Reaffirming the importance of Maryland's vibrant nonprofit arts sector, Governor Larry Hogan announced $13.67 million in Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) grant awards to 300 local arts organizations and arts councils.

MSAC Grants for Organizations (GFO) support the general operations of 300 arts organizations and programs while Community Arts Development (CAD) grants support Maryland's 24 local arts councils. The Governor approved the matching grants based on the recommendations of the MSAC, an agency of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.

In addition, Governor Hogan approved $2 million in grant funding to be distributed among 11 arts and cultural organizations, including $790,000 to the Maryland State Arts Council, reversing a mid-year funding reduction imposed during the final days of the prior administration.

“The First Lady and I are huge proponents of the arts, and I am excited that we have been able to restore this grant money," said Governor Hogan. "My administration is committed to providing full funding for the arts in a fiscally responsible manner." See awardees here.

New Councilors Named to the MSAC

Governor Hogan has appointed four new councilors to the MSAC; they are Alex Castro of Kent County, Doug Mann of Anne Arundel County, Anthony Cornwell of Allegany County and Joan M.G. Lyon of Garrett County. 

• Mann is Vice President of Operations and Finance for the Maryland Institute College of Art. He has been at MICA since 2004 and was on the Board of Arts Education in Maryland Schools Alliance. Mr. Mann also served as Chair of Maryland Citizens for the Arts.

• Lyon is an active supporter of the arts; she is a member of the Garrett County Arts Council and is currently serving her second term as President of its Board of Directors. Lyon also volunteers as a ceramics assistant/mentor in the Art Department at Garrett College.

• Castro is an artist and an architect whose designs have graced the streets and skylines of Baltimore, including collaborative works with the American Visionary Art Museum, the renovation of the Charles Theater, and the creation of the neon "Mr. Boh" signs in Brewers Hill.  

• Cornwell is owner of Cornwell Remodeling and Restoration. He is an artist making mixed media sculptural faces from found items: pulleys, flashlights, and antique hardware and farm tools.

The MSAC expresses its sincere gratitude to councilors that recently concluded their terms of service, Eric Conway, Nancy Graf, Kathy O'Dell, and Sandy Oxx. The councilors each served on a variety of committees, among them Finance, Grants, Panel Selection, Program, Planning and Evaluation, Community Arts Development, and Advocacy.

Pictured Above: FY2016 GFO awardee Common Ground on the Hill. A young dancer with the Folkloric Group San José of Hanover, PA, performing at the Common Ground on the Hill Festival at the Carroll County Farm Museum. Photo by Pamela Zappardino.

The MSAC seeks arts professionals to assist in evaluating grant applications.

These experts must have experience in the field and an understanding of the artistic and organizational requirements and standards in their artistic categories.

Panelists will review FY2017 grant applications, conduct onsite interviews, and evaluations, and submit a report on assigned organizations prior to a spring Grants Review Panel meeting.

Appointed panelists serve a one-year term, and receive a modest honorarium for service and travel expenses.

To learn more, read Panelists Responsibilities and then submit completed nomination forms  with a resume or brief biography of the nominee by email to msac@msac.org.

The deadline is August 14, 2015.

The MSAC presents Grants for Organizations (GFO) Information sessions to provide organizations with a description of the program and assist with applications for funding. Learn about GFO processes and ask questions of the GFO Program Directors.

Director of Maryland Traditions Clifford Murphy Ph.D. (pictured) will become the new director of folk and traditional arts, effective August 24, 2015 at the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

Murphy will manage NEA grant making in folk and traditional arts, oversee the NEA National Heritage Fellowship program, and represent the agency in the field.

Murphy oversees the folklife program of the MSAC. He came to the MSAC in 2008 and became director of the program in 2011. 

During that time, he worked with Assistant Director Michelle Stefano to expand the reach and visibility of Maryland Traditions, launching the Maryland Traditions Folklife Festival in 2011 and producing the annual Achievement in Living Traditions and Arts (ALTA) Awards.

He established a partnership with the University of Maryland Baltimore County to bring MSAC’s 40 years of folklife archives into the university library system, and - most recently - launched the Maryland Folklife Center feasibility study.

Industrial Arts Collective (IAC) Brings Artists Together at ‘Pop Up Shop’
The IAC Made In Baltimore Pop Up Shop is coming to 16 W. North Avenue! More than 40 vendors will highlight Baltimore’s best from print studios, to dog backpacks, jewelry, pottery, electronics to a school of food, IAC is bringing Maryland artisan-made items to the public. Visit the artists directory.

Stop by on August 8 at 7 p.m. for a launch party featuring local brews, bikes, bags, books, clothes, drones, 3D printers, jewelry, furniture, prints, and more! The IAC has many events on the way, check them out!

Wheaton A&E District is One of 69 Communities in Nation to Receive ‘Our Town’ Grant
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Jane Chu announced 69 Our Town awards totaling almost $5 million through the Our Town program's fifth year of funding.  One of those 69 awardees is the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC). The NEA received 275 applications for Our Town this year, with grants ranging from $25,000 to $200,000.

With the $50,000 award from the NEA, AHCMC will lead the cultural design and implementation of We ART Wheaton, a series of community-focused cultural events that will activate Montgomery County’s most recently designated Wheaton Arts & Entertainment District. This new initiative, supported in part by funds provided by Montgomery County for the arts and humanities, will also include “pop up” art exhibitions, public performances, and the creation of public art designed by award-winning artist Matthew Mazzotta.

The Our Town grant program supports creative placemaking projects that help to transform communities into lively, beautiful, and resilient places with the arts at their core. Since the program’s inception in 2011 and including these projects, the NEA will have awarded 325 Our Town grants totaling almost $26 million in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. Learn more.

Mini-Grants Help Baltimore Rise Above
The Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts (BOPA) and the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance are announcing the 13 artists and organizations selected for the 2015 Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) Mini-Grants.

Grants of $500 support grassroots arts activities responding to the recent uprising in Baltimore. Learn about the grantees. The program highlights the critical role of arts and culture in community building efforts and as tools for healing. The program is possible through funding by the MSAC and administered by BOPA.

Pictured above: Fluid Movement
Inspired by the bicentennial of the Baltimore battles of the War of 1812 and the writing of the Star Spangled Banner, “Star Spangled Swimmer,” Fluid Movement’s 13th annual water ballet, follows two summer school attendees’ “immersive learning” history lesson. Here the Militia Men prepare to swim to “It’s Raining Men,” prompted by an actual quote from British General Robert Ross, who declared, “I don’t care if it rains militia men!”

MSAC: What is your background in the arts?

Krista Bradley: I’ve been in arts administration for 25+ years having worked for a number of opera companies, dance companies, and funding agencies in various leadership and management positions – from programming, to education, to marketing, and development. I ran a national commissioning and audience development initiative for Opera America and the Wallace Fund and before BlackRock, I was the performing arts program officer at Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, a regional arts organization, for six years. I’m a musician (piano) and long-time choral and a cappella singer and I recently took up drawing and painting a few years ago.

MSAC: How long have you been executive director at BlackRock Center for the Arts? In addition, what do you enjoy most about the position?

Krista Bradley: I’ve been ED for three years having joined BlackRock in August of 2012. I love making the arts accessible to a broad and diverse community. I love championing the arts in Upper Montgomery County, one of the largest and fasting growing regions in the state. In this position, I also curate our performing arts season. I love finding interesting, exciting and inspiring artists and work around the country or around the world and bringing it to our own stages. To see our community experience the wonder and excitement of a new artist, genre or company is such a great high. Programming is like going Christmas shopping and finding the perfect gift for people we care about – our community and patrons – and surprising them with things they love or are delightfully unexpected. Read More.

Photo Courtesy of BlackRock Center for the Arts

Baltimore Man Named One of 20 NEA Fellowship Awardees
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has awarded William Schutt of Baltimore a $12,000 fellowship for translation of literature. Schutt’s translation is from the Italian of My Life, I Lapped It Up: Selected Poems by Edoardo Sanguineti.

Poet, novelist, theorist, playwright, critic, librettist, translator, and politician, Sanguineti (1930-2010) was one of the most influential Italian writers of the post-World War II era and a leading member of the Italian New Vanguard, a group of experimental writers that included Antonio Porta and Umberto Eco.

Schutt is a poet and translator. His collection of poems, Westerly (Yale University Press, 2013), was selected by Carl Phillips to win the 2012 Yale Series of Younger Poets award. Other projects recommended for support.

Photo by E. Mckee

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August 7-9

Ward Museum, Art in Nature Photo Festival
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