Arts Council honors 97 Maryland artists

Clarence Bishop, deputy secretary for Maryland’s Department of Business and Economic Development, was a guest speaker at the Maryland State Arts Council’s Individual Artists Awards ceremony and reception, June 14, at the Brown Center on the Baltimore campus of the Maryland Institute, College of Art. (See photo gallery.)

Scott Johnson, recently-elected chair of the Arts Council, and Theresa M. Colvin, executive director of the Arts Council, also addressed the gathering. Tom Hall, music director for the Baltimore Choral Arts Society and WYPR radio host, was master of ceremonies.

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The event featured musical performances by two award recipients – Cathy Fink on the banjo and Richard Marlow on flamenco guitar – along with recognition of all of the artists who received 2008 awards. A reception followed the ceremony and students from the Carl Grubbs SAX Alumni Band played jazz favorites.

The Council selected 97 artists out of 627 applicants – representing nine artistic categories – for the 2008 awards. The named artists received cash awards in the amount of $6,000, $3,000 or $1,000. A total of $250,000 was awarded to the artists.

Individual Artist Awards are made in 18 categories that alternate each year. The 2008 categories are: dance (solo performance); fiction, media, music (solo instrumental performance and solo vocal performance); theater (solo performance); visual arts (installation, computer arts and other genre [one category]; and visual arts (painting and works on paper).

Artists who apply for the awards must be Maryland residents. Juries of out-of-state peers and experts judge the artists’ work anonymously and assign each artist a ranking. The 2009 categories are: dance (choreography); music composition (classical, non-classical, world music); playwriting; poetry; visual arts (crafts, photography, sculpture). Artists must apply by July 31 for these awards.