In the 1960’s, Greenwich Village in New York City, was where many artists from all over the world came to find platforms of failure or success.
It was a liberal town of the Mark Twain’s, and Andy Warhol’s, writers and artists who rejected the establishment, and gave an embryo to the LGBT movement. Students from nearby colleges and universities were the buying population, thus the rise of many bars and restaurants, and of course a population of altered minds.
Baltimore had a little known college, College of the Arts. a few blocks away from an expressway (Jones Falls). Not too far from the main thoroughfare, North Avenue, and near an art loving neighborhood of old English row houses, is Charles Village.
A little over two decades ago, the College began to gain recognition. The conversation surrounding higher education, was no longer limited to the University of Maryland, or UB (University of Baltimore), it included, MICA. (Maryland Institute College of Art).
Students from all over the world came to attend a top 10 world class arts institution. and then there was ARTSCAPE, a two day affair that covered several street blocks surrounding the college. Buildings were being renovated from as far away as Greenmount Avenue to several blocks southwest of the famous Jones Falls Expressway.
Bars and cafes are now opening up. Specialized films are being shown, just as it happened in Greenwich Village New York, 1964.
On North Avenue in Baltimore, a hop skip and a jump from Jones Falls, is THE MOTOR HOUSE. Artists in residence live above. The Alleyway entrance walls are plastered with gigantic art work; there is a cafe serving made in Maryland craft beers; and what’s art without an entertainment hall, where I paid my first visit. Follow me:
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