A Farewell Celebration for "Out of the Blocks"

27 South Patterson Park Avenue,Baltimore MD 21231

26 August, 2021

Description

Join producers Aaron Henkin and Wendel Patrick for a farewell celebration of WYPR's neighborhood documentary series, "Out of the Blocks." On Thursday, August 26 at 6 PM, join WYPR with the creators, participants, and fans of Out of the Blocks to celebrate a decade of Baltimore stories, told one block at a time. This event is free and open to the public! It will be held at the Pagoda Observatory hill at Patterson Park, located at 27 South Patterson Park Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21231. Please register in advance - the first 150 family groups to check-in at the WYPR table will get a deck of Out of the Blocks playing cards. As the long-running podcast ends in August, this is your unique opportunity to meet the people whose stories you’ve heard on Out of the Blocks, to talk with producers Aaron Henkin & Wendel Patrick about how and why they made the show, and to learn some useful tips for your own DIY interviewing projects. Bring a picnic and/or food will also be available for purchase. Don't forget to bring your own lawn chairs and picnic blankets! RAIN DATE AUGUST 31 About Out of the Blocks: What if you could meet and interview everyone on a city block? What would that sound like? What would you learn? That was the idea that got the ball rolling on an odd little radio experiment a decade ago, when Aaron Henkin and Wendel Patrick started hanging out on the 3300 block of Greenmount Avenue, recording conversations with the locals about everyday life. They turned the recordings into a collage of interviews and soundscapes, they embroidered it with an original musical score, and they put it on the radio. The result was something special. Today, Out of the Blocks has documented dozens of different neighborhoods around Baltimore and traveled across the country to produce special episodes in St. Louis, Seattle, Detroit, Atlanta, Oakland, Juneau, and the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. As the phenomenon of podcasting came into its own, Out of the Blocks was picked up for distribution by PRX, and hundreds of thousands of listeners downloaded the show around the world. In 2018, Out of the Blocks won the national Edward R. Murrow Award. It's a storytelling journey that was made possible by the trust & support of WYPR, its listener-members, a generous group of local grantors, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the National Endowment for the Arts. About Aaron Henkin: Aaron creates and produces original radio programs and podcasts for WYPR. His documentary series, Out of the Blocks, earned the 2018 national Edward R Murrow Award. His past work includes the long-running weekly cultural program, The Signal, and the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings series, Tapestry of the Times. Aaron's stories have aired nationally on NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered, PRI’s Studio 360, and The World. About Wendel Patrick: Wendel Patrick has been referred to as "David Foster Wallace reincarnated as a sound engineer" by Urbanite Magazine and as "wildly talented" by The Baltimore Sun. He has been referred to by XLR8R magazine as "a hip-hop producer that could easily make any fan of Squarepusher, Boards of Canada, or Madlib flip out." The alter-ego of classical and jazz pianist Kevin Gift, Wendel Patrick is rapidly making a name for himself as a producer to be recognized. His five albums, "Sound:", "Forthcoming", "JDWP", "Passage" and "Travel" were all produced without the use of samples, with Patrick playing every note of every instrument. What is perhaps most astounding and perplexing to listeners is that there are actually no instruments...he crafts all of the instruments, and every note, electronically. In addition to his music, Wendel Patrick is an avid photographer and videographer. His photography has been featured on NPR, and he shoots all of the accompanying documentary photography and videography for Out of the Blocks. He has filmed and directed numerous music videos for other artists. COVID-19 : If you are eyeing the uptick in COVID-19 numbers due to the spread of the Delta variant, we hear you. In an abundance of caution, this event is outdoors, in a venue with a ton of space to spread out, picnic style. We hope to see you and your family at the hill of Patterson Park on August 26th! Support WYPR 88.1 FM: WYPR members help make free, community events like this possible. Support Baltimore NPR's news station financially by becoming a member, or renewing your membership, today at wypr.org/donate. THANK YOU to our generous event sponsors: Catholic Charities Cajou Creamery The Baltimore Museum of Art The Park School of Baltimore Baltimore's NPR news station