baltimore

last weekend, i visited friends in baltimore. it was a really nice getaway from new york, more so than boston. i like boston, but there's something about baltimore that i really admire. maybe it's still a relatively blue-collar, middle-class city. my new favorite museum is the american visionary art museum. i even flirted with the idea of moving to baltimore to justify purchasing a membership.

their main exhibit was "all faiths beautiful." along the staircases between each floor, postcards from frank warren's postsecrets were framed and posted on the walls. these postcards specifically involved people's secrets about faith. some of them were pretty general (i found god, now i'm saved. i lost my faith and am hiding it from my family and friends.); some were pretty profound. there was one memorable card regarding a military personnel (navy?) who is a liberal atheist who felt compelled to lie about his political and religious stance to gain respect among his peers and to appear as a candidate for promotions among his superiors.

there was a room devoted to the female as the origin of life that permeates in many religious beliefs as well. i admit that i've gotten to a point in my life where i don't feel the angst i once did in my younger years towards the societal oppression of women. i think it was just a matter of realizing being angry doesn't change anything. really, i need to work hard to prove my capabilities, even if it means i have to work extra hard to do so. some things in life aren't fair, but it must go on. so it was actually refreshing to see artwork that promoted feminism so vocally.

i also really liked and appreciated an exhibit that focused on artworks created by people with mental disabilities. art, being a medium with so little constraint and so open to new ideas and ways of communication, offered a voice to some of these people who aren't able to express themselves in conventional ways. also, it's a way for them to create something beautiful that other people can admire, giving them a sense of gratification that they might not feel often in their lives.

within all the exhibits, the museum promoted a sense of community among baltimore artists by selecting many of the artworks from local artists. baltimore, being sort of the underdog among east coast cities, is trying to rebuild itself to come out of that status, and art is an important element to any community trying to elevate itself, allowing expressions of progression and vision. besides the obvious attraction of my dear friends and their loving cats, i hope to visit baltimore again very soon.