Baltimore: Artscape 2016

So I'm basically the worst Baltimorean ever. I was born and raised here, and save four years for college in NYC, I've never once been to Artscape, Baltimore's annual arts festival, the largest free event of its kind in the country.

As is well established on this blog, I love art, I love free events, and sometimes on rare occasions, I even love Baltimore, so I have no idea how I've never been in 31 years, other than it always seems to fall on the hottest weekend of the year, and I have very little patience for crowds of smelly, unwashed hipsters. That said, I went for the first time this year to check out what artisan goodies there were to buy, free concerts to listen to, and of course, what food there was to eat.

I'm not gonna lie. Despite sweating from spots I didn't even know could sweat, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I unfortunately missed Wyclef Jean Friday night, but I had a great time strolling around Saturday, snacking on food from the all-local vendors and frankly, doing a ton of people-watching. The theme this year was space, which seemed to bring an element of sci-fi nerds, which made the festival even more weird and wonderful in that special Baltimore way.

Personal favorites for me included the delicious fresh oysters we grabbed from The Local Oyster, the temporary art gallery set up in the parking garage across from The Charles (especially the White Guilt Confessional installation), and the MICA Art Market. Overall, I really just enjoyed the good vibes of seeing the city come out, all in good moods to support art and buy local. Artscape 2016 -- my first Artscape ever -- a success!

-Staci  

P.S. Special thanks to Steve who took most of these photos for me when I ran out of space on my phone. #storageproblems