I love the concept of an alternative gallery space.
When I visited the Storehouse dispensary in Mount Washington back in March, I was inspired to see some art on the walls by several local artists. It wasn't always like this—art on the walls—but I was stoked about the new direction. Paintings and digital illustrations, very cool, but I didn't notice any photography. This felt like an opportunity, so I decided to track down the manager to see if they'd be interested in supporting a Woodberry photographer.
I had the perfect photo in mind, a mash-up of two images that I captured in the neighborhood of Locust Point and wrote about here. I thought the work—if displayed in a sweet maple frame—would compliment the rainbow signage in the lobby, which also had a stylish wood frame. And the thin white line separating my two photos would play nicely with the horizontal lines that underscored the sativa, the hybrid and the indica, which are varying strains of the cannabis flower. And for bonus points, a mash-up and a hybrid are kinda the same thing, the hybrid being a blend of sativa and indica.
The manager was excited, I was excited, everybody was excited. I only had one deadline to meet; make sure the mash-up was hanging in the lobby by July 1st, which was the first day recreational cannabis would be legal in Maryland.
Done. We hung that badboy on June 1st.
The mash-up will live in The House indefinitely, or until it sells, or until I decide to replace it with something new. It's basically an ALT exhibition that I can have fun with, keep it funky, mix it up.
There is a t-shirt you can buy at Atomic Books in Hampden that says, "Baltimore: Actually I like it." I'm digging that. But maybe an ALT tee would go something like, "Be: Art, Love & Trees."
Find your happy home.
⌘