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Nonprofit Arts a $1 Billion Boost for Maryland
Maryland’s nonprofit arts sector has a $1.07 billion impact on the state’s economy and supports 12,700 full-time equivalent jobs—a 1,266 jobs increase over last year, according to a report released by the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC). The Economic Impact of the Arts in Maryland: FY2012 report details how spending by the MSAC’s 241 grantee arts organizations and their audiences boosts Maryland’s economy by creating and retaining jobs, and generating revenues for businesses and state and local governments. |
“Our investment in the arts fuels job growth, attracts visitor spending and promotes our vibrant, inviting climate for business and residents,” said Maryland Governor O’Malley. “The arts support the vitality of Maryland’s economy and advance some of our highest priorities as a state like education, community revitalization and quality of life.”
Beyond significant job growth, the report highlights other key areas of growth. State and local tax revenue generated by MSAC grantees increased by 27% to reach $47.9 million—up from $37.8 million last year. Visitor spending grew by 14% since last year, reaching $345 million in fiscal year 2012. The study also breaks down the Economic Impact of MSAC grantees in each of Maryland’s six regions.
Statistics for the study were drawn from 241 Maryland organizations that produce or present the arts around the State, and receive grants from the Maryland State Arts Council for ongoing support of their operations and programs. Data was collected utilizing the Maryland Cultural Data Project. To review the complete report, visit www.msac.org/economicimpact.
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MSAC Announces ALTA Awards
Maryland Traditions, the Folklife Program of the Maryland State Arts Council, has announced the ALTA (Achievement in Living Traditions and Arts) Award recipients for 2013. The awards recognize outstanding stewards of living traditions in the State of Maryland and will be presented to three recipients at an awards ceremony and concert, Saturday, January 18 at the Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center on the Montgomery College Takoma Park – Silver Spring campus. The event is offered free to the public, but tickets must be reserved in advance.
ALTA awards are presented annually to an individual or group, a place and a tradition that embody outstanding stewardship of living traditions and help to preserve Maryland’s cultural heritage. The 2013 ALTA Award recipients are: blacksmith Wally Yater (People), Piscataway Homelands: People, Culture and Traditions (Place), and The Oyster Fritters of the Sharptown Firemen’s Carnival (Tradition).
The ALTA Awards will also feature sacred music and dance from Chesapeakwe and the Piscataway-Conoy Drum and Dance Troupe, and a headlining concert by the Sweet Heaven Kings (pictured, photo credit Michael G. Stewart), a United House of Prayer brass band. A memorial tribute will honor Anna Holmes (1926-2013), an African-American community historian, gifted quilter and active member of the North Brentwood Historical Society (Prince George’s County). Holmes was in the inaugural class of ALTA Award recipients in 2007, receiving the award in the category of People. Read more about this year’s ALTA Recipients and Awards Ceremony.
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Arts Council convenes Maryland Presenters
More than 70 participants, including representatives of arts-presenting organizations from across the state, met at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis, November 18, for the sixth annual Maryland Presenters Network Meeting.
Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) executive director Theresa Colvin and former MSAC council chair Bill Mandicott welcomed participants before briefings from John Schratwieser, executive director of Maryland Citizens for the Arts, and Michelle Grove, Program Officer for Performing Arts at the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.
A morning session with Christy Farnbauch, community engagement specialist of Strategic Links, highlighted tips and insights that encouraged Maryland’s presenting organizations to re-imagine audience engagement. The group discussed changing patterns of demand for art experiences, social transmission of musical tastes, creating pathways into new or unfamiliar art forms, practical ways to use research in arts presenting work, and understanding the attitudes and behaviors of 18 to 34-year olds. View Farnbauch’s presentation, “Connecting with Audiences on Their Terms.”
A second session in the afternoon with Jamie Schneider, digital marketing expert and e-marketing specialist for The Smithsonian Associates, focused on tools and best practices for organizations of all sizes and resources to implement effective e-marketing strategies. The presentation, “Maximizing E-Marketing Tools: Messaging, Strategy, Integration,” covered email marketing tools, contact list management, mobile and social media marketing as well as website optimization.
The Maryland Presenters Network is a statewide network of Maryland professional arts presenting organizations that provide resources and networking opportunities in the presenting and touring field, with the goal of advancing and promoting the arts in Maryland. The MSAC’s Maryland Presenters Network is a component of the Maryland Presenting and Touring Program, along with the Maryland Performing Artist Touring Roster and Maryland Touring Grants.
Pictured, right to left: Krista Bradley, Executive Director, Blackrock Center for the Arts; Michelle Grove, Program Director, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation; John Healy, Executive Director, Weinberg Center for the Arts; and Megan Hamilton, Co-founder and Program Director, Creative Alliance.
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Kent County hosts MSAC
Members and staff of the Maryland State Arts Council traveled to Kent County, Nov. 15, to convene a council meeting at Garfield Center for the Arts at the historic Prince Theatre in Chestertown.
Lucia Foster, Executive Director of Garfield Center for the Arts was joined by Leslie Prince Raimond, Executive Director of the Kent County Arts Council in welcoming the MSAC and leading a morning tour and meet-and-greet through the unique venues of Chestertown’s thriving arts community, including RiverArts, Robert Ortiz Studios, Hegland Glass, Tree of Life American Craft Gallery, Bookplate, The Carla Massoni Gallery and others.
Following the tour, the Kent County Arts Council presented a gripping showcase of top local artists and Kent County Arts Council grantees. Musical performances ranged from bluegrass to gospel to ragtime and featured local favorites Mayor-elect and singer/songwriter Chris Cerino, Chester River Runoff (pictured), poet and harpist Meredith Hadaway, Irene Moore of the New Gospelites, pianist Joe Holt, members of the Pam Oritz Band, Mainstay founder Tom McHugh, and Sylvia Frazier of the 100 Voice Choir. Washington College professor Robert Earl Price read his original poem, “Ugly Beauty,” and the showcase concluded with a student dance performance by Margaret Allen and Bryan Betley, coaches at the Prince Theatre’s Playmakers Summer Camp, who spoke about the significance of theatre in their lives. View photos on Facebook.
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Maryland delegation visits Hill
A Maryland delegation representing the Maryland State Arts Council, Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development and Maryland Citizens for the Arts (MCA) held a joint meeting on Capitol Hill with staffers from the offices of Senators Mikulski and Cardin, and Representative Chris Van Hollen.
The meeting emphasized the importance of the MSAC’s state partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), which granted $693,000 to support the MSAC’s statewide programs in fiscal year 2014. The delegation also discussed the need for the appointment of a new NEA chair, a position that has been vacant since former NEA Chair Rocco Landesman’s November 2012 resignation.
Pictured (left to right) Gray Maxwell, Floor Director, Senator Benjamin L. Cardin; Ardath M. Cade, MCA board member; Theresa Colvin, Executive Director, MSAC; Barbara Bershon, Chair, MSAC; Brent A. Palmer, Legislative Assistant, Senator Barbara Mikulski; Carol Trawick, MSAC Vice-Chair; John Schratwieser, Executive Director, MCA; and Hannah Byron, Asst. Secretary for Tourism, Film and the Arts at the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.
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Arts education taskforce seeks input
Governor O’Malley’s P-20 (Pre-K through postgraduate) Task Force on Arts Education in Maryland was formed in September and is co-chaired by Sculptor and Arts Education in Maryland Schools (AEMS) Founder Mary Ann Mears and Maryland State Department of Education Deputy Superintendent Dr. Jack Smith. On its behalf, AEMS is reaching out to gather public opinions, ideas and comments to be submitted for task force deliberation.
P-20 Leadership Council members have emphasized the critical importance of creativity and innovation in the workforce and the need for students to have a creative edge in order to be globally competitive. The task force is scheduled to present a final report to the Governor and the P-20 Leadership Council in June 2014.
Take action to increase all students' access to dance, music, theatre, and visual arts by completing The P-20 Task Force on Arts Education in Maryland Schools Questionnaire by the end of January 2014.
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IN THE NEWS
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EVENTS
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MICA showcases first historically comprehensive painted screen exhibition
PICTURE WINDOWS...The Painted Screens of Baltimore and Beyond marks the centennial of Baltimore's tradition of painting vivid images on row house screens, on view from
Friday,
Dec. 13, 2013–Sunday, March 16, 2014, in the Fox Building's Meyerhoff Gallery (1303 W. Mount Royal Ave.). Together with Maryland folklorist Elaine Eff, co-founder of the Painted Screen Society of Baltimore and the MSAC’s Maryland Traditions program, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) will present for the first time a comprehensive look at the history of screen painting —a functional and ornamental art with roots in the 1700s in London and from a forgotten Victorian decorative art.
Walt Michael & Co. Annual Holiday Concert
Walt Michael, traditional musician and co-founder of Common Ground on the Hill will perform at the annual Walt Michael & Co. Annual Holiday Concert, Friday, Dec. 6 in Baltimore at the Brown Memorial Woodbrook Presbyterian Church (6200 North Charles St.), and Saturday, Dec. 7 at the Carroll Arts Center (91 W. Main St., Westminster, MD 21157). Both concerts start at 8:00pm and feature an array of talented guest musicians. Tickets and more information are available online.
Save the Date! Maryland Arts Day—the largest gathering of arts advocates in Maryland each year—is February 12, 2014 in the Miller Senate Building in Annapolis. The day will feature a special recognition of Governor Martin O’Malley for his leadership in the arts, and keynote speaker Ben Cameron, Program Director for the Arts at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Visit the Arts Day page for the latest updates—and don’t miss “Early Bird” discounted registration rate of $35, which ends January 31.
Buy, Celebrate and Create Locally this holiday season in Maryland’s Arts & Entertainment Districts!
Maryland’s 22 Arts & Entertainment (A&E) Districts are open for business this holiday season, with plentiful opportunities to “buy, celebrate and create local” in unique hubs of arts and culture from Western Maryland to the Eastern Shore.
The 22 Districts—many of which overlap with designated Maryland Main Streets—are vibrant homes for artists that produce and sell original work alongside arts and cultural attractions that include museums, galleries, theaters, book shops, art centers and more.
From Christmas piñatas at The Creative Alliance in Highlandtown A&E District (Baltimore) to a “Saturday Holiday Art Walk” in Cambridge on the Eastern Shore, plentiful ideas for holiday activities, performances and markets in the A&E Districts of Maryland’s five regions are available here.
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OPPORTUNITIES
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Deadlines for Maryland State Arts Council programs:
- FY15 Grants for Organizations: The Request for Funding (RFF) deadline for those on a multi-year cycle is December 12, 2013.
- Arts & Entertainment Districts Technical Assistance Grant: Arts & Entertainment Districts are eligible to apply. The application is now open in eGrant with a deadline of January 23, 2014 for activities that will begin or take place between April 1, 2014 and June 30, 2014.
- FY15 Maryland Traditions Apprenticeship Grant: Maryland Traditions’ Apprenticeship Awards Program welcomes applications for one-on-one apprenticeships in all forms of Maryland’s traditional expressive culture. For more information, view the Grant Guidelines. Applications are Due by January 1, 2014.
UMBC announces public art RFQ. The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), with the assistance of the Maryland State Arts Council’s Commission on Public Art, has issued an RFQ to engage individual artists and artistic teams (Artist) to propose site-specific artwork for the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC)’s Performing Arts & Humanities Building (PAHB), located at 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD. If chosen, the Artist shall develop an original, site-specific artwork that enhances and compliments the newly constructed Performing Arts & Humanities Building. The total project budget is $379,000 and the deadline to submit a completed RFQ is December 19, 2013. For detailed information, review the RFQ.
The ninth annual Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize is accepting applications. The prestigious competition awards a $25,000 fellowship to a visual artist or visual artist collaborators living and working in the Baltimore region. The deadline for submission is Monday, January 6, 2014.
The National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) launches the application cycle for the 2014 grants and leadership programs. Applications are now being accepted for three grant programs, NALAC Fund for the Arts (NFA), Transnational Cultural Remittances (TCR) and Diverse Arts Spaces (DAS) and two leadership programs, NALAC Leadership Institute (NLI) and Advocacy Leadership Institute (ALI). The awards range from $5,000-$15,000—more information, deadlines and guidelines are available online.
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) will announce the recipients of Art Works grant awards focused on arts journalism via webinar on Wednesday, December 11, 2013 from 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET. Following brief presentations of their projects, the awardees will join Sasha Anawalt and the webinar audience for a wide-ranging discussion about the challenges and future possibilities for arts journalism. For the complete release including how to register for this free webinar, visit the NEA's newsroom.
Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation (MAAF) announces the availability of the guidelines for ArtsCONNECT, a program supporting the presentation and touring of performing arts engagements of excellence across the mid-Atlantic region. ArtsCONNECT supports projects developed by presenter consortia that include both public performances and complementary activities. The application submission deadline for the 2014-2015 ArtsCONNECT program is Friday, March 14, 2014. Program guidelines are available here. The online application will be available in December 2013.
The Baltimore Film Office is accepting entries for the eighth annual Baltimore Screenwriters Competition. Winners receive cash prizes, all access passes to the 2014 Maryland Film Festival, and passes to local movie theaters. The deadline for submission is January 14, 2014, with a $50 application fee for feature format scripts and a $25 application fee for short format scripts. An application form is online.
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175
W. Ostend St., Suite E
Baltimore, MD 21230 |
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410-767-6555 TTY1-800-735-2258 |
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www.msac.org |
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Martin
O'Malley, Governor |
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