In order to respond to the needs of artists who have been severely impacted by COVID 19, the entire awards process for the 2021 season has been reconfigured.

The $90,000 pool of funding usually reaches six artists annually. This year it will be awarded in the amount of $2,500 to 36 artists.

Knowing that the need is urgent, GBCA will accelerate the adjudication timeline and distribute the award funds as early as February 2021. For more information on the new, temporary award structure, please click here.

Each of the 36 artists who receive an award this year will remain eligible for all awards in coming years.

This year's awards will not include an exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art, however selected artists will all have the opportunity to showcase their work in a series of public performances and online exhibitions.

We are grateful to the Board of Governors at the William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund for their support and vision in making this change.

These prizes are awarded to artists who demonstrate excellence. Portfolios are reviewed by an anonymous jury in three areas: mastery of craft, depth of artistic exploration, and unique vision. All artists who have an active portfolio on the Baker website on January 22, 2021 at 5:00PM will be considered for one of this years 36 awards.

The deadline for you to complete your portfolio for consideration for a 2021 Baker Artist Award is Friday, January 22, 2021 at 5:00PM. This section contains important information and tips for you to consider before the deadline. Please read this message in its entirety.

1) Work Samples: Artists working in all disciplines are required to submit at least one and up to four work samples. Work samples can be added at the very top of your "Edit Portfolio" page. Up to four Work Samples of varying length may be submitted but must not exceed a limit of ten minutes or 15 pages in total. [For example; (5) two minute samples, or (1) ten minute sample OR (3) five page samples, or (1) 15 page sample, etc. Additional instructions can be found on the "Help" page. If your Work Sample exceeds the limit, we guarantee that judges will review the first 10 minutes or 15 pages of your work included in this section.

2) Site-wide Representation: This image will be the image that is representative of your portfolio throughout the Baker site. To set this image, click "Edit Account Info" then click "Artist Profile" at the top. Scroll down to the 3rd option that reads, "Site-wide Representation" and upload an image., or choose one from "My Files".

3) Background Image: To set the background of your portfolio, click "Edit Portfolio" and scroll to the last option, "Background Image" to change this image. This can be a representational image of your work, a solid color, pattern, etc.

4) Please note: Even if your portfolio is set to "hidden from public view", your portfolio will be adjudicated. If you do not wish to have your portfolio live or judged, please contact us immediately at [email protected]

We can be reached at [email protected]

As always, please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or peruse the rest of this Help Page.

• You must reactivate your portfolio each year to confirm you remain eligible. If you participated last year, your portfolio files and text with be saved just as you had left them from last year and it will go live. To reactivate your portfolio, simply login to your account.
• Artists in all disciplines to include up to four 'work samples' to display at the top of your portfolio. These should be your four best works that you would like jurors to see first. Be sure to add these in 'Edit Portfolio'. These work samples will display large, at the top of your portfolio.

• Background Image: Artists can customize the background of the page. By default your background will be a blue image. To customize your background, click "Edit Portfolio" from the menu. Toward the bottom of the page you will see a section called "Background Image". Upload the image you wish to appear as your background and hit "Save".
• Site-wide Representation: This image will be the image that is representative of your portfolio throughout the Baker site. To set this image, click "Edit Account Info" then click "Artist Profile" tab at the top. Scroll down to the 3rd option that reads, "Site-wide Representation" and upload an image. This image will appear on the homepage as well as in Search Results.
• All artists are required to add a résumé in .pdf format, which can be uploaded under the "Artist Profile" within "Edit Account Information".
• All artists now have the ability to add links to their social media accounts and their website(s) to their portfolio. Website can be added under "Artist Profile" and social media can be added in "Account info"
• You must select a neighborhood under "Artist Profile" so users can search for artists by certain regions and neighborhoods. This information will also populate our new community landing pages.

Interested in creating a portfolio? Have questions about eligibility? Need help with your portfolio? Want to hear tips and pointers? Curious what past awardees have to say?

Join us for a Baker Info Session!

Interested in creating a portfolio? Have questions about eligibility? Need help with your portfolio? Want to hear tips and pointers? Curious what past awardees have to say?

Join us for a Baker Info Session!

Each Baker Info Session session is 2 hours in length, and features a presentation from GBCA Staff with detailed program overviews and instructions on using the site. Whenever possible a past awardee will also be present to offer insight and tips on presenting yourself as an artist and creating a strong portfolio.

This year, Info Sessions will take place virtually through the Zoom Platform. An RSVP is required in order to receive the Zoom Link. Check back soon for a presentation you can watch at your leisure.

Beginning January 7th, artist will be able to sign-up for a 30 minute working session with GBCA staff to receive one on one technical asssistance.

Click here to RSVP!

2020/ 2021 Info Sessions

• Wednesday, December 9, 2020, 12pm - 2pm
• Thursday, December 10, 5pm - 7pm
• Monday, December 14, 6pm - 8pm
• Sunday, December 20, 3pm - 5pm
• Wednesday, January 6, Noon - 2pm
• Wednesday, January 6, 6pm - 8pm

Click here to RSVP!

DEADLINE: All artists with an active portfolio on Friday, January 22, 2021 at 5:00 pm will be considered for an award.

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• On the homepage of the Baker Artist Portfolios, scroll down until you see a big blue bar. On the left side you will see it read "Become a Baker Artist" and click "Start Your Portfolio"
• A small form will appear with a brief explanation of some benefits about having a portfolio on the site, as well as a prompt to fill out name, email, zip code, and preferred username information in order to make your account. Click "Create Your Portfolio" again.
• This will direct you to a full form will you will continue to enter the rest of the required information, indicated by a red asterisk, such as phone number, artistic discipline, biography, resume.
  • You should only pick one artistic discipline that best describes the majority of your practice: visual art; film/video; literary art; music; performing arts; and inter-disciplinary **Inter-disciplinary means that one particular body of work combines elements from many different disciplines.
  • You will later be able to choose different disciplines for each separate project that you add.
• There is additional information that you are invited to include that will help make your profile stronger and more searchable, such as: Neighborhood Location and Website
• You are also offered the option to keep your portfolio private and not viewable to the public until you decide that you are ready for it to be viewed. If you wish to hide it until you are finished building it, there is a check box you can click that reads "Keep my artwork private so that others can not view it". If you choose to keep your portfolio private, you can later uncheck this box when you edit your 'artist profile'.
• Once you enter all your information, be sure to check the terms of service and privacy policy boxes then click "Create New Account".
• You are now ready to begin to build your portfolio, browse other artists' portfolios, and add your favorite artworks to your very own personal curated collection. ​

If your Baker Portfolio is not showing up in the search results please contact us immediately. Don't worry, we'll get it fixed right away!

Please email us at [email protected]

• To edit and add to your portfolio go to the top right corner drop down menu when you are logged in. The menu will say your first name or preferred artist name, and in the drop down menu click on "Edit Portfolio".
• Portfolio Title: This is where it will read "your name's portfolio" or you can change it to be your alias, etc.

Work Samples

• Everyone must now include up to four 'work samples' to display at the top of your portfolio. These should be your four best works that you would like jurors to see first. Click Browse to add a work sample, you can always go back later and edit. Be sure to click the blue "Save" not only within the browse media window, but also at the button at the bottom of the 'edit portfolio' page before navigating away from the page or your uploads will not be saved.
• Use the blue cross hairs to rearrange the order of your work samples display, by dragging each work sample up or down.
• For Film/Video, Music, Literary, and Performing arts disciplines, these should be excerpts from your full-length projects below that the jurors may visit if they wish to explore your nomination further. Up to four Work Samples of varying length may be submitted but must not exceed a limit of ten minutes or 15 pages in total. [For example; (4) two and a half minute samples, or (1) ten minute sample OR (3) five page samples, or (1) 15 page sample, etc.
• If you want to include video, once you click "Browse" please click the orange Web tab and enter a Vimeo or YouTube URL link. [For clips of video, the Baker site cannot clip for you, you must upload your sample onto a third party provider and use an embed code.]
• Be sure to add thoughtful descriptions to all of your work samples. You can talk about process, medium, project, etc.

Projects

• You can add up to 10 projects to your portfolio. You can use the blue crosshairs to rearrange the order of your projects display by dragging them up and down. You can have up to 10 pieces of media/details within each project.
• When you click "Add New Project" it will prompt you to include a title and a description of your project. Below the body/description is where you can upload your 10 images or various media.
• You have the option to mark each project by discipline, style, medium, as well as your own tags in the black drop down boxes below. By using these features, it helps make your portfolio and projects easier to search for.
• Click the blue "Create Project" button to save. You can always go back and add and edit later.
• You can choose a Discipline per project at the bottom of the project section. Even if you your portfolio is labeled as one specific discipline, each project can be a different one. For example, your portfolio may be "Visual Arts" but you can have a project labeled as "Film/Video".

Adding images/media to your projects

• Add up to 10 pieces of artwork for this project. You can upload files, or include files from popular resources like Sound Cloud, YouTube, and Vimeo. Use the blue cross hairs to rearrange the order of your artwork display.
• If you upload an image file, it will prompt you to re name the image, otherwise it will keep the file name as the title.
• Focal point: This allows you to click and drag the crosshair on your image so that if it is cropped to be used as your primary thumbnail image, the part that is most important to be viewed can be set.
• If you want to include video/audio, once you click "Browse" please click the orange Web tab and enter the SoundCloud, Vimeo, or YouTube URL link.
• You can add a description for each detail or piece of media in your project. "Alt text" and "title text" are not required.
• Be sure to click the blue "Save" not only within the upload/ browse media window, but also at the button at the bottom of the 'edit portfolio' page before navigating away from the page or your uploads will not be saved.

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

Artists have until January 22, 2021 at 5:00PM to create or update their portfolio. At that time, a cloned copy of your portfolio will be made to be reviewed by the jury. You will still be able to update your public facing portfolio beyond that time.

Artists who have their portfolio set to private will still be adjudicated. Please make sure it is live on December 20th at 5PM.

1. On the homepage of the Baker Artist Portfolios, scroll down until you see a big blue bar. On the left side you will see it read "Become and Online Curator" and click "Start Curating"
   
2. A small form will appear with a brief explanation of what you can do as an online curator and a prompt to fill out name, email, and preferred username information in order to make your account. Click "Start Curating" again.
3. This will direct you to a full form will you will continue to enter the rest of the required information, indicated by a red asterisk. Once you enter all your information, be sure to check the terms of service and privacy policy boxes then click "Create New Account".
4. You are now ready to browse artists' portfolios and add your favorite artworks to your very own personal curated collection.

Are you ready to start digging around to find what Baltimore's artists are working on this year? As you make your way through the various artist portfolios, you can create exhibitions of your own "curated collections" or “favorites” for personal use or to share with the public. Also, we encourage you to share your questions or comments about to the work on view by commenting on portfolio pages.

There are a few different ways you can begin browsing all of the portfolios and search for specific artists, mediums, keywords, etc.

On the Homepage:

• On the homepage there is a search bar in which you can type in whatever you are looking for. You can search an artist's name, discipline, an artistic medium, a keyword, and just about anything. For example: visual art, literary art, photography, painting, landscape, violin, film , etc .
• If you are looking to browse ALL of the portfolios on the site and not just a narrowed search, you can click the magnifying glass button next to the search bar field, and this will take you to the full browsing/search window. Each page will show sixteen thumbnails of artist's portfolios, and you can continue to see more pages by clicking the blue "Next' button above all the thumbnails or at the bottom of the page.

Browse page:

• While on the main browse page, you can filter your search by discipline by clicking through the various disciplines in the orange tab above the portfolios.
• You can also filter your search by searching pre-loaded tags. Click the black drop down menu on the left side above the portfolios that says "Filter Portfolios by Tags", and click any of the tags in the menu. The search results will update with portfolios that only have those specific tags associated with the portfolio. If you wish to clear this search, just click the blue "x" button that appeared under the black tag bar with the name of the tag you selected.
  
  
• While on the browse page, you can also sort any of your search results and filters by either "Newest", "Recently Updated", or "Last Name A-Z", by clicking the black drop down menu on the right side of the screen above the portfolios that reads "Sort by Newest".

The Curated Collections feature provides curators and artists the opportunity as they look through the site to pick compelling individual works of any artist, and save it on a personal 'curated collections' page for others to view. Users of this feature can choose differing artist works in a random fashion or they can choose to take a more curatorial approach, and put together a page of favorite works by theme or idea. You can now see also see similar portfolios you may like based on what you and others have previously favorited.

While you are browsing the Baker portfolios and are looking at an individual artist's portfolio, under each of their artworks you will see a gray star button that says "Add to my collection". Once you click 'add to my collection' it will now be an orange star that reads 'Remove from my collection", and you can click this again in order to remove it.

If you are using the site as an artist, you can view your curated/favorited collection, by going to your public portfolio page, and it will be featured at the bottom of your portfolio, and will read "Artist Name's Curated Collection". You can access your public portfolio page by going to the top right corner drop down menu when you are logged in. The menu will say your first name or preferred artist name, and in the drop down menu click on "My Portfolio".

If you are using the Baker site as a curator, when you are logged in you can see your collections by going to the top right corner drop down menu that will say your first name, and in the drop down menu click on "My Curated Collections".

The Baker Artist Portfolios are a program of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance.

The best way to reach us is at [email protected]