus Orchestra, will play on the Charles Street Stage, at the intersection of Charles Street and Lafayette Avenue. A free Baltimore Symphony Orchestra concert is set for 3 p.m. July 18 at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.
Organizers of this year's Artscape had to work around a budget cut of 20 percent, from $1 million to $800,000. The festival also lost some corporate sponsorship when GM's financial woes forced Saturn to withdraw its support. This year's corporate sponsorships totaled $300,000, said Bob Sicard, BOPA's director of corporate development.
"We knew we were going to take little hits in various funding streams," said Bill Gilmore, executive director of the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts. Several new sponsors were brought on, including Saab, BP and Sensodyne. The number of signs and banners was cut back, and some materials were recycled from last year. BOPA also negotiated reduced-cost deals with several vendors, he said.
The free arts festival, the largest in the nation, is scheduled for July 17-19 along the 1200 block of Mount Royal Ave. and the 1400 block of N. Charles St. Hours are noon to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.
Unlike 2008, when Artscape moved north on Charles Street, the festival will not expand geographically. Performances, sculptures and other art forms will be set on the Charles Street bridge, north of Pennsylvania Station.
The Maryland Film Festival will be running 30-minute blocks of short films inside the Charles Theatre, while dance will be featured at the Lyric Opera House and plays, many in honor of Edgar Allan Poe, will be performed at the Theatre Project, 45 W. Preston St.
This year, for the first time, a free shuttle service will ferry Artscapers around the perimeter of the festival.
Information: artscape.org or 877-BALTIMORE (877-225-8466).
