Pouring Light, 2021
An Exhibition at The Carroll Mansion in Baltimore City, Maryland
Editorial: In 2017, artist Julia Glatfelter drove into Baltimore for the first time. Exiting onto Route 40, she was alarmed by a group of residents shouting and standing on the median. Craning her neck forward - she squinted at the waving signs in the peoples’ hands. “CEASEFIRE” - they read.
Within the year, Julia met fellow artist, and long time resident, Jaz Erenberg. Jaz passionately explained the work of Baltimore Ceasefire and later pursued training to become an Ambassador. On their block in Upper Fells Point, the two began encouraging each other in their artistic practices. With time, they began to collaborate on commissions and community-based projects.
Fast forward to COVID times. After nearly 3 years of the back and forth between big rejections and small wins, the two artists dreamed up an opportunity for themselves. Without invitation or assurances, they decided to work toward a dream show where their work could feature their passions as makers: Charm City, advocacy for peace, personal histories, diverse perspectives and Baltimore Ceasefire. With a positive response from The Peale Center, Glatfelter and Erenberg created new work for exhibition during the Winter of 2020 - 2021. At the forefront of their concepts was the history and efforts of peacemaking in Baltimore by Ceasefire volunteers.
Ceasefire’s motto in honoring lives lost to violence is to “pour light and love” into sorrowful spaces. The show was later coined Pouring Light to unleash energy back to that Ceasefire staff. The result is a collection of informative displays, towering mixed media artworks, rendered drawings, photographs and a physical memorial installation. On the opening weekend, the weekend of the February Ceasefire Peace Challenge, the artists had the pleasure of greeting guests. Visitors included Mayor Brandon Scott and Baltimore Ceasefire Co-Founders and Ambassadors: Erricka Bridgeford, Letrice Grant, Michelle Herring, and Free Palmese.
Upon seeing the work, there was a great deal of relief, of agony and of joy for the Ceasefire Squad. Through tears Erricka Bridgeford said: “You’ve recharged our batteries.” This was the third and final day of the Baltimore Ceasefire Challenge. All were encouraged by the peaceful period but shocked to hear news on midday Sunday of a murder of a womon on Friday. The squad showed up to our event - in a long line of events - looking defeated. They left lighter and energized to keep pursuing the work of peace and justice.
The experience of the show was expressed best by a recent visitor, Caroline Máire.
“...The art on display here is supposed to be viewed in the light; the open curtains and high windows were truly 'pouring light' onto the exhibition. The effect was to metaphorically 'shed light' on an epidemic of violent killings in the city, the 'harsh light of day' we must see and with which we must reckon. But the light is necessary, too, for growth and life—literally.
One of the most affecting artworks was the installation in a second floor gallery of a rectangular plot of soil that doubles as both gravesite and garden. Votive candles, one for each of the dead, are small testaments to the lights of lives untimely snuffed out. The little green seedlings are signifiers of rebirth and living tributes to the ones whose lives were taken, and the 'life-affirming actions' taken by their mourners.
Baltimore ceasefire, founded by @errickawondervoice, is a powerful movement in the city. The mottos are #VibrateHigher and #DontBeNumb. the mission is to tell the dead, the living, 'you matter, you matter.'”
- Caroline Máire, Visitor at Pouring Light
Pouring Light is a new exhibition presented by the Peale Center at the Carroll Mansion. Artists Jaz Erenberg and Julia Glatfelter have pulled back the shutters of the historic Carroll Mansion to illuminate 4 rooms of artwork which feature the Baltimore Ceasefire Movement. Come see this compelling show with its towering mixed media reflections on loss, life and ancestry. Original works and prints from the show are for sale on the artists’ websites. 20% of proceeds will be donated to Baltimore Ceasefire.
The artists are grateful to the Peale Center for their hosting of the show, to Carroll Mansion staff for providing oversight of gallery hours, to MSAC for the Creativity Grant award and lastly for Baltimore Ceasefire Volunteers who tirelessly pour light and love on our city.
