- [Announcer] This program is made by MPT to serve all of our diverse communities and is made possible by the generous support of our members.

Thank you.

(upbeat music) - [Rhea] Coming up a Special Edition of Artworks, the 2011 Baker Artist Awards.

Meet the brightest of the Baltimore regions creative genius.

The winners of the Mary Sawyers Baker Artist Awards.

Celebrate their talent and vitality.

Next, the third annual Baker Artist Awards.

A new Artwork Special.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Hello and welcome to this Special Edition of Artworks.

Featuring the 2011 Baker Artist Awards.

These unique awards have become the centerpiece of the area's cultural community.

Artists nominate themselves on the awards website and from these a jury panel selects three $25,000 Mary Sawyers Baker Artist Award winners.

And tonight we are very proud to be able to announce them right here on MPT.

So welcome to the third annual Baker Artist Awards.

Joining me is Doreen Bolger, Director of the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Doreen, thank you so much for being here.

- It's a pleasure, Rhea.

- Now you have not only been enthusiastic about the Baker Awards, but actually very, very supportive.

Why do you think they're so important?

- I think it's a very important way we have to attract artists to Baltimore, to recognize those artists who live here and work here and to assure that creativity that's present in our community.

- And this year, it's kind of a little bit different because in addition to these three very big awards they're going to be 18 B grants.

Now, what are they exactly?

And what will they do?

- B grants are thousand dollar recognition awards for artists working in a variety of media from established to emerging artists who are doing wonderful new things.

- That's really, really exciting.

So lots and lots of people are gonna be benefiting from these Baker awards.

- Absolutely, and the community benefits the most to have so many great artists here.

- And the BMA is doing something wonderful again this year and that is of course, having an exhibit of the Baker Award winners.

- We feel really honored to be able to present them all from September 7th through October 2nd at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

We're also going to have a late night on Saturday, October 1st where they'll all be present and performing.

- Oh, that is really, really exciting.

So in the past, when you've had them there what's been the audience reaction to the Baker Award Winners?

- People I think are really excited and amazed to know that we have so much talent in our own town.

- [Rhea] And you have done such a great job of letting us all see them at the BMA which is very prestigious for them and, and quite an honor.

- Well actually, we're the ones who're honored to do it.

- Thank you so much for being with us on this very, very special night.

The Baker Awards night here at MPT.

- Thanks.

It's been great to be here.

- You know, the suspense is actually building and that is to announce this year's Baker Artist Award winners, but not yet.

First of all, I wanna remind you of the stunning talent in the winner's circle.

So why don't we take a look, right back at last year's awards?

- This work is, is really a development of my daydreaming and focusing on dreams.

Actually, a lot of ideas come from dreams I've had.

It's kind of a wandering thought.

Being recognized by the Baker committee has been a thrill for me.

It's given me time which is what I need more than, than anything.

My work's very time-consuming and the Baker has allowed me to pursue less work outside of the studio and to just stay here.

(violin playing) - Winning the Baker Award was a tremendous honor and also it was a shock.

I took a long time to consider what I would do with it and I decided to put it towards commissions.

The reason I was nominated was to enhance the veal or repertoire as well as the Viola, as a solo instrument.

So these pieces that I'm interested in, in having written for me, I hope to have them performed by myself.

Not only in Baltimore and around the country, but around the world.

- [Karen] I think when you win a big award like that it's a huge confirmation that what you do is meaningful to other people in the world.

And the kind of work that I do is very slow and obsessive.

It gave me time and it also gave me a lot of confidence to try and think of more ambitious projects that I'd like to do.

So it, it really keeps me going, not only financially but just in terms of confirmation that other people care and something's being communicated.

- It's so gratifying to see the creative impact of the Baker Artist awards and don't forget the 18 winners of the all-new B grant prizes.

We won't wanna forget about any of those, but right now, why don't we take a look at six of these winners, right now.

(upbeat music) We really do have an amazing range of talent in the region.

And you know what?

That is a perfect lead in for the first Mary Sawyers Baker Award winner.

Beat Box Artist, Vocal Percussionist and performer extraordinaire, Shodokeh.

- I've always been to the qualities of sounds.

I used to do a lot of sound emulations from cartoons, from movies.

It transitioned from vocal mimicry of sounds to create a music.

Happened when I was in high school, I was already a heavy avid listener of a lot of hip hop and all forms of music.

Actually, a lot of rock and roll, more jazz.

That's when I started to tune my ear and my vocal abilities to try to create more music with it.

And then, in my freshman year of college, I started to explore more musical options with what I had available with my voice.

And I joined an acapella group.

When that happened, I had opportunities to compose as a vocal percussionist.

So instead of just always backing up MCs or battling DJs which is a whole other form of composition within itself.

I was given a new challenge.

I had to capture something emotional this time because we didn't just do one specific style or genre of music, which the acapella group that I was in.

We did a wide variety of genres and that was a very important moment in transitioning to my career as a musician.

I think I've always wanted to work within various genres of music.

And I didn't realize it until these opportunities sort of came to me.

Like for example, I was a musical accompanist for this poetry event called Slam Side and it was my job to accompany the other musicians and the other spoken word artists.

And there was one fateful day January of 2006, Vincent Thomas, a professor of modern dance here at Towson University, was in the audience.

He approached me about having me come in and play music for a dance class.

I thought, he meant for like, a week or two or maybe two weeks but he meant for the entire semester actually.

So when that happened, a whole new world just opened up to me.

I was at that point willing and able to take it to anywhere just to see where I stood as a musician.

If I can match wits with these different forms, whether it was dance or even the visual arts, doing musical interpretations of still work and trying to find ways to have music as a tool bring the artwork to life.

Those sorts of challenges and also to not just challenge myself but to challenge the people with any genres who aren't used to these sorts of experiences to kind of challenge their notions or preconceived ideas of what a beatbox is supposed to do or not supposed to do cause there were some people who didn't like that I was beatboxing for ballet, but I kind of didn't care because I was there just not just to challenge myself but to challenge them to.

I know I always want to work as an accompanist for dance.

It's not even a performance, but it's like praying for a self-improvement not just for myself, but for the professor, the students.

It's a very unique experience that kind of goes beyond any description through words.

I just want to keep myself inspired, keep others inspired.

Keep myself from burning out.

Doing a lot of work for little than nothing.

Fundraising, that's an art form I wanna master.

I'm working on that.

(laughs) - Shodokeh, I have always been knocked out by your talent and it just keeps getting better and better.

When you look back on your performance life, it's really changed a lot.

- [Shodokeh] Yes it has.

Yeah and it's always changing, especially like for example when I performed with the BSO last summer, from being an usher there in 2004, in the spring of 04 to being on stage with them six years later.

So yeah, it's always constantly evolving.

- That must've been a thrilling experience.

What did you do with the BSO?

- I did a piece called Fujiko's fairytale, composed by Jan Vainio from Finland and we presented the U.S. premiere of the piece and it was originally composed for beat boxing and the string section of a orchestra.

- How did you feel when you found out that you won this Baker Award?

- Like thank God.

That's how it felt.

I was very thrilled, also very humbled.

Um, I'm still, I still can't believe it's actually happening.

- And so how is it gonna change your life?

- Um, I'll be able to invest into myself specifically through work that I wanna do for an album.

It's gonna also help me with Embody, a music series and festival with the vocal arts.

Um, and that have ideas for us.

So, and I'm, I'm hoping this can also teach me more about fundraising as well in the future.

- Well, I just want to congratulate.

You are an incredible talent and it's my pleasure to keep you B.

- Thank you very much.

Now, before we meet our second Baker Artist Award Winner let's take another look at more B grant winners.

They include the recipient of an additional $500 prize.

The Nancy Herrigan Award given an honor of the founding Director of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance.

(upbeat music) And now, I'm pleased to introduce our second Baker Artist Award Winner.

He's contributed to our area's cultural vitality for decades as visual artists and arts administrator.

Please meet, Gary Kachadourian.

- [Gary] Choosing the kinds of objects I choose is really largely because I'm interested in them.

I mean, I think they're beautiful but I don't necessarily think that they should be considered beautiful.

It's just what sticks in your brain and you know, you assume that what's staying in your brain is something that tells something about you probably.

And that's kind of the point of making art.

I look at other artist's work, you know.

Half of it is what I can find out about the way they think.

This is one of the last project I finished, which is "Book Of Cut and Fold Objects" anything from a self-portrait, you know to (indistinct), to barriers, vacant lot, snowball stand.

Things you drive by every day and that are fairly central and elemental to, you know, society that we live in.

Well this piece is a brand new set of the like cut and fold series and it's a apartment dumpster which I've done a few flat ones up before but this is a 3-dimensional one and a sofa but with removable cushions, cause there's always when you go buy apartment complexes you always see like a sofa next to the dumpster.

I did this a self portrait a few years ago.

It's actually the only mammal I've done a drawing of in probably, six years but this one I kind of felt I had to do.

And it came from standing in line with 7/11 and looking at the security camera and noticing a really large bald spot on the back of my head.

I've not actually realized was there.

Surprise, so it seemed like a good time to document that particular aging process.

I don't look at any of these things being mass produced at this point.

So this book sold for $4 and, you know I saw a different mostly like artists books, atlas, places like Queen Bees in Chicago, Printed Matter in New York and locally.

I do posters and this is actually a another scale version of the vacant lot.

Behind it, and in both these panels actually are were ceiling panels that I'd had up before.

So they're a drawing of a drop ceiling, acoustic tile.

And then the last, to this kind of sequence is a installation that I did on a building on Norton Charles that, you know, uses a bush in early spring and a decorative block wall.

From the point of view of like making the drawings that you have to make it in an uncompromising manner, but at the same time make it so that people might find it interesting to look at.

It's a tough thing.

You know, you're not you're not trying to bend to please them.

You're trying to make something that will please them on your terms.

- Gary, congratulations to you.

Now you talked about pleasing yourself and then pleasing your audience on your own terms.

As an artist, do you ever stop really thinking about your audience?

- Um, I mean sometimes you do, but it's in the end.

It's kind of the point of making work is, for somebody to look it.

So it's, you know, you have a double problem.

- Well, what do you think that your art tells us about you?

- I actually don't worry about that too much.

I just kind of like select things that interest me and I try to like pick the things that interests me the most and hopefully that connects.

It both connect.

- You're not worried about revealing yourself in your art?

- Not too much now.

- Oh, that's good.

Now, what were your expectations when you entered the competition?

- Oh well, I mean for me, I used to organize, you know, similar projects so I kinda know the ratio and such.

My main expectation was just to really utilize the website, which is fantastic and like organize my work in a different way than I had before.

So that was the first thing.

You do think about the potential of winning, but then, you know, having done it enough I kind of like, you just eliminate that - [Rhea] And then you won - And then I won.

- [Rhea] And then you won.

So what are you gonna do with that money?

- Oh, well It actually fits very nicely into my kinda, you know recent career decisions.

A couple of years ago, I quit my full-time job and decided to try to make as just enough money to be able to make art.

So the goal basically is to use it to continue to make art, yeah.

- Well, keep on making art.

It's got a little, little stuff, confetti in there but there's your B and congratulations.

- Oh thank you, Yes.

- Please remember that you can browse the online galleries of all artists at the awards website.

Our final group of B grant prize winners includes the $500 Semmes G. Walsh Award, honoring his 40 years of service to the Baker fund.

♪ I've written in my diary ♪ ♪ So you know just what we came up ♪ - [Michelle] The beast that sleeps on concrete in the middle of rush hour traffic, communities of the news.

♪ It takes about a hand ♪ ♪ Puts her in a trance ♪ - [Justin] Last night, I dreamt about a mutt whose tail never learned how to wag and under a sun that gagged us with heat, the mutt... ♪ I'm scattered like changed on the bedroom floor ♪ ♪ My nerves are shut ♪ - [Fernando] 3:17 PM.

This is the day the universe opens up to me the day that I throw off the chains of gravity.

- And now, I'm very proud to introduce our third and final Mary Sawyers Baker Artist Award Winner.

Audrey Chen is a gripping performer as musician, vocalist and electronics artist.

Be prepared for a truly extraordinary experience.

(Audrey singing) - [Audrey] You know, I try to recontextualize all these sounds.

They might be sounds that for some people think they're really ugly.

They're really grating, they're really, but they're actually just they're the, the quality of beautiful and ugly is just something that we all construct.

It's like a human construct.

Something that's intense or gentle is kind of on a more basic degree.

Before you make the judgment of bad or good.

There is intense and there's gentle or there's something that relaxes you or whatever.

So I try to, I try to peel back with the sounds to go into something that's kind of less judgment based less word based, less category based.

If people can kind of get themselves out of these areas It is more primal.

It is more primitive, but I think these things are what people in society today really lost touch with.

So they can get back in touch with something that's more real for them.

Then, then I'd be really happy.

(Audrey singing) - Audrey, it is so compelling to listen to you and I'm sure that a lot of our viewers have never heard any music like yours before.

Can you possibly tell us how it evolved, how you started doing this?

- Well, I started as a musician doing classical music.

I started playing cello when I was eight.

I started to sing when I was 11, something like that.

And um, I...

I think it was, I was on this path and I went to conservatory and I was doing a lot of contemporary music and early music actually.

And it was about seven years ago now, six or seven years ago, I made a switch to do something where I could combine both the cello and voice, and more of my personal ideas about sound and how it fits into living.

Actually, not so it's something separate.

Art is actually not separate.

Music is not separate.

It's part of what we breathe and what we're born with.

So how do I make this into something that's my own and something that's honest.

And um...

Through meeting people in the community in Baltimore.

Actually, initially it made me start trying to rework what I had already as a facility, as a language and make my own language to communicate something that was more personal.

- Well it is truly marvelous and I am honored to present the B to you.

- Thank you.

- [Rhea] Congratulations again.

- Thanks very much.

- We really hope that you have enjoyed this year's Baker Artist Awards and we wanna say, congratulations to all of our winners.

We also wanna thank everyone at the Baker Fund for nurturing the arts in the greater Baltimore area.

For Maryland Public Television and Artworks, I'm Rhea Feikin.

It's been a thrill to have these winners on the program with us.

I hope you've enjoyed it as much as we have.

Good night and I hope we see you again soon.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] This program is made by MPT to serve all of our diverse communities and is made possible by the generous support of our members.

Thank you.