An obvious theme appeared as I made my visits across the state during the month of June... the arts in Maryland engage communities beyond the typical audience experience. In Frederick, the Weinberg Center gathered its donor base to describe the impact of the artists of the last season and the planned impact of the artists in the season to come. Three new murals in Rock Hall, created by Maryland artists involving students and community members with the assistance of the Kent County Arts Council, have energized the charming downtown area.
Stoop Storytelling
at the Columbia Festival of the Arts held the space for audiences to connect with the tales of life in Maryland. Many young artists were given the opportunity to paint the picturesque town of Berlin through the Worcester County Arts Council's first Plein Air Kids event. Our greatest wish, at the Maryland State Arts Council, is that the arts are experienced as an integral and necessary part of life for the people we serve. The month of June certainly provided examples of a wish coming true.
Ken Skrzesz, Executive Director, Maryland State Arts Council
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The MSAC Online Resource Bulletin, maintained by Maryland Art Place, includes regional, national, and international exhibition opportunities, grants, fellowships, residencies, and information on available studio spaces in the area. The Resource Bulletin is updated on a weekly basis and maintains hundreds of listings of arts opportunities, organized by subject and deadline date. Check out the
MSAC Resource Bulletin
today! To post your call for entry,
email Caitlin, the Registry Coordinator, at
caitlin@mdartplace.org
.
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Please consider inviting MSAC Staff and Board Members to any public event that may include donor recognition as part of the programming. Public acknowledgement of MSAC funding, particularly when a staff, board member, or local legislator is present, allows arts audiences to understand the connection between the vote they cast for local officials, the local official’s support of MSAC funding, and how that funding returns to the communities of arts-connected constituents. Please send all invitations to
adriene.martin@maryland.gov
.
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Summer Programs for Youth
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Summer is here, and school is out! Be sure to check out some of the fun and engaging programming happening throughout Maryland and ensure this summer is one to remember!
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MARYLAND MICRO-CREDENTIALS FOR CREATIVE CLASSROOMS
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MSDE is launching a credentialing program that will offer free professional development to teaching artists, giving them tools to work with a variety of populations. MSAC will support teaching artists who complete MSDE credentialing by adding them to the Teaching Artist Roster and providing funds for their work throughout Maryland.
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MARYLAND ART PLACE ANNOUNCES THE 2ND TRI-ANNUAL MARYLAND STATE ARTIST REGISTRY JURIED EXHIBITION
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This September, Maryland Art Place (MAP) in partnership with the Maryland State Art Council (MSAC) will host a statewide juried exhibition curated by a panel of jurors to highlight the wide range of artists and artwork featured on the Maryland State Arts Council Artist Registry. The exhibition will take place at Maryland Art Place located at 218 West Saratoga St. from September 19 – November 10th. All Maryland artists who reside within the state are eligible and encouraged to apply. To be considered for the exhibition you must reside in Maryland, have a Maryland State Arts Council Artist Registry profile, and have created or updated your registry profile on or between the dates of June 26, 2019 – July 20, 2019. To join the registry please visit:
https://www.msac.org/user/register
. Jurors are to be announced at a later date. For questions or help creating your Registry Profile please contact Caitlin Gill:
caitlin@mdartplace.org
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2019 INDIVIDUAL ARTIST AWARDEES HONORED
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First Lady of Maryland, Yumi Hogan, joined family and friends, MSAC staff and Counselors, and 2019 Maryland Arts Summit attendees at UMBC on June 8th to celebrate the 105 Individual Artist Award 2019 winners. This year’s awardees represent some of the leading authors, visual artists, theater performers. The full list of awardees is on
our website
. See photos from the ceremony
here
.
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THE AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS CONFERENCE 2019
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The Americans for the Arts Conference 2019 in Minneapolis was centered around the idea that art is fundamental to building genuine community. From the sessions and speakers to the Twin Cities, the 2019 Annual Convention was all about how the arts build civic engagement. More than 30 workshops, panels, and interactive sessions on community development, arts education, leadership, equity, public art, advocacy, and more were attended by MSAC councilors, Carole Alexander, Carle DuPree, and Julie Madden, along with staff members Chad Buterbaugh, Rosa Chang, Steven Skerritt-Davis, and Ken Skrzesz. The convention included opportunities to discuss and gather information on best practices for community-informed grant making and identified major points of focus for all state arts agencies (Communications, EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion), EDI Beyond Race (including Gender, Veteran and Disabled Populations), Creative Industries, and Non-arts Strategic Partnerships).
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2019 THE INSTITUTE FOR INTEGRATIVE HEALTH
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On June 19th, Maryland State Arts Council, the Fine Arts Office of the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), and the Institute for Integrative Health (Institute) presented the Veteran-Ready Community Arts Micro-credential course, a new suite of competency-based professional learning courses for facilitators of creative classrooms geared toward veterans. The Institute, as partner and author of the course, will facilitate the two-day workshop focusing on engaging veterans in creative practice. Each course focuses on developing a specific skill and acquiring a specific knowledge reservoir for use in schools and communities, including music, dance, visual arts, literary arts, media arts, theatre, and multidisciplinary arts spaces. Participants are able to personalize their professional learning by selecting topics based on their own professional needs, successfully completing the course, and submitting evidence of mastery to receive the micro-credential. All courses are free.
“This program will shine a light on the transformative power of the arts. The Maryland State Arts Council is proud to collaborate with the Maryland State Department of Education’s Fine Arts Office and The Institute for Integrative Health to positively impact the lives of service men and women who have sacrificed so much for our country,” said MSAC executive director Ken Skrzesz.
The Veteran-Ready Community Arts Provider Training opened for registration this Spring and coincided with Governor Larry Hogan’s recent appointment of 2019 as
Year of the Veteran
.
This year-long observance raises awareness of the brave service and sacrifices our United States veterans and families have made for Maryland and the country. For more information,
see here.
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ANNOUNCING THE MARYLAND FOLKLIFE AREA PROGRAM AT THE 79TH NATIONAL FOLK FESTIVAL
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On June 26, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, the 79
th
National Folk Festival announced the Maryland Folklife Area & Stage program, sharing details about the performers, craftspeople, and demonstrators who will be featured in this special area of the festival in 2019. The National Folk Festival is returning to downtown Salisbury, September 6 – 8, 2019, the second year of the event’s three-year residency on Maryland’s historic Eastern Shore.
Contributing to the sense of excitement and expectation at the press conference were three masters of Maryland folklife who will be among those featured in this year’s Maryland Folklife Area Program: Lafayette Gilchrist (jazz piano), members of Artesanas Mexicanas (piñata making), and Patrick and Joseph Kavanagh (metal bending and rolling).
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Maryland Secretary of Commerce Kelly M. Schulz announced on July 1st the designation of two new Arts and Entertainment (A&E) Districts in Maryland. The Easton Arts District and the Pennsylvania Avenue Black Arts & Entertainment District in Baltimore will join 26 existing Districts in the state that offer tax-related incentives to attract artists, arts organizations, and other creative enterprises to these areas, aimed at developing and promoting community involvement, tourism, and revitalization. For more information about the program,
visit our website
.
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"PLANS TO PROSPER YOU": AU MUSEUM A TEMPLATE FOR VIRGINIA UNIVERSITIES TO EMULATE
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"Part of the challenge of fostering better paths forward, across myriad issues but certainly in terms of improved race relations, is open engagement with and learning from the past (as prelude). American University has, with the “Plans to Prosper You” exhibit, provided a useful example of how a university community (professors, students, archivists, curators) can work to advance education and advance better understanding of the communities they are part of. When considering the AU Museum exhibit about three ‘hidden’ Montgomery County, MD, black communities, it seems that this could be a useful template for Virginia universities and university museums for local engagement and enrichment."
Read the full article by Adam Siegel
here
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PUBLIC ART PROJECT IN STEVENSVILLE'S HISTORIC DISTRICT
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Eight benches have been painted by local artists with shore images and will be placed on private and business properties around Historic Stevensville. The Historic Stevensville Arts and Entertainment District was awarded a grant to paint and install public art benches as part of the Public Art Across Maryland program, a one-time initiative commemorating Maryland State Arts Council's 50th Anniversary of supporting public art and celebrating the arts in local communities.
Assistant Secretary of Commerce, Tom Riford, and MSAC Deputy Director, Steven Skerritt-Davis, joined artists and community members in Stevensville on June 23rd for a celebratory ribbon cutting event.
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Artist Highlight: Ginevra Shay
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Ginevra Shay
is an artist and curator currently based in Baltimore, Maryland. Ginevra's photography and studio practice are in many ways inextricable from her site-specific curatorial work; they reflect one another through their investment in fostering an openness of exchange and dismantling passive engagement. Ginevra uses photography and sculpture to depict poetic moments of observation and adaptation. Her recent two-person exhibition "A Big Toe Touches A Green Tomato", with Roxana Azar at Resort, was featured online in Artforum and ARTnews. Her work and publications are in the libraries of Yale University Art Gallery Library, The International Center for Photography, Indie Photobook Library, Houston Center for Photography, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She has lectured and participated in panels at the Queens Museum, the Oakland Museum, American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, College Art Associate's National Conference, and the Society For Photographic Education National Conference. Ginevra is a
2018 Maryland Individual Artist Award
Recipient for Photography.
Artwork: Raum Bilder 1 by Ginevra Shay
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MSAC Staff Highlight: Marketing & Communications Team
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MSAC Councilor Highlight: Officers
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Amelia Rambissoon was born and raised in Baltimore. She attended Towson University studying Mass Communication - Public Relations & Integrated Communication, and Art. Prior to her role as the Marketing & Communications Manager at MSAC, she was the Executive Director of the Station North Arts & Entertainment District, and has previously worked in other locally based nonprofits promoting, businesses, arts and community throughout Baltimore.
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Kayla Morgan
was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland where she received her Bachelor in Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Morgan is a member of the 2019 Urban Arts Leadership Cohort, an initiative of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance. Her multidisciplinary training in various creative processes, along with her ambition to engage and serve her community has led her to be placed at the Maryland State Arts Council in Marketing & Communications and Art in Education.
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Chair
- A native of Seattle, Jack Rasmussen earned his BA in Art from Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA, before moving to Washington, DC, and completing an MFA in Painting, MA in Arts Management, and MA and PhD in Anthropology at American University. He worked in the Education Department of the National Gallery of Art before becoming the Assistant Director of the Washington Project for the Arts when it opened in 1975. He left this position to open the Jack Rasmussen Gallery, one of the first commercial galleries to move to downtown Washington, and then helped launch Rockville Arts Place (now VisArts), served for ten years as the Executive Director of Maryland Art Place in Baltimore, and three years as Executive Director of di Rosa, a contemporary art museum and sculpture garden in Napa, California. Rasmussen has been Director and Curator of the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, Washington, DC, since it opened in 2005.
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Vice Chair
- Julia (Julie) Madden is a lifelong arts activist and supporter who, in addition to the Maryland State Arts Council serves on the boards of the Maryland Citizens for the Arts, the Maryland Humanities, the Commission on Artistic Property, the Maryland Historical Society, the World War 1 Centennial Commission, as well as the Walters Art Museum and Baltimore Museum of Art (ex-officio). She has previously worked as Maryland's Director of Arts and Community Initiatives implementing cultural programs for the office of the Governor. Julie holds an M.A. in Decorative Arts from the Smithsonian-Corcoran College of Art and Design and is a graduate of Leadership Maryland class of 2017.
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Secretary/Treasurer
- Anne Winter West is an active supporter of the arts and is a member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, CenterStage, and the Walters Art Museum. Anne is a dedicated advocate for arts education, and has served as Trustee with the Enoch Pratt Free Library and Art with a Heart. A former employee with the Maryland State Arts Council, Anne has also been employed by the Learning Bank, The Kennedy Institute, and the Office of Mayor William Donald Schaefer.
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Artist in Residence Program:
The MSAC's Artist in Residence (AiR) Program provides grants to Maryland schools that cover half the cost of a teaching artist residency. Guidelines for the FY20 Program can be found
here
and applications can be accessed in
eGrant
.
Presenting and Touring Program:
The Maryland Touring Grant assists eligible nonprofit organizations by, subsidizing the presentation of any performer on the Maryland Performing Artist Touring Roster. Guidelines for the FY20 Program can be found
here
and applications can be accessed in
Smart Simple
. All applicants will need to register for a new account.
Creativity Grant Program:
The purpose of the Creativity Grant Program is to strengthen the vitality and sustainability of artists and small organizations, in order to maintain a strong arts infrastructure in the state. The Creativity Grant also provides opportunities to serve the growing needs of relevant arts projects and collaborations within Maryland communities. Guidelines for the FY20 Program can be found
here
and applications can be accessed in
Smart Simple
. All applicants will need to register for a new account.
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