BALTIMORE, MD – The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) announces the re-opening of its Patricia and Mark Joseph Education Center with new opportunities for hands-on artmaking and interactive engagement for families, students, and art lovers of all ages. At the heart of the renovated and expanded center is a series of site-specific installations by internationally acclaimed artists Derrick Adams, Mary Flanagan, and Pablo Helguera, who each created experiences that encourage learning through play and physical connection. The 5,625-square-foot Joseph Education Center also includes new and refurbished classrooms for both dry and wet artmaking and a Wall of Wonder with tactile and digital displays that invite visitors to consider creative processes and activate their own imaginations. The center debuts on Sunday, December 3 with an Opening Celebration from 1 to 5 p.m. with opportunities to meet the artists and enjoy hands-on artmaking.
The renovation of the center was made possible by Baltimore philanthropists Patricia and Mark Joseph, who have been major donors to the BMA for over three decades. They established the center in 2015 with a $3 million gift and have contributed $2.5 million toward its reconceptualization. The transformation of the Joseph Education Center recognizes the evolving ways people learn, enables digital learning and enhanced global connectivity, and establishes more unified areas for intergenerational learning through interactions that prompt surprise, socialization, creativity, and further artistic inquiry. The renovation work was led by Quinn Evans, as project architect, and Whiting Turner, as the contractor.
“Patricia and I are delighted to experience the many new and exciting elements of the center that will certainly enhance learning and we hope also encourage a life-long interest in the arts,” said Mark Joseph. “It has been our pleasure to continue to support education at the BMA and we look forward to the many programs and opportunities that the center will help facilitate for students and visitors of all ages.”
“The dynamic experiences created by Derrick Adams, Mary Flanagan, and Pablo Helguera offer new ways of connecting with art and ideas. Their works, along with the wide range of other interactives in the Joseph Education Center, reflect our commitment to creating opportunities for learning and catalyzing creative engagement,” said Asma Naeem, BMA Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director. “We are grateful to Patricia and Mark Joseph for their generosity and vision in providing a welcoming space for families and helping us make the education center an even more vital space within the museum.”
More information: https://artbma.org
