Municipal Art Society of Baltimore City Artist Travel Prize

Municipal Art Society of Baltimore City Artist Travel Prize

2024 MASB Artist Travel Prize call for artists The Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA) is proud to announce the eighth edition of the Municipal Art Society of Baltimore City (MASB) Artist Travel Prize, sponsored by MASB. The MASB was founded in 1899 as part of the City Beautiful movement. It is one of only two remaining societies to be operating under its original charter “to provide sculptural and pictorial decoration and ornaments for the public buildings, streets and open spaces in the City of Baltimore, and to help generally beautify the City.” Artistic contributions to the City span more than one hundred years. In 2016 the MASB embarked on a path to provide new opportunities to Baltimore artists and art places within the City.

This prize will award $7,000 to a visual artist or visual artist collaborators, living or working in Baltimore City. Successful proposals will be selected from submissions that clearly articulate the artist’s reason for travel to the chosen destination and how it relates to their work.

The $7,000 prize is intended to function as funding for travel essential to an artist’s studio practice that an artist may not otherwise be able to afford.

Estimated Timeline

• May 1, 2024: Calls for entries released
• Monday, June 3, 2024: Application closed
• July 11, 2024: Recipient of MASB Artist Travel Prize announced
• Fall 2025: public presentation by MASB Artist Travel Prize recipient

Jill Orlov | Recipient of the 2023

Metal miniaturist Jill Orlov, recipient of the 2023 MASB Artist Travel Prize. Originally trained as an architect, Orlov’s design process always began with tiny concept models. Now, she uses those same skills — in addition to extensive research of classic and iconic spaces — to build miniature vignettes in metal and found objects. Orlov also uses fragments of architectural salvage, bicycle parts, copper sheet, mesh and rivets, mirror, aluminum, my handmade miniature paper books, and miniature glasses and bottles. Her work merges classic old-world designs with industrialism.

The first of a series, Orlov has begun re-curating a Walters Art Museum gallery in miniature, replacing the masterpieces with artworks by incarcerated artists. To continue her series, she will research additional gallery or library spaces in other cities of the City Beautiful Movement. Her proposed travel includes the Field Museum in Chicago; the Public Library in Boston; the Grand Parkway in Philadelphia; Union Station in Washington DC; and the Parks & Boulevards in Kansas City, Missouri.