Baltimore, May 18, 2023- Last evening, Courting Art Baltimore held its awards reception awarding $20,000 in College Bound Scholarships and honoring the 20 finalists out of a record 137 entries for this year’s contest. The evening was filled with proud families and teachers who were all packed in the lobby space of the Eastside District Court House to cheer on and celebrate the talented students whose work will be on long-term display throughout the halls of the Court House. The energy was high as attendees enjoyed sweets prepared by Mergenthaler Vocational Technical High School’s culinary students while listening to the jazz ensemble consisting of Baltimore City Public School music teachers.
College Bound Scholarships were awarded to the top seven students who were also eligible for two MICA Open Studio seats. An additional $1,600 in giftcards to Artist & Craftsman was also given out to all the finalists and their teachers. This year, Courting Art Baltimore, under the direction of Brian Katzenberg and Senior Judge Halee Weinstein and in partnership with Arts Every Day and Baltimore City Public Schools Office of Fine Arts, this year’s art broke records in the number of entries received which opened the door for an all-star jury panel to assist with narrowing down the list and choosing the top winners.
The jury panel for Courting Art Baltimore 2023 included:
- Asma Naeem, Director, Baltimore Museum of Art
- Adam Holfcener, Director, Maryland Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
- Jeffery Kent, Artist and Co-Director of BmoreArt’s Connect+Collect Initiative
- Twi McCallum, Arts Education Specialist, Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts
- Tamara Payne, Artist and Professor, Baltimore City Community College
- Alex Montanio, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility, Gordon Feinblatt, LLC
To date, Courting Art Baltimore has awarded $130,931 in College Bound Scholarships to students since it first began in 2016. In its 8th year, Courting Art continues to live true to its mission of connecting the legal community to the local community and bringing about peace through creativity for all who walk the halls of the Eastside District Court House.
We are grateful to all the generous sponsors, Court House staff volunteers, teachers, students and everyone involved who work so hard to make this event a success year after year.
