Michael A. Sawyers
CUMBERLAND — The Maryland Citizens for the Arts came to town Monday, bringing its prelegislative briefing to far western Mountain Maryland for the first time in an effort to strengthen the commitment to arts in the Free State from mountain crests of Friendsville to beaches of Crisfield.
Emphasizing how closely the organization works with the legislators during the General Assembly, MCA chairman Doug Mann told area arts enthusiasts that the primary role since inception in 1977 is to obtain state funding for arts across Maryland.
The meeting was attended by about two dozen people at the Allegany Arts Council headquarters on North Centre Street. It is one of five taking place across Maryland, an expansion, according to Mann, of the two annual meetings in the past.
“The governor has faced unprecedented challenges with the budget and he has acknowledged our challenges in the arts community,” Mann said, adding that the cuts to the MCA budget of about $13 million were far smaller than cuts to other groups.
In attendance Monday were arts council representatives from the three western counties in addition to other interested institutions such as Frostburg State University, Evergreen Heritage Center, Frostburg Museum, Allegany County Library, Windsor Hall and the Cumberland Choral Society.
“Maryland Citizens for the Arts is our voice in Annapolis,” said Karen Reckner, executive director of the Garrett County Arts Council. “To have them come to us today is wonderful. Had the meeting been in Annapolis or Baltimore, we would not have been able to attend in this volume,” she added, looking around the room at the various representatives.
The Garrett council is an umbrella organization representing 15 to 20 individual arts groups.
Andy Vick, who hosted the meeting, is Reckner’s counterpart in Allegany County. “The Allegany Arts Council is very dependent upon grant money from the state as well as help from the county and the cities of Frostburg and Cumberland,” Vick said. “It is important for that funding stream to be steady and we depend on MCA to help make that happen.”
Garry Ritchie, curator of the Frostburg Museum, which has an art gallery and monthly hosts area artists who display their works, said his goal Monday was to meet more people in the local arts movement for future networking.
“We are a small piece in the local arts community and I am eager to see how we can participate more within that framework,” he said.
Feb. 9 will be the day artists from throughout Maryland meet with legislators in Annapolis during the General Assembly. Mann said a large showing of 400 to 500 people that day would go a long way toward maintaining a steady funding source from the state.
MCA’s new Web site will be available Jan. 1 at www.mdarts. org.
Contact Michael A. Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com.
