Grace Hartigan

When Bill Bigel decided to move to the suburbs, he wasn't expecting to step into a time capsule. But that's what happened when this director of residential design for the H. Chambers Co. bought a 1956 ranch house."

POP MUSICMusical razzle-dazzleGiven the way special effects have begun to crowd the music out of many concerts these days, you'd think that a band as devoted to musical integrity as U2 would go out of its way to keep the gimmicks to a minimum. Instead, the band has embraced that razzle-dazzle with a show that purposely goes completely over-the-top with its visual spectacle -- and still delivers the goods musically. That's why even those who caught the band on the arena leg of its "ZOO TV" tour earlier this year can't wait to see what tonight and tomorrow's shows at RFK Stadium will be like.

Though the summer group show at Grimaldis consists largely of the gallery's "stable" of artists, it is not without its surprises. For one thing, Grace Hartigan is doing watercolors of flowers.One associates Hartigan, in terms of subject matter, with the history of art, with great figures of history, with the American urban scene, but not with something as normally pretty and un-tough as flowers. These, however, are thoroughly Hartigan flowers. They have the dynamics, the strength, the vitality, the exhilarating color that one expects of Hartigan, and they're also related to art history, as their titles attest: "Spring Bouquet (after Renoir)"

Creative diversity The artwork of five women of different races, ages, colors and sexual orientations come together next week at Maryland Art Place in an exhibit titled Athena's Daughters. Artist Grace Hartigan selected the group, which consists of Mina Cheon, Jessica C. Damen, Espi Frazier, Tonya Ingersol and Allyson Smith. The women have worked with Hartigan - whose works will also be on display - at the Maryland Institute College of Art. The exhibit focuses on diversity issues faced by the artists.

ARTHartigan showIn the past two or three years, Grace Hartigan has produced paintings that reflect a heightened sense of confidence, and her current show at C. Grimaldis Gallery reflects this. Not only are the individual paintings strong, but collectively they communicate the artist's awareness of using her powers to the fullest. The most completely satisfying of them is her "Another Hunt," which takes us on a little tour of aspects of modern art from Degas to all-over abstraction while remaining thoroughly Hartigan and thoroughly contemporary.

More than a dozen galleries and museums along the Charles Street corridor will offer free admission from 5 to 7:30 during tonight's "First Thursday" event.The Tres Bon Trolley will offer free rides between galleries running from the 300 block of North Charles Street to the Maryland Institute on Mount Royal Avenue, and returning via Cathedral Street. Riders must show a Street Sheet newsletter, available at various galleries.Shows and other attractions:*AIA Baltimore, 11 1/2 W. Chase St. Women in Architecture exhibit.

The civil rights story The lowdown -- The musical If This Hat Could Talk depicts the story of the civil rights movement through the eyes of Dr. Dorothy Irene Height, an activist who was the president of the National Council of Negro Women for more than 50 years. Height is portrayed by Grammy Award-winning singer Stephanie Mills (Dorothy in The Wiz). The production, which stops at the Lyric Opera House starting Tuesday, is directed by Tony Award-winner George Faison, known for his work on The Wiz and Porgy and Bess.

Landscapes by Kim Parr, painted Pop figures by Ed Bisese and subway photographs by Carl Clark are just three types of the more than 100 works by area artists in the show that will go on display Tuesday as part of Maryland Art Place's annual benefit exhibition, auction and dinner. The event, organized by a star-studded list of Maryland women active in the arts, is MAP's most significant fund-raising occasion of the year and helps support a wide range of activities, from exhibitions to gallery talks to mentoring programs for emerging curators.

A malfunctioning electric heater has been blamed for a three-alarm fire that extensively damaged a pharmacy and caused smoke damage to the Fells Point studio of Grace Hartigan, a renowned artist.The fire broke out in the front of the REVCO pharmacy at South Broadway and Eastern Avenue about 12:15 p.m. yesterday and quickly raced through much of the store. The smoke also reached Hartigan's upstairs art studio. Hartigan is an abstract impressionist whose works are featured in galleries and museums here and in other cities.

For its inaugural exhibition last year, Gallery Imperato put on a strong two-man show featuring artists who had studied under renowned Baltimore painter Grace Hartigan at the Maryland Institute College of Art. For a follow-up, gallery director Jordan Faye Block has put together an intriguing group show, Fantastic Flights, a concoction of images celebrating the exhilaration of those who in one way or another cast off the surly bonds of Earth. Though the flying in this show is mostly metaphorical, the artists broach the theme in ways so varied and unexpected that most viewers will have no trouble relating image to idea.