Baltimore Sister Cities

Blooming Rainbow Project

Blooming Rainbow class – making art
Blooming Rainbow class – making art
Blooming Rainbow class – writing names in English and Korean characters

During 2021-2022, artists conducted “Blooming Rainbow” — a collaborative class with children, 5-15 years old, in Baltimore and South Korea to create abstract painting jointly together. In this program, children paint scribbles — they can express their feelings, impulsion or their favorite figures. The scribbles are then exchanged with the artists in Baltimore and Korea, who overlap color onto the scribbles. The children learn about the sister cities of Baltimore, Maryland USA and Changwon, South Korea, and learn about abstract art concepts and artists. The program is coordinated by artists Ara Ko, Jack Koppert, and Huaqi Liu (graduate students in MICA’s LeRoy E. Hoffberger Painting MFA Program in Baltimore) and Chaeyeon Hong, Yongeun Kwon and Jaeeun Kim from Ewha University in Seoul, South Korea (who travel to Changwon to teach their group of students).

Baltimore-Changwon Sister City Committee (BCSCC) is a project partner.

Video about the Blooming Rainbow project

Exhibition – Summer 2022

The work is shown online on Instagram, and in an exhibition in summer 2022 in Baltimore, Maryland USA and Changwon, South Korea.

The opening was on June 10 at 7:00pm ET Baltimore time and on June 11 at 8:00 AM Changwon time and was livestreamed online. Dami S. Schlobohm was the MC at the opening show and performed music. Dami is a cellist and music teacher born in Seoul, South Korea and raised in Maryland.

Watch highlights from the exhibition opening event

The full-length recording of the event can be viewed on YouTube.

The artists who are leading this program

Artist Ara Ko with examples of her artwork
Artist Ara Ko
Artist Chae Yeon Hong
Artist Chae Yeon Hong
Blooming Rainbow hand-drawn logo with hand prints

April | Baltimore Sister Cities workshops at Enoch Pratt Library

Photos of painted Pysanky egs; paper dolls; Korean fan dance for the workshops on April 9, 14, and 16, 2022. BSC & Enoch Pratt Library logos.

Baltimore’s public library hosts Imagination Celebration throughout the month of April. This signature event celebrates creativity and honors diverse voices and experiences within children’s literature and our communities. The celebration features special events, arts and crafts, and more.

Baltimore Sister Cities offers fun activities for kids from some of our sister city committees!

Admission is free.

Saturday, April 9: Pysanky Eggs

Time: 3pm ET
Location: Patterson Park Branch (158 N. Linwood Avenue, Baltimore MD 21224)
Event page on the library website

Learn about the Ukrainian tradition of decorating pysanky, or eggs, and create your own. 

This indoor program has limited space and pre-registration is recommended. To register, please look at the library’s event page for instructions. Walk-ins are also accepted until the program reaches maximum capacity.

Presented by Baltimore-Odesa Sister City Committee (BOSCC).

Thursday, April 14: Imagine YOU!

Time: 2pm ET
Location: Orleans Street Branch (1303 Orleans St, Baltimore MD 21231)
Event page on the library website

Join Susan L. Roth, author of “Hands Around the Library: Protecting Egypt’s Treasured Books” and Baltiimore-Luxor-Alexandria Sister Cities to make paper dolls together. Create a doll that represents who you are now, or who you want to be in the future. This workshop is inspired by this year’s Imagination Celebration book selection: What Will You Be? by Yamile Saied Méndez.

Presented by Baltimore-Luxor-Alexandria Sister City Committee (BLASCC).

Saturday, April 16: Korean Fan Dance Demonstration

Time: 2pm ET
Location: Central Library (400 Cathedral St, Baltimore MD 21201)
Event page on the library website

Learn about the tradition of Korean fan dance and enjoy a performance from the Baltimore-Changwon Sister City Committee.

This indoor program has limited space and pre-registration is recommended. To register, please look at the library’s event page for instructions. Walk-ins are also accepted until the program reaches maximum capacity.

Presented by Baltimore-Changwon Sister City Committee (BCSCC).

BGE provides Green Grant for Baltimore Sister Cities educational program

BGE Green Grants logo

Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE) has provided a BGE Green Grant of $2,500 to Baltimore Sister Cities for the “Operation Trash” educational exchange project.

In this project — a collaboration between the Baltimore Rotterdam Sister City Committee (BRSCC) and Kathie diStefano from Rotterdam-based Avalanche Arts — students from schools in Baltimore and Rotterdam engage in a virtual exchange centered around the topic of trash pollution, and conduct research about the trash in their communities. They study trash reduction and recycling strategies and make presentations to share with their counterparts overseas, and take part in a community cleanup. The program is designed to inspire them to become environment stewards for their communities. The next edition of Operation Trash is planned for spring of 2022 with middle school students.

Baltimore Sister Cities is grateful for the grant provided by BGE, as projects like Operation Trash would not be possible without their generous support.

For more information:

Sister Cities International Annual Conference

Date: July 15–16, 2021
Format: Virtual
Admission: Free (advance registration required)
More info & to register: www.sci-ac.org

This year’s theme is “Building Stronger Ties for an Interconnected World” and features breakout sessions on economic, education, humanitarian, sports, and other themes.

Xiamen Committee Launches Scholarship Program

Baltimore-Xiamen Sister City Committee Remembers Longtime Treasurer Arella Liu with New Scholarship Program

— November 2020 —

In memory of Arella Liu, the long-time Treasurer of the Baltimore-Xiamen Sister City Committee (BXSCC), who passed away in October 2020 after a brief battle with late-stage cancer, the BXSCC will be establishing a scholarship for Baltimore City youth with a strong interest in China. The scholarship is projected to help fund studies of Chinese language and culture, including potential travel with Sister Cities.

Arella was the originator of the BXSCC’s Youth Ambassadors program and despite, per her preference, not being one of the “faces” of the program, was key in executing the program in the background. She also loved foreign travel and bringing the Chinese language and culture into the lives of the citizens of her adopted hometown of Baltimore.

More details about this scholarship program will be announced in 2021 via the BXSCC website.

2019 Year in Review: Baltimore Sister Cities

At the turn of each year, we take stock of our accomplishments in the past year and make plans for the coming year. Our slideshow gives you a taste of what our 100+ volunteers achieved in 2019.

Annual Report & Plan

Baltimore Sister Cities Annual Accomplishments Report for 2019 (PDF, 3mb)

Baltimore Sister Cities Annual Plan for 2020 (PDF, 1.4mb)

2019 Photo Slideshow

Check out our slideshow with highlights from Baltimore Sister Cities activities and events in 2019!

Slideshow includes:

  1. Joint activities across the sister city committees (00:00)
  2. Changwon, South Korea (00:58)
  3. Gbarnga, Liberia (01:41)
  4. Kawasaki, Japan (02:13)
  5. Luxor & Alexandria, Egypt (03:14)
  6. Odessa, Ukraine (04:03)
  7. Piraeus, Greece (04:28)
  8. Rotterdam, Netherlands (04:58)
  9. Xiamen, China (05:54)
  10. “In Appreciation” section (06:47)

2019 APAHM Video

Highlights from our Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration on May 31, 2019, held at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).

New sister city agreement in 2019

Changwon, South Korea is our newest sister city! In 2019, a mayoral delegation from Changwon traveled to Baltimore to sign the official sister city agreement with Baltimore.

More info & video

40th year anniversary: Kawasaki and Baltimore Sister Cities

In 2019, Baltimore and Kawasaki celebrated the 40th year anniversary of their sister city relationship. A mayoral-level delegation from Kawasaki visited Baltimore to commemorate the anniversary and renew the sister city agreement. To mark the anniversary, the Baltimore-Kawasaki Sister City Committee created an anniversay “Legacy Video” with stories from its emeritus members about the history of Baltimore-Kawasaki Sister Cities.

View the anniversary video

[POSTPONED] Mar 28 / Enoch Pratt Library event for kids

The Pratt Library will cancel all public programs until March 31 or until further notice.

Original description of the event:

Imagination Celebration

Location: Enoch Pratt Central Library, 400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201

Pratt Library hosts Imagination Celebration (formerly known as the Fairy Tale Festival). This signature event will celebrate creativity and honor diverse voices and experiences within children’s literature and our communities.

Baltimore Sister Cities will have a table at this event with fun activities for kids from the countries of our sister cities around the world!

More info: Event page [event is postponed]

Supported by Baltimore-Changwon Sister City Committee (BCSCC), Baltimore-Rotterdam Sister City Committee (BRSCC), and Baltimore-Xiamen Sister City Committee (BXSCC).

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Baltimore Sister Cities, Inc. is a qualified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization and donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law. No goods or services were provided for this gift. Please consult your tax advisor regarding specific questions about your deductions.

 

Web site copyright © 2022 Baltimore Sister Cities, Inc.

logo-baltimoreBaltimore sister city committees operate under the auspices of the City of Baltimore’s Office of the Mayor.

 

Brandon M. Scott, Mayor

 

Previous mayor’s Dec 2015 press release about Baltimore Sister Cities.

 

Baltimore Sister Cities, Inc. is a 501c3 organization incorporated in the State of Maryland.
Member of  Sister Cities International, Maryland Nonprofits, World Trade Center Institute, Visit Baltimore, & affiliate of Maryland International Education Consortium.
Recipient of 2016 Innovation Award from Sister Cities International.