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MSAC, Local Arts Councils Meet in Easton
Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) traveled to the Academy Art Museum in Easton for its March council meeting. They met with Eastern Shore county arts executive directors and board members, toured the museum and voted on grants and awards.
MSAC Chair Carol Trawick, Easton Mayor Robert C. Wiley, and museum Executive Director Dennis McFadden addressed the group. Four county arts council executive directors also spoke to MSAC, Queen Anne’s Belinda Cook, Dorchester’s Mickey Love, Talbot’s Gerald Early and Caroline’s Marina Dowdall. Attendees toured the museum and saw student artwork displayed on two separate floors. Following the meeting, all enjoyed a reception. |
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| Left to Right: MSAC Executive Director Theresa Colvin, MSAC Program Director Pamela Dunne, and Arts Council Executive Directors, Dorchester County - Mickey Love, Talbot County - Gerald Early, Caroline County - Marina Dowdall and Queen Anne’s County – Belinda Cook at the Academy Art Museum |
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Individual Artist Awards Announced
From a field of 585 Individual Artist Award applicants reviewed this year, 96 artists were chosen as MSAC 2016 Individual Artist Award (IAA) grantees. These awards are designed to encourage and sustain Maryland artists’ pursuit of artistic excellence.
Out-of-state jurors, who are experts in their fields, reviewed the submissions. Award recipients are chosen via an anonymous, highly competitive process, based solely on artistic merit. Grants of $1,000, $3,000, or $6,000 were awarded this year in Fiction/Creative Non-Fiction, Solo Theatrical Performance, and Visual Arts: Media, Digital/Electronic Arts, Painting, and Works on Paper. IAA press release and artist list. |
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| Painting “Strain of the Earths’ Sweet Being,” by Carol Barsha, 2016 MSAC Individual Artist Awardee. |
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| MSAC News |
Liz Fitzsimmons Named TFA Managing Director
Liz Fitzsimmons has been appointed Managing Director of the Division of Tourism Film, and the Arts (TFA). She had been director of the Office of Tourism Development and was its assistant director of advertising and communications. Fitzsimmons has served within the Office of Tourism for 23 years.
She recently oversaw the tourism “Indulge All 5 Senses” promotional campaign and helped launch a website offering new ways to help visitors plan trips and navigate through our many attractions.
“TFA is in great hands with Liz. She has long been a leader in our tourism office,” said Commerce Secretary Mike Gill. “I for one cannot wait to see her bring all that experience to bear in her new role.”
Liz Fitzsimmons, Department of Commerce file photo |
Baltimore County Student to Represent Maryland at Nationals
Sharese Acheampong of New Town High School is the 2016 Maryland Poetry Out Loud champion. She recited, “It was not death” (Emily Dickinson), “Make a Law so that the Spine Remembers Wings” (Larry Lewis), and “Poem about People” (Robert Pinskey).
Acheampong also placed first in Poetry Ourselves, a new segment where students submit original poetry. She wrote “The Morrison House.” She received $200 and a trip to the National Finals, May 2-4, at George Washington University. Listen live. New Town gets $500 for poetry materials.
Danni Vitullo, Wilde Lake High School, Howard County, placed second and Kaitlyn Wilson, Colonel Richardson High School, Caroline County, took third place.
Sharese Acheampong recites poetry during the POL competition, photo by Edwin Remsberg |
Maryland Traditions Grants Announced
MSAC announces its FY 2017 Maryland Traditions Apprenticeship Awards and Project Grants. The council approved seven Maryland Traditions Apprenticeship Awards totaling $14,000; supporting the teaching of folk/traditional arts for one-year of study between master and apprentice. Funds cover teaching-related expenses and ensure the continuity of Maryland’s diverse living traditions.
The council also approved five Maryland Traditions Project Grants totaling $25,000; supporting programming that preserves, sustains or presents folk/traditional art in Maryland. Funding goes to organizations that have proposed special projects to engage with living traditions in the state.
Learn more.
2016 apprentice team Tyrome Elliott (left) and Ryan Elliott are members of the gospel quartet The Sensational Royal Lights. Ty lives in Catonsville. Ryan, his son, lives in Baltimore. Photo by Edwin Remsberg. |
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Gabriel Kroiz and Mina Cheon, the artists who created "Diamonds R 4Ever," a fluorescent light sculpture for Light City Baltimore and Maryland First Lady
Yumi Hogan with Aimée Adashek, BOPA Development Director. Photo by Richard Lippenholz. |
First Lady Enjoys Tour of Light City Baltimore
MSAC staff and council, the Division of Tourism, Film and the Arts staff and county arts council representatives joined First Lady Yumi Hogan on a tour during Light City Baltimore, presented by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts (BOPA). Light City is the nation’s first light, music and innovation festival.
Lauren Webb Tolstoi of BOPA guided the group of nearly 30 people who walked the two-hour journey along the Inner Harbor through spectacular illuminations and the pulsing sounds of international and local music. Projections on buildings and lighted sculptures in the harbor added to the enjoyment.
Saoirse de Boy is Irish Dancing World Champion
Saoirse de Boy of Fredrick County recently won the Girls 16-17, World Champion in Irish Dancing in Glasgow, Scotland. She’s been dancing for 10 years under the tutelage of Maureen Berry at Teelin School of Irish Dance in Columbia. Nine other Teelin students also competed at the event.
A principal dancer with Teelin School, she has been to the world championships seven times and traveled to the All Irelands, All Scotland and the Great Britain Championships. de Boy is the 2015 Irish Dancing North American Champion. Ms. Berry was chosen as 2015 Outstanding Artist at the Howie Awards by the Howard County Arts Council and received a 2009 MSAC Individual Artist Award for Choreography.
First Lady Opens Spring Student Art Exhibit
First Lady Yumi Hogan presented student art from across the state at her Biannual Student Artwork Exhibition, last month. Working in conjunction with the Maryland State Department of Education and MSAC, Mrs. Hogan shared a selection of works by Maryland students in the First Lady's Art Gallery, housed in the House of Delegates building on Bladen Street, Annapolis.
Jurors’ selected these students for awards, Middle School: Amira Allen, Howard County; Elementary: Kaelyn Shannon, Anne Arundel County; and High School: Dominique Ramsey, Wicomico County.
See and hear more.
CityLit Festival Celebrates National Poetry Month, Reflects Upon Anniversary of Protests
Poets Claudia Rankine, E. Ethelbert Miller, and Paul Lisicky lead a list of 25 main stage authors at the 13th annual CityLit Festival. This year's celebration of National Poetry Month reflects upon the anniversary of last April's demonstrations and focuses the literary community on matters of race and social justice. CityLit Festival is in partnership with the CityLit Project, Enoch Pratt Free Library, and Maryland Institute College of Art. |
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| Lori Snyder, Executive Director, Arts Education in Maryland Schools Alliance |
During her teaching career,
Lori Snyder received national and local awards, including the Maryland Art Educator of the Year in 2011 by the National Art Education Association. Snyder was instrumental in the development and implementation of the Performing & Visual Arts (PVA) Magnet Programs in Anne Arundel County Public Schools. She served as Senior Manager of the PVA Magnet Programs. Before becoming Arts Education in Maryland Schools Alliance (AEMS) executive director on November 2, 2015, she was a principal partner with AEMS for many years.
AEMS spearheaded work to establish a statewide approach to increasing students' access to quality arts education. Through the Governor's P-20 Leadership Council Task Force on Arts Education in Maryland Schools, which AEMS co-chaired, staffed, and published the final report; the entire state now has a guide for coherent and consistent action to bring equity, quality, and access to arts education benefiting all Maryland students.
MSAC: You are coming up on six months (in May) as the executive director of AEMS. What are the most surprising and challenging parts of your position since you took over in November 2015?
Read the full interview. |
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| Opportunities
Artists Can Apply to Plein Air Festivals
Plein Air painting is a phrase borrowed from the French meaning,
"open air,” and is used to describe the act of painting outdoors where an artist reproduces the visual conditions at the time of the painting. Maryland is home to a dozen Plein Air festivals. Below are upcoming opportunities for artists to participate:
- 2016 Solomons Plein Air Festival application and prospectus are available now for the September 12-18 event. Applications accepted through April 15. Click here to apply.
- Howard County Arts Council seeks artists to take part in the juried portion of Paint It! Ellicott City 2016. The annual Paint-Out is July 7-10 in Ellicott City. A minimum of $5,000 in total awards go to participating artists. Deadline is April 29. Register here.
- Art League of Ocean City’s 2016 Plein Air event is
August 11-14. Registration is open. Artists will take to the boardwalk, streets, harbors, bay and marshes. Register here.
- Harford County Second International Plein Air Art Festival is
Oct. 10-15. Click here to find out about future registration dates.
Public Art Opportunities
Request for Qualifications
Artists may submit a Request for Qualifications for a public art installation at Constitution Gardens in Gaithersburg. Deadline is April 10. The piece is for the children’s entrance. City of Gaithersburg application and information.
Request for Proposals for Trail Mural
Mountain Maryland Trails seeks artists to create public artwork on the Valley Street Bridge. This project is part of the area’s Creative Placemaking effort. The plan includes artwork on the north side of the trail overpass so hikers/bikers can see the mural as they come into Cumberland. Deadline is April 30. Request for Proposals. |
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| MSAC Grants
Maryland Touring
Grants ››
The fiscal year 2017 Maryland Touring Grant application is open in eGrant. Deadline is
April 15, 2016. Learn more.
A&E District Technical Assistance Grant ››
Designated State of Maryland Arts & Entertainment Districts may apply. The grant is open in eGrant.
Deadline is
April 29, 2016. Artist-In-Residence Grant ››
The MSAC's Artist in Residence program provides grants to Maryland schools, covering half the cost of a teaching artist residency performance.
Educators may browse the Artist in Residence Roster to select an MSAC artist. Deadline is
May 13, 2016, by 5 pm.
Read more. |
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Karen Fitzgerald’s artwork "All of It, Even Its End," made of junk mail (see Featured Events below) was selected for the juried Maryland Federation of Art exhibit Art on Paper through April 30 at Circle Gallery in Annapolis. Fitzgerald is a sustainable artist, using mixed media waste materials of all types (junk mail, old clothing, and postcards).
Her work calls attention to objects thrown away as a testament to the beauty in the used up, tattered, discarded, and displaced. Fitzgerald’s aim is to challenge some of the basic assumptions of the consumer culture by creating art from the byproducts of life. “Working with recycled materials means everything I find is a possible work of art,” she says. |
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