November 22, 2011
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GRANTS
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Artists and Scholars in the Community Grants Next Deadline: Tuesday, January 24, 2012
for programs to take place between March 1, 2012 and June 30, 2012. Download FY12 Artists and Scholars in the Communitiy Grants guidelines here
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INTERNSHIP
| Public Art Collection Survey Intern
The Public Art Trust of the
AHCMC seeks talented and motivated undergraduate and graduate students to assist in Montgomery County's public art collection inventory beginning
in the Spring 2012 semester.
Credit or non-credit options are available. A small stipend is
available to cover travel costs.
To apply, email a statement of interest, two references, and a resume to Dr. Michele Cohen at michele.cohen@creativemoco.com.
Click here for full internship description.
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| JOIN OUR 2012 OVERTURE! | 
Whether it's 1812 or 2012, protecting and sustaining the cultural community is a priority for AHCMC.
How do we do it? Year-round advocacy efforts, grants making, professional development opportunities and capacity-building workshops, strategic partnerships, marketing services, and by celebrating arts and humanities in the community.
Your $12 will help AHCMC protect and sustain a vibrant cultural community. Click here and donate today!
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CEO Report
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Dear Friends,
As we wind down the calendar year and ready for the holidays, I hope we're all preparing for the arctic chill that may come in the form of budget reductions across the nation. Earlier this month, Leslie Whipkey conducted an excellent and insightful seminar on Risk Assessment for our Executive Leadership Series to help keep us focused on mitigating financial risk. And several of our other Executive Leadership Series offerings, Power2Give, Tessitura, and our dynamic DoandGo marketing cooperative and the Nonprofit Energy Alliance are focused on doing not more with less, but more focused with less, an important distinction.
On Monday, the Washington Post reported that the supercommittee failed to agree on a historic debt-reduction compromise. So what does that mean to our sector? In meetings with several arts organizations and the Committee for Montgomery earlier this month, Montgomery County's own Senator Rich Madaleno discussed Maryland's $1 billion general fund deficit. He cautioned that, since the creation of the supercommittee and months of gridlock between Republicans and Democrats created an August spending slowdown, if the supercommittee cannot craft a plan to curtail the deficit by its Nov. 23 deadline, we may face a spending slowdown over the holidays too, which will further contribute to the deficit.
So despite what we may wish, we are still in for a rocky ride. Our best counsel is this: look for efficiencies and leverage them when possible. Shore up the revenue and find your weak spots. Consider partnering with others; partnering is a great way to reach new audiences and create evangelists. Take advantage of networks you have but don't use. Be flexible so that you are able to react quickly when new opportunities present themselves. Spend less and save as much as you can. And look risk in the eye and consider strategies for addressing different risks so that you can be, and stay, in control, even during uncertain times.
And, last but not least, for everyone who took the leap of faith and participated in Give to the Max Day, congratulations! I hope the experience was exhilarating, brought in new donors and exposed your organizations to new audiences.
As we move into the holiday season know that this too shall pass. With a good plan, I know we will all make it through. And whenever we can help, know that the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County stands at the ready to do so; we're just an email or phone call away.
Peace,
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EXECUTIVE AWARDS!
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We hear it every year: That was the best awards ceremony I've ever been attended. to. This year nearly 500 people filled Strathmore for this annual event hosted by Frist Lady Catherine Leggett and County Executive Ike Leggett.
CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTOS
Executive Awards Recipients for 2011: - Lifetime Impact Award - Liz Lerman
- Lifetime Achievement Award - William H. Graham, Sr.
- Business or Individual Patron Award - Drs. Jeffrey and Carolyn Leonard
- Community Award - Michael Friend, Soul in Motion
- Education Award - John Taylor, The Kinderman
- Emerging Leader Award - Kenneth A. Oldham, Jr., National Philharmonic
- Outstanding Artist or Scholar Award - Christylez Bacon
- Volunteer Award - Richard Spero, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at Strathmore
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| News from AHCMC |
Earlier this fall, AHCMC received a coveted COMPASS grant. What is Compass? Through pro bono strategic consulting, Compass strengthens the capacity, effectiveness and sustainability of Greater Washington DC nonprofits. Compass volunteer teams, mainly MBA alumni from top business schools, guide nonprofit leaders to generate near-term gains and long-lasting organizational improvements. Montgomery County is well represented at Compass this year with two other cultural organizations participating: The Dance Exchange and Adventure Theatre. Click here to see all the 2011-2012 projects.
Welcome New Board Members:
- Tony D. Hawkins, Ph.D, Instructional Dean of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at the Takoma Park/Silver Spring campus of Montgomery College;
- Roberta Shulman, Potomac resident and visual artist; and
- Julie Williams, resident of Silver Spring, and Senior Program Manager at Partnership for Public Service
 After months of waiting to hear, we got the email just last week. AHCMC has been selected to participate in the Google for Nonprofits program! Here are some of the options available to AHCMC:
- Free or discounted version of Google Apps for your organization
- Free Adwords advertising
- Premium branding and increased uploads on YouTube
- Free licensing for Google Earth, SketchUp, and Maps API
THANK YOU! to all our friends who sent well wishes after the office flooded. you'll be happy to know we had new carpeting installed this week and operations are back to normal!
Silver Spring Arts & Entertainment Advisory Committee welcomes Suzan Jenkins to the committee. Ms. Jenkins received a letter of appointment from County Executive Leggett to join the committee. Silver Spring is one of three A & E disricts in Montgomery County. The other two are: Bethesda and Wheaton. Congrats Suzan!
 CEO Suzan Jenkins and Board Chair-Elect Erica Leatham attended the 2011 Board Development Intensive for Not For Profit Arts Organizations in early October at the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the Kennedy Center. The two day program was led by Michael M. Kaiser, President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and KC staff. The intensive covered these topics:
- Building and Maintaining Healthy Arts Organizations
- Effective Fundraising for Board Members
- The Importance of Long-Term Artistic Planning
- Building Institutional Visibility
- Supporting High-Impact Marketing Campaigns
- Financial Analysis for Board Members
- Hiring Effective Executive Leadership
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| MARKETING NEWS! |  Need a chuckle while you work, but still want to learn something? Then check out this clip from the National Arts Marketing Project (NAMP) conference, keynote speaker Scott Stratten tells you about The Problem With QR Codes.
But, what you ask is NAMP? The National Arts Marketing Project is a program of Americans for the Arts focusing on bolstering marketing skills for cultural organizations. NAMP produces an annual conference, hosts monthly webinars, organizes regional training programs, and provides on-site workshops on a range of arts marketing topics. Click over to artsmarketing.org for more information.
AHCMC's crack marketing team attened the conference this year and we'll be sharing our insights with you on lessons learned via the Creativemoco Blog. Click here to read more.
DON'T MISS THIS GREAT EVENT!
Friday, December 9, 2011
10:30 am to 12:00 pmParent bloggers are driving force in today's busy media landscape. For cultural organizations focusing on children and family programming, parent bloggers are a means for connecting with and cultivating new audiences. To help you reach parent bloggers and expand your audience base, the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County's DOandGO.org calendar and Jessica McFadden of A Parent in Silver Spring are joining forces to coordinate a networking event featuring top parent bloggers in the D.C. metro region. Featured bloggers will share story material preferences, methods of communication and dos and don'ts in this interactive program. Click here to learn more.
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| MONTGOMERY TRADITIONS ADDS SIX NEW STORIES |
 From Ireland to El Salvador and from Africa to Maryland, MontgomeryTraditions.org continues to spotlight the stories of the remarkable art forms and artists living in Montgomery County. At the Executive Awards ceremony in October, AHCMC launched five new stories lovingly created and produced by John Murph with assistance from Violet Cavicchi, a student at Vassar College, and Jack Slattery, a student at University of Maryland. Both Jack and Violet completed internships with AHCMC this summer focusing on the development of stories for Montgomery Traditions. The new releases include the story of Piedmont Blues musician and Montgomery County native, Warner Williams. Williams (81) received a 2011 NEA National Heritage Fellowship earlier this year. Williams is often referred to as a "songster" for the breadth of styles, sources, and songs he is able to perform, but he prefers the term "Guitar Man." Harmonica player Jay Summerour is another key Maryland musician in the Piedmont Blues style whose story is featured on the website. Summerour often performs with Williams and the two are a powerful musical combination.  Featured in the website's African section are the stories of griot (storyteller) Cheick Hamala Diabaté, a native of Mali. Diabate shares his journey as a musician and storyteller, and the very important role the griot plays in Malian society. C.B. Heinemann talks about he and other local musicians developed Irish music sessions throughout Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County. Today you can often find C.B. playing at McGinty's Public House (Silver Spring) on Tuesday nights. The stories portrayed in Montgomery Traditions touch on many key themes ranging from the personal to the political. Guitarist/singer/songwriter, Lilo Gonzalez recalls how he escaped a war-torn El Salvador with his family and moved to Montgomery County. Here his powerful stories in Spanish.
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| Kramer Gallery Opens a New Exhibit | |
Exhibit Dates: Oct. 10 - Dec. 30, 2011
Opening Reception: Thursday, October 13, 6 - 8 pm
Read a review of Figures Seen and Unseen by Claudia Rousseau. Click here.
Click here to learn more
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