The Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA) has announced that applications are now open for the 2025 Janet & Walter Sondheim Art Prize as well as the Creative Baltimore Fund FY 2025 grant program.

2025 Janet & Walter Sondheim Art Prize

The Janet & Walter Sondheim Art Prize awards $30,000 to a visual artist or visual artist collaborators living
and working in the Baltimore region.

Established by BOPA at Artscape in 2006, it is one of the most prestigious visual art prizes in the region. The application deadline is November 15, 2024. Semifinalists will be announced in December, and in January, five finalists will be selected to exhibit their work in the Walters Art Museum, April to July 2025.

Information sessions

BOPA is hosting two information sessions — Tuesday, November 5 and Thursday, November 7 — to help
artists plan their applications and answer questions. Both sessions will take place over Zoom.

Visit promotion and arts for the link, more information, and how to submit.

About the Creative Baltimore Fund

The Creative Baltimore Fund is a grant made annually by the City of Baltimore from its general fund that is
administered by the Baltimore City Arts Council (BOPA). The program awards funds to qualified artists and
arts and cultural organizations based in Baltimore City. The Creative Baltimore Fund has two grant programs:
General Operating Support (GOS), which provides core support for established arts or cultural organizations,
and the Mayor’s Individual Artist Award.

GOS grants to organizations range from $3,000–$10,000. The Mayor’s Individual Artist Project Support grant
will award 10 artists with ti3,000 awards. Grant awards will be paid 100% at time of contract signing and
processing. The application deadline is December 2, 2024.

To support prospective grantees, BOPA is hosting virtual office hours every Tuesday and Sunday during the
application period.

Visit promotion and arts to get the Zoom link, learn more about the Creative Baltimore Fund program, and how to apply.

Philly in Paris is seeking the public’s support in sending some Philadelphia youth to Paris.

About Philly in Paris

The collective supports youth with violent prevention and conflict resolution through travel.

Organizers are looking to give the youth cultural experiences that include history tours, museums, and leadership development activities.

“Philly in Paris: Youth Travel Abroad” was formed and created as a hands-on and innovative solution to the violence epidemic that Philly youth face.

Led by various organizations and individuals, the collective’s goal is to take Philly’s youth on global excursions, beginning with Paris, to increase their exposure to the world and the world’s exposure to them.

GoFundMe

“We believe that in helping young people to explore diverse perspectives through travel, we can contribute to peacebuilding in Philadelphia”, the GoFundMe reads.

The GoFundMe outlines expenses such as airfare, lodging, and ground transportation.

To learn more about the initiative and to donate, visit the GoFundMe.

Cast and filmmakers of the forthcoming film NICKEL BOYS were in attendance at the film’s premiere at the 62nd New York Film Festival.

NICKEL BOYS premiere at 62nd New York Film Festival

Actors Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Daveed Diggs, Hamish Linklater, Fred Hechinger, and Jimmie Fails along with director/writer RaMell Ross, writer/producer Joslyn Barnes and cinematographer Jomo Fray were in attendance for the celebratory evening.

About the film

Elwood Curtis’s college dream shatters alongside a two-lane Florida highway. Bearing the brunt of an innocent misstep, he’s sentenced to the netherworld of Nickel Academy, a brutal reformatory sunk deep in the Jim Crow South. He encounters another ward, the seen-it-all Turner. The two Black teens strike up an alliance: Turner dispensing fundamental tips for survival, Elwood, clinging to his optimistic worldview. Backdropped by the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement, Elwood and Turner’s existence appear worlds away from Rev. Martin Luther King’s burnished oratory. Despite Nickel’s brutality, Elwood strives to hold onto his humanity, awakening a new vision for Turner.

Directed by RaMell Ross, Nickel Boys will be in theaters only on October 25.