Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum, St. Leonard, MD- Looking for a new and exciting way to volunteer? JPPM is recruiting docents for our 2014 class. We are seeking a great group of people to work with our school groups, in the MAC Lab, Exhibit Barn, Patterson House, and more. This is an opportunity to meet new people, make new friends, and interact with the archaeologists, educators, and historians who bring Southern Maryland’s past to life!

The intensive ten week training course will provide you with in depth knowledge of the archaeology, history, and culture of southern Maryland with a specific focus on the land where JPPM sits today. You will also examine techniques and education strategies for engaging museum visitors in meaningful explorations of the past. After completing the initial training course, JPPM docents further the educational mission of the Park by offering regular, high-quality interpretive services for the public in support of annual programs, workshops, exhibits, and so much more.

Benefits to becoming a docent are many--docents will receive our regular volunteer benefits including a Friends of JPPM family membership, a 10% discount in the Show Barn Museum Shop, Friends' newsletter, and a discount on special event entry fees and workshops. The biggest benefit is the chance to work with some of Maryland's top archaeologists and educators who are preserving our Southern Maryland heritage through the JPPM programs. The training course will take place on Wednesdays beginning on January 22, 2014 from 10:00 am until 12:30 p.m. The classes will be presented by professional archaeologists, historians, and JPPM staff. Class size is limited and registration is required. Tuition and fees are $15. Class materials will be provided.

For more info:  Erin Atkinson, 410-586-8512 
Special Events and Marketing Coordinator

 Saturday, June 8, 2013
12:00 Noon - 6:00 pm
La Plata Town Hall

The Charles County Arts Alliance (CCAA) is pleased to announce that ArtsFest 2013 will be held this year on Saturday, June 8, 2013, from 12:00 noon - 6:00 pm, at the La Plata Town Hall! This annual countywide outdoor event celebrates ALL the arts in Charles County: music, visual art, drama, dance and literature. Now in its 21st year, it is the largest arts festival in Charles County!

ArtsFest is returning to La Plata this year and will once again bring the festivities to the lawn surrounding the beautiful La Plata Town Hall. Last year's ArtsFest in La Plata was well attended by over 2000 individuals from across Southern Maryland. Previous ArtsFests have been held in Indian Head, Cobb Island and Waldorf.

Arts Alliance President Diane Rausch, said, "We are delighted with our continuing partnership with the Town of La Plata, and appreciate their support as our host. We are planning to make ArtsFest 2013 a memorable one!"

Visual artists of all media are invited to display and sell artworks on the lawn at ArtsFest 2013. In addition, arts organizations are invited as exhibitors to display information and encourage participation in their performing, visual and literary arts activities. Also invited as exhibitors are historical, heritage, multicultural and environmental organizations.

ArtsFest 2013 is the Art Alliance's "free gift" to the citizens of Charles County and Southern Maryland. There is no charge to the public to attend. Food and refreshments will be available for purchase throughout the day.

Last year's ArtsFest showcased over 60 artists and exhibitors at the La Plata Town Hall, along with musical and dance entertainment at several locations on the lawn. ArtsFest 2013 promises to be even more spectacular, with several special events taking place throughout the day.

ArtsFest 2013 Registration Forms and additional information are available on the CCAA website (www.charlescountyarts.org), so please check there for all information needed to participate in this year's festival.

Please save the date and mark your calendars for ArtsFest 2013 on Saturday, June 8!

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

The Charles County Arts Alliance is currently accepting applications for the following position:

OFFICE MANAGER

(Part-time, 25 hrs/wk) La Plata, MD

The Charles County Arts Alliance promotes all the arts: music, visual art, drama, dance and literature. We are currently seeking an experienced Office Manager to support the Board of Directors and provide excellent customer-service to our members and citizens. Duties include managing databases, grants, website, email/phone/correspondence, action tracking, scheduling, notetaking, newsletters, and filing.

Excellent organizational, oral/written communications, IT, and interpersonal skills required. Candidate must be proficient in Microsoft Office, and be willing to learn Constant Contact. Prior experience in producing newsletters and database/website management required. Must be a team player -- proactive, results-oriented, able to work with minimal supervision. Prior office management required, nonprofit experience preferred. Prior grantwriting/fundraising a plus. Bachelor's degree preferred. Some nights/weekends required. Must have own transportation.

Qualified candidates should send a cover letter, resume, and salary requirements to:info@charlescountyarts.org.

CLOSING DATE: March 1, 2013

The Ballet Arts Acdemy of the Old Waldorf School is gearing up for an exciting summer 2013. Auditions will be held February 16 and March 2, 2013 at 4 pm.

International instructors and choreographers will be joining Oscar Hawkins, Artistic Director,  in conducting classes for beginner to advanced level students in technique, pointe, pas de deux, character and court dance, and contemporary ballet. 

Christine Booker, pre-ballet instructor, will be holding classes to teach age-appropriate ballet technique as well as ballet-themed arts and crafts for children ages 5-8. 

Classes will be held at the Old Waldorf School, Monday through Friday 9 am to 3 pm. Extended programming is also being offered from 6:30 am to 9 am and from 3 pm to 5:30 pm. Lunch will be provided.

The Ballet Arts Academy is a non-profit organization devoted to the teaching of classical Russian ballet techniques through the Vaganova methodology. Scholarships are available on a first come first serve basis for students who wish to dance but are unable to meet the financial requirements for this program.

2 Week sessions are from July 15 - July 26 (No Performance)
Or July 29 - August 09 (Includes Performance)
Tuition: $600

4 Weeks (Includes Performance)
Monday thru Friday (9 am - 3 pm)
Tuition: $1200

Extended Programming Available:
6:30 am thru 9:00 am - $75 (per week)
Or 3:00 pm thru 5:30 pm - $75 (per week)

The academy is located at 3074 Crain Highway in the Old Waldorf School. For more information, go to www.balletartsacademy.org / email: lysaware.balletartsacademy@gmail.com

CALL FOR ARTISTS
Waldorf West Library Multi-Media Exhibit  


The Charles County Arts Alliance, in partnership with the Charles County Public Library, presents its second exhibit of local artists for the new gallery in Waldorf West Library in St. Charles.  The exhibit will be held from February 9 - June 30, 2013.  Visual artists throughout Charles County are invited to submit artworks for consideration.  The deadline for submission is January 25, 2013.     

Due to space limitations, only 25-35 total artworks can be displayed.  Charles County artists are invited to submit a maximum of two (2) artworks electronically (jpg file) to the Arts Alliance at   WaldorfWestGallery@gmail.com for consideration. The deadline for submission of proposed artwork entries is January 25, 2013.  The show is open to all Charles County residents. Artwork must be original, two-dimensional, properly wired, and ready to hang. There are no size restrictions. Only digital (jpg) submissions will be accepted. For more information and complete submission guidelines, visit the Arts Alliance website at www.charlescountyarts.org or call 301-392-5900. 

Call for entries for the annual Mattawoman Creek Art Center's  "Holiday Salon: Shopping Days at MCAC", scheduled to run November 2 to December 16, 2012.  Artists may rent a 7'x8' booth space in the Center to sell original artwork and prints for the holidays.  Tables, easels, etc may be used for displaying works in allotted spaces.  Artists are responsible for set up and take down of their booth areas and are requested to attend the reception for the exhibit on Sunday, November 4, 2012.  Entries may be brought to MCAC between Thursday, November 1st and Saturday, November 3rd, at which date spaces must be completely set up.  An entry fee of $30 for members and $45 for non-members is required.  For more information visit www.mattawomanart.org.    

About Mattawoman Creek Art Center   Mattawoman Creek Art Center (MCAC) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in 1986 to encourage the practice and appreciation of the visual arts in the Southern Maryland community.  Located in Smallwood State Park in Marbury, Maryland, the Art Center is open Fridays - Sundays from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. for exhibit visitors. It is also open whenever workshops or special events are taking place and by special arrangement. MCAC receives support from Charles County Commissioners, Charles County Art Alliance, Maryland State Arts Council, Benefactors, and MCAC's membership fees.  Donations are gratefully accepted.   Follow us on Facebook!

Early Bird Registration is Aug. 17 for Free Training

The College of Southern Maryland will host the seventh annual grant training seminar “Proposal Writing for Foundation Grants” from 9:30-11:30 a.m., Aug. 24 at CSM’s La Plata Campus, Center for Business and Industry (BI Building), Room BI-113, 8730 Mitchell Road, La Plata.

Kim Patton, training coordinator at the Foundation Center in Washington, D.C., will lead the interactive session on proposal writing. Discussions will include the overall grant-seeking process, what to include in a standard proposal to a foundation, tips for making each section of the proposal stronger, attachments, communicating with funders during the grant process and additional resources on proposal writing.

“Anyone interested should register and attend. No previous grants experience is necessary,” said CSM’s Lead Grants Development Specialist Becky Cockerham.

This seminar is sponsored by Maryland Governor’s Grants Office, Charles County Government, Charles County Public Schools, Charles County Public Library, Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland and CSM. The
seminar is free but class size is limited. To register, contact Cockerham at 301-934-7648 or beckyc@csmd.edu. 

Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center (Annmarie Garden) celebrated Art Blooms, a unique floral exhibit, co-hosted by the Calvert Garden Club and Ann’s Circle of Annmarie Garden, with a fundraising gala on Friday, July 13, 2012! Proceeds from the Gala will benefit the artLAB, Annmarie Garden’s creative reuse center.

Attendance was 170 and included hors d'oeuvres by Canard’s catering, performances by the Patuxent Baroque Trio and Southern Maryland Teen Piano Group, and blossom creations in the artLAB. Art Blooms coincided with the awards reception for Treasured:  honoring precious and vanishing worlds, an exhibit that seeks to reveal the beauty and vulnerability of the endangered and the threatened.  Treasured jurors Dr. Joshua A. Bell (Smithsonian Institution) and Professor Lisa Scheer (St. Mary’s College of Maryland) presented four awards to the following artists:  Riccardo Berlingeri’s Hope, Sasha Zhitneva’s Apple Juice, Karen Lemmert’s Turfgrass, and Al Denyer’s, Mississippi 5, Mississippi 6.

Art Blooms was a three day show featuring the work of 38 floral designers from across the region. Each floral designer was assigned a work of art and asked to create an arrangement. The results were surprising, beautiful, and provocative!  A number of arrangements are visible at Annmarie Arts on Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/annmariearts

Art Blooms would not have been possible without the generosity of floral designers, artists, sponsors, patrons, friends, volunteers, and guests.

For additional information about the floral designers, please contact The Calvert Garden Club.  

Floridian Artist Dale Wayne (when it comes to recycling glitter is the new green)

This summer, from now through August 26, 2012, guests are invited to Annmarie Sculpture Garden and Arts Center (Annmarie Garden) to participate in the summer public art project with Artist-in-Residence, Dale Wayne!  Help create Dancing on Joy's Horizon, a glittery forest of bottle blossom trees made from plastic bottles salvaged from the Appeal Landfill.  The bottle blossom trees will grow over the course of the summer, as guests of all ages add their painted and glittery blossoms to five 8’ trees.

Annmarie Garden’s Artist-in-Residence Program provides a serene place on the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay for visual, musical, and literary artists to create works that address ecological issues and/or inspire community involvement.  Artists have access to a private studio space, in addition to a variety of classroom studios and garage spaces, a waterfront, and fifty acres of forest and field. 

Residencies focus on merging the arts and the environment that includes the involvement of the local community.  Artist Wayne, a world traveler, who now resides in Florida, is fueled by the unexpected and embraces the opportunity to involve the public.  “I love the transforming power of play and how people of all ages and abilities are moved by the process of turning ‘trash’ into something that will be celebrated as art.  The glitter, silly as it sounds, draws people into the process and everyone goes home a little more sparkly.”  Guests can participate in the growing process of these delightful trees, painting, decorating, cutting, and glittering will be involved.

Wayne developed her technique of cutting, painting, and heating plastic bottles in 2004 while teaching art classes in Orlando, Florida.  “I was working in glass and was trying to figure out a way to translate that medium into a classroom setting.  My dad, who is a sculptor, showed me how he was able to manipulate plastic to make armatures, to support the material he was working with at the time.  I wondered if I could paint plastic bottles and use heat to make them take on a glass-like quality.  It wasn’t long before I had a classroom of students diving into the project and going home in glitter from head-to-toe.”

The works Dale Wayne include an Earth Day installation for The Orlando Museum of Science, a poolside tower for a Home and Garden Television (HGTV) design program, award winning Christmas trees for The Orlando Museum of Art’s Festival of Trees, and an installation titled, “The Trees of Life Reclaimed” acquired by the Kent County Michigan Recycling and Education Center.  Wayne has been featured in magazines, newspapers, television, and has published her methods widely.  “I figure the more people who learn this process; the fewer bottles will hit the landfill,” Dale explains, “and the side-effect of their involvement is joy.”

For her Dancing on Joy’s Horizon installation, Wayne borrows from the African tradition of bottle trees, “hanging glass bottles in trees can still be seen in the deep-south and is a popular trend in today’s gardens.  Historically, colorful bottles were thought to mesmerize and capture evil spirits.”  Dale explains then continues with a laugh, “when I first made the connection I was already attaching the plastic bottles to trees and I thought, oh no, I’m metaphorically letting out all kinds of evil spirits!  I soon realized that since my theme at the time, ‘The Trees of Life’, represented paradise…where there are no evil spirits and all spirits are free.”

Annmarie Garden’s 2012 Annual Summer Public Art Project is a collaborative project for all ages and is included with site admission.  The activity takes place in the artLAB, open 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm, Monday – Friday, and Sundays where you can either cut, paint, or douse your creations (if not yourself).  When it comes to this garden party, it’s not strictly BYOB (bring your own bottle).  The public is welcome to bring their own plastic water and soda bottles to recycle into Ms. Wayne’s project, but if you don’t have any on hand don’t worry.  Annmarie Garden provides all the materials needed to participate.  This activity is appropriate for all ages; reservations are not required.

The 2011 Patuxent River Appreciation Days (PRAD) Committee is pleased to announce the awarding of two grants aimed at raising awareness and concern for the productivity of the Patuxent River and its life. The PRAD committee, through proceeds from its annual October festival, makes grant awards to non-profit organizations that either provide educational programs or conduct research activities focusing on the Patuxent River or Patuxent River Basin.

 The 2011 recipients were the Calverton School, which is running ongoing scientific sampling and discovery of the Patuxent River and the newly formed Purple Martin Club which will be located at the Calvert Marine Museum. Purple Martins have been pushed out of their habitat and require specific manmade housing to survive in today’s environment. Also awarded was the Patuxent Naval Air Museum for a War of 1812 exhibit.

Awards are made on a competitive basis by the PRAD, Inc. Board and do not exceed $1,000 per organization in any one year.  The PRAD, Inc. Board includes members of the Calvert Marine Museum, Calvert Artist Guild, the Pa-Po-Peake Shrine Club, SMILE, and the Calvert County Watermen's Association.

 Funding for this year’s PRAD grants will provide a host of programs to the community in efforts to help educate citizens about how to protect and about the importance of the Patuxent River to not only people but to its creatures as well.

 Information for next year’s grants will be forthcoming in February of 2013.