Blissarmyknife will host and teach an all-ages rap writing workshop on October 12, 2024 at Atrium Artspace, located at 2029 Maryland Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21218. Bliss is a multidisciplinary artist with a focus in visual art and hip-hop who lives and works in Baltimore. Bliss’ paintings will be featured at Atrium Artspace during Artscape 2024. Other recent exhibitions include Artscape 2023 and Emerge Baltimore at Bromo Arts Tower, and Bliss has been recording and performing music for 10 years. He is also a member of the collective “3SIDE” alongside Vlaad, Fonlon, Tromac, Jay Swann and Cadeem Lamarr. The rap writing workshop will combine elements of play, show and tell, performance, and collaboration. The workshop will begin with introductions and a short presentation by the artist about his background and inspiration, as well as a performance of his own music. The program will continue with a breakdown of some verses and lines that participants may be familiar with from notable emcees. These verses are curated by Bliss to exemplify different eras in hip hop and highlight the evolution of lyricism. Bliss will use games, including a “raffle” of topics, words and phrases to break the ice and get participants into the mindset of creativity and openness. Through writing instruction and collaborative writing exercises, the workshop will encourage people of all ages and levels of experience to participate in the creation process. Participants will be given the opportunity to show and tell writing that they have done previously or that they have created during the workshop. The workshop will conclude with a discussion, including participants and the artist sharing their lessons learned during the experience. There will also be the opportunity for a Q&A session at the end.