Highlighted Class Note: EMP Collective
Category: Class Notes
a rehearsal for It’s Finally Here, EMP Collective’s late-night talk show performance, in June; photo courtesy of EMP Collective
In 2010, Brad Cartwright, M.F.A. ’12, Katy Dubina, M.B.A. ’09, and Maggie Villegas, a student in UB’s M.F.A in Integrated Design program, joined forces and founded the Baltimore-based nonprofit arts organization EMP Collective. Only two years later, the group is already receiving plenty of local media attention—including achieving “Best Collective” status in the Baltimore City Paper’s Best of Baltimore issue in September. And in 2011, an Operation Storefront grant from the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore enabled the collective to open its first gallery and performance space on Redwood Street as part of a West Baltimore revitalization program.
How to describe the collective? “EMP’s niche is everything,” Cartwright says.
The group produces films, written works, theater performances, music, gallery shows and more, all to give artists of different backgrounds and styles the opportunity to experiment, collaborate and show new works.
Not surprisingly, EMP Collective has already outgrown its original digs; the group moved to 307 W. Baltimore St. in October.
