Meet Aaron and Wendel,
Baltimore storytellers.

Aaron creates and produces original radio programs for WYPR. His current project is the neighborhood documentary series, Out of the Blocks, which 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, & The World.

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.

Aaron (left) and Wendel of Baltimore

Presented by the Peale
Home for Baltimore Stories

The Peale is a home for Baltimore stories, based in the first purpose-built museum in the country, opened in 1814 by artist Rembrandt Peale. After 20 years of standing vacant, the Peale Museum building was reopened and renovations began in 2017 to relaunch it as a showcase for Baltimore’s storytellers that honors the importance of their contribution to the city’s cultural heritage.

We work with local storytellers – griots, performers, artists, architects, historians, students, educators, and other culture-keepers – to produce and share their narratives digitally and as live exhibitions, performances, talks and other events, at the Peale as well as at partner sites across the city. By creating a more inclusive cultural record that tells the whole story of the city, we aim to help people everywhere see Baltimore in a new light. In the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit of the Peale family, the Peale is a new kind of civic museum: both a laboratory and a teaching museum – not just a treasure house, but also a production house of culture.

You can share your own story through the Peale’s many platforms. Here’s how: