Let’s play word association, Baltimore style. If you hear “North Avenue,” what comes to mind? If someone brings up “Highlandtown,” what do you think of? 

Words like decay, crime, blight, drugs, and lay-offs might make the list. On a more upbeat note, maybe retro, ethnic, and blue-collar occur to you, too. 

But did “art” come up at all? How about creativity, diversity, investment, and destination?

Once upon a time—before photographers and videographers—painters were hired to record events as they happened. That tradition is alive and well thanks to Laura Swytak, a 26-year-old MICA graduate. A native of L.A., Swytak is now the in-demand live event artist in the city (and across the U.S), painting everything from weddings to golf tournaments. She describes her style as a little bit Spanish (Diego Velázquez), a tad German (Adolf von Menzel) and a soupçon French (Edouard Manet).

Sometimes it’s an aggressive conga drumbeat, other times it’s a somber flute, a calming orchestral piece, or the violins of a Kirk Franklin gospel song that make the dancers move in syncopation. Whatever music choreographer Stephanie Powell selects, the dancers at her school, Baltimore Dance Tech—located in a modest church basement on Greenwich Avenue in Baltimore County’s Ten Hills—respond in fluid, mesmerizing unison.

It is dark and chilly and there's a steady huffing of autumn wind that keeps the dry leaves skittering along the walkways of Patterson Park. Ghosts and Halloween goblins lurk behind every tree. But then, suddenly, 4,000 people have sprung up around you, with handmade paper lanterns casting enough light to banish the ghouls from your mind. There is music—alternately moody and cheerful—and there are large illuminated skeletons and animals and fluttering translucent fabric sculptures. On a 40-foot screen is what looks a bit like an animated Edward Gorey film.