Maryland Traditions event pays tribute to state’s cultural heritage

Maryland Traditions – a joint program of the Maryland State Arts Council and the Maryland Historical Trust – presented its annual showcase of traditional and folk arts at the Creative Alliance in Baltimore, June 11.

Maryland Masters: Down the Street and Around the World featured performances by master singers, musicians and dancers who demonstrated their traditional arts. Winners of this year's ALTA (Achievement in Living Traditions and the Arts) Awards were also announced.

“The traditional arts are a vital part of our culture, keeping us connected to our heritage and mindful of our responsibility to preserve habits of the hand and heart for the future,” said Gov. Martin O’Malley. “The Maryland Traditions program nurtures living treasures, forges bonds to history and inspires young people to be a critical part of this chain of humanity.”

Master performers included:
• Cheick Hamala Diabate (Adelphi), a Grammy-nominated ngoni (pre-banjo) player from Mali, West Africa;
• Daryl Davis (Silver Spring), a boogie-woogie pianist who was a regular accompanist for Chuck Berry;
• P.K. and Lalitha Swaminathan (Burtonsville), South Indian Carnatic musicians; and
• Junious “House” Brickhouse (Bethesda), an urban hip-hop dancer.

ALTA selections
The ALTA Award winners named at the event represent three categories – an individual, place and tradition – that epitomize Maryland's cultural heritage. Award recipients were a well-known banjo maker, a popular Bavarian beer garden that re-opened in January and the documentary project at a Western Maryland school.

Hagerstown's George Wunderlich is an expert in minstrel-era music (mid-1800s), who crafts period-style banjos for musicians, museums, collectors and re-enactors throughout the world. Blob's Park & Bavarian Bier Garten, a Jessup landmark known for polka music, opened in 1933 and closed in 2007. However, the great-nephew of founder Max Blob has re-opened Blob's after renovations.

Students at a state-funded school in Western Maryland – nearly all from Amish or Mennonite backgrounds – documented their community, which led to the production of a book, Piece a Quilt of Gortner. Swan Meadow School of Oakland has 64 students in grades one through eight.

Alta Schrock is the namesake of the ALTA Awards. A native of Garrett County, Schrock, in 1944, became the first Menonnite woman in the U.S. to earn a doctorate (biology). She taught biology at Frostburg State University from 1960-1977.

Schrock also cultivated an interest in preserving Appalachian traditional-art forms. She established Spruce Forest Artisan Village, Penn Alps, the Springs Folk Festival and the Council of the Alleghenies - producer of Journal of the Alleghenies, a publication that spotlights history, arts, literature and folklore of the region.

Maryland Traditions – now in its eighth year – identifies documents and celebrates communities, genres and practitioners that constitute the state’s folk and traditional arts and folklife. It supports the dissemination of related information through publications, presentations and educational programs. And, it works with individuals and cultural institutions to preserve and conserve living traditions and folk arts.

For information about Maryland Traditions, call or e-mail: Cliff Murphy. 410-767-6450; Elaine Eff, 410-514-7653.

 

Center for traditional arts opens in downtown Frostburg

Six months after receiving its designation as the Mountain City Arts and Entertainment District, Frostburg opened the Mountain City Traditional Arts Center (MCTA). The new center, located on Main Street in downtown Frostburg, offers educational programming – including workshops – related to Appalachian traditional arts and a retail outlet for the artwork of traditional artists in the region.

It is designed to house artists in residence and possibly, local traditional arts groups. A permanent collection of looms, spinning wheels, quilting frames and other traditional-arts tools will also be at the center.

MCTA is a joint venture of the Allegany Arts Council, Frostburg First: Main Street Program, Frostburg State University and the City of Frostburg. The Arts Council will operate and fund the center as one of its programs. Students from the university are expected to document both the traditional artwork in process and the artwork for sale, in addition to staffing the center as interns.

To expand MCTA’s impact on the local economy and attract local visitors and tourists, plans exist for center to partner with Allegany County Tourism, Western Maryland Scenic Railroad and Great Allegheny Passage.