William P. Tandy's excellent Smile, Hon, You're in Baltimore! has been nominated for a 2009 Utne Independent Press Award in the "Best Zine" category. It's a much deserved nod to a publication that consistently presents entertaining stories that are more likely to be told on barstools than via mainstream media outlets. Tandy's zine is essential [...]

The $25,000 Mary Sawyers Baker Prize has been awarded to saxophonist Carl Grubbs and visual artists John Ruppert and Hadieh Shafie. Check out the Baker Artist Awards site for more info.

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A pair of books by Baltimore's Carole Boston Weatherford (Becoming Billie Holiday and Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane) won Coretta Scott King Awards this week at the American Library Association's Mid-Winter Conference in Denver. Baltimore readers know how much we like Weatherford's work, and this sort of acknowledgment is [...]

Baltimore's Hilary Hahn won a Grammy last night for her recording of the Schoenberg/Sibelius Concertos. She returns triumphantly to town on June 9th for a concert with Marin Alsop and the BSO. They'll play Beethoven, Dvorak, and a newly commissioned piece by Jennifer Higdon.

Via webcast, the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance just announced that public voting has begun for the Baker Artist Awards. In making the announcement, GBCA Executive Director Nancy Haragan encouraged folks from Baltimore to Timbuktu to check out the Baker Awards website and vote for their favorite Baltimore area artist before voting close on February [...]

Baltimore artist Joseph Sheppard has won one of the top international sculpture prizes. Sheppard was presented with the 18th Edizione Premio Internazionale di Scultura on September 12th in Pietrasanta, Italy. The likes of Fernando Botero, Gio Pomodoro, and Jean-Michael Folon have won the prize in the past.
“It is an honor for me to be recognized [...]

Baltimore native Matthew Weiner picked up a pair of Emmys Sunday night for his work on Mad Men, which won for "Outstanding Drama Series." In the "Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series" category, Weiner beat out Baltimore's David Simon and Ed Burns, who were nominated for The Wire.
Shame on The Emmys for giving The Wire [...]

 
It was just announced that work by Baltimore artist Bernhard Hildebrandt (see photo) took third place (and pocketed $1,000) in Bethesda's Trawick Prize competition. Dan Steinhilber—a D.C. artist with a studio at Load of Fun—placed second. D.C.'s Maggie Michael won "Best in Show" and took home the $10,000 top prize.
The finalists' work is currently on [...]

"Best Song" winner Howard Markman was circulating in the VIP room at Thursday night's Best Of Baltimore party at Ravens stadium. Three days later, he performed at the Wings n' Wheels benefit for veterans on the Eastern Shore. Accompanied by Glenn Workman (of Crack the Sky!) on keyboards, Markman closed his set with [...]

Local artist/Overlea art teacher Geoff Grace won the $25,000 Sondheim Prize at the BMA last night. His installation, "It's the Linger, Not the Long" (pictured), is an inviting, whimsical, and personal piece that pulls in the viewer and encourages lingering. It's on view through August 3rd.