Campus Connection

The Black Law Students Association (BLSA) hosted the first annual “Terms of Art” showcase on April 5, at the Law School. The title of the event is a play on the legalese “term of art” and showcased artwork from university and community artists.

The event was pioneered by the organization’s parliamentarian and second year law student, Rhona Williams. Williams started thinking about hosting an art show after attending Artscape last summer. She also cited a group called Maryland Lawyers for the Arts, an organization that provides free legal aid to artists, as a secondary inspiration for the show.

Williams was clear that a major goal of the show was to bring the Baltimore community to the Law School. She said, “We wanted to bring something new that would bring not only the Law School community together, but we wanted to bring the entire graduate school community and professional school community together.”

Williams also envisioned the event as comprehensive. She wanted the show to represent all forms of art: photography, painting, music, jewelry-making, and even culinary arts. Many of the artists were selling the pieces on display.

The event drew on artists from within the university community and from the local community. Members of the organization solicited artists from the Baltimore area, an extraordinary feat for a new event. “We went everywhere to find artists. No one has heard of this. We just sold [the idea]. We just tried to make people understand that we wanted to bring the arts and culture to the Law School,” said Williams.

While some of the proceeds from the event will go to fund other BLSA events, according to Williams, at least a portion will go to the Maryland Public Interest Law Program (MPILP), a student run organization that funds law school students concerned with public interest legal work. More specifically, the organization funds grants to support students who work for non-profit legal agencies over the summer.

The BLSA has plans to continue the event in upcoming years, and Williams hopes that future shows will be even bigger and better.

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