“Take To-Ro: Bridge of Lights,” a large scale artwork created by a group of young artists in Baltimore and members of Baltimore-Kawasaki sister city committee, will be featured in a special exhibit at Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC), Embassy of Japan in Washington DC this summer.

The JICC uses their unique gallery space, with award-winning Japanese-inspired design, to showcase both traditional and modern Japanese art.

Location: 1150 18th Street NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC
Dates: August 8-19,  2016 • Open to the public Mon-Fri 9am-5pm

“Take To-Ro” originally made its appearance at the inaugural season of Light City Baltimore festival in March 2016. The artwork was well received by audience, and helped the festival attract more than 400,000 visitors to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

More info:
bkscc.wordpress.com/news/take-toro-at-jicc
www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/jicc/exhibits.html

Find out about innovations happening around food in Baltimore and in the Netherlands that will make our world more sustainable, improve access to nutritious food, and provide individuals & startups the means to make a living through healthy food. This event will leave you feeling inspired about our future! Refreshments provided.

Date: Thursday, September 22, 2016 at 6-8 pm

Location: Impact Hub Baltimore, 10 E. North Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21202

Program

6:00pm – Mingle and sample locally produced hors d’oeuvres and Dutch beer. Food catered by City Seeds, a local social enterprise dedicated to creating good jobs in the culinary industry.

6:30pm – Presentations (Baltimore Food Hub; Innovations from the Netherlands)

7:15-8:00pm – Networking

Admission: $10 (Please register in advance)

Event web page: 2016.baltimoreinnovationweek.com/events/food_innovation-local-global

Registration: www.naccwm.org/events/2016/9/22/food-innovation-baltimore-beyond

About the event

At this event we’ll showcase some local and global innovations to solve some critical issues around the production and distribution of food. Innovations that address challenges in food systems, improve food security and equitable access to nutritious food, and promote sustainability. Organizations that provide budding local food entrepreneurs with skills and resources like kitchen incubators and farmland, so that they can make a living in the food industry. You’ll hear about interesting ventures happening in Baltimore and in Netherlands.

Event is organized by Baltimore-Rotterdam Sister City Committee and Netherlands America Chamber of Commerce for the Washington Metro region (NACCWM). This event is being held during Baltimore Innovation Week (BIW) and Natural Products Expo East in Baltimore. BIW is a weeklong celebration of technology and innovation in Baltimore. The Expo is a yearly event that includes entrepreneurs launching innovative healthy, organic products.

Organizers & Partners:

This event is part of  Baltimore Innovation Week 2016 presented by 14 West.

#BIW16

Press release

Announcement Date: December 7, 2015

Today, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced plans to restructure the Baltimore Sister Cities Program (BSCP), aiming to expand the program’s focus on developing significant opportunities for economic partnerships, more cultural and educational exchanges, and health and environmental initiatives.

The BSCP is currently a series of committees, reporting directly to the Office of the Mayor. The program will be restructured as an independent 501(c)(3) corporation to be named Baltimore Sister Cities, Inc. (‘BSC, Inc.’).This will provide greater stability and consistency during administration transitions.

View full press release

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Working Group Report

Baltimore City Sister Cities Program Working Group Report (pdf)
Report Date: October 2015

Excerpt from the Executive Summary:

To explore how to make BSCP more effective, a working group was established by the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Neighborhood Development in April 2014. This working group was comprised of representatives from the Office of the Mayor, Maryland Sister States Program, Baltimore Development Corporation, Baltimore Sister City committees, the State of Maryland’s Office of the Secretary of the State, the local business community and Baltimore City Public Schools.

道 MICHI

Distinctive Paths, Shared Affinity: An Exhibition of Japanese American Ceramic Artists

Curated by Yoshi Fujii and Juliane Shibata.

The Michi exhibit is supported by Baltimore Kawasaki Sister City Committee (BKSCC), the Embassy of Japan in the United States of America, and the Perlman Teaching Museum at Carleton College.

Dates

Opening Reception: Friday, January 8, 2016 6-8pm
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake speaks at the reception

On View: Saturday, January 9 – Saturday, March 5, 2016

Location

Baltimore Clayworks
5707 Smith Ave, Baltimore, MD 21209
410-578-1919
Visit baltimoreclayworks.org for gallery hours and other upcoming events.

Artists

Yoshi Fujii, Hiroe Hanazono, Ayumi Horie, Mika Negishi Laidlaw, Keisuke Mizuno, Megumi Naitoh, Nobuhito Nishigawara, Hiroshi Ogawa, Shoji Satake, Yoko Sekino-Bové, Juliane Shibata, Esther Shimazu, Ryan Takaba, Shoko Teruyama, Patti Warashina, & Shumpei Yamaki.

More information

michiexhibition.com
bkscc.wordpress.com/news/michi

 

Baltimore Kawasaki Sister City Committee Presents Take To-Ro: Bridge of Lights Sculpture at Light City Baltimore

The Baltimore Kawasaki Sister City Committee presents “Take To-Ro: Bridge of Lights,” a multi-faceted community sculpture, utilizing bamboo and light emitting diodes (LED) based light sources for Light City Baltimore. The sculpture will be located near the Maryland Science Center during the festival, March 28-April 3, 2016.

It is stop #4 on the festival’s Art Walk, and it is free admission.

Designed by local talent Jessica Searfino, this community sculpture will dramatically transform the Japanese stone lantern that was donated from Kawasaki, Japan, in the 80s. Dr. Shuji Nakamura, a Japanese-born American physicist and recipient of the 2014 Nobel Prize for Physics “for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes, which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources” supports this project. Other collaborators for this project are Michael Hart, Owner of Arking Design; Shane Atienza, Engineer; Jessica Searfino, Designer; and the Jemicy School and National Electronic Museum. This project is also supported by the Embassy of Japan in the United States of America.

Dates

March 28 – April 3, 2016
Festival is open from 7pm-11pm March 28- March 31, 7pm-12am April 1-April 2, and 7pm-11pm on April 3.
Admission to the light installations is free.

More information

• lightcity.org
• bkscc.wordpress.com

About Light City Baltimore

Premiering in 2016, Light City Baltimore is the first large-scale, international light festival in the United States, homegrown right here in Baltimore. Light City will provide a backdrop for the celebration of ideas, ingenuity and creativity through art, music and innovation. Light City will shine a light on Baltimore’s abundance of creative, cutting-edge, multi-disciplinary talent, and we welcome participants from across the globe to join us. Light City’s innovation programming will generate an ecosystem of ideas and learning during the day – while lights, performances and live music reimagine the Inner Harbor at night.

The inaugural Light City Baltimore transforms the city into a beautiful, glowing beacon. The 1.5 mile BGE Light Art Walk features 50 attractions including illuminated visual artworks, street theater, musical performances and concerts. The Art Walk is free and accessible to everyone.

In addition to light displays and performances, the event features a series of ticketed innovation conferences, called Light City U. Light City U is bringing together innovators and thought leaders in four key industries (creative innovation, social innovation, health innovation, and sustainability innovation).

In October 2015, friends old and new joined Baltimore-Xiamen Sister City Committee (BXSCC) in celebrating the 30th anniversary of Baltimore’s sister city relationship with Xiamen, China by welcoming 35 businesses and government officials from Xiamen.

The BXSCC hosted two opportunities to meet one-on-one with the delegation, led by Xiamen Vice Mayor Li Dongliang, consisting of 5 government officials, 6 economic development and education leaders, and 18 companies. Members from the delegation represented industries such as construction/building, energy, industrial manufacturing, logistics, health/medical, and food processing.

BXSCC also hosted the 9th Annual China Town Hall at Baltimore City hall in October. Topics:

• “Chinese Investment in the United States” featuring Former Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin, Huntsville, AL Mayor Sheldon A. Day, & Rhodium Group Founding Partner Daniel H. Rosen
• “A Greater Game: The United States, China, & Russia Redux?” featuring Kissinger Institute on China and the United States Director Robert Daly

More information: bxscc.org/newsandevents

Visit the Baltimore Sister Cities booth at Artscape, Baltimore’s annual free public arts festival — Friday July 15 through Sunday July 17, 2016

During Artscape, the Baltimore Sister Cities organization will have a booth with fun activities for kids related to wind energy, and information about our sister cities around the world.

As a special attraction on Sunday, July 17, Ms. Lifen Weng will demonstrate and exhibit traditional Chinese painting. Ms. Weng is an exchange teacher at Baltimore Design School from Xiamen, Baltimore’s sister city in China.

Sister Cities booth location:

Booth number E22, on the south side of Mount Royal Avenue, on the overpass over Howard Street, near the MICA main building. See map at the bottom of this page.

Festival website

artscape.org

About Artscape

Artscape is America’s largest free arts festival, attracting 350,000+ attendees over three days. Artscape features 150+ fine artists, fashion designers and craftspeople; visual art exhibits on and off-site, including exhibitions, outdoor sculpture, art cars, photography and the Janet & Walter Sondheim Prize; incredible live concerts on outdoor stages; a full schedule of performing arts including dance, opera, theater, film, experimental music and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; family events such as hands-on projects, demonstrations, competitions, children’s entertainers and street theater; and a delicious, international menu of food and beverages that is available throughout the festival site.

This year, Artscape’s theme is “outer space” and features many kid’s activities related to science, technology engineering, and math, in combination with art (STEAM).

Map showing the location of Sister Cities booth