Doreen Bolger's home wasn't built for art.
It's not one of those open-air boxes made of white walls and windows, the ceilings laced with pinpoint spotlights and the rooms furnished with sculpture instead of cozy settees.
It is, instead, a failed attempt at a rowhouse on St. Paul Street in what was once Peabody Heights. The flat front and the breezeway side entrances were such a disappointment in 1872 that not another one was built.
Inside, the home of the director of the Baltimore Museum of Art is warm, but so modestly lit that the stairs to the second floor should carry a warning.
The window treatments, wallpaper, floor coverings and furniture are a riot of patterns because patterns are the "obsession" of the woman who chose them.
Everywhere you look, there is art.
"I see a lot more art that I would like to have, and I think that I don't have enough space," says Bolger. "And then I see a spot and think, 'Well there's a space.'"
If you think that the director of the largest art gallery in the state would feel obliged to fill those spaces with art with a capital 'A,' you would be wrong.
Instead, she prowls the do-it-yourself galleries that spring up around the city and buys what surprises or delights her. Or what makes her think.
"I buy what I like, and I can't say there is much I don't like," she says. "Even if you don't understand it, you always wonder what the person was thinking when they created it."
Baltimore, Bolger believes, is a creative environment made fertile by the confluence of the Maryland Institute College of Art, the Peabody Institute, Johns Hopkins as well as Towson, UMBC and the University of Maryland at College Park.
"We have a really great art community, far out of scale for the number of people who live here," Bolger says. And Baltimore's moderate standard of living — and a disproportionate amount of prize money — makes it easier for an artist to survive here.
"Do you think you could find a loft in Brooklyn for a thousand dollars where three artists or musicians could live?" she asks.
At 61, Bolger is tall, with a shock of white hair. She'd be easy to spot at openings, exhibitions, auctions and benefits. She attends readings and performances and films and jam sessions and rock concerts and jazz performances. If you read her blog, Art-Full Life, you would correctly guess that she is out nearly every night of the week.
"A lot of these events start late," she says, almost apologetically. "It is easy to do two or three events in an evening."
Her day job, if you will, is to direct the BMA and cultivate its donors, collectors, artists and friends.
But she spends the rest of her time nurturing the emerging artists in Baltimore, many of whom simply e-mail the director of the BMA with news of their work. "This generation of artists does not take its institutions too seriously," she says.
And she is not just offering the blessing of her presence. She is buying, and having the time of her life doing it. Considering her professional pedigree, she is almost gleefully uninhibited by stuffy conventional tastes, and her enthusiasm is evident as she takes you on an art tour of her home.
"And I buy stuff to give to people. I think that gives them the idea of buying," she said, showing off an acrylic on masonite dolphin created by Andrew Liang for a show this summer. She purchased it as a gift for Dave Pittenger, executive director of the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
"Andrew's show was rated as one of the top 10 exhibitions of the year in the City Paper," she says.
The most she has ever spent on a piece — and she is partial to prints and two-dimensional art — is $600. Most of the time, though, she spends just a couple hundred dollars.
"These are reasonably priced things that can make your life more beautiful," said Bolger. "People spent that much on a poster," she said, "and for a few more dollars, they could have something unique, hand-made, special."
How do you know what art to buy? You do what Bolger does. You buy what you like.
"People feel anxious about buying art. They think they will buy the wrong thing. But you can't buy the wrong thing if you like it."
Bolger came to Baltimore from Providence and the Museum of Art at the Rhode Island School of Design, by way of New York and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. She arrived at the BMA in 1998 and has been an ambitious and successful fundraiser. She also eliminated the entrance fee so that the audience could change and grow.
Her specialty is 19th-century American art and stately examples of the period, for example — hang next to prints, drawings and collages that reflect her love of patterns, prints and textiles.
"I like the mix," she says. "I think they have something to say to each other."
How to buy art
Doreen Bolger, director of the Baltimore Museum of Art, offers tips on purchasing art:
Look, look, look Visit museums, art galleries, exhibitions at art schools and colleges, art fairs, antiques stores, auctions — even thrift stores — to find out what you like. This will help you recognize what you aspire to live with.
Get to know artists in your community You can meet them at exhibition openings and closing parties, as well as at public events like lectures and panel discussions. Visit the Sondheim Artscape Prize Semifinalist and Finalist shows and go to Artscape each summer. Follow the art blogs that cover Baltimore's vibrant arts scene.
Buy what you like, but stretch yourself Your taste will evolve with knowledge and experience. Feel comfortable considering a piece that seems a little risky at first. You can usually return to an exhibition multiple times to consider a purchase.
Use the internet It's a good way to find information on artists and their work. In Baltimore, check out BakerArtistAwards.org, where artists in all disciplines can nominate their work online for annual awards from the William G. Baker Jr. Memorial Fund. Hundreds of artists participate — and it creates a resource for collectors, scholars and critics. MICA also has online exhibitions and an art sale with 100 percent of the proceeds benefiting the artists. Go to mica.edu.
Don't be discouraged by price Artists need to earn a living by selling their work, and they merit support. If your means are modest, you can sometimes buy a piece in installments. Or if the piece exceeds your means, ask if the artist has a less expensive piece in a similar vein — a smaller work, or a print instead of a drawing or painting.
Where to buy
Station North Arts and Entertainment District. Offering a diverse collection of artist live-work spaces, galleries, rowhomes and businesses just steps away from Penn Station and Mount Vernon. stationnorth.org
Highlandtown's Arts & Entertainment District. Home of a Creative Alliance at The Patterson, galleries, artist studios, and retail shops with a variety of activities happening year round. highlandtownarts.com
Baltimore Clayworks, 5707 Smith Ave., Baltimore, 410-578-1919; baltimoreclayworks.com.
Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower, 21 S Eutaw St., Baltimore, 443-874-3596; bromoseltzertower.com.
Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave., Baltimore, 410-276-1651; creativealliance.org. Beginning March 19, bid on 200 pieces of artwork during the Outtatime Art Auction, which continues until the Marquee Ball "Back to the Future" blowout on April 2. Curated by Amy Eva Raehse, Executive Director of Goya Contemporary.
Maryland Art Place, 8 Market Place # 100, Baltimore, 410-962-8565; mdartplace.org. For the "Out of Order" Spring Benefit & Exhibition in April, local and regional artists donate works for auction and split the proceeds with MAP. The center is relocating to 218 W Saratoga St. in the spring.