Overview




Artists who create a Baker Artist Portfolio are automatically eligible for one of five Baker Artist Awards, which include significant monetary prizes, an exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art as well as a feature on Maryland Public Televisions Artworks

This year, six artists will be selected to win a total of $90,000 in prizes: 
-One Artist per discipline (Literarty Arts, Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Inter-Disciplinary Arts, Music and Film/ Video) will be selected to win a $10,000 Mary Sawyers Baker Prize
-From these six awardees, one artist will be selected to receive the Mary Sawyers Ibmoden Prize, including an additional $30,000,  for a total of $40,000. 


These prizes will be awarded to an artists who exemplify a mastery of craft, artistic excellence, and a unique and compelling vision. 


Mary Sawyers Baker Prize

Five $10,000 Mary Sawyers Baker prize will be awarded in 2016 to one exemplary artist who has create a portfolio in the Baker site. 

Mary Sawyers Baker was one of Baltimore's early philanthropists, studied voice as a young girl in Paris and embraced the arts throughout her life. She established the William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund in 1964 to honor her husband, a well-known Baltimore civic leader.

Mary Sawyers Imboden Prize 

Established to be truly transformational to the life and career of one artist, the $40,000 Mary Sawyers Imboden Prize will be awarded to one exemplary artist who has create a portfolio in the Baker site. 

Mary Sawyers Imboden was the beloved niece of Mary Sawyers Baker and throughout her childhood traveled extensively with her aunt throughout Europe.  Mary Sawyers Baker established The William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund in 1964 and upon her death in 1976, was succeeded by Mary S. Imboden on its Board of Governors on which she served until 1999.  During her tenure on the board, she was instrumental in forming the Fund’s guidelines and procedures to better reflect her aunt’s wishes.  In addition to making sure each dollar was granted wisely, Mary Imboden wanted to make sure the fund was innovative and specifically met the needs of the city of Baltimore. 

Eligibility

To create a portfolio on the Baker Artist Portfolio site, you must be at least 21 years old and have been a legal resident of the Baltimore region since October 1, 2015 (one year prior to the opening of the current open portfolio season). The Baltimore region is defined as: Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Carroll County, Harford County and Howard County.

The Baker Artist Portfolios and associated awards are intended for individual artists and groups of artists working as a collective. Artists working in any discipline or multiple disciplines are eligible to win the Mary Sawyers Imbodem Prize and the Mary Sawyers Baker prize. Past $1,000 and $5,000 winners remain eligible to win the Mary Sawyers Imboden and Mary Sawyers Baker prizes. Organizations and venues are not eligible.

Selected awardees will be required to provide additional proof of age and residency beyond information requested through the online self-nomination process.

The Baker Artist Portfolios and awards are managed by The Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance.  All inquiries regarding eligibility should be directed to [email protected]

How to submit

Your portfolio on the Baker Artist Portfolios website serves as your submission for the Baker Artist Awards.

Artists have until January 20, 2017 at 5:00PM to create or update their portfolio. At that time, the website will automatically create a cloned copy of each artists portfolio to be used for adjudication. After 5:00PM, artists may still update their public portfolio, but these updates will not be judged until the following year. 

There is no "submit" button. All artists with an active portfolio on January 20, 2017 at 5:00PM will have their worked reviewed by this years anonymous jury. 

Artists may choose to keep their portfolio private until the submission deadline. To do so, once you are logged in as an artist, click on your name in the upper right hand corner of the website. Select Edit Account Info, and then click on the "Artist Profile" button. At the bottom of that screen, there is a button which reads "Keep my artwork private." Select this box, and click "Save". Your portfolio will now be hidden, but please make sure it is live on January 20th at 5PM. 

Need more help?

Visit our help page here. Or contact us at  [email protected]