A Brief History of SPARK
SPARK is a collaborative arts program presenting the work of Towson University and UMBC faculty and student artists in pop-up exhibitions and related programming in venues in the heart of Baltimore City.
SPARK was originally conceived to highlight light-based artworks and projections during the second Lightcity Baltimore festival in April 2017. Over the years, SPARK evolved from having a literal focus on light to a conceptual focus on “illumination” and the many ways that artists help us see and understand our world, our history, and our challenges in new ways and from different perspectives. It’s an ongoing collaboration that brings the Towson University and UMBC communities together in a unique way and highlights for the larger Baltimore community the impressive talent of their faculty, student, and alumni artists.
The first SPARK pop-up exhibition included artwork by UMBC visual arts faculty and IMDA MFA graduate students as well as performances by UMBC music and dance faculty and students. It was presented in an unoccupied ground floor commercial space in downtown Baltimore, provided through a partnership with PNC Bank – then as now the sole sponsor of SPARK – and curated by Joe Reinsel.
When LightCity returned in April 2018, SPARK did as well. Towson University joined UMBC and PNC to partner. on SPARK II. The exhibition was curated by Ginevra Shay and included the work of faculty and graduate students from both institutions in an unused space in the Harborplace’s Light Street Pavilion. SPARK II also featured a schedule of performances, events, and interactive activities.
In November 2019, Lightcity and Baltimore Book Festival were presented under the umbrella event Brilliant Baltimore, which included the SPARK III pop-up exhibition in the Columbus Center. Curated by Catherine Borg, the exhibition presented the artwork of UMBC and Towson faculty artists. with additional programming highlighting the work of animation students, several nights of music and dance performances by faculty and students, and a popular daytime art-making workshop.
SPARK IV: A New World? was presented at Maryland Art Place from April 29 to June 26, 2021, and the exhibition extended online to showcase additional artworks from Towson and UMBC undergraduate and graduate students. SPARK IV event programming was virtual due to the pandemic and included a live-streamed video program presenting 19 video and animation works and I Want to Be, a series of performances by Anna Kroll and Chloe Engel that occurred via telephone conference calls. Read the review of SPARK: A New World? in BmoreArt
SPARK: New Light was presented August 13 - September 22, 2022, as part of the grand reopening programming of The Peale after its major renovation. Like Rembrandt Peale who was both an artist and innovator, the 23 artists featured in the SPARK: New Light exhibition share illuminating and innovative works of art and perspectives. Spark V also included https://www.sparkbaltimore.org/eventswith artists including the Window 26 video projection events curated by Kelley Bell, photography workshops led by Chris Peregoy, story collecting by Lynn Cazabon for Losing Winter, and the Towson and UMBC Percussion Ensembles Shadows in the Sounds performance. Read the review of SPARK: New Light in BmoreArt
SPARK 6: Refractions was presented in the historic galleries of The Peale from October 26 through November 26, 2023. The exhibition title references a term from physics that describes the change in direction of a wave as it passes from one transparent substance into another. It’s a phenomenon most commonly observed when a light wave bends or changes appearance when it passes through a lens or a prism. In the context of this exhibition, the 21 artists each serve as an apparatus of refraction: focusing, magnifying, or redirecting attention and perspective. Additional programming included Wavefront, a special addition to the exhibition in the Moses Williams Center, and Projections at the Peale. BmoreArt highlighted Refractions as one of the “ten must see” exhibitions in Baltimore
Catherine Borg is a Baltimore artist and the curator of SPARK programming since 2019. Her work as an artist has been presented in many venues; highlights include screenings at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Art, and a solo exhibition at the Contemporary Art Center Las Vegas reviewed in Art in America. She holds an MFA degree in visual arts from Rutgers University, a BA degree in broadcasting from San Francisco State University, and has received fellowships from the Nevada Arts Council, the MacDowell Colony, and the Jentel Foundation. As a curator, Borg has presented the work of dozens of artists in film and video screenings, solo, two-person, and group exhibitions in venues as varied as traditional gallery spaces, empty storefronts, hotel rooms, a seven-story rotunda, and a funeral home (Memento mori at The Parlor, 2023.)
About the Curator
Partners
SPARK programming is presented by Towson University and UMBC in partnership with PNC Bank.
