“A lot of my designs stem from the imagination I created while growing up in Baltimore. … No matter what or where I was at, or what part of the city I was in, you can always tell that identifying and expressing who you are through your garments is very important,” said Cromartie, 33, who now lives in Los Angeles but once called Baltimore’s Waverly neighborhood home.

“I love seeing some of the buildings, like abandoned buildings or like industrial buildings, where you can see how the building was held up.”

With last year’s Season 20 “Project Runway” All-Stars win under his belt and clients including Lizzo, Victoria Monet, Jennifer Hudson and Ciara, Cromartie is returning to his hometown for a talk about his journey as a designer at the Baltimore Museum of Industry on Oct. 9. The event will kick off the museum’s new Labor + Innovation speaker series co-produced by Baltimore artist Cheyanne Zadia and moderated by Baltimore podcast producer Aaron Henkin, slated to run through June of next year.

“We really wanted this talk series to reflect industry leaders, everyday workers, and really tell human stories about the intersection of work and art,” said Brianne Mobley, the Baltimore Museum of Industry’s public engagement manager.

After Cromartie’s solo appearance, the lineup will feature multiple speakers coming together to offer insight on the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse on Dec. 3; women in the culinary arts on March 13; and AI technology on June 4.

Mobley said the series is inspired by the museum’s galleries and collections, including its garment loft exhibit, which focuses on Baltimore’s history of garment making.

Cromartie was preparing for the online debut of his fashion film “Brutal Cry” on Sept. 10 during New York Fashion Week when he spoke with The Baltimore Sun, and said the collection explores the topic of grief. His older sister, Chimere Faye Wall, died from colon cancer in 2022 after being diagnosed while he appeared on Season 17 of “Project Runway”; his new film and collection is about “releasing the burden of grief and rediscovering yourself.”

“To come home is kind of like a home run,” he said. “The timing of it is perfect.”

If you go

Bishme Cromartie’s two-hour talk at the Baltimore Museum of Industry will start at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 9 and is free via registration online. It will be preceded by a meet and greet for museum members at 5:30 p.m.

The FDA detected listeria around one of the company’s production lines during an unannounced inspection in late May, and on June 21 directed Totally Cool Inc. to shut down all of its product lines — a move that forced the ice cream manufacturer to lay off 68 of its 71 employees and “suffer the loss of all revenue streams,” according to the bankruptcy filing last week in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland.

Acknowledging the potential for products to be contaminated with the bacteria listeria, Totally Cool Inc. recalled products in late June from brands including Taharka Brothers, Dolcezza, Hershey’s, Friendly’s, Jeni’s and more.

The FDA “did a very extensive on-site inspection and they only found a trace of listeria on one line of the production equipment,” said Irving Walker, an attorney at Cole Schotz P.C. representing Totally Cool Inc. “To this day, we don’t know of a single consumer who ever became sick from eating a product manufactured by Totally Cool.”

In its bankruptcy filing, Totally Cool Inc. estimated its assets fall between $500,001 and $1 million; its estimated liabilities are around $1 million to $10 million.

A business can reorganize its debts while still in operation by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Totally Cool Inc. CEO Michael J. Uhlfelder is authorized and directed to pursue selling “some or all of” the company’s assets, according to the filing.

Totally Cool Inc. has not reopened since June, Walker said, noting that the business started in 1992.

“They’ve got a great reputation in the industry for being a co-manufacturer for private-label, highly regarded, well-known brands. And it was successful and profitable for all those years,” Walker said. “The hope is that somebody will buy it and re-employ people and reopen the plant.”

Mixed-media artist Amy Boone-McCreesh came in second place and won a studio residency at the Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower, BOPA announced Thursday. Third place went to weaver Hellen Ascoli.

All finalists received a $2,500 M&T Bank Finalist Award to ready themselves for the Sondheim Finalists Exhibition, on view through Sept. 8 at the Walters Art Museum in Mount Vernon.

“The work of all this year’s finalists explores different personal identities using an impressive range of mediums and techniques,” BOPA CEO Rachel D. Graham told The Baltimore Sun in a written statement.

“The pieces all have a tactile quality and fill the exhibition space with color. The jurors had an incredibly difficult decision to make, but ultimately found Sam’s deft use of materials, along with the poetic and humorous juxtapositions in their work, to speak [to] the vulnerability of being trans in America. The jurors were also excited about how Sam’s work could grow from here.”

Mack, who has an MFA in studio art from the School of Art at the University of Arkansas, creates “site-responsive sculpture” using ceramic vessels, according to a BOPA news release. They have exhibited nationally and across the globe.

“I think it will take a few days for it to truly sink in,” Mack, who uses they/them pronouns, said in a written statement. “This is such an incredible gift of support that will help me buy my first kiln, among other studio support that will assist in the creation of future work.”

Presented by M&T Bank with support from the Maryland State Arts Council, this year’s prize for visual artists in the Baltimore region was decided by a panel of jurors including artist, scholar and poet Noel W. Anderson; curator and educator Connie H. Choi; and curator and historian Aaron Levi Garvey.

It’s named in honor of Janet Sondheim, a dancer and teacher, and Walter Sondheim Jr., who contributed to the desegregation of Baltimore schools and the redevelopment of the downtown area.

“I spent a lot of time as a kid just watching videos at our house. My parents were okay with that. As long as I played outside some, I would just watch movies over and over,” Sandberg recalled. “I remember at Carroll Manor [Elementary School], I said … ‘I want to be a movie star.’”

Now 40 and living in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter, the Maryland native has been putting her mark on Hollywood off-camera, most recently alongside Steven Spielberg and Thomas Hayslip as an executive producer for “Twisters,” one of the summer’s most successful films. The fresh take on the 1996 blockbuster outpaced box office expectations when it hit theaters in July, grossing $80.5 million in its first weekend, the biggest-ever opening for a disaster movie, Forbes reported. This month, it became available to rent or buy at home.

From Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures and Amblin Entertainment — and directed by “Minari” filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung — “Twisters” follows former storm chaser Kate Carter (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and her friend Javi Rivera (Anthony Ramos) as they embark on a mission to track tornadoes with new tech in Oklahoma. It’s there that they meet “tornado wrangler” Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), who hams it up on social media with a crew that shoots fireworks into the belly of the beast.

“Twisters” is an action-packed film with humor — and also one that shows the devastation caused by a “once-in-a-generation” tornado outbreak.

“It was the right time for it,” said Sandberg, who also was an executive music producer for the film’s soundtrack with Chung.

“We have a lot of superhero movies out. We have sci-fi, fantasy. And I think with ‘Twisters,’ we have an opportunity to make grounded superheroes. People who are our friends and peers, and people who are in the science community, really trying to figure out: ‘Okay, how do we track these storms sooner? What can we be doing?’”

Growing up in Maryland, Sandberg remembers having to go into the basement when she experienced her first tornado warning. Her home state is also where she saw the original “Twister” movie, at a theater in Towson.

At Dulaney High School, where she graduated in 2002, Sandberg was president of the speech club, with ideas of getting into news production. A film studies course she took at Pepperdine University, where she graduated in 2006, set her on a path to Hollywood.

“She always had a great, bubbly personality,” said Bianca Jay, Sandberg’s older sister. “She has worked really hard and prioritized this in her life.”

Jay, a Pennsylvania marketing executive, recalled Sandberg wearing a faux-fur jacket and sunglasses when she professed her desire to star in movies as a girl, and said her sister loved writing stories to read to her siblings.

“What she’s blossomed into now is not surprising,” said Phyllis Loveland-Letersky, a family friend who lives in Freeland. “To have a Maryland girl go out to California and make it on her own … that’s pretty remarkable.”

In California, Sandberg waited tables and took a receptionist job at The Kennedy/Marshall Company — where she worked her way up to becoming the head of production development, a role she held through the end of last year before becoming an independent producer.

While at the film and TV production company, she served as an associate producer of the six-time Emmy-nominated 2020 documentary “The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart.” She also oversaw the development and production of “Jurassic World Dominion,” released in 2022. Filming had to shut down during the coronavirus pandemic, but it was the first major movie production in the UK to get back on its feet, Sandberg said. It’s an experience she said prepared her for the making of “Twisters.”

Filming for the movie started in Oklahoma in May of 2023, but came to a halt when the SAG-AFTRA strike began in July — with only about a dozen days left of filming, Sandberg noted. “We were so close to the end, but we couldn’t do anything about it,” she said.

During the strike, the movie was edited before it was complete. When filming resumed in November, the natural landscape had changed, so shots like the opening scene of Edgar-Jones walking through a grassy bluff were enhanced using physical and visual effects.

Among the movie’s stars, it was clear skies, Sandberg said.

“Because we had to live there, in Oklahoma, I think it gave an opportunity for the cast to get really close,” she said. “So really, the chemistry you see on camera with everyone, really they had off camera, too.”

Powell was cast before the release of “Anyone but You,” in which he stars opposite Sydney Sweeney, and “Hit Man.” With Ramos’ character Javi Rivera, who shares a last name with Sandberg’s maternal grandmother, she seized an opportunity for Puerto Rican representation.

“We really wanted the cast to feel reflective of the audience. … I’m Puerto Rican, my family is,” she said. “So originally, Anthony’s character was named Mason. But Anthony’s not a Mason. He’s a Javi. … So it was really exciting to be able to call Anthony and tell him, ‘We want you to play this character as yourself.’”

Sandberg is also an advocate for women commanding leadership roles in the film industry. In “Twisters,” she said her daughter Brooklyn’s brief cameo during a National Weather Service field trip gave the 8-year-old a glimpse of a day on set.

As an executive producer, Sandberg helped develop the script and said producer Frank Marshall encouraged her to push the project forward. When “Top Gun: Maverick” director Joseph Kosinski couldn’t direct the film, she helped bring on Chung.

“I really wanted to think outside the box for this,” she said.

“Twisters” incorporated science from the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, plus input from tornado consultant Kevin Kelleher, Sandberg noted.

The impact of climate change on tornadoes isn’t easy to determine and most research doesn’t definitively link the two, according to NOAA and other organizations, though tornado behavior has been changing in recent decades, with large outbreaks in short spans of time becoming more common even as the total number in the country each year remains roughly steady. So while the lack of any direct references to global warming in the movie stood out to some viewers, Sandberg said the film is meant to spark thought and discussion.

“Our characters are asking [themselves] the same questions that we ask ourselves. … ‘Why are we seeing extreme weather?’” she said. “I hope it continues to excite people to continue to learn about climate and weather and nature.”

The movie also doesn’t shy away from portraying the destruction that can be caused by tornadoes in real life.

“While we still wanted to make this enjoyable film for people to watch, we also didn’t want to gloss over the fact that people are surviving these natural disasters,” she said.

On the horizon, Sandberg sees herself collaborating with Chung to make more movies that inspire.

“We are looking to continue to tell these stories that offer the audiences a sense of hope,” she said.

List price: $949,900

Year built: 1900

Real estate agent: Mary Vogelpohl, Corner House Realty

Last sold price/date: $145,000 in January 1986

Property size: 3,980-square-foot home has five bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms on 0.84 acres.

Unique features: The Victorian-style home was originally called the Liberty Hall Estate, built in 1900, and views from the outside of its turrets hint that there’s intrigue beyond the exterior. Inside, unique accents abound, from intricate wallpaper to beaming stained glass windows.

The foyer is richly patterned floor to ceiling, and a powder room features a decorated ceramic sink. There are two wood-burning fireplaces, in the formal living room and in the home office and library with pocket doors. The four-level home’s dining room boasts a large crystal chandelier, while an eat-in kitchen includes custom glass-front cabinets and geometric tilework.

A screened-in porch off the kitchen could be the setting for quiet moments or for hosting guests.

Up a large staircase to the second floor, the primary bedroom is tucked inside a turret, with a balcony offering views of lush gardens below — plus a sculpted fountain purchased in New Orleans and brought to the home in 2006. Modern bathrooms have a walk-in shower and a spa jet tub, and a laundry room and walk-in hallway closet are located conveniently close by. The third floor has a loft and additional bedrooms, and an unfinished basement can be used for storage space.

An outdoor shed is modeled after the home behind the property, which was originally a carriage house, and has electricity that could be used for lawn tools or an artist’s studio. Ample parking is available in the circular driveway.

On Tuesday, ABC revealed the 24 “distinguished men in their golden era” who will be competing for Vassos’s heart when she steps into her new role at the helm of the show premiering Sept. 18 on ABC and next day on Hulu.

The dating pool includes a 66-year-old chiropractor from Marina Del Ray, California, a 64-year-old private investor from Naples, Florida, a 69-year-old salon owner from Chicago, Illinois — and Pablo.

Pablo’s contestant profile describes him as a 63-year-old retired UN agency director who volunteers as an EMT.

“Pablo is a man of the world who spends his days saving lives and his evenings curled up on the couch watching reruns of his favorite sitcoms,” his profile says. “Pablo is also a sucker for a rom-com and isn’t afraid to admit that he cries in almost all romantic scenes.”

Though a Marylander, Pablo originally hails from Buenos Aires and has kids and grandchildren in California and New York. He’s run ultramarathons, watches rugby and has a geographical engineering degree.

He also “has a tough time controlling himself around ice cream,” according to his bio.

An ABC spokesperson said that the men from Vassos’ season would not be available for interviews until the conclusion of their time on the show, and that Vassos also could not speak about her suitors just yet.

Vassos, 61, began her journey on the reality dating show franchise as a contestant on the first-ever season of “The Golden Bachelor,” the debut of which ABC said attracted more than 43 million viewers. “The Bachelor” first aired in 2002, followed by “The Bachelorette” in 2003. More spin-offs have since followed.

Last year on “The Golden Bachelor,” Vassos forged a bond with Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner, but left the competition early to return to her family. Later, she shared with host Jesse Palmer that her daughter had “a really serious case of postpartum depression and, you know, she needed me.”

A school administrator and grandmother, Vassos lost her husband to cancer after 32 years of marriage.

In a June Instagram video, she packed for the journey ahead and said embarking on the new show felt “bittersweet.”

“But, you know, in the end, I could come back and maybe have the love of my life, and someone to share my great life with,” she said.

List price: $2,450,000

Year built: 1913

Real estate agent: Charlie Hatter, Monument Sotheby’s International Realty

Last sold price/date: $1,030,000 in November 2023

Property size: 8,523-square-foot home has seven bedrooms with five and a half bathrooms on .61 acres.

Unique features: The sprawling Guilford home was originally constructed for a notable contributor to Maryland’s history — John Edwin Greiner, whose engineering firm, J.E. Greiner Company, designed and built the Chesapeake Bay Bridge over 70 years ago.

The house was designed [by Ellicott & Emmart, the architects behind a number of other Baltimore homes and buildings, including St. David’s Episcopal Church in Roland Park and the Woman’s Club of Roland Park. They’re known for fusing Colonial Revival and French Beaux Arts styles.

Now well over a century old, the recently restored and custom-renovated home showcases original accents like refinished hardwood floors, towering white columns and ornate trim.

Past a grand entryway, an updated kitchen has a marble-topped island and Wolf appliances. Doors in the dining and living rooms open to a wrap-around patio off the main floor for indoor-outdoor living. And a secret Murphy door leading to the finished basement can be opened by pulling forward a book on the shelf, as if out of a movie.

Upstairs, a large primary suite is complete with a room that can be made into a generous closet, access to a balcony and an en suite marble-filled bathroom with a free-standing tub and walk-in shower.

Other modern amenities include an elevator, three new HVAC systems and a two-car garage.

The home is a brief stroll from Sherwood Gardens.

“We definitely want to keep the same convivial space that Alicia [Horn Merritt], the previous owner, really built,” said Rosemary Liss, who will bring The Wren to life with business partner Will Mester. “Keep it a regular’s spot, but we’re going to add food as well.”

Earlier this year, after 44 years in business, Birds of a Feather closed and Merritt retired. She said she would sell the bar at 1712 Aliceanna St. to Liss and Mester, the owners of acclaimed Station North restaurant Le Comptoir du Vin.

Mester said it may open as soon as November.

An application to transfer ownership of the site’s liquor license was approved by Baltimore’s liquor board Thursday. During the hearing, The Wren’s attorney Stephan Fogleman said there had been a meeting with the Fell’s Point Residents Association and presented the board with a single-page “Memorandum of Understanding.”

The MOU lists an estimated seating capacity of 85 people and operating hours of noon to midnight, six days a week. It says the association did not oppose plans for The Wren.

The new name — The Wren — may seem to be a nod to Birds of a Feather, but Mester said it is instead a reference to Wren’s Day, a traditional Irish celebration that takes place on Dec. 26.

Liss said the pub will serve lunch six days a week, and dinner four nights a week in the upstairs dining room. Mester will be the chef; his wife, Millie Powell, who is from Dublin, will become the manager. She’ll also make desserts for The Wren, Mester added.

The menu will lean more casual than Le Comptoir du Vin’s, with a selection of sandwiches, stews and plates for sharing, Liss said. As for drinks, the scotch program will stay — to be complemented by beer, wine and classic cocktails.

“Definitely Guinness on tap,” she said.

Ema’s Corner will offer a menu of pizza, wings and salads that may expand in a couple of months to include pasta dishes and Mediterranean appetizers, “depending on the mood,” said owner Mehmet Guclu, who lives in Baltimore. He’s eyeing September as the month he’ll open at 33 W. North Ave. and said the restaurant is named after his 2-year-old daughter.

“I’ll make sure everybody is going to leave here happy,” Guclu told The Baltimore Sun. “Giving them the best service, quality food and quality ingredients.”

At a liquor board hearing Thursday, the pizza concept received approval for a liquor license with a request for outdoor table service and live entertainment.

Live entertainment will function as “more of an accessory, in terms of ambience, as opposed to something to draw in ticketed crowds,” Abraham Hurdle, an attorney representing Guclu, told the board. During Joe Squared’s tenure, local students and artists put on shows in the pizzeria’s basement performance space, called Downsquares.

“We’re going to try a couple different options,” Guclu said of the plan for live music. He intends for Ema’s Corner to be open seven days a week, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, and 11 a.m. to midnight Thursday through Sunday.

No stranger to pies, Guclu is also the owner of Iggies Pizza in Mount Vernon, which he said he purchased a year ago, and the former manager of HomeSlyce in Columbia.

The announcement that Joe Squared was closing came from the restaurant’s collective of worker-owners in November, and cited lower turnout and higher expenses post-pandemic as contributing factors.

“It’s a busy area downtown that’s kind of always missed having a place in that area,” Hurdle told the liquor board.

Baltimore’s liquor board Thursday approved a request to expand the forthcoming eatery’s license to include the courtyard at 1704 Thames St., after being presented with a “Memorandum of Understanding” between those involved in the venture and the Fell’s Point Residents Association, outlining parameters relating to noise level, access and hours of operation.

Atlas CEO Alex Smith told The Baltimore Sun the new concept will likely open in the next 10 days, and will be named The Undefeated, after a short story by Hemingway.

The win for Atlas comes after a May hearing that drew objections from neighbors.

“It was just obvious that we needed to come to an agreement,” said Denice Ko, an attorney with the Community Law Center representing Fells Point residents, who attended Thursday’s liquor board hearing. “This property abuts residential properties … so there were a lot of special concerns from the residents.”

The Atlas bar will take over the building on Thames Street, as well as the attached courtyard, for a “Key West, Hemingway-style experience” with about 30 indoor seats, as well as outdoor table service, Smith told the board in May.

Smith and his brother Eric Smith, a co-owner of Atlas Restaurant Group, are nephews of Baltimore Sun owner David D. Smith, who is a partner in some Atlas restaurants.

At the May hearing, liquor board chair Albert Matricciani declined to hear testimony from locals concerned about the courtyard space, because the license application — which was ultimately approved — only covered the indoor area. A petition opposing the project collected 55 signatures, Ko said.

Alex Smith, who attended the May hearing, said at the time that he reached out to neighbors with a MOU and defended letters received by several residents from Atlas’ lawyer threatening legal action over their objections to the project.

The building and outdoor courtyard space have since been consolidated, and Ko told the liquor board that it had gained community support within the bounds of the MOU.

The MOU made between Darin Mislan, a part-owner who will be named on the license, Thames Street Venture LLC and the Fell’s Point Residents Association is, in essence, the same as what was originally proposed to community members, Smith told The Sun on Thursday.

“We think that our investment down there will obviously better the neighborhood,” Smith said. “Of course we want to be good neighbors.”

The MOU stipulates that the courtyard cannot host live music and must limit the use of outdoor speakers for background music to the hours of 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. each day. The courtyard capacity is not to exceed the lesser of the limit set by the Baltimore City Fire Department, the number of dining seats or 80 people.

There will also be no courtyard access or service from The Waterfront Hotel at 1710 Thames St. for patrons. The courtyard can be open Sunday through Thursday from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. with gates locked at 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. with gates locked at 11 p.m.

“This is what happens when owners and the community come together to sit down and work out the details,” said Peter Bodde, a member of the Fell’s Point Residents Association board. “Like everything, this is a compromise. But that’s what gets things done.”