July 9, 2008
IN BRIEF: TOURISM, FILM AND THE ARTS NEWS

PBS documentary will feature Maryland in War of 1812

Representatives of Florentine Films – co-founded by documentary filmmaker Ken Burns – and WNED-TV Buffalo visited Maryland in late June to scout locations with staff from the state’s Film Office for an upcoming Public Broadcasting Service documentary about the War of 1812. Filming of the PBS production will start with the Grand Tactical – a re-enactment of battles that occurred during the War of 1812’s Chesapeake Campaign – at Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum in St. Leonard, Sept. 20-21. The 560-acre park is located where the Battle of St. Leonard’s Creek took place. Continue...

Pictured: Members of the Canadian-based 41st Foot Re-enactment Unit at a War of 1812 re-enactment this spring.

Imagine Maryland meetings lined up for July

Regional and issue-forum meetings regarding Maryland’s new cultural planning initiative – Imagine Maryland: 2008-2013 – are scheduled this month throughout the state. Launched by Gov. Martin O'Malley and coordinated by the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC), Imagine Maryland is intended to stimulate economic development, boost Maryland’s quality of life, attract visitors, and support artists and arts organizations.

“We know by the number of people participating in the arts – and the growing number of locally based arts programs – that our steadfast commitment has nurtured a growing creative economy,” said Gov. O’Malley. “Imagine Maryland will guide us as this growth continues and be an important tool to help us better serve our citizens’ artistic endeavors.” Continue...

Ad space available in Maryland travel guide, calendar

Applications for listings in the 2009 edition of Destination Maryland, The Official Guide to Maryland State Travel, are due by Friday, July 18. This comprehensive directory features attractions, itineraries, outdoor recreation and accommodations throughout Maryland’s five regions. It will be released in March 2009. Applications for event listings in the 2009 Maryland Calendar of Events are also due July 18. The calendar is a magazine-style

publication that presents month-by-month events from across the state. You can access applications online or by contacting Kat Evans at Maryland’s Tourism Office, 410-767-6330. For display advertising, call Media Two, 443-909-7828.

Tourism Office showcases destinations with fams

Familiarization tours, commonly known as fams, are one of the more visible tools that the Tourism Office’s public relations team uses for getting its message into media outlets. Recently, for example, the Tourism Office in partnership with the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association (BACVA) hosted eight journalists and two public relations representatives from the United Kingdom during Baltimore’s Honfest weekend.

Camila Clark, public relations and promotions manager for the Tourism Office, and Monee Cottman, travel media manager for BACVA, arranged three days of activities for the U.K. contingent. Continue... Pictured: Connie Yingling (far right) of the Tourism Office leads a group of New York Metropolitan Area Outdoor Press Association wrinters on an excursion last July out of Chesapeake Beach with Capt. Randy Dean aboard the Bay Hunter.

IN THE NEWS:

Citywide art exhibits celebrate Annapolis Alive!

The Annapolis Gallery Association – a group of approximately two dozen art galleries – presents its annual Red, White, and Blue, Special Annapolis Gallery Exhibitions through July 31. This year’s show is part of the Annapolis Alive! events that celebrate the signing of Annapolis’ royal charter 300 years ago. The Annapolis Capital profiled the art exhibits and related opening events this weekend in a July 6 feature.

Federal funds boost Star-Spangled Banner Trail
“Many historians say the War of 1812 is the ‘forgotten war,’ even in Maryland, where the majority of the British-American conflict was fought and the Star-Spangled Banner was written. Now, nearly 200 years later, federal and state officials want to change that,” wrote Megan Greenwell in the July 3 Washington Post.

State budget for enticing film production running dry
“Maryland is losing its show biz appeal – and good jobs,” according to a July 2 Baltimore Sun editorial. Referring to Maryland’s fund for film production rebates, the Sun said: “Such investment pays off. Last year, Maryland's $4 million program yielded $37 million in direct spending for an overall $80 million impact on the economy. State officials estimate that Maryland has missed out on an additional $500 million because the incentive program lacked the needed funds.”

New trail spotlights Maryland’s role in War of 1812
“When we celebrate the bicentennial of the War of 1812 in four years,” wrote Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, “we will have the new Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail to help us chart the events of the war that is often referred to as our nation’s Second War of Independence.” Cardin described the trail in an opinion piece in the July 2-July 8 issue of the Community Times.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Cambridge Main Street presents crab cook-offs
Fourth annual “Taste of Cambridge” features crab cook-off contests for the best crab soup, crab dip, crab cake and crab specialty. Cook-off tickets go fast. Downtown Cambridge, Saturday, July 12, 5 to 10 p.m. Cambridge Main Street’s biggest fundraiser of the year.

River Concert Series offers free Friday performances

Grammy Award-winning soprano Susan Narucki is the headline performer for Simple & Beautiful, the July 18 program in the 10th annual River Concert Series in Historic St. Mary’s City. Hosted by St. Mary’s College of Maryland, the series offers free concerts on Friday evenings through July. The July 11 concert presents flutist Giuseppe Nova and pianist Brian Ganz. On July 25, the series closes with Song of the Earth, featuring tenor Jason Collins and mezzo-soprano Olivia Vote, who is from St. Mary’s City. Jeffrey Silberschlag (pictured) conducts the Chesapeake Orchestra and the River Concert Series.

Artscape returns with expanded schedule

A Baltimore mega-happening – it’s the largest free public arts festival in the nation, July 18-20. More than 150 artists, fashion designers, craftspeople share the spotlight with art exhibitions, jazz contests, outdoor sculpture, art cars, street theater and headline musical performers, including Roberta Flack (pictured) – all packed into Artscape’s expanded 27th edition. Also ties in with full schedule of performing arts events in adjacent neighborhoods.