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Culture & Artsby Brew Editors7:24 amJul 18, 20140

Escape to a cool place this weekend at Artscape

The craziness of the street, as well as the quiet pleasures of films and theater performances, await visitors to the 33rd annual staging of this Baltimore visual, performing arts and crafts celebration

Above: The Red Tent Dancers performing on Charles Street at last year’s Artscape.

Trapeze artists, ballet from Memphis and Las Vegas, the funk/soul artistry of Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, a cross-walk-hopping race on a Baltimore street.

Get it? Movement is the theme of this year’s Artscape. If these activities and entertainers don’t get you up off your true-black Herman Miller Aeron chair – what will?

There are many more reasons to check out Artscape, billed as America’s largest free arts festival, which is happening this weekend from today (starting at 11 a.m.) through Sunday.

You’ll have to decide whether you lean more toward art cars or “foggy psychedelic electric piano” and plot your personal strategy accordingly.

There’s the BSO, Orchkids, Bosley and lots of family-friendly activities. There’s the fujara overtone flute (on Sunday at 5 p.m. at the University of Baltimore Student Center). You don’t hear one of those every day.

For some reason, the idea of repairing to a dark movie theater at the Charles to watch unusual short films seems especially appealing. The Maryland Film Festival is offering free short films.

Skunk,” showing at 3 p.m. on Saturday, caught our eye:

A scene from Skunk, a film by Annie Silverstein playing at the Charles Theatre, presented by the Maryland Film Festival for Artscape.

A scene from “Skunk,” a film by Annie Silverstein presented by the Maryland Film Festival for Artscape on Sunday.

“It’s the story of a teenage girl named Leila growing up on a failed subdivision in central Texas. When her pit bull is stolen by an amateur dogfighter, Leila is forced to protect what she loves most, at the cost of her own innocence,” according to the blurbs for the film, which won the top student prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

We also plan to keep an eye out for a non-official Artscape happening, something that organizers are calling “No Pants, No Problem.”

A flash-mob with a purpose, they say on their Facebook page, with the mission being “to help create a world where everyone is treated with respect, no matter how they look or dress.”

They say they are dropping their trousers to educate about victim blaming! Why? Again, according to thei Facebook page:

no pants no problem

• “We are tired of hearing that what a person chooses to wear could or has ’caused’ them to be raped or assaulted.

• “We’re saddened by trans and gay people being victimized because of how they look.

• “We are so over cat calling! It doesn’t matter what we wear – it is our right to be able to walk down the street and be met with respect!”

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