Somewhere Over the Rainbow of Row Homes, We Fly

Center for Art, Design, and Visual Culture at UMBC (CADVC) presents Somewhere Over the Rainbow of Row Homes, We Fly, an intergenerational group exhibition organized by curator Angela N. Carroll and featuring artists based in, or deeply connected to, Baltimore. On view from August 25 through November 24, the exhibition considers the city’s fertile cultural landscape through experimental and interdisciplinary artistic practices. Its title is inspired by the narrative poetry of multidisciplinary artist NIA JUNE.

Baltimore is a city of dreamers. The creative genius that pervades the region offers profound perspectives about the power of our collective imagination to transform our world. As the world grapples with myriad crises—forever wars, widespread economic insecurity, and threats against democracy—the artistic perspectives presented in Somewhere Over the Rainbow of Row Homes, We Fly are radically optimistic about humanity’s ability to triumph over adversity. 

The exhibition brings together a range of artists and artistic mediums with works by Kelvin Bulluck, Roy Crosse, Brianna Faulkner, Darrius Fox, Lehna Huie, Jeffrey Kent, Ada Pinkston, Kim Rice,  Margaret Rorison, Ernest Shaw, Shan Wallace, and Jasmine Gabrielle Washington, and a public presentation of a filmic work produced by the collective NIA JUNE + Kirby Griffin + APoetNamedNate. 

In the words of curator Angela N. Carroll, “The exhibition celebrates and affirms alternate conceptions of reality through speculative and abstract anti-representational expressions and forms. Glitch, distortion, rupture, and defiant challenges to traditional technical and material applications offer prescient responses to the tumultuousness of the 21st century.”  

Through serial compositions, photographic triptychs, poetic floating installations, and kaleidoscopic cinema, these artists contemplate themes of home, memory, and community. In the spirit of Duke Ellington, who regularly performed in jazz clubs on the historic strip of Baltimore’s Pennsylvania Avenue and theorized that all creative practice is a form of dreaming, Somewhere Over the Rainbow of Row Homes, We Fly invites audiences into a state of intentional, lucid, and restorative visioning.

Exhibition programming
The exhibition will be accompanied by the following free public programs.

September 3, 6–8pm: Opening reception and artist panel moderated by Angela N. Carroll in conversation with Brianna Faulkner, Jeffrey Kent, Kim Rice, Margaret Rorison and Shan Wallace.

October 15, 6–8pm: Free outdoor concert by Brandon Woody alongside public projection of “The Unveiling of God / a love letter to my forefathers” by NIA JUNE + Kirby Griffin + APoetNamedNate. 

November 5, 6–8pm: Artist roundtable on experimental practice, moderated by Ernest Shaw.

November 19, 6–8pm: Artist roundtable on memory, communal and familial archives, and land sovereignty, moderated by Jasmine Gabrielle Washington.

The exhibition is supported by the UMBC Arts+ initiative and other sponsors, including the Maryland State Arts Council and the Baltimore County Commission on Arts and Sciences.

CADVC is a forum for creative research in the fields of art and cultural production, realized through exhibitions, publications, residencies, and public programs. Committed to artists, curators, and scholars, and grounded in curiosity, learning, and social responsiveness, the Center supports rigorous artistic exploration through novel forms and accessible modes of public engagement. CADVC models the public university art center as a vital community hub for cultural inquiry, public imagination, and creative civic life.

Our exhibitions and events are free and open to the public for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University’s nondiscrimination policy.

If you need specific accommodations at one of our events, whether in person or online, or to experience an exhibition, please contact CADVC at cadvc@umbc.edu or T +1 410 455 3188 as soon as possible.

For links to maps, directions, and parking information, visit here.