Baltimore’s Young Preservationist Happy Hour meets Wikipedia

Baltimore’s Young Preservationist Happy Hour is back in Mount Vernon on Friday, July 22 for our usual beers plus a quick talk from the the new Wikipedian-In-Residence at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art! Can’t get enough Wikipedia in one evening? Come out to the first GLAM Wiki Partnerships in Baltimore meeting hosted by the Walters Art Museum on Saturday, July 23.

Young Preservationist Happy Hour meets Wikipedia

Friday, July 22, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Midtown Yacht Club, 15 East Centre Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
RSVP Today!

Despite the name and its location just across the street from the historic Peabody Conservatory, the Midtown Yacht Club is an unpretentious neighborhood bar with affordable drinks (all beer & cocktails will be 50 cents off all evening) and a solid Tex-Mex influenced bar menu. Come early to grab your beer and get settled so you can enjoy our talk on exciting new partnerships between Wikipedia and cultural heritage organizations at 6:30 pm.

From the British Library to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, cultural heritage organizations are partnering with the Wikipedian community to share collections of historic photographs, document public art, celebrate local landmarks, and more. Join us for a short talk by Sarah Stierch–the new Wikipedian-in-Residence for the Smithsonian Archives of American Art–starting at 6:30 pm or just drop by for a beer when you can.

GLAM Wiki Partnerships in Baltimore

Saturday, July 23, 10:00 am to 12:30 pm
Walters Museum, 600 North Charles Street
RSVP by July 18

If you work with a cultural heritage organization and you’re interested in developing your own partnerships with Wikipedians and the Wikimedia community, join us for the first GLAM Wiki Partnerships in Baltimore meeting hosted by the Walters Museum. We’ll start with an introduction to how GLAMs (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) across the country are partnering with Wikipedia from Wiki DC organizer Katie Flibert and museum professional Sarah Stierch. This introduction will be followed by a presentation by Dylan Kinnett on new online engagement efforts by the Walters Art Museum. We’ll then conclude with a lively brainstorming session on new opportunities here in Baltimore. Please RSVP for this meeting by July 18!

Join us for The Raven Forevermore: A Poe House Fundraiser

Many of you have heard that after many years of stewardship, Baltimore City is no longer providing funds for the operation, programming and upkeep of the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum. We are pleased to be a partner in one of the creative efforts underway to raise support for this city landmark. Gaia, a MICA-trained and critically acclaimed emerging artist with gallery shows in Chicago, New York and Washington and street art from Madrid to Seoul, has donated 100 limited edition prints of his block print “The Raven (Forevermore), 2011” to help the Poe House.

We are hosting a special reception with the artist at the historic Railway Express building to learn about the Poe House and raise money for its upkeep through the sale of this generously donated artwork. The invitation-only event is free (even the wine and cheese!) and you will have an opportunity to purchase a print before they go on sale to the public. All proceeds from the sale will go directly to the Poe House. Baltimore art collectors Claribel and Etta Cone had to go all the way to Paris to find up and coming artists like Picasso and Matisse. All you have to do is get yourself to the Railway Express Building. I hope you can join us.

Event Details

July 14, 2011
Urbanite@Case[werks] in the Railway Express Building
1501 St. Paul Street, Suite 116 (across from Penn Station)
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Free!
RSVP Today!

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2011 Preservation Awards: Baron and Company Cigars Building

In June, Baltimore Heritage recognized 14 great historic preservation projects and people who have contributed significantly to the preservation of Baltimore’s historic places. Read on over the course of the summer as we cover these buildings and people, beginning with the Baron and Company Cigar Building.

The Baron and Company Cigar building at 1007 East Pratt Street lies within the South Central Historic District, along Central Avenue just east of Little Italy. Most of the structures in this area are vernacular rowhouses but a few, including the Cigar Building, are much larger industrial buildings that help give the area its distinctive flair. Baron and Company Cigars first occupied the space beginning about 1880, and by 1910 a company called the American Coat Pad Company had moved in. American Coat Pad was an apparel company that distributed throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada devoting itself exclusively to the little poofy parts of men’s and women’s coat fronts. In 2010, Mr. James Seay and his company, Premier Rides, Inc., along with Fishell  Architecture, renovated the building into office space for a number of companies and light manufacturers.

The current restoration included saving and restoring existing doors, replicating metal windows where the originals had deteriorated too badly to be salvaged, and keeping the original metal shutters. The interior spaces were largely compatible for light manufacturing, and were kept intact, with much patching of plaster of course. Many of the original interior doors were salvageable and were kept, as was much of the original wooden flooring. Overall, the work seems squarely in keeping with the purposes for which this late 19th century industrial building was built. Starting out life as a cigar company, then as a clothing manufacturer, it has a new lease on life as offices and light manufacturing.

Read on for more shots of the building from before and after this award winning rehabilitation!
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