Maryland arts deliver $1 billion boost to economy
The arts industry generated a total of $501 million in direct spending and had a total economic impact of $1 billion during fiscal 2010, according to a recently released economic-impact study from the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development concerning the state’s arts industry that year.

Here are some of the findings in the report:

• About 7.6 million people attended arts events in Maryland, spending an estimated $292 million on related goods and services.
• The arts industry generated 10,671 full-time equivalent jobs.
• Arts-related employment accounted for $385 million in salaries.
• Arts organizations generated $209 million in direct spending on goods and services.
• The arts industry provided $36.5 million in state and local taxes.
• Every $1 in arts organizations’ operating budgets led to $3.78 in additional economic activity.
• Grants from the Maryland State Arts Council represent $1 out of every $19 in the operating budgets of arts organizations.

The DBED study used Maryland Cultural Data Project data supplied by 252 Maryland arts organizations that receive grants from the Arts Council.

Photo courtesy of Joe’s Movement Emporium

ALTA Awards honor Maryland’s living traditions
Maryland Traditions, the folklife program of the Maryland State Arts Council, has announced the three winners – a person, place and tradition – of its annual ALTA (Achievement in Living Traditions and Arts) Awards. Named for the late Alta Schrock (pictured), a folklorist and community leader in Western Maryland, the awards recognize the efforts of individuals and organizations to sustain Maryland traditions. (Schrock, a native of Garrett County, cultivated her interest in preserving Appalachian traditional-art forms by establishing Spruce Forest Artisan Village, Penn Alps and the Springs Festival.)

Awardees are: Rich Smoker, a master decoy carver who lives in Somerset County; Patterson Bowling Center Duckpin Bowling Lanes, the oldest duckpin-bowling alley in the world, located near Patterson Park in East Baltimore; and The Singing & Praying Bands of Maryland – representing a statewide, African-American musical tradition that began at Methodist prayer meetings during the 19th century.

Theatre Project celebrates 40 years
Theatre Project – established as “Baltimore’s free theater” in October 1971 – revives its “pass the hat” tradition at a free performance for each show scheduled during the 2011-2012 season in honor of the theater’s 40-year anniversary.

The season features dance, opera and plays with a spotlight on local companies that will be in residence for two to three weeks at a time. Those companies include: Iron Crow Theatre Company, Chesapeake Chamber Opera, The Generous Company, Factory Edge Theatre Works and DNA (Daydreams + Nightmares Aerial) Theatre. Dance companies from the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., areas will perform in a festival format during March and April.

Located at 45 W. Preston St. near Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Theatre Project offers memberships that start at $40. Call 410-752-8558 or e-mail the theater for membership information.

Partnerships propel public-art project in Harford
A 30-feet-high steel sculpture, Daybreak – inspired by Harford County’s cannery business – was dedicated Oct. 27 by the town of Bel Air and the Harford County Cultural Arts Board. The ceremony, held in a light rain, was the culmination of a public-art project that succeeded through partnerships between public and private entities.

Ellicott City artist Richard Brink created the sculpture, which is located on the Ma and Pa Trail off Route 24 in Harford County. Richard Streett, whose family owned a Spenceola Cannery, a local tomato-canning business, provided support for the project, which Natalie Weeks – a member of the cultural arts board – had initiated.

A $5,000 matching grant from the Maryland State Arts Council was awarded to the cultural arts board through the Public Art Project Grant Program. Since its inception four years ago, the program has awarded 11 grants for public-art projects in nine counties.

Literary Arts Week debuts at Baltimore arts celebration
Free Fall Baltimore – the month-long array of free arts and cultural events held every October in the city in recognition of National Arts and Humanities Month – included a Literary Arts Week for the first time. Through a partnership forged by CityLit Project, Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance and Maryland State Arts Council, the special week featured a range of activities. Among them:

• Spotlight UB, CityLit Project and The Love Movement presented Across Words, an evening of storytelling, music and poetry.

• Maryland Humanities Council hosted literary walking tours of Baltimore’s Mt. Vernon district, which included a stop at the former residence of Gertrude Stein and references to other famous literary figures who resided or visited the neighborhood.

• Enoch Pratt Free Library offered a variety of author’s talks and readings, such as a discussion titled Why Read Moby Dick? – led by author Nathaniel Philbrick.

• Playwrights Group of Baltimore presented readings of seven short plays – The BaltiVORE Plays – which were each inspired by some of the city’s signature food items, including: Old Bay Seasoning, Berger’s Cookies and Utz chips.

For information about the Arts Council’s literary arts program or to learn about next year’s Literary Arts Week, e-mail Chris Stewart at the Arts Council.

New program brings traditional artists to schools
Master traditional artists will share their artistry with students in public and private schools in Montgomery County as part of a pilot program called Maryland Traditions in the Schools. The program is expected to expand to other counties.

Montgomery County’s pilot – for students in grades 6 to 12 – includes workshops and presentations by four Maryland traditional artists: Junious "House" Brickhouse (urban dancing); Daryl Davis (barrelhouse piano/American roots music); Samia Ahmad (South Asian classical music); and Phil Wiggins (country blues harmonica).

Maryland Traditions in the Schools is based on a partnership between the Maryland State Arts Council’s Maryland Traditions (folklife) and Arts-in-Education programs with the National Council for the Traditional Arts and Class Acts Arts.

Photo: Phil Wiggins teaching Harmonica 101