
The CopyCat Building is a Baltimore landmark containing artists' live/work spaces.Charles Lankford bought the 165,000-square-foot brick building at 1501 Guilford Ave. in 1983. The building is commonly called the "Copy Cat Building," after a billboard for the Copy Cat printing company that stood on its roof for years. At the time, it housed a variety of light-industrial tenants.Today the Copycat is home to many young artists, musicians, and budding professionals looking for a large space to live, create, and study. At about 50 cents per square foot, the loft style building is one of the best bargains in town. The Copycat remains a functional artist's housing community with great influence on the Baltimore art scene. On the weekends one can find a number of showcases of local and not so local musicians (bands have come from all over the country, and some have even travelled all the way from France and Australia to play in one of Baltimore's premier warehouse venues.)Bands that have played the warehouse include: Lightning Bolt (Rhode Island), Black Forest/Black Sea (Rhode Island), Japanther (Brooklyn, NY), Wolf Eyes (Ann Arbor), Gravenhurst (England), Robotnicka (France), The Death Set (Australia), Matt + Kim, Nautical Almanac, Long Live Death, the USAISAMONSTER, etc.The Copycat Building was also home to The Wham City Art's Collective, former home to rising Baltimore acts Dan Deacon, Blood Baby, Santa Dads, and Butt Stomach. Wham City has also been known to put on live stage performances of their interpretation of Beauty And The Beast and has hosted a number of experimental dance formals.