As I traveled across the state in December I had multiple experiences of community-based art. When arts experiences respond to communities the creative energy has a profound impact because it is fueled by authentically connecting people to ideas that disrupt their routines. Chestertown’s A DICKENS OF A CHRISTMAS allowed residents to walk through a Victorian holiday as musicians, storytellers and other artisans brought High Street to life; in Annapolis, the Ballet Theatre of Maryland performed a colorful NUTCRACKER for students who had never before seen professional dance; Maryland Art Place held an UNDER $500 SALE that buzzed with urgent holiday shopping as purchased art work was snatched off the walls; and the Maryland Department of Transportation enchanted subway commuters by placing a spinet piano and pianist (Isaiah Wheatley) in the Baltimore Street station (the piano will remain in the station for any commuter to play!). None of these opportunities would exist without the fundamental understanding that the arts are meant to disrupt our routines and elevate how we see the world. I wish you a New Year filled with creative disruptions!
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 Naomi, the Registry Coordinator, at
naomi@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
okeena.stephenson@maryland.gov.
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ACADEMY ART MUSEUM OFFERS ONLY EAST COAST RICHARD DIEBENKORN EXHIBITION
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Audiences today generally know the career of Richard Diebenkorn (1922–1993) in three periods: the Sausalito, Albuquerque, Urbana, and “early Berkeley” periods of Abstract Expressionism; the Berkeley figurative/ representational period; and lastly the famous Ocean Park and Healdsburg series of abstractions. Yet Diebenkorn’s earliest work remains very little known. The exhibition,
Richard Diebenkorn: Beginnings, 1942–1955
, will be on view at the Academy Art Museum in Easton, MD from April 26 to July 14, 2019 — the only venue on the East Coast. A reception on Friday, April 26, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. is free and the public are invited to
Museum hours: Tuesday – Thursday, 10 a.m. - 8 p.m., and Monday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. On Wednesdays, admission is free. For further information,
academyartmuseum.org
or call 410-822-2787.
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NEW EDITION TO THE HAGERSTOWN CULTURAL TRAIL
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The newest addition to the Hagerstown Cultural Trail is the public art piece
Rivulet, 2018
by Maryland artists Christian Benefiel and Ryan McKibnin. The work was installed in mid-December and joins other notable works such as Alison Sigethy’s
Fantastical Garden
and Hense’s
Mural of Unusual Size
as attractions along the half mile trail.
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ARTS COUNCIL WORKS TO STRENGTHEN ARTS ORGANIZATIONS IN KENT COUNTY
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In an ongoing effort to strengthen the operation and leadership of nonprofit arts and culture in Kent County, the Kent County Arts Council (KCAC) hosted its fifth Infusion Session on December 15th. The professional development series began in fall 2017 with four sessions for directors and senior staff of grantee organizations. The latest session, coordinated by Darran Tilghman and led by Eliot Pfanstehiel (founder and former CEO of Strathmore and leader of Leadership Maryland), engaged boards of directors in a day of learning and networking. Learn more about KCAC and its programs by visiting
kentcountyartscouncil.org
.
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The image of the work above, created by Maryland Artist,
Steven Silberg,
was published in the November MSAC newsletter in a cropped format and without crediting the artist. Our apologies to Mr. Silberg.
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FREDERICK PUBLIC ART PLAN (FREDERICK ARTS COUNCIL)
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Photograph from Chestertown’s A Dickens of a Christmas
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Maryland State Arts Council Staff Member, Teara Booker, was selected as a 2019 NASAA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Mentorship participant.
She has been paired with the Deputy Director of the Arizona Commission on the Arts.
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THE BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART ANNOUNCES SECOND ROUND OF CONTEMPORARY ART ACQUISITIONS MADE WITH AUCTION PROCEEDS
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BALTIMORE, MD (December 19, 2018)—The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) announces today that its Board of Trustees recently approved the acquisition of 48 works of art, including four purchased using proceeds from the auction of recently deaccessioned works. The new acquisitions encompass paintings by Meleko Mokgosi and Amy Sherald; photographs by Louise Lawler, Wolfgang Tillmans, and Carrie Mae Weems; sculpture by Melvin Edwards and Senga Nengudi; and textiles by Stephen Towns. The acquisitions also include a major gift of 35 prints, drawings, and photographs from Baltimore collectors Mary and Paul Roberts, with works by Richard Diebenkorn, Jasper Johns, Glenn Ligon, Elizabeth Murray, Gabriel Orozco, Martin Puryear, Gerhard Richter, and others.
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MARYLAND POETRY OUT LOUD COACHING AND REGIONALS
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MSAC is pleased to offer Poetry Out Loud coaching via a cadre of former judges, poets, and arts professionals at no cost to schools.
Coaches from all over the state are available to visit during or after school and assist teachers with presenting the program, model recitation techniques, and coach students in the selection of poems and with their recitations.
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GENEROUS DONATION SUPPORTS ARTISTS IN SAINT MARY'S COUNTY
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The family of Pete and Judy Conrad’s
recent donation
of a building to the St. Mary's County Arts Council will ensure that the cooperative of artists at the North End Gallery remain in the Leonardtown Arts & Entertainment (A&E) District for the foreseeable future. Founded in 1986,
the gallery
supports the work of 35 owner/members and is an anchor of Southern Maryland’s first A&E District.
Pictured from left to right; Laschelle McKay, SMCAC board president; Jeanne Hammett, NEG board president; Nell Elder, SMCAC Executive Director; Paul Conrad; Heidi Kaselemis, SMCAC board member. (Photo: Wednesday Davis)
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UPDATE FROM TEACHING ARTISTS OF THE MID-ATLANTIC
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Teaching Artists of the Mid-Atlantic (TAMA) is a network of teaching artists, organized by and for the benefit of teaching artists. Their mission is to advocate for, support and empower teaching artists throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.
Sue Trainor (MD), Jennifer Ridgway (MD) and Dave Fry (PA) serve as the organization’s first Board of Directors, after the opportunity to network at the Mid-Atlantic Teaching Artist Retreat in August, 2018, where TAMA forged relationships that will assist with regional networking.
Their next quarterly meeting will be held January 12, 2019 in Bethlehem, PA. The business meeting will begin at 10 a.m., after which workshops will be offered.
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MDOT MTA BRINGS 'MUSIC IN TRANSIT' TO METRO SUBWAYLINK RIDERS AT CHARLES CENTER STATION
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The Maryland Department of Transportation
Maryland Transit Administration (MDOT MTA) kicked off its ‘Music in Transit’ program with a performance by pianist Isaiah Darius at the Charles Center Metro SubwayLink Station on Thursday, December 20, and Friday, December 21, from 7-9 a.m. and 3-6 p.m. each day. The piano, labeled “Play Us a Song, I’m the Piano, Man,” will remain in the station for the public to play and enjoy free of charge.
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Artist Highlight: Grace Cavalieri, Poet Laureate of Maryland
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Grace Cavalieri is the author of 20 books and chapbooks of poetry, the latest are Other Voices, Other Lives (ASP, 2017;) and a Memoir; Life Upon The Wicked Stage (Nerw Academia/Scarity, 2015.) She's also written texts and lyrics performed for opera, television and film and has had 26 plays produced on American stages. Grace teaches poetry workshops throughout the country at numerous colleges. She produced and hosted "The Poet and the Poem," weekly, on WPFW-FM (1977-1997) presenting 2,000 poets to the nation. She now presents this series to public radio from the Library of Congress via NPR satellite and Pacifica Radio celebrating 39 years on air in 2016.
Grace has received the 2013 George Garrett Award, the Pen-Fiction Award, the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting Silver Medal, and awards from the National Commission on Working Women, the WV Commission on Women, the American Association of University Women, The DC Poet Laureate Award from Dolores Kendrick, the Paterson Lifetime Achievement Award, and more. She won a Paterson Excellence Award for What I Would do for Love, and The Bordighera Poetry Prize for Water on the Sun. She received the inaugural Columbia Merit Award from the Folger Shakespeare Library for "significant contributions to poetry."
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Grants for Organizations:
Interim Reports for FY19 Grant Recipients are due January 31 at 5 p.m. in eGrant. Reports submitted after the deadline will not be considered for continued funding. Questions? Contact your discipline's
Program Director
or Dana Parsons at
dana.parsons@maryland.gov
FY19 Public Art Project Grant:
4/29/19:
County Arts Councils and designated Arts & Entertainment Districts in Maryland are eligible to apply. Grants of up to $5,000 (requiring a 1:1 match) are available for permanent or temporary works by a Maryland artist. Guidelines are available
here
.
Visiting Performer Program Funding for Schools:
Schools, and other educational institutions gain assistance and financial support that encourage quality arts performances and workshops for their students. Teachers or schools may browse the Visiting Performer Roster and contact an artist to book a performance directly with an approved MSAC Visiting Performer. For each booking, the artist applies MSAC funding that reduces the amount owed by the school to the artist by up to one-third, making performances more affordable for schools. A school may book up to three different productions per school year through the Visiting Performer Program. Performers of theater, flamenco, capoeira, storytelling, juggling, pantomime, beatboxing, steel drums, and more! View the Visiting Performer roster
here
.
A&E District Technical Assistance Grant Applications:
Rolling Deadline - Technical Assistance grants are available to designated Arts & Entertainment Districts for marketing, strategic planning, professional development and other projects. More information and guidelines available
here
.
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