Douglas M. Duncan is Montgomery County's fifth County Executive. Since he first took office in December of 1994, Duncan has dramatically increased funding for all segments of the arts, including a new concert hall and arts education center at Strathmore Hall, as well as the American Film Institute at the historic Silver Theater in Silver Spring. One of the hallmarks of the Duncan administration has been the Executive's leadership on the successful redevelopment and revitalization of downtown Silver Spring. A $321 million public-private urban renewal project will anchor the business district with a mixture of retail shops, entertainment and recreational facilities, restaurants, a hotel, offices, and a residential complex. In addition, a task force was established to explore the benefits of creating a cultural arts district in the downtown to attract and encourage development of a variety of arts organizations and activities.

Highlights of the revitalization project include: the American Film Institute's restoration of the historic Silver Theatre, which will operate as a center for film festivals - with additional expansions to include two more theatres and a black box studio theatre for the Round House Theatre; a planned Veterans Plaza to serve as the location for the "Silver Spring Swings" Summer Concert Series, the Ethnic Heritage Festival, and First Night Montgomery; a new Civic Building that will also house the Round House's new Theatre School; and the relocation of Pyramid Atlantic Center for Printmaking to downtown.

UPDATE: In 2002, Silver Spring was one of four jurisdictions designated by the state as Maryland's first "Arts and Entertainment Districts." Learn more about this program

Ray Barry, Deputy Director and CAO of the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, spearheaded the American Film Institute's initiative for the rehabilitation of the Silver Theatre and creation of the AFI Silver Complex - a state-of-the-art center for the moving image arts. For many years he has served as the Director of AFI's National Film Theater at the John F. Kennedy Center and has extensive experience with the technical, management and artistic issues involved in specialized film exhibition.

Andy Vick and his wife live in Cumberland, MD and are full-time artists doing business under the name Beth Piver Designs. He serves as Executive Director for the Allegany Arts Council, and is also a member of the Downtown Development Commission for the City of Cumberland.

For the past two years, the Allegany Arts Council has been working cooperatively with the City of Cumberland's Department of Community Development to establish the Downtown as an Arts and Cultural District. The initiative coincided with the City's active participation in the Maryland Main Street Smart Growth Program as well as other on going efforts, such as special grants and tax incentives, to revitalize the downtown business district. A formal resolution to confer the official designation of "Arts and Cultural District" on the Downtown area was passed on January 16, 2001. The downtown is already home to a number of established arts and cultural destinations such as the Allegany Arts Council Gallery, Cumberland Theatre, and History House. A variety of new venues have also recently opened their doors, including the Cumberland Cultural Foundation's Gilcrest Museum, the Canal Place Visitor Center, the New Embassy Theatre, the Cumberland Music Academy and the Arts at Canal Place Co-op Gallery. Underscoring the continued evolution of Cumberland's Arts and Cultural District was the relocation of the Allegany Arts Council to a newly renovated and expanded facility in 2001. Made possible by a grant from the neighborhood Business Development Program, the move enabled the Arts Council to broaden its services and programming, and to continue to champion the arts and cultural agenda in Allegany County.

UPDATE: In 2002, Cumberland also received an A&E designation from the state.

Delegate Joan Cadden, first elected to the House in 1990, has been a champion of community projects in her district, among them the Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts. In February of 1997, Delegate Joan Cadden announced that she would form a task force to open a creative arts center in North County. The following March, a group of 80 people, consisting of community, business and arts leaders, as well as local elected officials, gathered to outline a plan for the creation of the task force. By July, the task force was organized and in August, the newly formed Board of Directors set about to incorporate, develop by-laws, and name the Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts. In 2001, the former school opened its doors with membership numbers close to 800, a 904-seat state-of-the-art theatre, classrooms, studios, gallery space and offices. The Arts Center received a first-place "Smart Growth Initiative" award by Governor Glendening for innovative use of an existing structure.

Robert B. Nichols has been active in the arts community for 42 years as an artist, art teacher, patron, and board member. He was President of the Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts, and has served on the Boards of the Anne Arundel Arts Commission, the BMA, and Baltimore Clayworks, among others. His work is exhibited in shows throughout Maryland and Delaware.

When Rebecca Yenawine bought her house in Reservoir Hill in 1994, she began to invite young people in from her neighborhood. They played the piano, helped make dinner, drew and talked. As Ms. Yenawine taught these young people life and art skills, she began to assess their individual interests and to involve them in public art projects, performances, and in art-related programs and classes around Baltimore. Her efforts have become formalized in the program she founded and called Kids on the Hill. The young people of Reservoir Hill are at risk of dropping out of school, drug dealing and using, and of becoming young mothers on welfare. Today, Kids on the Hill serves approximately 45 young people and their families with the following classes and projects: creative writing for girls, video classes, art classes, African drumming lessons, gymnastics, theater classes, a Young Mothers Photography Project, a Mural Project, a Mentoring program, weekly library visits, job placement, field trips, and assistance with auditioning and attending the Baltimore School for the Arts. Ms. Yenawine attended the Maryland Institute College of Art and Goucher College where she graduated with a degree in creative writing. In addition to her writing, she has been a painter, composer and filmmaker for many years. Her documentaries, Survival Skills: A Series of Portraits (2000) and Creation Truths (1999), have both been nominated for the Rosebud Film Awards organized by the American Film Institute, and Survival Skills aired on MPT's Independent Eye series in 2000. She received a fellowship grant from the Open Society Institute in recognition of her dedication to her community.

Professor Emeritus (Vassar) Tom McHugh first came to the Eastern Shore in 1967 to teach at Washington College before moving to New York State and Vassar. Now retired, Dr. McHugh returned to his beloved Eastern Shore and now devotes "most of his time to helping." A musician, Dr. McHugh is also the founder and director of The Mainstay.
An old grocery store is the home of The Mainstay, a nonprofit center for visual and performing arts located on Main Street in Rock Hall, Maryland. Designated as an "underserved" community for many years, Rock Hall is a traditional waterman's town experiencing the first stages of gentrification. From its inception in 1997, the unique mission of The Mainstay is to offer high quality artistic experiences while at the same time using the organization and the arts as a way to effect social change, promote businesses, and to raise money for local charities. Since 1997, The Mainstay has hosted more than 150 performances, children's arts camps, an annual children's festival - "Fallfest," and has offered gallery space to local artists. In addition, The Mainstay provides free meeting space to community groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous, and has been able to raise more than $20,000 for various local causes by staging special concerts or by donating all proceeds from designated events.

Pamela Duke Olinick has served as the development coordinator for The Horizons Project, a national project that offers summer programs to public school children who are talented but not working to capacity. Working in conjunction with The Mainstay and its special programs, more than $16,000 has been raised for The Horizons Project.

John Ceschini is principal of Rockledge Elementary School in Bowie, MD, a Maryland Blue Ribbon school that has received national recognition for its unique arts program. Harvard University has recently included Rockledge in its study of eight promising US arts schools. One of four educators selected in the nation for their commitment to arts education, Mr. Ceschini received the 1999 Washington Post Outstanding Educational Leader award, and has also received the Prince George's Arts Council ABE award for outstanding elementary arts program, the Prince George's Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Administrator award, and the Bowie Outstanding Citizen award. He most recently won the BRAVO Network 2000 National Arts Education Award.

The administration and faculty of Rockledge Elementary School believe that all children can learn given a nurturing, safe, and motivating environment - that providing many different ways as well as opportunities to learn will ensure a superb learning environment. Based on the belief that the arts are a motivating, open way to learn that is not available in other curriculum areas, and that the arts help to develop problem solving skills, discipline, and self-esteem, they developed "The Rockledge Arts Infusion Program," giving the school an arts focus for learning. The goals of this program are the following:
· To ensure the arts are being integrated into the curriculum using the Maryland State Outcomes
· To ensure that all teachers have training and opportunities to implement an integrated arts program
· To ensure an experienced based elementary arts program in visual arts, dance, music, and theater
· To ensure that all students have the opportunity to exhibit their artwork and participate in a performance at least yearly
· To ensure that all students have the opportunity to work with professional artists
· To ensure that all students have an art museum experience and a professional performance experience at least yearly
· To ensure that all students have the opportunity to use technology as part of their arts experience

In order to meet these goals a team of teachers, administrators, and parents called the Rockledge Arts Team Specialists - and affectionately known as the RATS - develop a yearly action plan based on the school's needs. The team determines a school arts theme or focus for each school year. That theme is the fuel for the arts program and provides the impetus for each part of the plan. The RATS meet regularly to ensure that the action plan and yearly goals are met.

Fine Arts Coordinator Susan Denvir holds a unique position at Rockledge Elementary School that was especially designed for the needs of her school. Part of the day she is an Instructional Resource Teacher and teaches students with special needs; she also administers the fine arts program that she helped to develop. She served on the Maryland Fine Arts Advisory Panel from 1997 to 1999 and has served as a facilitator at the Maryland Summer Artist/Teacher Institute for the past three summers. Ms. Denvir is a member of the Kennedy Center's CETA (Changing Education Through the Arts) network, which has received a grant from the National Foundation for the Improvement of Education to develop a professional development program that will instruct teachers on arts integration. She has been on the Kennedy Center's ArtsEdge Teacher Advisory Council for two years.