Baltimore spoken word artist Anthony Parker, known as Wordsmith, and Nashville-based pianist and composer Kory Caudill are on a journey to create music with meaning.

The duo’s Concert for the Human Family Tour, which will stop at Canton’s Church on the Square on May 6, brings together musicians of different backgrounds and genres to play in cathedrals across the country. 

Caudill, an eastern Kentucky native – “About as deep in rural Appalachia as you can get without hitting a dead end,” he said – met Wordsmith while on tour with country music singer Justin Moore.

The two began a creative partnership and, in 2021, produced “Progressions,” an EP born of the tumultuous events of the previous year, including the police killing of George Floyd and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“’Progressions’ is where the world needs to continue to go,” Wordsmith said. “We need to do things to push society forward. We don’t want to be stagnant.” 

When a friend from Kentucky who works for the Episcopal Church told Caudill that the church was looking for ways to bring the community together, he began imagining what it would look like to create music for religious spaces, without the religious undertones.

The concept snowballed into the Concert for the Human Family series, with Wordsmith as the vocalist and Caudill in charge of the instrumental music. 

“We had the chance to do something that would actually impact the community,” Caudill said. “We wanted the concerts to be a vehicle to inspire folks to strengthen the communities and be able to have difficult conversations without feeling like they’re coming to church.”

“The music has a message and Wordsmith is the primary deliverer of the message,” he added.

The series began with live-streamed concerts in churches such as St. Bartholomew’s in Manhattan. Last month, the duo – along with other musicians, including Blessing Offor and Grammy-winning country singer Pam Tillis – kicked off the in-person concert series at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston. 

Each concert is a 75-minute full band set with a blend of instrumental covers and original pieces by Wordsmith and Caudill. Songs from “Progressions,” such as “Anthony’s Song” – about the murder of British teenager Anthony Walker in 2005 – will be performed, touching on topics like racial reconciliation. 

For Wordsmith, the Baltimore show will be a homecoming. 

The rapper and philanthropist, whose father was an Army colonel, was born in Germany. He spent the first 18 years of his life moving around, living in seven different places before landing in Baltimore. 

Wordsmith has called Baltimore home for over 20 years, taking on an integral role in the community during that time.

Wordsmith, who is an official Artistic Partner of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and founder of the Baltimore-based nonprofit Rise with a Purpose, aims to use his success to drive change in the city. 

“I’m that bridge to the underserved community,” he said.

He regularly interacts with the community, giving out food, toiletries, and other supplies to the city’s homeless community on the 1100 block of Lawrence Street, “one of the tougher streets out here,” he said.

“It’s really in my heart to not just be a one-dimensional musician, but a musician that reaches my own personal success and looks back and says, ‘How can I help my community?’” Wordsmith said. 

Caudill and Wordsmith are in a long-distance creative partnership, separated by both their physical locations and the pandemic. They often record remotely, sending each other ideas online.

Wordsmith’s creative process exists primarily in his mind, he said: “I have a continuous rolodex in my head. That’s how the words roll.”

When he first started out, he would write everything down, but found himself feeling boxed in. “If I had my way, I wouldn’t put anything down on paper, but we do have to have lyrics,” he said.

As his career has evolved, he’s opted for a looser approach, piecing lyrics together over a few hours or days.

“I love that creation can come in that manner,” he said. “When things are more organic, they flow cleaner, they’re more fluid.”

While traveling around the East Coast on their Concert for the Human Family Tour, Wordsmith and Caudill will continue working on their next venture: a full album.

“We’re always working on something,” Wordsmith said. “It’s never-ending, because life is never-ending. It’s always evolving.”

Tickets for the Baltimore show cost $20 apiece and are on sale now.

Under Armour founder Kevin Plank’s Sagamore Spirit will celebrate five years at its waterfront distillery in Port Covington with an outdoor event all weekend long.

The distillery will host live music, cocktail classes, and food vendors at its location at 301 E Cromwell Street from April 29 – May 1. 

Friday’s events begin at 4 p.m. with live music on the lawn by Nelly’s Echo. At 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., the distillery will host a make-your-own cocktail class with two individual stations to make two Sagamore signature cocktails: the Black-Eyed Rye and the Sagamore Crush. 

On Saturday, the distillery will host the Carlos Cubas Band from 1-5 p.m. and a “local vendor village” with Bmore Greek Grill, CAnE Collective, Ekiben, Brookside Market, Suspended Brewing, Sapwood Cellars, and Black Acres Coffee Roasters.

Distillery tours are available on Saturday, and guests are encouraged to make reservations in advance. 

Sunday’s celebrations include ​​live music on the lawn by Funsho from 1-4 p.m. and a make-your-own-rocks-glass class with McFadden Art Glass at 12 p.m., 2 p.m., and 4 p.m. 

Each day, guests can enjoy food from the Brookside Market Food Truck and craft cocktails at Nineteen O’ Nine. 

The distillery encourages guests to bring their own blankets and chairs for the waterfront lawn, as seating is limited. Dogs, food, and non-alcoholic beverages are welcome.

New pickleball courts, basketball courts, bridges for hiking trails, and more will be constructed in Howard County with a $25.7 million investment in state and county funding for park improvements and projects. 

“Outdoor space and fresh air are vital to our mental health and well-being, and they need attention, preservation, and investment,” Howard County Executive Calvin Ball said at a news conference at Blandair Regional Park in Columbia on Thursday. 

The county will provide $14 million and the state will provide $11.7 million, Ball said. 

At Blandair, the county will build the largest skatepark in Howard County and add two new basketball courts and six pickleball courts, Ball said. 

County funding will also go towards projects at Schooley Mill Park in Highland, Savage Mill, Western Regional Park in Woodbine, Atholton Park and Huntington Park in Columbia, Cypressmede Park and Shipley Park in Ellicott City, and Troy Park in Elkridge. 

The investment will also fund renovations of historic structures, including: the Chapel at the Patapsco Female Institute, Barnard Fort House, Belmont Manor, the Ellicott City Colored School, and Blandair North Granary. 

The funding also includes $6 million to purchase Camp Ilchester in Ellicott City and preserve the 21-acre property as space for recreation.

The $11.7 million in state funding will support the replacement of playgrounds at Centennial, Waterloo, and Rockburn Parks, improvements at Blandair and West Friendship Parks, renovation of the Barnard Fort House, construction of bridges to connect the Savage Mill and Wincopin Trails, and the North Laurel Community Center Pool. 

When Kevin Connors returned to his home in Annapolis after a weekend away, he was in for a surprise.

His cousins, who live on the same street, had painted his once-purple door to look like a giant tin of Old Bay seasoning. 

Connors, an Old Bay enthusiast, posted a photo of the door on Reddit, where it immediately went viral. But reactions to the paint job were mixed.

“Cool idea, sloppy execution,” said one Reddit user. “So close! So almost almost great,” said another.

Despite the “sloppy execution,” Connors loved it. 

“I just immediately burst out laughing. It was an audible laugh, no doubt. I mean, I was in the car by myself, tired from the bachelor party. I parked, got out, and then I just stood in front of it for like, two minutes,” Connors said in an interview with Washingtonian. 

When asked if he’s committed to living with the Old Bay door, Connors said, “Yeah, definitely for now. I plan on living here for a little while, and I’ll just be that eccentric household on the block, which is fun.” 

The Maryland Board of Public Works on Wednesday approved more than $5.2 million to advance the state’s commitment to buy a waterfront property near two historic beaches in Annapolis.

Governor Hogan announced plans to turn the 5.17-acre property near Carr’s Beach and Sparrow’s Beach into a public park last month. 

Carr’s and Sparrow’s Beaches served the Black community during segregation, when they were prohibited from using other beaches. 

Carr’s Beach, known as the “Beach,” once hosted prominent musicians such as The Temptations and Ike and Tina Turner. 

“My mother and many African Americans visited Carr’s Beach between the 1940s and 1960s to enjoy concerts and recreation, and I am pleased that we will be providing new opportunities for future generations to make lasting memories,” said Lt. Governor Boyd K. Rutherford in a statement. 

The acquisition will be funded by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources through Program Open Space funds and Local Parks and Playgrounds Infrastructure funds.

Howard County is expanding school-based mental health services in all 77 schools in the county amid rising pandemic-related mental health challenges among children and adolescents.

The county is committing $2.1 million to ensure that every student in the Howard County Public School system has access to mental health services for at least the next two years, Howard County Executive Calvin Ball announced at a news conference outside of Patapsco Middle School on Tuesday.

A total of $1.7 million will go towards expanding the School-Based Mental Health Program, which makes social workers available in Howard County schools.

Ball has also allocated $380,000 in his proposed budget to expand mental health services related to HoCo STRIVES, a program that aims to provide services to the county’s most vulnerable students and families.

HoCo STRIVES programs include psychiatric rehab, parent coaching, and a year-long training program for professionals, community members, and youth.

Young children and adolescents were among the most negatively impacted by pandemic lockdowns, as they were separated from peers and home from school during crucial developmental phases.

According to surveys conducted in 2021 by the Maryland Department of Health, 36 percent of Maryland high school students have felt sad or hopeless every day for two weeks in the past year. And 1 in 5 high school students seriously considered suicide in the past 12 months.

Even before the pandemic exacerbated the mental health crisis, there was a gap in mental health services for students and young residents, Ball said.

“With this funding, we’re filling the gap for our children and our families who are historically not able to receive life-saving mental health care,” Ball said.

“Everyone deserves access to mental health care,” he added, “It is our collective responsibility to protect the health and safety of our young people and our residents’ mental health.”

Baltimore’s most colorful festival will return in-person Friday and Saturday with performances by local musicians, Lemon Sticks, workshops, and food and drinks from eateries and producers like Ekiben and The Brewer’s Art.

The festival, which was canceled in 2020 and went virtual in 2021, will feature 20 musical performances by Baltimore-based musicians and groups such as the Maryland Opera on two stages. 

Local florists and greenhouses like Two Boots Farm and Shelly’s Blossom Shop will accompany vendors selling green-themed pottery, jewelry, and artwork. 

This year’s workshops, held by groups such as the National Aquarium, Baltimore Tree Trust, and UME Master Gardeners, will cover topics like beekeeping, flower arranging, and urban gardening. 

Flower Mart was founded by the Women’s Civic League – a group dedicated to improving living conditions in Baltimore – over 110 years ago.

The Mount Vernon Place Conservancy took over management of Flower Mart in 2019, seven years after the nonprofit entered into a public-private partnership with the city to maintain and manage the Washington Monument and the four park squares of Mount Vernon Place. 

“After two years of isolation, we think people are itching to get outside and enjoy events like this, and we look forward to welcoming Baltimoreans to Mount Vernon Place,” said Lance Humphries, executive director of Mount Vernon Place Conservancy, in a statement. 

The festival will take place on Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. A complete schedule and list of vendors can be found here. 

Baltimore County and the state of Maryland will invest $20 million in the revitalization of the commercial area surrounding Woodlawn’s beleaguered Security Square Mall, County Executive Johnny Olszewski announced Tuesday.

The shopping center, located at the intersection of Interstate 70 and the Baltimore Beltway, has been in decline throughout the years, losing big retailers such as JCPenney, Sears, IHOP, and Bennigan’s. 

“All communities are worthy of investment and capable of revitalization, including Security Square which has long been a central community hub in Western Baltimore County that has not yet reached its fullest potential,” Olszewski said in a statement.

“With this investment, we are becoming a fully committed partner in the effort to revitalize this critical economic and community anchor,” he added.

The new funding – $10 million allocated in the county’s budget and $10 million secured in the state capital budget by Maryland House Speaker Adrienne Jones – will build on recent steps the county has taken to revitalize the mall.

Last year, the county opened the new, state-of-the-art Woodlawn Health Center at the O.W.E Center. The 8,800 square-foot site, managed by Set the Captives Free Outreach Center, more than doubled the size of the previous center. 

Earlier this month, the former Bennigans and IHOP buildings were razed to make way for new additions, including a Chik Fil A slated to open this fall. 

“Security Square Mall remains a vibrant place for local businesses and an important part of the community, but the property needs significant revitalization and investment,” Speaker Jones said in a statement.

“This $20 million investment will jump-start this effort and help bring new life to the community,” she said. 

The revitalization plan will take community input into account, Olszewski said.

In the fall, the county will host a meeting in which community members can come together with architects, design professionals, transportation experts, and economists to formally rethink the future of the property.

From April 29 to May 1, over twenty art galleries, dealers, and print publishers will gather on the top floor of the Baltimore Innovation Center to showcase contemporary prints at the inaugural Baltimore Fine Art Print Fair.

The print fair will take over 45,000 square feet of open warehouse space at the Innovation Center at 1100 Wicomico Street in Pigtown with prints ranging from $100 to $25,000.

“There’s something for everyone,” said Ann Shafer, the fair’s organizer. “If you ever thought in your wildest dreams that you wanted to collect art of some sort, prints are the perfect way in,” she said. 

Shafer, an independent curator and former curator of prints, drawings, and photographs at the Baltimore Museum of Art, curated the last three iterations of the BMA’s print fair, which ran from 1990 to 2017. 

Shafer collaborated with Brian Miller and Julie Funderburk – co-owners of Baltimore’s Full Circle Fine Art – to organize this coming print fair under their new venture, Fine Arts Baltimore LLC.

The group began planning for the fair over a year ago, landing on 24 exhibitors from all over the country. Local galleries that are participating in the fair include Catalyst Contemporary, located in Baltimore’s Mount Vernon neighborhood, and Lily Press, based in Rockville, MD. 

The booths will feature fine art prints, multi-part portfolios, and artist books by established and emerging artists. In some cases, the print artist will be in attendance.

As part of the fair, Shafer set up a series of talks with members of the art community from Baltimore and beyond.  

The series will begin with a discussion between Shafer and master printer and scholar Phil Sanders on Friday at 1:30 p.m., followed by a conversation between Cara Ober and Jeffrey Kent of Baltimore’s Connect+Collect at 3:30 p.m.

On Saturday at 1:00 p.m., fair exhibitors Mae Shore, from Marginal Editions & Shore Publishing in New York and Tuxedo Park, NY, and Peter Pettengill, from Wingate Studio in Hinsdale, NH will join Phil Sanders in conversation. 

And at 2:30 p.m., independent curator Laura Roulet will speak with artists Zorawar Sidhu and Rob Swainston.

Allison Fisher, of Globe Collection and Press at the Maryland Institute College of Art, will round out the series on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. with a talk on Globe and commercial printing in Baltimore. 

As a curator, Shafer works to “demystify the idea that art should be hard,” she said. Because prints are made in multiples, the price points are often lower, she added.

Shafer encourages visitors to speak with the exhibitors at the fair to learn about the artists, prints, and galleries. 

“I always like to remind people that print people are the nicest people,” she said.

“Even if you’re not buying, they will be able to tell you how it was made and what happened when the artist was in the shop,” Shafer added, “They’re very happy to talk to you.”

Tickets for the print fair are now available online.

The Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore is launching “Baltimore by Baltimore,” a music and maker festival series that will be held the first Saturday of each month from May through October at the Inner Harbor Amphitheater.

“Our goal for this festival series is to revive the heartbeat of the Harbor and create experiences for Baltimore, by Baltimore,” said Waterfront Partnership’s president Laurie Schwartz in a statement.

Each month, a different emerging Baltimore producer will curate a daylong festival with locally produced goods, music, art, and food. The series will showcase local, minority, and women-owned talent, Schwartz said.

Organizers hope that the festival series will help revitalize a struggling development that has steadily lost tenants and tourists.

Despite the decline in visitation, the Inner Harbor saw more people return in 2021 for events such as the opening of Rash Field Park and the Inner Harbor Ice Rink and Christmas Village.

“This is how we support our shared vision for an Inner Harbor that highlights the best of Charm City: small-, women- and minority-owned businesses, a vibrant arts scene, music, and cultural diversity that residents and visitors can’t find anywhere else,” said Mayor Brandon Scott in a statement.

Terrell Brown, a Baltimore artist and activist, will produce the first festival on May 7.

“For me, it’s all about leveraging our creative economy to show how abundant these spaces can be while representing all of Baltimore,” Brown said in a statement.

“We’re looking forward to having a big turnout, bringing positive energy to the Harbor and showcasing the authentic culture and internationally known artists who are from here, but many people may not know,” he said.

Vendors for the first event include Girl in Space Club, Tree House Project, The African Diaspora Alliance, Accessmatized Makeup Artistry, and Mr. Trash Wheel. Food will be provided by Jimmy’s Famous Seafood, Bar Movement, and Sweet Kam, a teenage entrepreneur.

The lineup Brown produced will include John Tyler, Eat the Cake Band, Blaqstarr, and more.

Maryland has two new state parks where visitors can hike, fish, and view wildlife. 

Lt. Governor Boyd K. Rutherford joined the Maryland Department of Natural Resources on Friday to open Bohemia River State Park in Cecil County and Cypress Branch State Park in Kent County, in celebration of Earth Day and the end of Maryland State Park Week.

“Bohemia River and Cypress Branch are two great examples of how our state parks provide not only great resources for outdoor recreation, but opportunities to learn about our state’s rich history and develop our local communities,” Rutherford said. 

In the summer of 2017, the state purchased 460 acres outside Chesapeake City in southern Cecil County for the development of Bohemia River State Park. The property includes 225 acres of upland and hydric forest, 60 acres for planned conservation, 29 acres for planned habitat restoration, and 112 acres for agricultural land. 

The park also has 8,600 feet of waterfront along Great Bohemia Creek. In the second phase of park planning, the park will provide access to Great Bohemia Creek and Bohemia River for kayaking and canoeing. 

Cypress Branch State Park, a 314-acre property adjacent to the town of Millington, includes a picnic area and 3-acre fishing pond. Future plans for the park include constructing hiking trails and restoring quail habitat.

The National Aquarium has committed to eliminating the aquarium’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 as part of the organization’s ongoing work to combat climate change.

Over the past six months, the aquarium has worked with environmental consulting firm Verdis Group to calculate the organization’s carbon footprint. 

To achieve net-zero emissions, the aquarium will invest in renewable energy, electrify its fleet and infrastructure, increase energy conservation measures, and implement emerging technologies to increase on-site renewable energy such as solar power. 

“While the tasks ahead of us may seem daunting, the rewards, including a cleaner, more sustainable ocean planet for future generations, are worth the effort,” said Jennifer Driban, the aquarium’s senior vice president and chief mission officer, in a statement.

The aquarium has already taken steps towards the goal, reducing its emissions by 31 percent from 2010 to 2019. Currently, 40 percent of the aquarium’s total electricity comes from renewable energy sources.

In the first phase of the plan, the aquarium will focus on scope 1 and scope 2 emissions –  such as the fuel that is used on-site and the energy purchased for operations. In a future study, the aquarium will analyze ways to reduce indirect emissions, like those related to waste and water. 

The aquarium’s commitment to net-zero emissions is part of a larger push to reduce emissions as the impacts of climate change become more severe.

State and local leaders in Maryland have made efforts to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions over time. This legislative session, the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill establishing a statewide goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2045. 

On Friday, in celebration of Earth Day, 24 members of the Aquarium Conservation Partnership, including the National Aquarium, pledged to take steps towards climate neutrality. 

The National Aquarium’s commitment to net-zero emissions is in line with the organization’s Conservation Action Plan, which includes goals such as combating climate change, saving wildlife and habitats, and stopping plastic pollution.

Beyond eliminating emissions, the aquarium will continue to mitigate climate change impacts by restoring wetlands, pushing for the reduction of single-use plastics, and planting trees.

Baltimore County is expanding a planting initiative that places trees in highly-populated, low-income neighborhoods, County Executive Johnny Olszewski announced Thursday. 

The next phase of “Operation ReTree Baltimore County,” a program initially launched in November 2021, will plant more than 450 trees at single family and apartment homes in Dundalk, Essex, Owings Mills and Randallstown.

“Trees have an amazing impact,” Olszewski said to an audience of community members and county officials outside of Northwest Crossing Apartments in Randallstown. 

“They raise our property values, improve our quality of life, correlate with positive health benefits, and they reduce air pollution,” he said. 

The expansion will start with 45 trees planted at Northwest Crossing, Olszewski said. 

The tree program will also plant 130 at Morningside Apartments and Townhomes, 123 in Eastfield-Stanbrook, 77 in Stansbury Park, 42 in Fox Ridge Manor, and 37 in West Inverness.

The county also plans to plant an additional 1,000 urban trees in the year ahead, Olszewski said, more than the county has planted in the last eight years.

Olszewski also announced a native tree giveaway on April 29 and 30 in honor of Arbor Day. Residents can preorder up to three trees, from among seven native species, and pick them up at pre-scheduled times at the Center for Maryland Agriculture and Farm Park. 

This May, the Baltimore Museum of Art will open an exhibit that explores the concept of transformation as artistic inspiration.

Shapeshifting: Transformations on Paper will feature 35 prints, drawings, photographs, and artists’ books from the BMA’s collection that touch on ideas of renewal, shifting manifestations of identity, and classical myths.

The exhibition, which draws works from across five centuries, aims to demonstrate how the fluidity of identity is deeply rooted in history. 

“The process of transformation is embedded in everyday life and experience,” said Andaleeb Badiee Banta, the museum’s curator of prints, drawings, and photographs, in a statement.

“For this reason, it has provided a fertile lens for artists across centuries to consider and understand its relationship to changing concepts of identity and self-presentation in contemporary culture,” she said. 

Shapeshifting features works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Margaret Burroughs, Paula Gately Tillman, Zackary Drucker, Saya Woolfalk, and many others. 

The exhibition, the second to be presented in the museum’s new Nancy Dorman and Stanley Mazaroff Center for the Study of Prints, Drawings and Photographs, will be open from May 8 through October 2. 

Baltimore-based community solar company WeSolar and the University of Maryland Medical System are teaming up to build a solar farm in Baltimore City that will provide power for the university system and city residents.

The University of Maryland Medical System has committed to paying $10,000 per month for up to 18 months to help construct the solar farm at a location yet to be determined. 

“Partnering with WeSolar is an incredible opportunity for the system to engage with a local company that, like us, is focused on ensuring the vitality of our community,” said Mohan Suntha, president and CEO of UMMS, in a statement. 

“Not only does this project make good business and economic sense for our system, but it is also an opportunity to demonstrate our responsibility as anchor institutions in the communities in which we are privileged to serve,” he said. 

Across the U.S., underserved consumers pay significantly more for energy than middle and upper class consumers. 

Low-income households experience a higher “energy burden,” meaning they spend a larger portion of their income on home energy costs than other households. According to a report by the U.S. Department of Energy, low-income households face an energy burden three times higher than other households. 

WeSolar aims to reduce the energy burden in under-resourced communities by providing affordable access to local community solar. Community solar programs allow consumers to purchase shared solar from a local community project instead of taking on the costly expense of installing equipment in their own homes. 

“Our company’s mission is about equity,” said WeSolar CEO Kristal Hansley in a statement, “Our main goal is to reduce the bills of low-to-moderate-income customers by at least 25%.” 

Once the farm is constructed, UMMS team members who earn less than $67,000 will have access to solar energy at their residences from the BGE grid at a discount of up to 25 percent.

The farm will generate eight megawatts of energy, and the University of Maryland Medical System has committed to purchasing up to 50 percent, or four megawatts.