Dear Arts Advocate,

Welcome to our newsletter!

This quarterly newsletter will focus on the following MCA updates throughout the year:

· January Budget reminder

· May/June Session recap + MD Arts Summit reminders or recap

· September Summer highlights + ARTSLab save the date

· December Holiday + Maryland Arts Day save the date

We will still be sending separate emails for important events including reminders and registration, but we hope this will provide some fun news in the meanwhile. Here’s a Table of Contents for more info on what each section will entail!

• What’s New – MCA-specific updates | Session Recap | Summit Recap
• Did You Know? – Funding, advocacy or policy news & fun facts
• the DROP – Annapolis-based news and political need-to-knows
• Around Town – Upcoming events throughout Maryland
• Key Players – A spotlight interview with an individual who is either an independent artist, member of an arts organization, or member of the Maryland General Assembly
• Activity – Coloring, crossword, or a matching game including prizes for the first 3 people to post and tag us on social media with proof of completion  

Please let us know what you think of our first edition!

Happy scrolling,
Safiyah and the Team at MCA

WHAT’S NEW

MCA-specific updates | Session Recap | Summit Recap

Through our collective effort, Maryland Citizens for the Arts was able to secure

$50M Arts & Tourism Relief Funding

Nicholas made not 5, not 10, but 37 trips to Annapolis this legislative session to ensure that lawmakers voted in favor of our arts sector. This means $40 million will be appropriated to MSAC to distribute additional grants for arts organizations and independent artists from this fund. The other $10 million will be invested in local tourism agencies providing much-needed marketing tools for the creative sector.

SUMMIT RECAP

After spending two years virtually, we eased back into an in-person Maryland Arts Summit. To make it COVID-19-friendly, we limited guest attendance to less than a quarter of our original Summit of over 500 people. This year we had 33 presenters, 11 vendors, near 150 in-person attendees, and over 30 virtual attendees. While there were some hiccups getting back into the swing of things, we are very proud of this year’s turnout. Click the button below to check out some photos from the Summit!

DID YOU KNOW?

Funding, advocacy or policy news & fun facts

THIS SESSION, MANY CONGRATS ARE IN ORDER

🥳 Congrats to three legacy black Baltimore arts institutions that received capital investments:

· Arena Players Incorporated: $1.2 million

· Eubie Blake Cultural Center: $1.2 million

· The National Great Blacks in Wax Museum: $2 million

🥳 Congrats to OpenWorks on the Passage of the Maryland Makerspace Initiative Program bringing $5 million over 5 years to help maker spaces across Maryland. 

🥳 Congrats to Arts Every Day and Arts Education Maryland Schools (AEMS) for championing arts education. Together they received a capital fund of $5 million for arts spaces in schools improvements. HB–(House Bill)–1469, Maggie McIntosh School Arts Fund establishes a permanent fund (administered by Arts Every Day) to help support the purchase of arts equipment, supplies, and student arts experiences.

Annapolis-based news and political need-to-knows

July 19th is VOTING DAY across Maryland

When it comes to politics there are few things more important than knowing who’s making decisions on your behalf. So, how do I quickly find out who to cast my votes for? Using VOTE411, you can can easily do a quick run through of all of the candidates you will see on the upcoming Primary ballot.  Their interactive  Personalized Voting Information site will list what and who’s on your ballot as well as direct quotes from interviews with each party. Take a look!

Even if you only have 5 minutes, doing a bit of research for just a few races is better than choosing candidates uninformed. 

AROUND TOWN

Upcoming events throughout Maryland

• Bel Air Downtown Alliance’s First Fridays! Block Party
  Friday, July 1 @ 5:00pm – 8:00pm
  Black Eyed Suzie’s Parking Lot —121 South Main Street, Bel Air, MD 21014

• Much Ado About Nothing
  Friday, July 1 @ 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm 
  Patapsco Female Institute Historic Park — 3691 Sarah’s Lane, Ellicott City, MD  21043

• Baltimore Farmer’s Market B-Side | Summer of Soul Edition
  Sunday, July 03 @ 11:00 am – 3:30 pm
  Holliday St. & Saratoga St., Baltimore, MD 21202

• Artist Vendors at the Farmers Market!
  Sunday, Jul 03 @ 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
  Catonsville Sunday Farmers Market — 15 Mellor Ave, Catonsville, MD 21228

• Michael Hunter Thompson’s Friends of Fade to Blue VIP Reception and Book Launch
  Friday, July 8 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
  Allegany Arts Council — 9 N Centre St, Cumberland, MD 21502

• Native, Non-Native, and Pioneer Plant Species
  Friday, July 8 @ 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
  Havre de Grace Maritime Museum — 100 Lafayette Street, Havre De Grace, MD 21078

• Lake Arbor Jazz Festival
  Wednesday, July 13, 2022 – Sunday, July 17, 2022
  Lake Arbor Community Center — 10100 Lake Arbor Way, Mitchellville, MD 20721

• Latino Conservation Week Kick-Off Fiesta!
  Saturday, July 16, 2022 @ 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
  Wheaton Regional Park — 2000 Shorefield Rd, Wheaton, MD 20902

• Storytelling on the Lawn: Book 2 – BY & BY: The life of Rev Dr. Charles Albert Tindley
  Thursday, July 21, 10:00 am – 11:00 am
  Taylor House Museum — 208 Main Street, Berlin, MD 2181

• Music For Maryland: Carroll County
  Saturday, July 23 @ 7:00 pm
  Rotary Amphitheater — 1601 Washington Rd, Westminster, MD 21157

If you’d like to see your event featured in the September newsletter, please email us your event details at info@mdarts.org!

KEY PLAYERS

A spotlight interview with an individual who is either an independent artist, member of an arts organization, and/or member of the Maryland General Assembly.

Sheena Morrison

Baltimore Arts Education Initiative Manager, Arts Everyday

We chose to spotlight Sheena this edition based on how well she prepared the Baltimore Youth Arts Advocacy Council (BYAAC) for their session, Got Art? Youth-led Panel on Arts Equity at our 2022 Maryland Arts Summit. BYAAC members include: Grey Dylan, J’Naya Harris, Carrie Snowden, Dinell Boyd, Belladonna Boateng, Gabriella Caba, and Barri Senaé Moore.

Session description: We are members of the Baltimore Youth Arts Advocacy Council (BYAAC), a program of Arts Every Day.  We are a group of eight youth creatives dedicated to fighting for the Arts in Baltimore City Public Schools.  We want all children to have experience with the arts no matter where they live or what school they attend.  This is a call for equity in order to give students their right to the arts.

INTERVIEW with MCA

Safiyah, MCA: I attended this panel and was so proud of the full answers and confident demeanor of the youth council. Their ability to gracefully jump in on questions they felt comfortable with or not answering every question was something that many people don’t learn how to do until later in life. How do you feel the students did answering questions they may not have been prepared for?

Sheena: First of all I’d like to say that they did a fabulous job!  And secondly, they were indeed prepared!  All of their responses were based on first-hand experience, and prior research on the issues. At every opportunity, I remind them that they are the experts here and are the best people to answer anybody’s questions…even better than I. 

Safiyah, MCA:  I seen you all gather for meetings in our building conference room. I, for one, will never not be impressed by young people who dedicate their free time to social change. Can you share how often you meet together and how much time you spent preparing for the Summit?

Sheena: We meet once a week as a team for 2 hours, each student has an hour to do research on their own, so 3 hours per week. We began preparing a couple of weeks after, I was notified that their proposal had been accepted in April. They began with the fun task of writing about themselves—a bio/artist statement and their interest in advocacy.  Independently they responded to a series questions that served as prompts for self-reflection and on the work that we did over the course of our time together.  Then we met at the Motor-house to share reflections and simulate an in-person panel discussion.  We’d been working together virtually since October 2021. The MCA Summit was their first in-person presentation. 

Safiyah, MCA: What do you hope for the future of the BYAAC youth. and what feedback do you have for MCA that we can bring to our next Summit?

Sheena: I hope that council members remain a force to be reckoned with as they continue to bring forth their ideas and concerns around arts equity issues and policies, that decision makers come to value and respect their input, and invite them knowingly to the table when reimagining arts education programming for Baltimore City Schools.  My feedback for MCA is for a larger space for their presentation, video coverage (seconded by Arts Everyday Executive Director Julia Dibussolo) for the youth and their loved ones to see how they did, and more youth-centered sessions to garner more support from the Summit including things that matter to them: for example, how to stay the course when told that that your interest in the arts is a frivolity rather than an academic pursuit, how to pursue your interest without support or resources, or opportunities for mentorship with more established artist within the Baltimore’s arts and cultural community.

Here’s some anonymous feedback we received from attendees of their session:

• “Really powerful perspectives from Maryland youth on the importance of the arts! I appreciated their comments about the inherent repetitiveness of arts advocacy, and the importance of the repetition.”

• “So great! These kids are rockstars.”

ACTIVITY

Coloring, crossword, or matching game

Let’s start with distinguishing important organizations for you to know!

Playing for a prize: The first 3 people to tag us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter with your completed (and correct) Crossword will receive a free 8-pack of Crayola crayons from our annual legislative crayon drop mailed to you free of charge.

ACROSS

2.  Arts service + advocacy non-profit organization

4.  Arts funding + professional development government agency

5.  Economic development government agency

DOWN

1.  Arts education government agency

3.  Arts education service + advocacy non-profit organization