“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.

And, as the lead prosecutor in the Senate trial to impeach former President Donald Trump, the Maryland Democrat feared he was about to be robbed of his country.

Raskin’s personal challenges didn’t end with Trump’s acquittal. In December, 2022, Raskin was diagnosed with cancer, but announced a year later that his chemotherapy treatment had been successful and that he is in remission.

Now, a Takoma Park-based music group has taken that extraordinary period in the congressman’s life — and the nation’s history —  and turned it into a work of art.

“The Jamie Raskin Oratorio,” a 37-minute poem with music, will receive its world premiere Saturday in Silver Spring.

The “Oratorio” is written in Raskin’s voice and at times addresses the congressman’s dead son, Tommy, directly.

“Our democracy is such a fragile, precarious, transitory thing,” the poem says.  “We could have been plunged into authoritarianism. And then I would have lost you twice. My son, my dear America.”

The “Oratorio” was commissioned by Washington Musica Viva, which has performed chamber music in small, intimate settings since 1998.

Carl Banner, the music group’s executive director said that Raskin is a beloved figure in the community — as are members of his family. Tommy’s Pantry, a thriving food program serving part of Montgomery County, is named in honor of the congressman’s son, who died Dec. 31, 2020, at age 25.

“Jamie Raskin is the congressman from our district, and he is a local hero for us,” Banner said.

Banner asked Anne Becker, the former poet laureate of Takoma Park, to write the text. She spent nine months reading newspaper interviews with the congressman, listening to his speeches on YouTube, and combing through his 2022 memoir: “Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy.”

After Becker finished writing the 11-section poem and before the concert had been scheduled, the group sent the manuscript to Raskin’s office.

“I am honored and touched beyond measure and also somewhat dumbfounded by the whole thing,” Raskin wrote in an email to The Sun.

His spokeswoman said that prior commitments will prevent the congressman from attending the performance at the Church of the Ascension in Silver Spring.

But Raskin added that he feels “very grateful to Anne Becker, a brilliant poet in Maryland who has apparently been a moving force behind the project” and said that he hopes “to thank everyone involved.”

The piece proceeds roughly chronologically from Dec. 31, 2020, through Trump’s acquittal on Feb. 13, 2121.(Though it isn’t mentioned in the text, Raskin’s challenges didn’t end with the trial. He was diagnosed with cancer in December, 2022, but announced a year later that chemotherapy had been successful and that his disease was in remission.)

Occasionally, Becker departs from the written record to weave in her own interpretations, most notably in the first and shortest section of the “Oratorio” which touches upon Tommy Raskin’s suicide.

Becker feared that using the congressman’s recollections of his private tragedy in a work of art would be inappropriate and intrusive.

“I couldn’t touch that,” she said. “Those memories are his.”

Instead, the poem describes a moment of stillness — almost of peace — in the period between Tommy Raskin’s death and the discovery of his body. A book lays face-down on the floor. Soft cotton clothes are jumbled in a pile. All movement ceases once the “elegant symmetry” of the body has been halted.

But Tommy Raskin remains a figure throughout the remainder of the “Oratorio” as his father carries him in his heart during the following frantic six weeks.

The second section describes Jamie Raskin’s scramble to safety with other senators caught inside the Capitol on Jan. 6 and his worries about his daughter, Tabitha, who seeks refuge in a locked office.

But this section is not without occasional flashes of humor.

“Shots fired in the House,” the poem says. “Keep moving, down hallways and exit ramps at a fast trot that’s pretty impressive for middle-aged politicians.”

The final section of the poem describes Raskin’s futile hope that “righteous Republicans” will join Democrats and vote to impeach Trump.

Composer Noam Faingold said he scored the piece for piano (played by Banner) and trumpet (performed by Chris Royal) because the instruments perform different functions. The trumpet stands in for Raskin’s voice and is alternately triumphant and plaintive. Even when the sound thickens and distorts during moments of trauma, the trumpet is always in search of a melody.

The piano, in contrast, has as many voices as the community it represents, from the different members of Congress to the American people.

“When I saw Anne’s completed text,” Faingold said, “I realized my role was to highlight and underline her poem, to create a pedestal for it, to bring in what was felt but not directly seen.”

Though Saturday’s concert at the Church of the Ascension in Silver Spring is the only performance that has been scheduled, Banner said his group “hopes other interested organizations will help it to give us more life after the premiere.”

They think “The Raskin Oratorio” has an important American story to tell. In the final coda, that trumpet soars, its voice in harmony with the piano.

“Jamie could have been totally dragged down by his son’s death,” Becker said. “But he didn’t let that stop him from doing something important for his country.”

If you go

“The Raskin Oratorio” will be performed at 7 p.m. Saturday at Church of the Ascension, 633 Sligo Ave., Silver Spring. Tickets cost $20 and can be purchased at dcmusicaviva.org.

CBS announced the slate of 18 new “Survivor” cast members on Wednesday in advance of the show’s 47th season, which begins Sept. 18.

Gabe Ortis, a 26-year-old Baltimore radio host and Ravens fan, is the latest castaway to hail from Maryland, which has seen nearly a dozen residents participate in the reality TV series, including Brian Heidik, a Burtonsville native who was the winner of Survivor Thailand Season 5. More recently, last season’s Emily Flippen was a Texas native who lives in Laurel. In season 45, Hannah Rose, a Connecticut native who was a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University, joined the competition.

Watchers of the sometimes cutthroat but always conniving reality TV competition hosted by Jeff Probst, will find that Ortis is ready to play the game.

“I am not here to make friends,” he says in an introductory clip released by CBS, detailing his understanding that sometimes it’s necessary to “lie, cheat and steal” to get ahead in the competition.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ortis was asked to name three words that describe himself. He said: “opportunistic, resourceful, blunt.” He told EW that he left his job to be on the show, which he called the “best sad decision I ever made.”

He also describes himself as a cat lover — he has two, Chachi and Saba — whose hobbies include live sporting events, poker and snowboarding.

Ortis will be joined on the show by another Marylander: Terran “TK” Foster, a 31-year-old marketing manager who is from Prince George’s County and lives in Upper Marlboro.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Gabriel Ortis (@gabeortis)

Another cast member who is bound to shake things up is Jon Lovett, a co-host of “Pod Save America” who was once a speechwriter for former President Barack Obama. Other players include a flight attendant, an ER doctor and an AI researcher.

As usual, this season’s competitors will be divided into three tribes as they compete in physical and mental challenges on a beach in the remote islands of the South Pacific. Castaways are voted off the island one by one (most often) with the sole remaining player winning the $1 million prize.

“Survivor” airs at 8 p.m. on CBS and on the subscription streaming service Paramount+.

Stavros Halkias, the comedian and Baltimore native, said Wednesday he’s planning a two-night appearance at Lyric Baltimore to coincide with the Thanksgiving holiday.

His pitch: “Avoid your family and spend Thanksgiving weekend with me!” 

The pair of “Home for the Holidays” shows are scheduled for Nov. 29 and Nov. 30. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday at LiveNation.com. 

Halkias last performed in Baltimore in October, when he packed the Lyric for six homecoming shows on his “Fat Rascal” tour. The stand-up special is now on Netflix. 

The comedian, who grew up in Greektown, also hosts a podcast called “Stavvy’s World” and is known for posting Instagram videos as “Ronnie,” a Ravens-loving character who offers profane reactions to the team’s highs and lows during football season. 

Halkias is leaning into film and television work, as well. He recently appeared in Steven Soderbergh’s sci-fi series “Command Z” and stars in “Let’s Start a Cult,” a comedy he co-wrote that’s slated to be released later this year.

“With Mary Ann, you didn’t just do things, you did things right,” said Fred Lazarus, MICA’s former president. “She had an incredible eye for detail.”

Born in Hagerstown, she was the daughter of Powell Page Armel, a Fairchild Industries senior tool designer, and Nellie Armel, who worked in aircraft assembly at the same plant.

She was a 1959 graduate of North Hagerstown High School.

After winning a scholarship to MICA, she became head of the drama club and earned a bachelor of fine arts in visual communication.

She met her future husband, Nicholas Lambros, an interior design major, at the school. They lived in a Marriottsville farmhouse before moving to Columbia.

Ms. Lambros joined the administration of MICA in the 1970s. She retired in 2014 as associate vice president of advancement, after holding numerous posts, including director of alumni relations.

“She wore so many hats at MICA. She worked in fundraising and any large event,” her daughter, Tracy Lambros, said.

“She loved organizing special events at MICA — particularly the fund-raising gala Artafare, where donors and art students would create elaborately themed rooms and dinners,” her daughter said.

She was awarded the school’s distinguished alumni award, among other honors.

Fred Lazarus, former MICA president said: “Over my whole tenure, I had the privilege of working closely with her. She was wonderful with people, very engaging. She was a great writer and said things I wish I had said.

“She was not a person who wanted much attention either,” Mr. Lazarus said. “She would let others take the bows.”

Ms. Lambros was a gourmet cook and quickly learned Greek recipes, including her signature dishes, a cheese and onion pie and cheese and tomato tarts.

“No one ever turned down an invitation to her table,” her daughter said.

“She was generous and stylish,” her daughter said. “Creativity was a lifestyle for her, and her sense of style appeared in everything that she touched. She loved art, supported the Baltimore art scene, and collected works by many of her artist friends and colleagues.”

Among the works she owned was a 1972 anti-war sculpture by MICA ceramics professor Douglas Baldwin. Titled “All Volunteer Red Neck Duck Army Following the Yellow Brick Road,” she gave the work to the Missoula (Montana) Art Museum.

She also solved the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzles and enjoyed attending theater and art exhibitions.

Survivors include a daughter, Tracy Lambros, of Columbia; two sons, Christopher Lambros, of Timonium, and Jason Lambros, of Sykesville; a sister, Betty Snyder, of San Carlos, California; a brother, Michael Armel, of Hagerstown; and five grandchildren. Her husband, an interior designer, died in 2018.

A celebration of life is being planned for the fall.

He was 87 and lived in Baltimore.

“Fritz did remarkable watercolors and was an excellent teacher,” said Mary Ruth Buchness, a landscape artist and former student.

“He was extremely intelligent, very well-educated, kind and had a wonderfully warm personality. He was a lot of fun to be around,” she said. “He shared his knowledge with his students and took them on painting tours to England and Europe.”

Frederic Schuler Briggs, was the son of Howard Briggs, a professor of history at what is now Frostburg State University, and Charlotte Schuler Briggs, a homemaker.

His maternal grandfather was Hans Schuler Sr., a sculptor and Maryland Institute College of Art teacher who lived at 7 East Lafayette Ave., where Mr. Briggs was born.

He was raised in Frostburg and was a graduate of the old Beall High School, now Mountain Ridge High School.

Mr. Briggs attended what was then Frostburg State College and earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts in 1960 from MICA.

He then served for two years in the Army’s Department of Special Services at West Point as an illustrator, and after being discharged in 1963, began teaching at The Schuler School of Fine Arts.

The school, established by his grandfather and located in his grandparent’s Lafayette Avenue home, is where Mr. Briggs lived his entire life inside an apartment above the studio.

“Fritz Briggs influenced so many people because he had taught for so many years and his classes were very popular,” Mrs. Buchness said.

“He worked in watercolors and taught principles of landscape painting and composition to so many people,” said Francesca Schular Guerin, Mr. Briggs’ cousin, who now heads the school.

Mr. Briggs’ work can be found in many private collections, and he also executed commissions for Christmas cards, including those for several Maryland governors, as well as placemats, books, and prints.

He developed a felt-tip pen technique which allowed him to do quick sketches during his trips abroad, which he later finished when he returned to Baltimore, Ms. Guerin said.

In 1968, he was elected to the prestigious American Watercolor Society, and in 1973, to the Salmagundi Society of New York city, which honored him in 1980 with a first place prize in their annual watercolor exhibition.

Mr. Briggs was also a member of the Baltimore’s Charcoal Club, where he was president for a decade, and the Baltimore Watercolor Society.

Mr. Briggs was still painting and teaching until last year.

He spent weekends, until several years ago, at his boyhood home in Frostburg.

“Fritz conducted summer workshops in Frostburg and we’d go to southern Pennsylvania to paint Amish farms,” Mrs. Buchness said.

Mr. Briggs was a member of the Mayflower Society and a founding member of the National Society of Sons of Colonial New England.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Sept. 28 at the Schuler School at 7 E. Lafayette Ave., with a subsequent gathering from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 29, also at the school.

Mr. Briggs is survived by his brother, Charles Briggs, of Georgia, a niece; a nephew; and many cousins and friends.

Ongoing: Maryland State Fair

Take part in an end-of-summer tradition. Ride a roller coaster, see farm animals or enjoy a funnel cake at the Maryland State Fair, 2200 York Road, Timonium. Other attractions include: Let’s Sing Taylor A Live Band Experience ($30.50 on Sept. 6), Puppy Yoga ($50 on Sept. 7) or bring back a 1980’s hairstyle at Mullet Madness (Sept. 8, entry deadline is Aug. 30). General admission costs $15 for adults, $12 for seniors 62-and-over, $10 for children ages 6-11 and free for children 5-and-under. marylandstatefair.com

Through  Sept. 8

Ongoing: Kelsey Cook

What if your best friend was a stand-up comic? Enjoy the observational humor and conversational delivery of Kelsey Cook at Magooby’s Joke House, 9603 Deereco Road, Timonium. Cook has appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,”  “After Midnight” and “A Little Late with Lily Singh.” Dates and times are Thursday at 7:30 p.m.; Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. and Sept. 7 at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. General admission costs $25. magoobysjokehouse.com

Thursday, Sept. 6, Sept. 7

Ongoing: Maryland Vegan Restaurant Month

Chow down on plant-based foods at local restaurants during Maryland Vegan Restaurant Month. The free event has returning participants and new ones. Restaurants include Miss Shirley’s Cafe, Nepenthe Brewing Co., Golden West Cafe and more. Vote for your favorite dish and raise awareness. mdveganeats.com

Through Saturday

Ongoing: ‘POTUS’

It’s an election year so it’s time for political satire. Get your tickets for “POTUS: or Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive” at the Everyman Theatre, 315 W. Fayette St.  The play centers on seven women who must save a bumbling president and the world. Ticket prices range from $45-$90. Showtimes for Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday is 7 p.m. everymantheatre.org/event/potus/

Sept. 1 to Sept. 29

Thursday: Jon Pardi

Country music star Jon Pardi brings his “Mr. Saturday Night Tour” to the Pier Six Pavilion, 731 Eastern Ave., with special guests Priscilla Block and Meghan Patrick. Pardi is known for such hit songs as “Heartache on the Dance Floor,” “Dirt on My Boots,” “Heartache Medication,” “Mr. Saturday Night,” and more. Block is known for such songs as “Off The Deep End,” “Good On You,” “You, Me, And Whiskey,’ and more. Patrick songs include “She’s No Good For Me,” “The Bad Guy,” “God and a Good Man,” and more. Ticket prices start at $53. vividseats.com

Thursday 7 p.m.

Elizabeth Rosenfeld, daughter of Moses Wiesenfeld Rosenfeld, a lawyer, and Helen Rosenbaum Rosenfeld, a singer and artist, was born in Baltimore and raised in Druid Hill.

She was a direct descendant of the Jewish families who established the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation and Chizuk Amuno Congregation.

A graduate of Forest Park High School, she worked as a sales associate selling women’s suits at Hutzler’s department store in downtown Baltimore during World War II, while spending evenings dancing at the USO with servicemen, family members said.

After marrying Philip Kahn Jr. in 1947, she left her job at Hutzler’s to raise their two daughters.

Mrs. Kahn, who earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Johns Hopkins University, began teaching at the old Pimlico Junior High School before joining the faculties of several parochial schools, including the School of the Cathedral, Grace & St. Peter’s and Immaculate Conception School in Towson. She stopped teaching in 1982.

After retiring, she turned to volunteering and assisting her husband, who was vice president of J. Schoeneman Co., one of the largest men’s clothing manufacturers in the city’s old Garment District, in writing two books, “A Stitch in Time: The Four Seasons of Baltimore’s Needle Trades” and “Uncommon Threads: Threads that Wove the Fabric of Baltimore’s Jewish Life.”

While working with her husband, she was also a member of WISH — Women in Self Help — a telephone crisis-referral service.

“Betsey found her true passion later in life volunteering at the Jewish Museum of Maryland in Baltimore — first as a docent and later as a front desk greeter,” according to a biographical profile of Mrs. Kahn.

“Betsey brought a warm smile, enthusiasm, knowledge of Baltimore Jewish history, and love of the Jewish Museum of Maryland to her volunteering,” wrote Wendy Davis, volunteer coordinator for the Jewish Museum of Maryland, in an email. “Fellow JMM volunteers who interacted with Betsey when she was a front desk greeter shared that Betsey was very friendly, welcoming and interesting.”

A resident for nearly 50 years of Winthrop House in Guilford, Mrs. Kahn was known for her Japanese flower arranging, sewing, knitting and needlepoint.

She and her husband, who died in 1998, had a significant collection of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) monochrome porcelains.

She was a member of the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation Sisterhood and a co-founder of the Baltimore City-County Garden Club.

A memorial gathering will be held at noon Nov. 10, and the family asks those planning to attend to notify them at betsey1926@gmail.com

She is survived by her two daughters, Beth Kahn Leamna and Lina Lee Kahn Liebold, both of Columbia; a granddaughter; a great-grandson; and several nieces and nephews.

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.

Ongoing: Usher

See Usher, the Grammy-winning pop icon and recent Super Bowl headline act, perform for his “Past Present Future” tour at CFG Bank Arena, 201 W. Baltimore St., this weekend in back-to-back shows. Usher is known for such hit songs as “Yeah!,” “U Got It Bad,” “More” and more. Ticket prices start at $297.  cfgbankarena.com/event/usher-past-present-future-2/

Friday and Saturday 8 p.m.

Ongoing: Shock-O-Con 2

Can’t wait for Halloween for a scare? You should go to Shock-O-Con 2 at the STAR Centre, 700 Congress Ave., Havre de Grace, this weekend. Check out horror novels at the Vampire Library, take a selfie at the haunted cabin at “Evil Dead the Musical Set” experience, free yourself from the “SAW”-themed escape room and more. Tickets cost $35 for a day pass and $70 for a weekend pass. Dates and times are Friday 1 p.m. to midnight, Saturday 10 a.m. to midnight and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. starcentremd.com

Friday-Sunday

Ongoing: ‘Young Blood: Exhibition’

See exceptional work from recent Master of Fine Arts graduates at the “Young Blood: Exhibition” at the Maryland Art Place, 218 W. Saratoga St. The free event provides a platform and outreach program for these transitioning students. Dates and hours are Tuesday to Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. mdartplace.org/exhibitions

Through Sept. 7

Friday: Imagine Dragons

Prepare to rock out at the “Imagine Dragons: Loom World Tour” at Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia. The Grammy-winning rock band is known for hit songs “Radioactive,” “Believer,” “Demons,” “Thunder,” and more. Ticket prices start at $59.50. merriweathermusic.com

Friday 7 p.m.

Saturday: National Dog Day

Pets and their human companions are invited for a day of fun at the National Dog Day Festival at The Rotunda, 711 W. 40th St., Baltimore. Admission is free. There will be games, photos, food and drink for all. PAWS-Ports will be sold at the door for $8 and the proceeds will benefit the Maryland SPCA. The rain date is Sunday, Aug. 25. rotundabaltimore.com

Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.