After a successful inaugural exhibition last fall, Baltimore’s newest arts hub is returning with more activities in February.
The Parlor, a mixed-use arts center that’s taking shape inside the former Stewart & Mowen funeral home at 108 W. North Ave., opened in November with an exhibit entitled “Memento Mori,” which is Latin for “Remember that you will die.”
Starting Feb. 4, it will host “Pied a Terre,” a month-long marketplace where visitors will be able to shop for vintage furniture, décor, books and clothing. According to merchant and organizer Currie Lee, the marketplace will be an “immersive experience,” staged to reflect “the spaces we inhabit in our day-to-day life” and support small businesses.
Participating vendors include Standing Ovation (clothing); A Day in June (furniture, décor and clothing); Bottom Dwellers (clothing); Possession Haus (furniture and decor), and Under the Covers (books).
The marketplace will be open every Saturday and Sunday during February, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The kickoff event will be an Opening Night Soiree on Feb. 3, starting at 6 p.m. and featuring live music by Aiva Astra and friends. Early-bird tickets are $36, general admission is $46, and attendees will receive complimentary craft cocktails and desserts. Ticket information is available from Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pied-a-terre-a-vintage-marketplace-opening-night-soiree-tickets-514875345017.
Other February events at The Parlor include a Valentine’s Makers Market on Feb. 11, featuring Salvage Arc, Black Acres Roastery and Stellarium Jewelry; and a Winter Makers Market on Feb. 25 and 26, featuring Wight Tea Company, Reus Laboratories, Patrice Ermilio and Jones Girls Soap.
Part of the Station North Arts District, the 9,000-square-foot building on North Avenue was constructed in 1878 as a single-family residence and converted to a funeral home in 1914. It operated continuously as a funeral parlor until 2021.
Developer John Renner of Timshel Development purchased the building last March and announced plans to convert it to Station North’s newest attraction, with a restaurant or speakeasy; exhibition area; “creative office space;” and upper-level arts studios.
The marketplace, like the “Memento Mori” exhibit, is designed to bring people to the former funeral parlor so they can learn about Renner’s redevelopment plans and see the potential for new uses. It’s supported by the Creative Baltimore Fund; the Johns Hopkins Neighborhood Fund; the Station North Arts District, a program of the Central Baltimore Partnership; and Timshel Development.
Renner hired Present Company to be the architect for the conversion, which will preserve funeral parlor features such as a chapel, casket lift, and embalming rooms. Renner’s estimated budget is more than $2 million, and he’s aiming to complete construction by the end of 2023.
More information about the marketplace is available at piedaterremarket.com.
