All cities have their quirky old buildings, and Dereck Mangus rounds up five that stand out in Baltimore for their long upstanding facades, which stayed the same as the world changed around them and sometimes their “innards” were made fresh for the times.
Read MoreDereck Mangus tells us about six towers in Baltimore that were built by various people for various reasons, most of them not utilitarian reasons. Dereck calls them “humbler, more endearing towers, popping up throughout Charm City like exotic little mushrooms.”
Read MoreOur contributor Dereck Stafford Mangus’s day job is museum guard at the Baltimore Museum of Art, but Dereck also works as a member of the museum’s conservation crew dusting the sculptures in the sculpture garden. Recently, the dusting tasks came up against the demolition of a building next door to the museum, on the campus of Johns Hopkins University, triggering Dereck’s thoughts about demolitions in general and the labor of artists and conservators. Enjoy this behind the scenes look at a different kind of museum work. All photomontages by Dereck Stafford Mangus.
Read MoreDereck Stafford Mangus reflects on moving from Boston to Baltimore, and into a building clad in Formstone. Dereck compares Formstone’s shaped-stucco facades to art forgeries, calling them “urban kitsch.” But he’s learned to appreciate them as part of what makes Baltimore …Baltimore!
Read MoreMandy Palasik and Kemuel Benyehudah spent a large part of the pandemic working on a collaborative piece about issues of sustainable design and public space, and we’re proud and excited to present their dialog on the complex issues.
Read MoreThe new book, Hotel Chelsea: Living in the Last Bohemian Haven by Colin Miller and Ray Mock tells of current residents and their struggle with the Hotel’s developer-owners and explores the history of this artistic incubator-cum-living space.
Read MoreMichael Lieberman reviews Pulitzer Prize winner Inga Saffron’s ‘Becoming Philadelphia.’ The book, a selection of the architecture critic’s Inquirer articles from the past 20 years, tells an intricate story about Philly’s 10 year tax abatement and construction boom– both its part in revitalizing the city, and its part in harmful gentrification and increased inequality.
Read MoreIn a new series “Art following epidemics” triggered by thoughts during the COVID-19 pandemic, Andrea Kirsh refers back to her field of Art History to examine art made during or after other epidemics.
Read MoreDereck Stafford Mangus shares his thoughts on current trends in urban development and the connection with Brutalism and Legos.
Read More
Support for Artblog has been provided by The Philadelphia Cultural Fund.