BmoreArt’s Picks: March 31 – April 6 This Week: African American Art Song at Peabody Library, Mark Anthony West Jr. opening reception at Lord Baltimore Hotel, despite // bất chấp artist reception at UMBC, Highlandtown First Friday Artwalk, opening reception for Elliot Doughtie and Dan ielle Mysliwiec at MONO Practice, and Paula Phillips in conversation with Vetiver at SBM Gallery — PLUS Mary B. Howard Invitational call for entry at Tephra ICA and more featured opportunities! BmoreArt’s Picks presents the best weekly art openings, events, and performances happening in Baltimore and surrounding areas. For a more comprehensive perspective, check the BmoreArt Calendar page, which includes ongoing exhibits and performances, and is updated on a daily basis. To submit your calendar event, email us at [email protected]! In the Stacks: African American Art Song Tuesday, March 31 :: 6:30-7:30pm@ George Peabody Library Experience an evening of powerful music as singers from the Peabody Institute’s Vocal Studies department, led by Associate Professor Carl DuPont, present a curated recital of art songs by African American composers. Blending live performance with fresh scholarly perspective, the program will explore how race, gender, sexuality, and class have shaped these works and their reception.   Through brief contextual insights, the student performers will connect each piece to its historical moment, revealing how these songs respond to political realities while expanding and challenging the art song tradition.  Join us for a thought-provoking performance that offers a layered exploration of music rooted in the Black experience and affirms the ongoing relevance of this repertoire in shaping our understanding of the United States’ complex past. Mark Anthony West Jr.: Seven Stars Between Two Skies | Opening Reception Wednesday, April 1 :: 5-7pm@ The Lord Baltimore Hotel The Lord Baltimore Hotel will continue its Good Taste art exhibition series with “Seven Stars Between Two Skies,” a luminous new body of work by Baltimore-born visual artist Mark Anthony West Jr. Created in Rio de Janeiro, the exhibition presents portraits of American and Brazilian creatives envisioned as sovereign forces, powerful beings fully in command of their own universes. In “Seven Stars Between Two Skies,” seven stars appear above and within each subject, symbolizing abundance, divine alignment and the multitude of gifts each figure carries. Layered shadows and silhouettes reflect the ability to occupy multiple identities and realities at once, while a ribbon gently winding around each body represents an invisible connection to ancestral, spiritual and universal sources. West’s signature terra cotta noses and multicolored metallic leaf infuse the portraits with warmth and radiance, grounding celestial themes in earthly form.  About the Artist:Mark Anthony West Jr. is a Baltimore-born visual artist, historian, curator and storyteller based between Downtown Baltimore and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He directs Art Space Vidigal, an Afro-diasporic arts center in Rio. Working across drawing, painting, multimedia, photography, public art, animation and sculpture/installation, West creates immersive scenes rooted in historical research, personal travel, life in Baltimore and biblical and diasporic themes. He often depicts human figures, especially Black subjects, in spiritually charged settings through a process he calls Afro-reverence, reclaiming African art histories and recontextualizing them within contemporary narratives.  What:Good Taste Art Exhibition Series Featuring Mark Anthony West Jr.“Seven Stars Between Two Skies”  When:Exhibit runs April 1 through June 2026Opening Reception: Wednesday, April 1, 2026, from 5:00–7:00 p.m. Where:LB Bistro Bakery(Lord Baltimore Hotel)20 W. Baltimore StreetBaltimore, MD 21201 Admission:The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public. The event will feature free light fare and discounted beverages. All artwork is available for purchase. despite // bất chấp: The 2026 Intermedia and Digital Arts (IMDA) MFA Thesis Exhibition | Artist Reception Thursday, April 2 :: 6-8pm@ UMBC CADVC The Intermedia and Digital Arts Master’s Program presents despite // bất chấp: The 2026 Intermedia and Digital Arts (IMDA) MFA Thesis Exhibition. On view from April 1 through 18 at the Center for Art, Design, and Visual Culture, the exhibition features work by graduating students Taylor Goad, Nia Hampton, Bao Nguyen, and Lynn Nguyen. An Artist Reception will be held on Thursday, April 2, from 6 to 8 p.m. On April 15, from 12 to 1 p.m., the public is invited to attend the annual RTKL Lecture featuring Taylor Goad. Read more of this week’s picks at BmoreArt. ...read more read less