We enjoy getting a chance to peek inside dozens of great buildings during the annual Doors Open Baltimore event so much that this year we’re teaming up with event sponsors the Baltimore Architecture Foundation and AIA Baltimore to host a guided bus tour to explore five of the featured places in depth. Join preservation architect Tom Liebel, who also chairs the city’s historic preservation commission, as we hop from site to site and learn what makes these places fantastic.

We’ll start at the 1950’s Cathedral of Mary our Queen, which was built to seat 1,900 people and is larger than St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. It serves as the seat of the Archbishop in Baltimore and among the decorations adorning the building are over 385 sculptures and 398 panels of stained glass in the nave alone.

From the Cathedral, we’ll board a bus and head the Shuler Studio. This two-stage, early 20th century building was the studio and residence of prominent Baltimore sculptor Hans Schuler and is currently home to The Schuler School of Fine Arts and The Schuler Gallery.

Our next stop will be St. Ignatius Church. If you’ve been to a show at Center Stage Theater, you may have wondered what the grand church looks like next door in the same building. We’ll learn about this beautiful 1850s Jesuit Roman Catholic Church with its Romanesque interior and 1860 organ.

The last stop will be 10 Light Street, a 1929 Art Deco masterpiece. Built for the Baltimore Trust Company, the building features wonderful iconography revolving around banking. Although the grand decor could not stave off the Great Depression in 1929 and the building became vacant shortly after it was completed, is has been well used over the subsequent eight decades and is now apartments. Join us as we examine the magnificent banking lobby and learn about Art Deco art and architecture.

There is free parking at the Cathedral of Mary our Queen. The member rate for this tour applies to members of Baltimore Heritage, Baltimore Architecture Foundation, and AIA Baltimore.

For architects: This tour offers 2 AIA/CES LUs.

Tour Schedule:
9:30 AM – Meet at Cathedral of Mary our Queen and tour the building
10:00 AM – Bus leaves Cathedral for tour
12:00 PM – Bus returns to Cathedral of Mary our Queen

Member registration rate applies to members of Baltimore Heritage, AIA Baltimore, and Baltimore Architecture Foundation.