There’s an art/tech block party in Greenmount West this Saturday

A block in Greenmount West is shutting down this weekend to make room for robots, drones and dirt bikes.
Spark Arts and Tech Festival is set for Saturday afternoon, June 3, at the corner of Lanvale and Barclay Streets. It runs from 3-9 p.m.
The Greenmount West Association and Baltimore Rock Opera Society (BROS) were both interested in putting on a block party in the area. The Greenmount West community center recently reopened, and is providing programming in STEAM and other areas, said the assocation’s LaShauna Jones. A portion of the proceeds from the event will benefit the center.
“There’s a lot of really important programming we want to put into the center ” in tech, design, instruction and more, Jones said.
BROS, now back in its space at the Bell Foundry, wanted to provide a place to showcase the artists and makers in the area’s studios and shops that can often pass under the radar, said BROS’s Aran Keating.
“You could walk through it and not really know that there’s so many things happening,” Keating said.
It’s an area that includes the Station North Tool Library, Baltimore Design School and residences at the City Arts complexes. The organizers teamed up with neighbor and massive makerspace Open Works.
In tech terms, the event will have one area with P.U.R.G.G. running robot games, while Global Air Media flies drones in another. Brittany Young will be on hand with STEAM dirt bike program B360, and AfterMath Arts is showcasing work from the Baltimore Design School.
There will also be art exhibits, an open mic and short films throughout the day.