Art Under the Spire
Art Under the Spire is the component of First & Franklin's music & arts ministry that supports the work of visual artists in our community. The gallery space in Reid Chapel houses annual exhibitions and sales that have included photography, sculpture, painting, pottery and textiles. In addition to solo artists, Art Under the Spire also partners with student groups from the Maryland Institute College of Art and Baltimore School for the Arts.
If you are interested in exhibiting at First & Franklin, please contact Jason Kissel, Minister of Music & Arts / Organist, at jkissel@firstfranklin.org.
26/27 Featured Artists
SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER | SARAH BUTCHER
Reception: 5:00-7:00p.m., Thursday, September 10
Sarah Butcher is a Baltimore-based multidisciplinary artist, educator, and creative whose work explores the emotional architecture of human experience. Sarah moves fluidly between traditional media, digital tools and emerging technologies to create layered, resonant pieces that invite viewers to reconnect with their own narratives. Sarah’s show, Finding Focus is hanging in Reid Chapel as part of Art Under the Spire, the component of First & Franklin’s music & arts ministry devoted to visual art.
NOVEMBER – DECEMBER | ANNA JOSEPH & DONNY BAJOHR
Reception: 12:00-2:00p.m., Sunday, November 1
Anna Joseph is an architectural professional at the Smithsonian Institution whose designs incorporate watercolors, acrylic abstracts and digital illustrations with hand painted elements.
NOVEMBER – DECEMBER | ANNA JOSEPH & DONNY BAJOHR
Reception: 12:00-2:00p.m., Sunday, November 1
Donny Bajohr, visual artist and photographer, is a photo editor with Smithsonian magazine, where he commissions photographers in many genres, including fine art, documentary and reportage. He enjoys exploring analog and digital approaches to photography in the documentary tradition.
FEBRUARY-MARCH | FIRST & FRANKLIN COMMUNITY ART & CRAFT SHOW
Opening date to be announced.
APRIL-MAY | CHIA HSIU LIU
Reception: 5:00-7:00p.m., Thursday, April 8
Chia Hsiu Liu was born in Taoyuan, Taiwan, and moved to Baltimore in 2023 to pursue an MFA in Painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Chia describes her paintings as abstract, vibrant and dynamic, as she captures the energy of the cities in which she lives through color blocks, brushstrokes, grids, and lines.
MAY-JUNE | CURATED WORKS BY LOCAL ARTISTS
Reception & Auction: following the Prelude to Pride Concert on Friday, June 4
Auction will support the LGBTQ Fund at The Baltimore Community Foundation
Past Exhibitions
25/26 Featured Artists
Spread Your Wings
Isaac Kim & MICA Friends
Kyoungho Isaac Kim is a Bolton Hill resident and a recent graduate of the LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting at the Maryland Institute of Art. Kim has lived in both the United States and South Korea, and thus, his cultural knowledge is comprehensive. He is thoughtful about the way tradition and societal norms affect life and art and his paintings are intense in color and large in scale.
Joe Giordano
J.M. Giordano is an award-winning photojournalist based in Baltimore and co-host of the photojournalism podcast, 10 Frames Per Second. In addition to a solo exhibition in fall of 2025, Joe's students from the Baltimore school for the Arts will exhibit their work in the spring of 2026. more information
Laura Oldham
Laura Oldham lives in Lutherville, Maryland. She loves to be outdoors—and the natural world informs and inspires much of her artwork. While art has been a constant in her life, Laura got her degree in education and spent thirty years teaching at the elementary level. Bringing the joy of artistic expression to her students was an intentional focus of her career. Now retired from teaching, Laura is working full time as an artist. more information
Hamid Lagder
Meg Page
Kate Norris