Maryland State Arts Council Receives Record Funding

Demonstrating his continued support for the arts, Governor Larry Hogan signed the 2017 Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) funding bill into law. The General Assembly approved Senate Bill 377/House Bill 451 allowing Governor Hogan’s proposed budget of $20.3 million to remain intact – an overall increase of $2.7 million over last year’s budget.

“The arts sector is a fundamental part of Maryland’s economy and delivers a $1 billion impact with $49 million generated in state and local revenues,” said Commerce Secretary Mike Gill. “We are fortunate to have First Lady Yumi Hogan as a champion of the arts, and leadership that understands the power of art as a vital part of every citizen’s life while creating exciting cultural opportunities in our communities.“

  
MSAC chair Carol Trawick echoed Secretary Gill’s sentiment. “On behalf of MSAC, I’d like to express our deep appreciation to Governor Hogan, First Lady Yumi Hogan, and the Maryland General Assembly for their support, and to Maryland Citizens for the Arts for its ardent advocacy. Collectively their actions will greatly impact Maryland’s arts sector,” said Trawick. Learn more.

Pictured: Front row: Governor Larry Hogan, (front center) with First Lady Yumi Hogan; Senate President Mike Miller, (left); Speaker of the House Michael E. Busch, (right); second row, members of the Maryland State Arts Council and arts advocates. Governors’ staff photo.
Sixth Annual Folklife Festival, Slated for June 4

The Maryland Traditions Folklife Festival is an annual celebration of traditional arts, music, crafts and foods that serves to highlight Maryland’s rich cultural heritage.

This year’s festival on June 4, 2016, is from noon to
8 pm at the Creative Alliance at the Patterson, 3134 Eastern Avenue in East Baltimore.

Headlining the outdoor stage is legendary R&B vocalist Winfield Parker, whose long and storied career in R&B, soul, and gospel has included collaborations with Little Richard, The Temptations, James Brown, Etta James and Carla Thomas.

  
Families can engage with traditional artists and craftspeople, who will demonstrate their skills in Chesapeake skipjack restoration, Globe poster printing, blacksmithing, Norwegian rosemaling, duck decoy carving, basketry and Baltimore painted screens. Child-friendly workshops include piñata making, Cambodian jewelry making, and storytelling with Mama Linda Goss.

Winfield Parker performs at the MSAC 2015 ALTA Awards in Montgomery County. Photo by Edwin Remsberg
MSAC News

MSAC Offers Art in Public Space Workshop for Artists

MSAC will host a free workshop for artists interested in learning how to apply for public art commissions. “Art in Public Space” will be from 1 - 5 p.m., June 10, at the Creative Alliance at the Patterson, 3134 Eastern Ave., Baltimore.

Baltimore artist Jann Rosen-Queralt will co-present with MSAC Public Art Program Director, Liesel Fenner. Rosen-Queralt, a three-time MSAC visual art Individual Artist Awardee, is a teacher at Maryland Institute of College of Arts. Fenner’s career includes working in the public and private sectors in art and design. Registration is required.

Jann Rosen-Queralt, “Confluence” detail, 2011. Photo courtesy of King County | Ned Ahrens (Brightwater Treatment Plant in Woodinville, WA)

First Lady Tours Ocean City Arts Center, Hosts Annapolis Event

First Lady Yumi Hogan visited the Ocean City Center for the Arts during Governor Hogan’s Lower Shore Tour on April 22.
Mrs. Hogan toured the space and learned about art education programs from staff and board members of Art League of Ocean City.

The First Lady also welcomed children to the State House on April 28, for National Bring Your Children to Work Day. State staff members brought their children, nieces, nephews or grandchildren to Annapolis for a day of activities, hosted by the Governor’s office. Mrs. Hogan taught the children how to make Mother’s Day cards.

The First Lady (center), Art League of Ocean City President Rina Thaler (right of Mrs. Hogan), and several board members. Photo by Elaine Bean.

“Mill Stories,” documentary wins prestigious Telly Award

“Mill Stories: Remembering Sparrows Point Steel Mill,” co-produced by University of Maryland Baltimore County, (UMBC) New Media Studio and MSAC’s Maryland Traditions, is a 37th Annual Telly Awards Bronze Award winner.

Written by Bill Shewbridge, UMBC professor of media/communications and executive producer at New Media Studio and Michelle Stefano, co-director of the Maryland Traditions program and a visiting American Studies professor, the film examines the importance of the mill’s 125-year history after closing, from the perspectives of former workers and community members.

Pictured are Steel Mill workers who retell their stories about the Sparrows Point Steel Mill in an award-winning documentary.
“On Both Sides,” a painting by Magnolia Laurie, 2016 Individual Artist Awardee.
“On Both Sides,” a painting by Magnolia Laurie, 2016 Individual Artist Awardee.
Maryland POL Champion on WYPR
Sharese Acheampong, Poetry Out Loud (POL) state champion joined host Tom Hall on “Maryland Morning” April 29 to discuss her poetry and her plans to attend the national finals. Sharese is a 17-year-old senior at New Town High School in Owings Mills. In March, she placed first in the 2016 Maryland Poetry Out Loud competition, a poetry recitation and writing contest sponsored by MSAC, the Poetry Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

More than 9,000 Maryland students vied for the $200 prize and the chance to compete in the National Finals in Washington DC, May 2-4. She has made it to the final nine in the nation and will compete May 4 for $20,000. To see and hear Sharese Acheampong reading her winning original poem, The Morrison House, click here.

BMA Names New Director
The Baltimore Museum of Art’s (BMA) Board of Trustees has appointed Christopher Bedford as its new director. Bedford is currently the Henry and Lois Foster Director of the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University. He will begin his new role as the BMA’s Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director on August 15, 2016, succeeding Doreen Bolger, who served as director of the BMA from 1998 until her retirement in 2015.

Bedford was selected following an international search overseen by a committee created by the BMA’s Board of Trustees. Bedford will be the 10th director of the BMA, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2014. Learn more.

In Living Color, Plein Air Season Arrives
 “Plein air” means, “open air,” and is a painting technique of artists who paint life scenes while outdoors. Here is a list of Plein Air events across Maryland. Learn more.

Eleanor Epstein, Artistic Director, Zemer Chai, The Jewish Chorale of the Nation’s Capital
Eleanor Epstein, Artistic Director, Zemer Chai, The Jewish Chorale of the Nation’s Capital
Not many people can say they recognized and stuck with a career that fulfills their life, and few have had the opportunity to do what they love for four decades. Epstein found her calling by creating Zemer Chai, which means, “living song” in Hebrew. The chorale came together in 1976 while Epstein was in her 20’s.

Forty years later, Zemer Chai, located in Kensington, and known as The Jewish Chorale of the Nation’s Capital, continues to draw audiences from Maryland and across the Mid-Atlantic. A lifelong student of Jewish music and text, she grew up in a family steeped in Jewish learning and song. As a student of acclaimed American composer Alice Parker,
Ms. Epstein is also an accomplished arranger whose choral settings of Jewish folk songs performed throughout the world.

Epstein works internationally as a guest conductor and artist-in-residence. She has performed, collaborated and consulted with wide-ranging groups, from The North American Jewish Choral Festival, Hebrew Union College, the Jewish Theological Seminary, and the Australian Jewish Choral Festival, to the Music Educators National Conference, and the Soldiers’ Chorus of the United States Army Field Band.

Read the full interview.
Opportunities

Public Art Meeting in Frederick
Join the Frederick Arts Council at the Spring Members’ meeting on the theme of public art, May 19, 2016, from 5:30-7 pm at Artomatic, 115-117 East Church Street, Frederick.

Speakers are Liesel Fenner, MSAC Public Art program director; William Cochran, a Frederick-based public artist known for his work on Carroll Creek Linear Park and artist Heather Clark providing an update on Frederick’s’ Sky Stage initiative. All are welcome. Registration required.

French-American Jazz Exchange
Guidelines and online applications for the French-American Jazz Exchange are available for 2016-2017. Co-administered by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation and FACE Foundation (French-American CulturalExchange), the Exchange supports projects jointly conceived by French and American professional musicians that encourage artistic exploration, foster intercultural dialogue and contribute to the dynamism of jazz as an art form. 

Application deadline is May 27, 2016 for projects taking place between September 1, 2016 and December 31, 2017.  Program guidelines and information about the application are here.  Questions, contact Paul Brohan at paulb@midatlanticarts.org. 

ArtsFest Needs Vendors
The Charles County Arts Alliance “ArtsFest” is an annual outdoor celebration of all the arts and artists - visual, literary and performing. It is a free family-friendly, wonderful way to kick off the summer season. Food and Southern Maryland specialties will be available for purchase throughout the day.

Visual and literary artists of all media can display and sell their works. In addition, nonprofit arts organizations are invited as exhibitors to display information and encourage participation in their performing, visual and literary arts act. More information.
MSAC Grants

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.

2015-2016 Poetry Out Loud ››
MSAC will accept school registrations for the 2016-2017 Poetry Out Loud program beginning May 9, 2016.

The deadline is October 1, 2016. The registration form will soon be available here.
Jann Rosen-Queralt of Baltimore is a three-time MSAC visual art Individual Artist Awardee in new genre and sculptures. Her focus is on environmental sculpture and public art. Rosen-Queralt creates art by integrating the diverse fabric of urban areas maintaining ecological sensitivity to reveal the character and context of the site.

Her art hinges on meticulous observation and experiential learning. She has participated on several public art planning teams, enjoying the collaborative process, while exchanging ideas and making discoveries.

  
Rosen-Queralt, a faculty member at the Maryland Institute College of Art, has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Canada, Mexico, Lithuania, and in the United States, including the East Coast, in the Mid-West, Georgia and Texas. She will co-present the MSAC Art in Public Space workshop, June 10 at the Creative Alliance at the Patterson, Baltimore.
Featured Events

Through May 23

Boundless: Aging and Creativity
Brentwood Arts Exchange
North Brentwood
Prince George’s County

Through May 31

Spiritual Warfare & All-Fired Up Clay Artists
Main and Hall Galleries
Washington County

May 13

2nd Friday Art Stroll Opening Reception
Berlin
Worcester County Arts Council

May 20

10,000 Maniacs
BlackRock Center for the Arts
Germantown

Add your arts event to our free calendar ››