MSAC January 2018 Newsletter

JANUARY

2018

MSAC.ORG


	Linda Goss (L) and Diane Macklin of Baltimore City were recipient of a 2013-14 Apprenticeship Award, Storytelling, in African-American tradition. Photo credit: Edwin Remsberg Photographs

Fund your Folklife Idea through Maryland Traditions Award

or Grant

Applications for Maryland Traditions funding are open through February 2, 2018. Access the guidelines and application forms for our Apprenticeship Award and Project Grant programs online , and keep in close touch with Maryland Traditions personnel for technical support, including application strategies and assistance with completing forms.

Apprenticeship Awards fund up to one year of study between a master and apprentice practitioner of folklife or living cultural traditions. Project Grants broadly support any short-term project in which folklife is a main focus.

To learn more, contact Maryland Traditions Director Chad Edward Buterbaugh at chad.buterbaugh@maryland.gov or by phone: 410.767.6450 (O); 443.469.8239 (C).

Mary land's Arts & Entertainment Districts Bring New Businesses, Jobs and Event Spending to Comm unities Statewide

New study affirms significant economic impact as state adds 25th district


Chestertown's Create Gallery Photo credit: Kevin B. Moore

A new ec omic impact study released this month shows that Maryland Arts and Entertainment (A&E) Distr icts collectively supported $855.8 million in state GDP, approximately $63.5 million in state and local tax revenues, and 8,594 jobs that paid nearly $267 million in wages in FY2016.

Managed by MSAC, the A&E District designation makes available to Maryland counties and municipalities various tax benefits to encourage artists, arts organizations, and businesses to locate within a specified geographic area. Since the program's inception in 2001, the growing number of districts across the state have helped communities spur economic revitalization and leverage the arts to work toward community-driven creative placemaking goals. Read entire article here .

From The Field:


	KCAC Executive Director Leslie Prince Raimond

Kent County Arts Council Celebrates Long-Time Director

Kent County Arts Council (KCAC) gathered the Eastern Shore arts community in December to honor retiring Executive Director Leslie Prince Raimond's 30-plus years of service. Spectacular tributes and performances came from Ladies Who Sing the Blues, The New Gospelites, poet Robert Earl Price, President of the Kent County Commissioners William Pickrum, and MSAC's Executive Director Ken Skrzesz. "Every once in a while, we are really lucky when an artist decides to shine her light on the community and that is clearly what happened here for the past 30 years," said Skrzesz.

At the event, incoming KCAC Executive Director John Schratwesier announced its new home, currently under renovation, will be named the Vincent and Leslie Prince Raimond Arts Building upon completion to honor Raimond and her husband's contributions to the community.

Nourishment Meets Tradition at Frostburg Winter Market

The cold weather in mountain Maryland doesn't stop the locals from coming to the Frostburg Winter Market, open every first and third Saturday through spring. Maryland Traditions partner and Frostburg State University Professor Kara Rogers Thomas hosts the market at Mountain City Traditional Arts, her downtown storefront devoted to regional folklife.

The goods at the market--from seasonal winter produce to houseplants and handcrafted soaps--come from local and regional makers, many of whom employ traditional methods in the growing or crafting process. Stop by for a visit, and don't be surprised if a bit of live old-time music adds a sweet soundtrack to your shopping experience. Learn more on Facebook .

Top Spot Open at National Council for the Traditional Arts

The National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) is seeking a new executive director. Read short and long forms of the job listing online . Traditional artists and culture workers nationwide will bid a fond farewell to outgoing executive director Julia Olin (pictured), who will step down in 2018 to focus on special projects and facilitate the leadership transition.

The NCTA, a longtime partner of Maryland Traditions, masterminds our public events. Under Olin's supervision, the production expertise of the NCTA staff has become an integral part of the success of the Maryland Traditions Folklife Festival and Maryland Traditions Heritage Awards--and these are only a small part of the NCTA portfolio. It also produces the National Folk Festival, a much larger affair that has traveled to many host cities since it was first held in 1934. Maryland Traditions is pleased to be involved with that project as it comes to a local host city, Salisbury, for its 2018-2020 tenure.


Shanthi Chandrasekar

IAA Profile:

Two-time Individual Artist Awardee Hails from Bethesda's Arts & Entertainment District

A Maryland artist who has been drawing and painting since early childhood, Shanthi Chandrasekar's work experiments in a wide variety of media, musing on where the scientific overlaps the spiritual and inspired by the mystery and majesty of the world around her. Her 2013 and 2016 MSAC Individual Artist Awards in the "Works on Paper" category helped Shanthi experiment with papermaking and design while exploring the cosmos and her observations of light and shadow.

Also trained in the traditional art forms of Kolam and Tanjore Style painting, Shanthi received a Maryland Traditions Master Apprentice Award to teach Kolam drawing in 2010. She is currently the exhibits coordinator for the galleries at the Takoma Park Community Center and works from her studio at Studio B in Bethesda's Arts & Entertainment District.


	Chad Buterbaugh, MSAC, (L) with awardees. Photo credit: Edwin Remsberg Photographs

Maryland Traditions Heritage

Awards Sh ine in New Home

Spectators were delighted by the Maryland Traditions Heritage Awards, hosted D ecember 2, in its new home, the Proscenium Theatre at the University of Maryland, Baltimore Cou nty.

The 11th annual event honored three outstanding stewards of Maryland folklife, or living cult ural traditions: documentary story quilter Joan M.E. Gaither, who gave an onstage interview surrounded by four of her larger-han-life works; the Baltimore American Indian Center (awardees pictured with Maryland Traditions staff), which celebrated the premier of Talk Together, a documentary on its 50-year history; and the Skipjack Race and Festival of Deal Island, described by stories from Captain Harold "Stoney" Whitelock and Jack Willing.

A set of country blues capped the evening off, courtesy of the Phil Wiggins House Party. Bandleader and harmonica player Wiggins, a 2017 National Endowment of the Arts National Heritage Fellow and resident of Takoma Park, presided over a lively set of blues for fiddle, Dobro, and buck dancing. See photos from the evening on Facebook.


Artwork by Madi Hanline, Garrett County, Southern Garrett Middle School

First Lady Student Art Show Features

Statewide Talent & Awards

Once again, Maryland First Lady Yumi Hogan showcases art from students across Maryland. This latest exhibition debuted December 4, 2017, at the House Office Building gallery space at 6 Bladen Street in Annapolis and will move to the Maryland State Department of Education. See

https://youtu.be/yoVw64ZOjLU for more detail.

At a special reception December 4, Maryland First Lady Yumi Hogan honored three of Maryland's top student artists. Mrs. Hogan, an active supporter of the arts, is also an artist and adjunct professor at Maryland Institute College of Art.

2017 Fall First Lady Art Awards student winners and judges

The awards and exhibit is supported through t he Ma ryland State Department of Edu cation's Fine Arts Office and the Maryland State Arts Council in partnership with the First Lady's office.

Student artwork was submitted by teachers representing all grade levels and a winner chosen in the elementary, middle, and high school categories through an adjudicated process. Judges were Maryland State Arts Councilor and American University Associate Professor of Art Zoë Charlton; Maryland State Arts Council artist in residence, painter, and poet M.C.Pratt; and Director of ArtReach and Community Programs at the Academy Art Museum and visual artist Constance Del Nero.

The students honored at the ceremony included the three first-place winners: Elizabeth Kiely of Severna Park Senior High in Anne Arundel County; Madi Hanline of Southern Garrett Middle School in Garrett County; and Emma Lawson of Cranberry Station Elementary School in Carroll County.

Isabelle

Levine, a student at Centennial High in Howard County, kicked off the awards ceremony by reading her poem entitled, "Wind." Music was provided by musicians from Huntingtown High School.

The student art awards and exhibit occur biannually, with shows in the fall and spring.

10th Annual Maryland Presenters Meeting Held at AMP by Strathmore

On December 4, 2017, from 8:30 am - 3 pm, MSAC offered a day of professional devel opment for Maryland-based Presenting o rganizations at the AMP by Strathmore. Appro ximately 60 arts profession als from these organizations engaged in presentations focused on digital marketing, community engagement, and breaking down barriers to entry with audiences. Speakers for the day included Erik Gensler, Founder of Capacity Interactive based out of New York City, and Sara Leonard of Sara Leo nard Consul ting.