Third Place award, a mosaic called April 26th, 6:32am by Jen Wager, is a wonderful mix of art and craft. It shows a cityscape, the kind we city dwellers might see out of our bathroom or bedroom windows; a view of the messy alleyways and haphazard building silhouettes that make up the private view of a public city. It is a view which feels like home to me. The impressionistic nature of the mosaic at this scale, contrasting light and dark, mixing both detail and abstraction, complexity and simplicity, feels somehow intimate and public at the same time.

Second place is a collagraph relief print by Pilar Bossano entitled Baltimore Rowhouses. This is another cityscape of sorts, though in a very different style and medium. Here again we find ourselves at the overlap of art and craft, a realm in which I myself also think and make. The print deftly recreates a common tableau of Baltimore. But unless you understand the medium, it’s not immediately clear how it is made. Here clouds are made from cardboard, a brick road drawn in glue, and windows are crafted from fabric and screen. These understated mark making tools: simple craft supplies pulled from the scrap bin or the recycling; are converted into a cohesive and unmistakable profile of one Baltimore’s most iconic city views.

First place is a lovely plein air painting by Thomas Ritchie called Boardwalk Walkers. This painting feels like a very painterly painting to me, and I mean that in the best way. A mix of painting techniques pushes and pulls the eye around the scene. You feel the need to stare deeply into the shadows, trying to make out details against a sunlit glare on the ground that makes me squint even now. The painting feels both contemporary and as though it could hang on the wall of a study 100 years ago.

The Hope award was given to  Norm Dubin for his digitally manipulated photographic piece Protestation. To me, the theme of Hope feels very present in this piece. The piece showcases a demonstration against recent government changes and directives. The Hope here is palpable, mixed with fear, sadness, and anger. Hope, manifested in showing up, making voices heard, and in the case of Norm, documenting the demonstration as a record of these events: a proof of public protest; this will be what carries us through these coming dark days as we as a society find our way back to a country that supports the arts, sciences, and the rich blend of society that makes all of this possible. That is worth Hoping for.