If Charm City had a page that was reminiscent of Humans of New York, it would be the Bmore Creatives. Baltimore is a city, a community, and a gathering of creative minds. The Bmore Creatives is a platform that serves to highlight that, and elevate businesses and artistry that represents the best of the city. I’ve personally been following their Instagram page for years, and with it my connection to Baltimore has increased exponentially.
In addition to a large social media following on both Facebook and Instagram, the Bmore Creatives also have a blog-style website where they share articles, exclusive Baltimore-centric photography, and other types of content.
The Bmore Creatives was started by Alexa Gaines and Lucie Camp in 2015, following their college graduation. Inspired by the Instagram account @ACreativeDC, the girls sought to build a creative outlet for the communities of Baltimore.
“We wanted to start highlighting the people, places, and events that make Baltimore unique by using authentic views from those in the community,” said Gaines. “We started the feed by reaching out to people directly and asking to reshare their content, which then led to driving people to use #thebmorecreatives hashtag to be featured.”
They recently highlighted a “fall feed” which features the work of a lot of local artists, who’ve attempted to capture the spirit of Baltimore in this season. This can range from Instagrammers to landscape and graffiti artists.
The Bmore Creatives have defined themselves as a “community platform and a social media brand that celebrates the creatives, the makers, the get sh*t done-ers, the people that make Charm City charming!”
One of the local businesses that they’ve recently shared to the page is The Charmery. A beloved ice-cream spot in Hampden, Towson, and Federal Hill, the Charmery is known for its warm atmosphere and unique ice cream flavors. They are also huge advocates for working with local artists and creatives. This makes their feature with the Bmore Creatives a perfect pairing.
What I like the most about Bmore Creatives is that it instills connectivity. There is no rhyme or reason to what you might see on this page because they’ve opened themselves to all different kinds of creative expression. They’re a form of reality because of the variety in their content. And their content is indicative of personal moments. It’s valuable to know how other people see the streets you walk in, the businesses you visit, and the communities you reside in. I also am a huge fan of the way that this site advocates for artists of all kinds, with varying levels of platform and social media following. To be representative of an entire city is a huge responsibility, and something that the Bmore Creative team doesn’t take lightly.
When asked about the steps they take in regards to diversification and representation, Gaines had this to say.
“When The Bmore Creatives was first founded, the driving force was to be able to discover artists and events that one may not have found otherwise in their day to day. The founders, Alexa (me) and Lucie, started by reaching out and curating the content, which then led to driving people to use #thebmorecreatives hashtag to be featured. Using a hashtag to crowdsource content is a double-edged sword though.”
The use of the hashtag to curate their content is problematic, because it's dependent upon those who share it. Sometimes that means different communities can unintentionally be left out of the curated feed.
“That is where we have to personally hold our team members accountable” Gaines said. “We have to do outreach when we don't see diversity showing up organically.”
Gaines encourages members of the Bmore Creatives community to hold them accountable for representation, saying “without them, we are nothing but three people resharing others' content. We know that we are not perfectly highlighting the variety of creators in Baltimore, but how to do it better is always a topic of conversation.”
To go to college in this city you have to love it, and in order to love it you have to know it. It’s important to grow as a member of your college community, but it’s also important to understand that there is life happening all around you, and this page is a good reminder of that.
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