Throughout the week, across the flowering green from City Hall, dozens of artists have been hauling canvases, frames, and sculptures up the marble steps of the Baltimore War Memorial in preparation for Artscape.

For the first time in its 43-year history, the city’s annual free arts festival has relocated from the Station North and Mid-Town Belvedere neighborhoods to the heart of downtown, also moving from its notoriously hot and wet late-summer dates to Memorial Day Weekend, in hopes of better weather.

Also new this year is the inaugural Scout Art Fair, taking place inside this historic Gay Street monument rain or shine throughout the weekend, starting with a sold-out preview night on Thursday, May 22, and running through Sunday, May 25.

Curated by acclaimed artist and Baltimore native Derrick Adams with Baltimore Beat arts-and-culture editor Teri Henderson, the building’s neo-classical atrium and Italian travertine floors have been transformed into an exhibition hall featuring works by more than 40 artists.

“It’s a beautiful showcase of what artists in Baltimore are making right now,” says Henderson, also an independent curator, formerly of BmoreArt’s Connect+Collect Gallery.

From more than 100 applicants, she and Adams pulled together a cohort of artists across a range of disciplines, including sculptor Murjoni Merriweather, photographer Isaiah Winters, painter Charles Mason III, collage artist Bria Sterling, and collaborators Wickerham & Lomax, among many more.

Eleven local partners, ranging from galleries, community organizations, and nonprofits—including the likes of Creative Alliance, Current Space, Good Neighbor, and Islam & Print—will also be in tow, with their group exhibitions located around the room’s perimeter. Altogether, the Scout Art Fair will highlight not only the talents of individual artists, but also the collective cultural landscape of Baltimore.

“It’s showing people a lot of what this city has to offer all in one room,” says Adams, who dreamed up the event with childhood friend Tonya Miller Hall, now senior advisor for the city’s Office of Arts & Culture, in hopes that platforms like this will help further promote the prominence of the local art scene—not only within the city’s own sense of identity, but also its perception nationally and internationally.

“Baltimore has no shortage of creative communities, or local support within them,” says Adams, “but broader visibility has always been a bigger challenge for the city—letting people know that Baltimore, on more of a world stage, is a city to consider for creative exchange—which I think artists need in order to really thrive in their career here.”

Adams knows this first-hand, having gained success outside of his hometown, including international exhibitions from London to Hong Kong, works being added to permanent collections at the The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and representation by the illustrious Gagosian in Los Angeles. But in recent years, he has started investing back into the city, from opening The Last Resort Artist Retreat in Upper Waverly to curating the new Inviting Light installation initiative in Station North.

Which is why this fair is not just for local artists to show their works, but sell them, too, with Adams and Henderson hoping to draw collectors from near and far—and of all backgrounds. Artworks are priced affordably between $150 and $5,000, with a portion of the sale proceeds benefitting programs from the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA), which serves as the event’s co-host alongside Mayor Brandon Scott’s Downtown RISE Initiative.

“Part of our mission is expanding what people think a collector looks like,” says Henderson, who has collected works by the local likes of Safiyah Cheatam, Lexie Mountain, and the I. Henry Photo Project, while Adams’ Last Resort is full of screenprints by Tom Miller, portraits by Devin N. Morris, and paintings by McKinley Wallace III. “Everyone can collect. And it’s about building relationships with artists over time—maybe for some people starting with more moderately priced works before building up to buying something larger later down the line.”

Adams sees the practice of collecting art as an intentional commitment to an artist’s craft and livelihood, as well as an invaluable contribution to human culture and community-building—on both small and large scales.

“Collecting is an act of stewardship . . . protecting works for the future and really seeing art as a part of history and a part of culture that needs to be preserved,” he says, noting that, for some prospective collectors, the Scout Art Fair will be an opportunity to begin supporting artists from the earliest evolutions of their careers. At the same time, potential museum curators or gallery representatives might also use the fair to discover new artists to exhibit.

Admission is free and hours are Friday from 1 to 6 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. In addition to showcasing and selling art, the event will feature other programming, including the Scout Soiree on Friday night from 8:30 to 11 p.m. at the Hotel Ulysses Swann House. There is also a planned curatorial talk on site at the War Memorial between Adams and Henderson on Saturday at 1:30 p.m., as well as two Center Stage panel discussions featuring Adams on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., with BmoreArt’s Cara Ober, and on Sunday at 2 p.m., with actor Kofi Siriboe.

If all goes well, the curators hope this might grow into an annual event—if not evolve into something akin to the New York’s Armory Show or Miami’s Art Basel.

“I would love that,” says Adams. “This is really the launch.”

“Any opportunity for artists to show their work is critical, and as they set up, I’m hearing from them that they are really excited,” adds Henderson, as each stall’s white walls are hung with an impressive and colorful array of creations in anticipation of the weekend ahead. “The goal is to elevate Baltimore—to share with the world that it is, as we all know here, this world-class city of artists.”