As pandemic abates, agency known for planning Baltimore festivals like Artscape offers new vision. But questions remain.

Each summer for more than a decade, Baltimore artist Ernest Shaw Jr. sold his paintings from a stand at Artscape, the city’s free arts festival. Through the years, booth fees rose from around $25 to a whopping $700. During that time, Shaw said, out-of-town vendors supplanted local ones and the art seemed to become secondary to Ferris wheels and turkey legs. He eventually made his exit.