In May of this year, trustees of the Baltimore Contemporary Museum voted unanimously to discontinue all museum exhibitions in order to focus the museum’s energy on fundraising. In a letter to its members and friends, the trustees describe the results of their decision, and ensure their continued commitment to the museum’s mission of showcasing contemporary art and ideas. However, the duration of this halt in programming is as yet unknown. The Contemporary has existed since 1989 as a “museum without walls,” exhibiting wherever space could be found, from the back of a van to a vacant storefront. Ten years later the museum moved to a building at 100 W. Centre Street near the Walters Art Museum, where it remained until last October. Following this the museum had planned to move into a new location at 505 N. Charles Street in Mount Vernon, but, in an article published by The Baltimore Sun in June, board president Bodil Ottesen explains that the Contemporary had been unable to raise the sufficient funds required for its move to and renovation of the new location. For the moment one can only hope that this suspension of programming is simply a temporary hiatus in its vital role as the purveyor of cutting-edge art to the city of Baltimore.

SOURCE: Jean Marbella, “Contemporary Museum Hopes to Reopen,” The Baltimore Sun (June 1, 2012).
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