Baltimore Backs
the Artist.
Talent is everywhere.
Access isn't.
The Artist Ownership Summit
+ Live Series Taping
A summit you don't just attend. You're part of the show.
SPRING 2027 | New Date Coming Soon | MICA, BALTIMORE
Only 100 seats · Free · 11 AM–7 PM
This isn't just a summit. It's the filming of a new series.
Come for five live tapings. Leave with answers to questions artists rarely get to ask:
How do I turn my work into opportunity?
How do I price what I make?
Who’s actually hiring?
How do I pitch myself?
How do I build a creative career on my own terms?
No gatekeeping.
“We find the artists who’ve figured out the business, and show you exactly how they did it.”
WHAT WE’RE BUILDING
OWNR! is a new national media series helping emerging artists understand how to get hired, get paid, and build sustainable creative careers and income.
We will have established artists, buyers and industry insiders reveal where opportunities are actually coming from, how you get access, what gets funded, how artists get considered, and how to build more ownership into the opportunities they pursue. Emerging artists then take the stage and present or perform their work and get real-time feedback in front of a live audience.
Think NPR’s Tiny Desk meets MasterClass, focused on the business of being an artist.
THE PEOPLE YOU USUALLY DON'T GET ACCESS TO.
The Artists Doing It
How they got booked, what changed their career and what they wish they knew sooner.
The People With The Budgets
What they're buying, what they pay for and what makes an artist get picked.
The Insiders Who Know How It Works
Where opportunities really come from, who makes the decisions and how you get considered.
Guest announcements coming soon.
AGENDA
COME FOR THE CONVERSATIONS YOU NEED.
Five different OWNR! episodes filmed live across three parts of the day. Come for one block or stay for more.
Daytime Block 1
11:00 AM–12:30 PM
Taping 1
How Do You Actually Price Your Creative Work?
Learn about pricing, value, confidence, and what your work is really worth.
Taping 2
How Do You Pitch Yourself And Get Real Opportunities?
Learn how to explain what you do, who it’s for, and what kind of opportunity you’re asking for.
Daytime Block 2
1:30–2:15 PM
Taping 3
How Do You Fund Your First Film?
Got a film idea? Learn how emerging filmmakers find the money, people, and support to actually make it. Because the film industry should not be a mystery only insiders know how to navigate.
Special Evening Experience
4:00 PM · Doors Open
DJ · Photos · Networking4:30–6:00 PM · Two Live OWNR! Tapings
Taping 4
How Fiber Artists Turn Their Work Into Real Opportunities
Learn how textile, fashion, and material-based artists can move from studio work to commissions, exhibitions, products, or collaborations.
Taping 5
How Artists Build Creative Careers On Their Own Terms
Learn how artists can build income, ownership, audience, and momentum without giving away their power.
Special guest to be announced.
Schedule and episode titles subject to change. Guest announcements coming soon.
RESERVE YOUR SEATONLY 100 seats.
Get in the room with the people who know how artists get hired and paid.
- SPRING 2027 | New Date Coming Soon
11 AM - 6:30 PM
MICA BBOX Theatre
1601 W. Mt. Royal Ave, Baltimore, MD 21217
Concept visualization: OWNR! at MICA BBOX.
— At MICA
From making the work to building the career.
MICA puts artists at the center of the ideas and work shaping the creative economy. MICA and OWNR! turn that conversation into a live summit and filmed series for artists.
Hope Simpara, left, and sophomore Angel Forsyth, right, finalize details for the Baltimore Orioles’ 2026 Mother’s Day mascot, Mama Bird. Image Credit: Courtesy of the Baltimore Orioles.
— Hosted By
Mario Armstrong
Baltimore born and raised.
N. Fulton Avenue. Calvert Hall alum.
Mario has spent his career going straight to the people who understand how opportunity works and asking the questions others miss. With OWNR!, he's doing that for artists.
Where are the opportunities for artists, and how do you actually get access?
Watch Live Nationally
Live from Baltimore.
A national conversation about the business of being an artist.
If you can't get in the room, Baltimore is bringing the room to you.
SPRING 2027 | New Date Coming Soon
11 AM–7 PM
Livestream details coming soon.
When the cameras stop,
the learning doesn't.
Every session becomes a free OWNR! episode for artists everywhere.
National series.
Built in Baltimore.
OWNR! is bringing Baltimore artists, institutions and businesses together to open more doors for emerging creatives, while sharing what happens here with artists everywhere.
Baltimore, where it begins.