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Culture & Artsby Mark Reutter11:34 amJul 21, 20140

Artscape 2014: Baltimore enjoys being itself

Big, friendly crowds mark this year’s art festival

Above: The Artscape vibe is something worth getting lovey-dovey about.

It’s over, those three days in July where Baltimore puts aside its siloed, segregated self and joins hands as the city that, well, dances together.

By all accounts, Artscape ’14 was a rip-roaring success: record-breaking crowds, plenty of good music at Mt. Royal Station and other stages, first-class art thanks to curators who weeded out the run-of-the-mill stuff, and new “After Hours” performances on North Charles Street.

There was the promised mobility, but mobility that favored the two-legged type and Light Rail – where the automobile was featured as an expression of creativity (the Art Car exhibit) rather than a tyrant of urban life.

But what we liked best about Artscape is how it maintains a home-grown feel of Baltimoreans (from the city and the greater metro area) enjoying their own diversity, quirkiness and continuity as a unique corner of America while embracing artists and performers from around the country.

So bravo to BOPA, Mayor Rawlings-Blake and her staff, and BCPD and Commissioner Batts, whose officers handled the crowds with a light and friendly touch.

One suggestion for 2015: more benches so that families, old-timers and others can recuperate from all the visual and aural stimulation.

BELOW: some views of Artscape yesterday evening shortly before the DPW crews took over.

Looking south down Charles Street from Penn Station. The scaffolded Washington Monument rises in the distance. (Photo by Rose A. McNeill)

Looking down Charles Street from Penn Station. The scaffolded Washington Monument can be seen in the distance. (Photo by Rose A. McNeill)

Crowds peruse the art vendor exhibits on Mt. Royal Avenue. Note the mother sitting on the curb next to her babystroller, underscoring the need for more benches. (Photo by Rose A. McNeill)

Crowds peruse the vendor exhibits on Mt. Royal Avenue. Note the mother sitting on the curb next to her babystroller, underscoring the need for more benches. (Photo by Rose A. McNeill)

Next to Artscape's ferris wheel, the Male/Female sculpture at Penn Station seems almost like a natural fit. (Photo by Dawne Allette)

Next to Artscape’s ferris wheel, the Male/Female sculpture outside of Penn Station almost, maybe, seems like a natural fit. (Photo by Dawne Allette)

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