Urban Choral Arts Society Community Concert Series: Music Brings Us Together – A Celebration of Black Music
Join the Urban Choral Arts Society, Inc. (UCAS)--a nonprofit dedicated to improving the achievement and esteem of Baltimore area youth through choral music and cultural arts–for an outdoor, socially distanced performance highlighting the important contributions of African-Americans in the BMI’s covered pavilion.
This series is made possible by the Maryland State Arts Council. Free, but advance registration is required at urbanchoralarts.org.
Community Concert Series: John Lamkin Favorites Jazz Quintet
Join the John Lamkin Favorites Jazz Quintet for three outdoor, family-friendly, COVID-safe jazz performances in the BMI’s covered pavilion this summer. This series is made possible by the Maryland State Arts Council. Free, no registration required.
Electrifying Baltimore: How Electricity Changed the City and its Citizens
Join us for an in-depth look at electricity’s arrival in Baltimore with Senior Museum Educator Jack Burkert. Modern Baltimore arrived when delivering power through wires became a reality. Pushing gas into the past, electrical power for machinery and factories modernized manufacturing. This is the story of how the city and her citizens adopted and adapted to the decades it took to truly electrify Baltimore.
BMI educators Meghan and Brandon are ready to welcome visitors back into the museum.
Back to Work! The BMI Reopens July 3 With Industrial-Sized Program Lineup
After more than a year of silent machines and dormant printing presses, the Baltimore Museum of Industry is excited to fire up the lathes, labeling machines, and Linotype, as we re-open on Saturday, July 3, 2021 for an all-day celebration!
Tickets are availableonline and at the door. In order to adhere to safety guidelines, up to 50 tickets are available for entry every hour.
We have a full day of programming scheduled to welcome visitors back:
From 9AM to 3PM our museum educators will be giving guided tours of various galleries.
Between 10AM and 12PM our Print Shop volunteers will demonstrate historic presses including the Linotype, the machine that Thomas Edison declared ‘the eighth wonder of the world.’
From 10AM to 1PM we invite visitors to put on their curator hats and provide feedback on the new BMI exhibition under development, Fire and Shadow: The Rise and Fall of Bethlehem Steel.
At 11AM visitors can meet photographer J.M. Giordano, and explore his exhibition SHUTTERED: Images from the Fall of Bethlehem Steel.
Outdoors, enjoy the Farmers’ Market from 9AM to 1PM and our outdoor exhibition, Women of Steel, all day.
J.M. Giordano will be on hand to talk to visitors about his exhibition, SHUTTERED: Images From the Fall of Bethlehem Steel.
The BMI is in tip top shape to welcome you back. While the museum has been closed our staff has been hard at work updating the museum, from transforming the lunch truck to installing the “dot” from the Domino’s Sugar sign in our Decker Gallery. For more information about the opening, safety and visitor policies, visit thereopening page. Mask use is encouraged. Your mask helps protect those around you, including young museum visitors who are not vaccinated yet.
Beginning Friday, July 9, the museum will be open on Fridays and Saturdays, 9AM – 3PM until further notice.
Fire and Shadow concept rendering created by exhibition designer Danielle Nekimken.
“Steeling” the Show: New Bethlehem Steel Exhibit to Open in September
From J.M. Giordano’s Shuttered: Images from the Fall of Bethlehem Steel to the BMI’s outdoor exhibition, Women of Steel, temporary exhibits exploring the impact of Bethlehem Steel and its workers have shined a light on one of Baltimore’s most important industrial histories. Now, drawing on artifacts, photographs, and interviews collected from the Sparrows Point community, the BMI is preparing to debut an original exhibition that reveals the proud stories behind Bethlehem Steel and the role played by workers and residents of Sparrows Point.
Fire and Shadow: The Rise and Fall of Bethlehem Steel, explores the history of the Sparrows Point mill, once the world’s largest producer of steel. Its well-paying union jobs—and the hundreds of smaller companies the mill sustained—supported countless Baltimoreans and nourished close-knit communities.
The official closure of the Sparrows Point mill devastated the surrounding community and its residents. Fire and Shadow not only explains what happened, but also looks at what’s happening now, and asks the question, “What does the future hold for Sparrows Point?”
“This exhibition is made possible through the generosity of Baltimore’s steel community, whose members have stepped up to share stories, artifacts, and ideas as we worked to make sure we got the story right,” says Anita Kassof, executive director at the BMI. “From the get-go, our goal was to make sure this exhibition was about the workers at Bethlehem Steel, and we could not have done it without the support of the community members who entrusted us with this legacy.”
Construction of a new wall in the Decker Gallery was completed in June for Fire and Shadow, a new exhibition opening in September.
Centrally located in the museum’s iconic Decker Gallery, Fire and Shadow will serve as a backdrop for Bethlehem Steel-related programs, a community resource, and an introduction to the powerful story of Sparrows Point for future generations.
Fire and Shadow is a part of the multi-year Bethlehem Steel Legacy Project, an initiative supported by Tradepoint Atlantic and the Davis Family Foundation . We are also grateful for the support of other project supporters including Venable, LLP and Residential Title and Escrow Co. The initiative encompasses a multitude of programs, a podcast series, and extensive community outreach.
Details on the exhibition opening, set for September 21, will be available soon.
The BMI will not host a July 4th celebration this year. We wish everyone a happy Independence Day!
We are able to offer many of our programs for free thanks to the generous support of our members and donors. Please consider making a donation or joining the BMI so we can continue doing so.