For six local artists, posting creative works to a free, online portfolio has led to fairly lucrative results.
The Greater Baltimore Culture Alliance (GBCA) and the William G. Baker Jr. Memorial Fund announced Friday the 2023 Baker Artist awardees, chosen from a pool of more than 600 people and narrowed down to 36 nominees who uploaded portfolios this year to the Baker Artist website. To be eligible, artists must live and work in Baltimore City or its five surrounding counties and upload their work to the site.
Interdisciplinary artist Oletha DeVane, performer Colette Krogol, filmmaker Margaret Rorison, visual artist M. Jordan Tierney, musician Abdu Ali and literary artist Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson will each receive $10,000 as winners of the Mary Sawyers Baker Prize. Dickinson was also awarded an additional $30,000 for the Mary Sawyers Imboden Award for a total of $40,000 in prize money — “the largest art prize in the region,” according to a press release from GBCA.
“This year’s awardees embody some of the best of what the Baltimore region has to offer,” Connie Imboden, President of the William G. Baker Jr. Memorial Fund, said in the release.
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According to a news release, the portfolios uploaded to the Baker artist site “expose area artists’ work to regional, national, and international audiences. The site has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of art lovers, critics, gallery owners, academics, and leaders in creative business.”
Portfolios are a necessity for all artists, not only to have a place to showcase their work, but also to have somewhere safe and secure for their art, awardee Ali said. “I think it’s important for all artists to archive their work in general just for historical purposes, but especially important for Black artists. Black people in America have had to deal with the history of erasure and not being credited for our work.”
Dickinson, the first literary winner of the Imboden Award, said she is thankful that the GBCA and Baker Artist Portfolios are highlighting regional creatives. “Baltimore is such a unique place, and it’s very supportive to its artists because it’s a city that thrives on its reputation of extraordinary art,” she said.
Carla Du Pree, a GBCA board member and executive director of the CityLit Project, said Dickinson’s win should be motivation for local writers to show their work. “Make no mistake: With Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson receiving GBCA’s top Mary Sawyers Imboden Award, it serves as a symbol of how we recognize supreme talent and sends a message to all writers to get busy,” she said in a statement. “Build those Baker Artist portfolios that are viewed across the nation and internationally. This is not beyond you. Our authors should not have to leave this city to get full recognition for their hard-earned work.”
This year’s awardees, selected by an anonymous jury, will be celebrated in a special episode of Maryland Public Television’s Artworks program in the winter.
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But it’s not just the creatives receiving money who benefit from being a Baker Artist. “The good thing about what the GBCA is doing is they’re not just showcasing the winners,” Dickinson said. “Even if you didn’t win an award, you’re still getting exposure and that’s only going to benefit all of us in Baltimore.”
This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson's name.
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