Devin Allen to Curate SCOUT Art Fair at Artscape 2026

Devin Allen grew up attending Artscape. This spring, he will shape what it looks like.

Create Baltimore announced March 27 that Allen, the Baltimore-born photographer whose images of the 2015 Baltimore Uprising landed on the cover of Time magazine, has been named 2026 curator of SCOUT, the affordable art fair that will return as part of Artscape on May 23-24 at War Memorial Plaza. He was only the third amateur photographer Time had ever selected for its cover.

"Baltimore raised me and Artscape was part of my childhood, a place where art and community came alive," Allen said in a statement. "Now, stepping into the role of curator for SCOUT in its second year feels like a full-circle moment. I am honored to carry on the foundation Derrick Adams created with SCOUT and to continue championing the artists who are redefining what Baltimore looks like to the world. We already know what everyone else is discovering: our region is home to some of the most extraordinary talent alive."

Joining Allen is assistant curator Cierra Britton, a Baltimore-born, New York-based curator and gallery owner known for championing artists who challenge dominant narratives. Together, they take over a fair that artist and Baltimore native Derrick Adams founded in 2025 as a direct counter to the conventional gallery model, built around accessible price points and open pathways for emerging and established artists to reach collectors.

Adams framed the handoff pointedly. "Over the years I've witnessed tremendous growth in the production of the artist community in Baltimore and that should be shared with the world," he said. "Viewers have the opportunity to connect directly with collectors and those who are curious about art and culture can experience artwork presented on an elevated platform such as this one."

SCOUT will occupy an indoor component within Artscape's broader downtown footprint, with the full festival anchored around War Memorial Plaza. The Roots headline Saturday night and R&B legend Stephanie Mills takes Sunday, with Artscape After Dark running from 9 p.m. to midnight both evenings.

Allen's appointment carries weight beyond programming logistics. His last major institutional appearance in the city was a 2025 Baltimore Museum of Art exhibition, "Heavy with History, Devin Allen & The Baltimore Uprising," which traced the arc of his decade-long documentation of Black life in Baltimore. Bringing that sensibility into a festival context, where art trades hands directly and price barriers are kept intentionally low, positions SCOUT as something closer to a neighborhood marketplace than a white-wall gallery event.

Create Baltimore CEO Robyn Murphy joined Allen for a preview segment on "11 TV Hill," where Allen said he intends to feature artists from every corner of Baltimore. With the Round 2 artist application window having closed March 27, the SCOUT lineup Allen and Britton are building will be among the clearest signals of what that promise looks like in practice when Artscape opens at War Memorial Plaza in seven weeks.