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Latino Arts Roundtable
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MSAC convenes session for growing Latino arts community
Participants included (l to r): Carolyn Comacho, Montgomery County Public Schools; Olga Diaz, St. Michael and St. Patrick’s Church; Ted David, La Layenda; Susanna Nemes, Maryland State Arts Councilor; and Rosalina Delgado, Hispanic Business Federation.
Having worked with Maryland’s Latino community in recent months, the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) hosted its first Latino Arts Roundtable, Jan. 12, to discuss grant opportunities and how to best serve that community. The event was held at the Arts Council’s office, 175 W. Ostend St. in South Baltimore.
“Historically, the Arts Council has been a leader among state arts agencies in gaining a broad and diverse constituency,” said Gov. Martin O’Malley. “We intend to continue that leadership by convening Latino leaders and artists in order to extend our grant programs into Maryland’s growing Latino community.”
One of the goals of the Arts Council’s strategic plan, Imagine Maryland, is to recognize the state’s cultural diversity and forge connections with diverse communities.
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Support the arts at Maryland Arts Day
Hundreds of arts advocates are expected to meet with state legislators in Annapolis, Feb. 9, for Maryland Arts Day – an annual event coordinated by Maryland Citizens for the Arts (MCA). The event gives advocates a forum to discuss the economic, cultural, educational and social values of the arts during the opening weeks of the new Maryland General Assembly session.
MCA Foundation (MCA’s companion organization) provides educational, networking and professional development sessions at the event. The day’s schedule includes: greetings from elected officials; a reading by Stanley Plumly, Maryland’s poet laureate; presentation of the Sue Hess Maryland Arts Advocate of the Year Award; a keynote address by a nationally prominent speaker (to be announced), and arts discipline-based roundtable discussions. Register online at MCA’s web site.
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New policy allows TEP funding for public art
Public-art projects are now eligible for funding through Maryland’s Transportation Enhancement Program (TEP). The change in policy permits art installations at transit stations, historic train stations and Transit-Oriented Development zones.
Maryland Public Art Commission– administered by the Maryland State Arts Council – must review proposed projects for aesthetic value. Like all public art, these projects must promote a sense of community ownership.
Image Courtesy of Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County:Petalos Reflejantes (Reflective Petals ), Wilfred Villadares, installed at Wayne Avenue Plaza in Silver Spring.
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Nine Maryland organizations receive NEA awards
Contemporary Museum, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2009, was awarded a $50,000 Access to Artistic Excellence grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). This grant supports an exhibition and publication featuring works of New York-based artists Bradley McCallum and Jacqueline Tarry in collaboration with the Maryland Institute College of Art’s Exhibition Development Seminar. The exhibition, Bearing Witness, opens at the museum and other venues around Baltimore in May.
NEA also awarded similar grants to eight other Maryland arts organizations: Center Stage Associates (Baltimore, $30,000); Enterprise Community Partners (Columbia, $25,000); Frostburg State University (Frostburg, $10,000); Heifetz International Music Institute (Ellicott City, $11,000) ; Morgan State University (Baltimore, $25,000); National Council for the Traditional Arts (Silver Spring, $40,000); Quest: arts for everyone (Lanham, $20,000); and Round House Theatre (Bethesda, $30,000). The nine NEA awards totaled $241,000.
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Local performers garner Grammy nominations
Milkshake (pictured), a Baltimore-based band formed in 2002 “to create great rock music for kids,” received a 2010 Grammy nomination in the Best Musical Album for Children category for its album Great Day. Released in August, Great Day is Milkshake’s fourth album. The band is on the artist roster for the Maryland State Arts Council’s Arts in Education Visiting Performers Program.
Also, the album Bernstein: Mass – recorded by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Morgan State University Choir and Peabody Children’s Chorus – was nominated for a Grammy as Best Classical Album.
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Resources available for artists, arts groups
A variety of organizations offers services, workshops and online seminars for the benefit of artists and arts organizations. Here are nine of them:
Maryland Lawyers for the Arts (MLA) is a nonprofit group that provides lawyer referral service and pro-bono legal assistance to income-eligible artists and arts organizations. MLA also presents educational workshops and seminars that focus on such issues as: copyright, contracts and entity formation. See complete list of organizations.
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Polisar fans bring new twists to old songs
In 2007, Barry Louis Polisar’s longtime career as children’s songwriter, author and entertainer received a major boost with the movie Juno. One of Polisar’s songs from 1977, All I Want is You, was used in the film’s opening sequence. The Grammy-winning Juno soundtrack catapulted him into international fame.
Now, Polisar is getting another surge of popularity. Musicians from around the world – many of them Polisar fans as kids – have produced a Polisar-tribute album. We're Not Kidding! A Tribute to Barry Louis Polisar is a 2-CD set that includes new renditions of 60 Polisar songs. The album includes versions of his songs that Polisar never imagined. Deborah Berman and the "Nogoodniks," for instance, present a Yiddish rendition of Don't Put Your Finger Up Your Nose. Polisar has received two Individual Artist Awards from the Maryland State Arts Council.
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‘New Music’ series awarded grant
Contemporary Museum’s Mobtown Modern concert series received a $2,000 grant from the Baltimore Community Foundation for its contribution to the arts in Baltimore. The museum introduced the series two years ago as a forum for presenting innovative techniques and new trends in music.
Contemporary Museum’s Mobtown Modern presents: Zodiacrobatic, Jan. 20
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MSAC folklorist working with Smithsonian festival
Maryland State Arts Council folklorist Cliff Murphy is serving on the Smithsonian Folklife Festival’s Asian Pacific American Program Committee. The festival, which runs for two weeks every summer overlapping the Fourth of July holiday, takes place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and typically draws more than a million visitors. |
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| IN THE NEWS |
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| EVENTS |
Poet laureate plans visits across state
Maryland’s recently appointed poet laureate, Stanley Plumly, will make this public appearances in February. The Arts Council lists future appearances on its web site.
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OPPORTUNITIES
& DEADLINES
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Maryland State Art Council grants:
Other organizations:
- 2010 Baker Artist Awards
Nominate yourself for a Mary Sawyers Baker Prize (worth up to $25,000), or vote for a Baltimore’s Choice winner.
Nomination deadline, Jan. 15; voting deadline, Feb. 15.
A celebration of artists in the Baltimore region: Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Carroll County, Harford County and Howard County
- 2010 Coming Up Taller Awards
Presented by President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities
Nominations deadline, Jan. 29
Supports outstanding after-school arts and humanities programs
- Space for Change
Presented by MetLife Foundation and Ford Foundation
Supports and promotes affordable space for artistic production, community benefit and civic engagement.
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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 |
Anthony
G. Brown, Lt. Governor |
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