On February 10 a crowd of more than 400 arts advocates from across the state joined First Lady Yumi Hogan, DBED Deputy Secretary Benjamin H. Wu, and elected officials for Maryland Arts Day in Annapolis. At the Maryland Citizens for the Arts’ (MCA) annual signature event, MCA and advocates visited with legislators asking them to continue to support arts funding in Maryland, which generates an annual economic impact of $1 billion, 12,000 jobs, and is an important factor in making Maryland a welcoming, livable place See photos.
Pictured: Carol Trawick, Chair and Theresa Colvin, Executive Director of the Maryland State Arts Council with First Lady Yumi Hogan.

A National Endowment of the Arts “Survey of Public Participation in the Arts,” is the largest, most representative survey of adult art participation by tracking various arts activities that Americans report having done across the country in the course of a year.

Freshman Kyle Shreve of Tuscarora High School in Frederick County placed first at the Maryland State Poetry Out Loud Championship at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Second place went to Blessed Sheriff, a senior at Richard Montgomery High School. Paige Hilton of Boonsboro High School in Washington County placed third. There were 8 regional champions participating. Learn more.

The Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) has announced the 2015 recipients of MSAC’s Individual Artist Awards (IAA). These awards recognize the exceptional artistic achievement by a group of 87 talented and creative artists from across the state. A celebration to honor Maryland’s 2015 Individual Artist awardees will be held on Monday, June 8, 2015, at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore. Read more.

Once a year, MSAC Maryland Traditions Program hosts the free, day-long Maryland Traditions Folklife Festival that celebrates and showcases the artists, program and collaborations of the Maryland Folklife Program. This year’s festival will again be held at the Creative Alliance in Baltimore. Mark your calendars now!

National Arts Advocacy Day in DC
On Tuesday, March 24, advocates from across the country will descend on Washington, DC, for National Arts Advocacy Day presented by the Americans for the Arts. The event brings together advocates from across the nation to meet with federal legislators and underscore the importance and transformative power that the arts have in communities. For more information on National Arts Advocacy Day and attending the conference in DC, click here.

Barbara Mikulski Forgoes 2016 Elections
On Monday, March 2, 2015, U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) in the Fells Point neighborhood of Baltimore announced that she has decided not to run for re-election in 2016. Senator Mikulski, who will complete her 5th term in office in January, 2017, says she wants to focus for the next two years on working for her constituents and for the nation. Throughout her career in public service, Senator Mikulski has been a staunch supporter of the arts and has shown a deep appreciation for the impact of the arts on the quality of life in neighborhoods and towns across Maryland and the country. We applaud “Senator Barb” (pictured above) for her years of service and offer thanks for her leadership.

BSO Music Director Marin Alsop Featured in NY Times
It was a year ago that Marin Alsop, the music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, lost both of her parents, who were respected musicians themselves, within the space of 11 days. But whenever she takes the podium here to conduct the orchestra, she finds herself surrounded by audible, often quite mellifluous, reminders of them both. Read More.

Join NEA Challenge Grant Webinar
National Endowment for the Art Challenge America Director Michael Killoren and staff will conduct a Challenge America grant guidelines webinar on March 11, 2015 at 3:00 pm. A PowerPoint presentation will be followed by a Q&A session. Register for the webinar.

Everyman Theatre names Waller Managing Director
Jonathan K. Waller has been named Managing Director of the Everyman Theatre in Baltimore. He will move from his current role as the theatre’s Director of Marketing this month, succeeding outgoing Managing Director Ian Tresselt.

MSAC: What drew you to a career in theater? Was there a special moment that you knew this is what you wanted to do?

Jonathan Waller: My background is as a writer and composer. My degree is actually in music theory and composition with a specialization in musical theater from NYU. What draws me to theatre is the same thing that draws me to writing music — and that is emotion. The art of being able to shape an emotional experience towards a cathartic purpose, driven by a story, is incredibly rewarding to me. It’s a creative process that generates one of the most important things we can develop in our lives: empathy. Through empathy, we get closer to Truth.
Read the full interview.

On March 7, Blessed Sheriff of Montgomery County participated in her third Poetry Out Loud (POL) finals competition. The 17-year-old attends Richard Montgomery High School, where she is a senior. In 2013, she was the POL Maryland champion and went on to Nationals that year where she placed second.

Blessed heard about the POL competition in middle school from an English Teacher. “I thought it was interesting that poetry was something that was being recognized on a stage, to me is was always in a book. In Poetry Out Loud people are actually getting up on stage. I thought that was a very cool thing,” she says.
Read more.

Through March 29

Front Room: Dario Robleto
Baltimore Art Museum

March 7 - March 29

46th Annual Laurel Art Guild Juried Exhibition
Montpelier Arts Center

March 13 & 15

Cosi fan tutte
Annapolis Opera Company

March 20

Eric Byrd Trio
Caroline County Public Library

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