COP Happy Hour & Baltimore Open City

Quick announcement in case you were concerned - The Citizens of Pigtown Happy Hour is canceled for tonight.


The following is a repost:
Check out Baltimore Open City! 

Opening of Baltimore: Open City
Friday, April 1, 7–9 p.m. North Avenue Market, 16 W. North Ave.
Celebrate the opening of the exhibition Baltimore: Open City, which will investigate the ways in which people feel welcome or unwelcome in Baltimore neighborhoods. The evening will include food trucks, a Night Lights event with Sky Space Project, and live music.

From their website:

An open city is a place where everyone feels welcome, regardless of such things as wealth, race, age, or religion. In every neighborhood of an open city, one feels like he or she belongs. However in Baltimore—as in most American metropolitan areas—issues like housing discrimination, bad public transportation, and the privatization of public space separate people, and create an uneven distribution of health, wealth, and education.

For the exhibition Baltimore: Open City, students of Maryland Institute College of Art’s Exhibition Development Seminar invited scholars, activists, community-based organizations, local artists, and visiting artist Damon Rich to create a series of installations, workshops, and other public programs that investigate the ways in which Baltimore is and is not an open city. We welcome our neighbors to join us in exploring what a more open city might look and feel like.

It runs through May 15th if you can't make it tonight.  Though, I must admit I haven't found hours of operation if you want to stop in on any other day.  Here is a list of future lectures/events associated with the group though:

http://baltimoreopencity.tumblr.com/events
http://baltimoreopencity.tumblr.com/lecture_series



Personally, I have an absolute passion for urban design and planning.  I have a background in Landscape Architecture, so this level of nerd is expected from me.  I really believe that good design can save us all.  Well... maybe not solve everything.  But I'm fascinated by the psychological and health benefits that are associated with good design, whether that be making your neighborhood a more social and welcoming place or making it more accessible to alternative modes of transportation like walking/biking that cost nothing and lead to great adventure!  I'll stop weirding you out now...  GO!  Maybe you'll be inspired to create something really awesome that we could make happen in Pigtown ;)


I know I have ideas, and I'll reveal some of them soon!