Tribute to be held for council member Nancy Haragan
Nancy Marie Haragan, a prominent advocate for the arts and council member of the Maryland State Arts Council, died Sunday, Nov. 27, in Baltimore following complications from melanoma. She was 60. A celebration of her life will be held Friday, Dec. 2, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

“Nancy was fearless in her advocacy for the arts and believed strongly in their power to transform the lives of individuals as well as communities,” said Theresa Colvin, executive director of the Arts Council. “She was fiercely intelligent and had an insatiable appetite for knowledge and new ideas. And, she knew exactly what players to bring to the table to make things happen, the epitome of a ‘mover and shaker.’ Because of Nancy and her work, Maryland is a more creative and vibrant place. She was an original and will be sorely missed.”

In 1998, Haragan established the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance – an association of nearly 100 arts organization in the Baltimore area that connects artists and arts groups, develops internal and external relationships for the arts and culture sector, and advocates on behalf of that sector.

Haragan also worked with Philadelphia’s Pew Charitable Trusts and Maryland arts organizations to bring the Cultural Data Project (CDP) to the state in 2007. The Maryland CDP is an online-management system that allows arts organizations to standardize their financial information and acquire a reliable picture of their fiscal position with regard to the overall arts industry.

She was board chair of Arts Every Day and a board member of the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts, Art on Purpose and Station North Arts and Entertainment District. A native of Louisville, Ky., she came to Baltimore in the 1970s.

State renews Silver Spring’s A&E designation
The Silver Spring Arts & Entertainment (A&E) District becomes the second of Maryland’s 19 A&E districts to receive re-designation, as of Dec. 1. Since its original designation in 2002, the Silver Spring district has become a vital element in Montgomery County’s economic and cultural growth.

More than 50 arts, humanities and educational organizations exist in the district. Among them: Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, Pyramid Atlantic, Sutradhar Dance Institute, Class Acts Arts, Project Youth Art Reach, Heliport Gallery, The Majestic, National Council for Traditional Arts, Lil Soso Productions, Docs in Progress, CREATE Arts Center, and the School of Art and Design at Montgomery College.

Performance spaces include: Round House Theatre, Montgomery Cultural Arts Center, NOAA Auditorium and Science Center, The Fillmore Silver Spring, Bonifant Theater Space, and Silver Plaza and Veterans Plaza. The district also has 35 pieces of public art, installed through the efforts of private-sector development and the Public Arts Trust.

Maryland’s A&E program uses tax incentives for arts-related enterprises through local jurisdictions as a way to spur revitalization in the districts. Designations and re-designations of districts are in effect for 10 years.

Photo: AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center

Top musicians take stage at free ALTA Awards concert
Maryland Traditions, the folklife program of the Maryland State Arts Council, presents its annual ALTA (Achievement in Living Traditions and Arts) Awards and concert, Saturday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m., at the Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center in Silver Spring. Admission is free, though tickets must be reserved by calling the center’s box office, 240-567-5775.

Piedmont-blues musician Warner Williams (pictured), a recent recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, will perform at the event. Two other prominent musicians – “Godfather of Go-Go” Chuck Brown, a 2005 National Heritage Fellowship awardee, and Phil Wiggins, master blues harmonica player and a recipient of a Maryland Traditions Apprenticeship Award – are featured in the concert. This is the first time that Brown and Wiggins will perform together.

Cambridge hosts Arts Council’s November meeting
Members and staff of the Maryland State Arts Council traveled to Cambridge, Nov. 18, to convene one of their regularly-scheduled meetings at the Dorchester Center for the Arts, the county’s designated arts council.

Mickey Love, executive director of the local arts council, welcomed the group and introduced Victoria L. Jackson, Cambridge’s mayor. A native of the town, Jackson discussed how the arts have revitalized Cambridge.

Councilor Dave Harp, a photographer who resides in Dorchester County, and Mary Calloway, associate director of Cambridge’s Economic Development department, led a tour of the Cambridge Arts and Entertainment District that included visits to arts and crafts galleries, artists’ studios and local shops. The day ended with a reception for area guests and a presentation on the Cambridge’s A&E district.

Photo: Artist Danny Doughty shows Arts Council visitors around his gallery in Cambridge.

St. Mary’s Silberschlag receives European award
Jeffrey Silberschlag – music director and conductor of the Chesapeake Orchestra and the summer River Concert Series at St. Mary’s College – has been named recipient of the 2011 Prize for Artistic and Cultural Activities from the European Union of the Arts. The award honors his lifetime achievement in classical music as a conductor and trumpeter.

“Maestro Silberschlag has contributed to our college and our community in so many ways,” Joseph Urgo, St. Mary’s College president, said. “We’d like to think he is ours; however, this prize proves we must share him with the world.”

Silberschlag, a Baltimore native, is the college’s artistic director and head of music performance. He has been a faculty member since 1988 and currently holds the Steven Muller Distinguished Professor of Arts Chair. He is also co-director of the Alba Music Festival in northern Italy, an annual event forged by a relationship between St. Mary’s College and the town of Alba.

European Union of Arts awards honor artists, cultural activists, associations, institutions, cities and prominent individuals. It is rare for a U.S. musician to receive one of the awards.

Artwork makes affordable, one-of-a-kind holiday gifts
Want to buy a unique holiday gift, support local enterprise and indulge your creative side – all at the same time? Then consider a visit to a local gallery, artwork holiday sale or arts-center gift shop.

Here is a sampling of places to purchase the work of local artists:

• Holiday Open House and Reception, Dec. 9, The Gallery Shop, Oakland (Garrett County) – The local arts council presents a kitchen-themed show with hand-crafted gifts: paintings and photographs of produce; wooden bowls; cutting boards; rolling pins; pepper mills; mugs; and woven rugs.

• Art for the Holidays, The Delaplaine Arts Center, Frederick – The artwork of resident and area artists is on display and available for purchase at the center’s Gift Gallery through Dec. 30.

• Art Market, Dec. 7-10, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore – This four-day sale in the Brown Center offers artwork created by more than 250 MICA students, faculty, alumni and staff.

• Gifts for a Lifetime, calvART Gallery, Prince Frederick (Calvert County) – Featuring the work of 21 Southern Maryland artists, this co-operative gallery offers items for holiday giving through the end of the month.

• Second Saturdays at the Foundry, Dec. 10, Denton (Caroline County) – Each month, the Caroline County Council of Arts sponsors opportunities to watch and interact with artists at The Foundry, a community art gallery where more than 20 county artists display and sell their work.

Glass artist helps students decorate Maryland tree
Maryland was invited by The National Park Foundation to participate in the 89th annual National Christmas Tree display on the Ellipse in President's Park in Washington, D.C. The Maryland State Arts Council selected Anne Arundel County artist Viki Keating to work with students at the county’s Central Middle School to design ornaments for the tree that represents Maryland.

Keating, who has received grants from the Maryland State Arts Council to serve as an artist-in-residence at several schools in the state, worked with the students of art teacher Lynn Brownlie. They used recyclable materials – green plastic bottles, clear vinyl tubing, bubble wrap, holographic wrapping paper, clothespins, foam, buttons and beads, and acrylic paint – to create fish, turtles, jellyfish and crabs.

“We wanted our globes to be more three-dimensional, instead of just enclosing something inside them,” Keating said. “We felt that creatures from the Chesapeake (Bay) would represent Maryland well and that if they were made from recycled materials it would show commitment to the environment and saving the bay.”

The National Christmas Tree stands with 56 smaller trees along the Ellipse – one for each state and U.S. territory. Teams of adult artists and students – at the request of the Park foundation – design the 25 ornaments that adorn each of the 56 trees using themes that represent characteristic traditions.

Keating operates a glass studio, Stained Glass Creations, where she makes commissioned glasswork for architectural installations and original items for galleries. She is a member of the National Capital Art Glass Guild, League of Maryland Craftsman and Maryland Federation of Art.