Baltimore Arts Education Initiative

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Baltimore Arts Education Initiative

Citizen Artist Baltimore is excited to partner with coalition partner Arts Every Day as they work with Baltimore City Public Schools to launch the Baltimore Arts Education Initiative, a collaborative Fine Arts Strategic Planning process to improve equity and access to the arts for all Baltimore City Public School students. During this event we will hear from Chicago-based Ingenuity-Inc., a national thought leader and the strategy partner for Chicago Public Schools instrumental in the creation and implementation of a district wide Fine Arts Plan.

EVENT: Baltimore Arts Education Initiative Launch
WHEN: Wednesday, September 27 from 3-5pm
WHERE: The Motor House, 120 W. North Ave, Baltimore, MD 21201

About the Baltimore Arts Education Initiative

Baltimore City Public Schools District in partnership with Arts Every Day is pleased to announce the Baltimore Arts Education Initiative, a collaborative Fine Arts Strategic Planning process to ensure equity and access to arts education for all Baltimore City Public School students. The Baltimore Arts Education Initiative (BAEI) is a 2017 recipient of a $50,000 National Endowment for the Arts Art Works: Collective Impact grant.

In partnership with Baltimore City Public Schools, Arts Every Day will convene students, parents, community partners, arts educators, arts organizations, and district stakeholders to create a Strategic Plan to move the Baltimore City Public School District forward in 1) meeting new Maryland State Department of Education Fine Arts Standards and Regulations, 2) equipping school leaders and educators with a roadmap for building arts rich schools, 3) defining guidelines for quality school and community partnerships, out-of-school time and summer arts programming. The planning process will take place over the 2017-18 School Year.

National Voter Registration Week Starts 9/26!

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Voter Registration Day Impact Hub

Join Citizen Artist Baltimore, Mile 22 and other civic and community organizations to kick off National Voter Registration Week, beginning Tuesday, September 26th, 2017 with a friendly, fun, happy hour with complimentary drinks, refreshments, and music. Voter registration, information and educational tools will be available to increase awareness around the importance of voting locally. This is the opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals, make your voice heard, and begin to make a collective impact for change in Baltimore City! Also find out the resources and organizations already making that impact in need of support from engaged citizens!

EVENT: National Voter Registration Week Kickoff
WHEN: September 26, 2017 at 4pm – 8pm
WHERE: Impact Hub, 10 E North Ave, Baltimore, MD 21202
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Activities include:

  • Get to know the next local election!
  • Registering to Vote!
  • Join a Voting bloc & pledge to vote in the next local election!
  • Volunteer a non-profit Organization!
  • View the “Baltimore History of Voting Wall”
  • Visit the “Picture me Voting” Booth

#NationalVoterRegistrationDay will Kick Off the week of Voter Registration efforts and events across Baltimore City. #BeVocalVoteLocal

Voter Registration Day Mondawmin Mall

Baltimore’s National Voter Registration Week will continue with a celebration at TouchPoint Baltimore.

EVENT: Baltimore National Voter Registration Week Celebration
WHEN: September 29, 2017 at 4pm – 8pm
WHERE: TouchPoint Baltimore, Mondawmin Mall, 2000 Gwynns Falls Pkwy, Baltimore, MD 21215
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

United Not Blighted Rally

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United Not Blighted poster

United Not Blighted Rally – Baltimore’s 20/20 Vision for Development without Displacement

Saturday, May 13, 2-5pm, Warm Memorial

101 N. Gay St., Baltimore, MD 21202

One of the top priorities we heard from citizen artists during our listening sessions last year was the need for access to affordable housing and workspace. Baltimore Housing Roundtable is leading the charge for fair development in Baltimore with their 20/20 Vision. Building on voter approval of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund during last fall’s election, BHR is now pressing forward with the #UnitedNotBlighted campaign. Will you join us to advocate for affordable housing in Baltimore?

The event will be hosted at the Baltimore War Memorial building from 2 to 5 PM on Saturday, May 13th. BHR will feature storytelling about displacement due to environmental injustices, neighborhood gentrification, and disinvested and blighted housing, and then issue a challenge to Mayor Pugh to invest in community-driven, equitable development. The event will be interspersed with musical performances and will end with a march on City Hall.

Together, we will demonstrate the imperative to put 20 million dollars in the the bond budget next year for deconstruction of vacant houses, greening, and environmental sustainability projects, and 20 million for the creation of permanently affordable housing through community land trusts. This event will launch us into our mass mobilizing phase of the campaign- sending all of us out to share the 20/20 campaign and gather thousands of petition signatures in support.
You can learn more about United Not Blighted and RSVP at http://www.unitedworkers.org/baltimore_s_20_20_vision.

Baltimore Arts Education Coalition: Principal Panel Discussion

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November 30, 2016 from 4:30-6:30 PM

Hosted by Arts Every Day
120 W. North Ave, Baltimore, MD 21201

Click here to RSVP

The Baltimore Arts Education Coalition (BAEC) is a group of citizens advocating for, and partnering with City Schools to build, strong arts programs. On November 30, the BAEC will hold a panel discussion with Baltimore City Schools principals to discuss strategies on how to ensure that all students participate in high quality arts education programs and receive instruction in all arts disciplines including dance, media arts, music, theatre and visual arts.

The panel is comprised of City Schools principals who are doing good work in providing quality arts instruction for students.  Panelists will share their insight on the budgeting, scheduling and day-to-day decisions that impact the arts. The program will include time for questions and discussion with the audience.

Panelists include:

Cathleen Miles, Principal at Abbottston Elementary School
Nancy Fagan, Principal at Highlandtown Elementary/Middle School #215
Craig Rivers, Principal at Mergenthaler Vocational Technical High School
Mathew Hornbeck, Principal at Hampstead Hill Academy
Jessica Johnson, Principal at Booker T. Washington Middle School for the Arts

ArtsLAB 2016, MCA’s 5th annual capacity building conference

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MCA ArtsLab People

Topic: Citizen Artists: Arts Professionals and Civic Engagement
Date: Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Time: 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM
Location: Chesapeake Arts Center, Brooklyn Park, MD

Click here to learn more and register!

ArtsLAB 2016, MCA’s fifth annual capacity building conference, will take place on Tuesday, October 25, 2016 at Chesapeake Arts Center in Brooklyn Park, MD.
The theme of this year’s conference will be “Citizen Artists” and will feature presentations by, and conversations with artists who are actively engaged in a civic or social project with their art; be it the environment, arts education, criminal justice, healthcare, historic preservation, or other topics. Come and add your voice to the conversation about creating more Citizen Artists. ArtsLAB was created by MCA to provide a space for the nonprofit arts sector to come together to address concerns facing our field.
Cost: $15 per person, $12 per person for groups of 3 or more from one organization.

Mayoral Forum Success!

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Mayoral Forum on Arts & Culture shows the Power of Citizen Artists

In an unprecedented show of strength by Baltimore’s creative communities, over five hundred citizen artists came together for first ever Mayoral Forum on Arts and Culture held by Citizen Artist Baltimore (CAB) on Monday, March 7 at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Participating mayoral candidates included Sheila Dixon, Elizabeth Embry, Joshua Harris, Patrick Gutierrez, DeRay McKesson, Nick Mosby, Catherine Pugh, Cindy Walsh, David Warnock, Wilton Wilson, and Calvin Young. CAB asked questions based on input collected during seven listening sessions held all across Baltimore City. The mayoral contenders spoke about important issues including increasing support for arts education, mandating equity in cultural funding, creating a cabinet level art position, and developing an inclusive cultural plan for Baltimore City.

Read more

Mayoral Forum on Arts & Culture

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Citizen Artist Baltimore
Mayoral Forum on Arts & Culture

Monday, March 07, 2016, 6-7:30pm
Falvey Hall, Brown Center, Maryland Institute College of Art
1301 West Mt. Royal Ave., Baltimore, MD 21217

The Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance (GBCA), Maryland Citizens for the Arts (MCA), and the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation along with the Maryland Institute College of Art are excited to announce the first-ever Citizen Artist Baltimore Mayoral Forum on Arts and Culture. The forum is free and open to the public.

Please RSVP here: http://bit.ly/1RTl4Va

Confirmed attendees include:

Sheila Dixon, Elizabeth Embry, Joshua Harris, Patrick Gutierrez, DeRay McKesson, Nick Mosby, Catherine Pugh, Cindy Walsh, David Warnock, Wilton Wilson, Calvin Young

GBCA Executive Director Jeannie Howe states:

“At this critical time for Baltimore, the region, and the country, the creative community can and is making an important contribution to political discourse and to building a strong, equitable, and successful Baltimore. The first-ever mayoral forum on arts and culture will also provide an excellent opportunity to for candidates to outline their positions and goals.”

MCA Executive Director John Schratweiser states:

“Baltimore is home to thousands of voters who care about the arts; theatre, concert, and museum-goers; and workers in creative fields. They value core issues like public safety and education, but they also care deeply about the candidates’ positions on arts and culture. ”

The arts and culture industry in Baltimore generates $388.2 million in total economic activity, supports 9,505 full-time equivalent jobs, generates $260.4 million in household income to local residents, and delivers $33.9 million in local and state government  revenue. (Arts and Economic Prosperity IV/Americans for the Arts 2010) .

Citizen Artist Baltimore (CAB) is a nonpartisan advocacy effort that is helping to mobilize thousands of voters within Baltimore City’s creative communities by providing the opportunity for mayoral candidates to outline their positions and goals related to arts, culture and humanities. Throughout January 2016 CAB conducted a series of listening sessions in every corner of Baltimore City. From these sessions, CAB has synthesized the top priorities of the creative sector into a questionnaire and statement that will be shared with all mayoral candidates and on its website.

Citizen Artist Baltimore serves as a call to action for individuals, organizations, and institutions to work together to advance inclusion of these issues in the April 2016 Primary Mayoral Election and beyond. The initiative also encourages voter registration and long-term engagement in the democratic process.

Click here to download a printable 8.5″ x 11″ poster for the event.

Rescheduling Listening Sessions for Northeast, West & Cultural Orgs

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The Listening Sessions previously scheduled to take place at the Hamilton Library on Saturday, January 22, WombWorks on Monday, January 25, and for Cultural Organizations at the BSO on Tuesday, January 26 have all both been postponed due to post-blizzard conditions.

The Listening Session for Cultural Organizations has been rescheduled for Tuesday, February 2, at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall – Second Space: 1212 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201 (Enter through main lobby and head upstairs).

We are working on confirming new dates, times and locations for the west and northeast listening session. Check back for updates!

 

Citizen Artist Baltimore announces arts voting initiative ahead of primary election

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 30, 2015

Graham Coreil-Allen, info@citizenartist.vote, 443-687-9255

Citizen Artist Baltimore announces arts voting initiative and six citywide listening sessions ahead of the 2016 primary election.

Baltimore, MD, December 30, 2015 – Citizen Artist Baltimore is a call to action for individuals, organizations, institutions, and foundations to work together to advance inclusion of the arts, culture, and humanities as an issue of critical importance in the April 2016 Primary Mayoral Election and beyond.

This growing partnership, led by the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance (GBCA), Maryland Citizens for the Arts (MCA), and the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, consists of artists, organizations, patrons of the arts, and community and cultural leaders.

Through a series of public listening session in January 2016, Citizen Artist Baltimore will identify sector priorities. The group will then circulate a questionnaire to the 2016 mayoral candidates whose responses will be published on the website http://citizenartist.vote. In mid-March 2016, there will be a public, candidates’ forum on arts and culture.  Leading up to the primary election, Citizen Artist Baltimore will also be registering and encouraging all eligible voters to participate in the primary election on April 26, 2016.

GBCA Executive Director Jeannie Howe emphasizes the value of local artists and the initiative’s timeliness:

“At this critical time for Baltimore, the region, and the country, the creative community can and is making an important contribution to political discourse and to building a strong Baltimore. Citizen Artist will help mobilize the arts and culture sector. It will also provide an excellent opportunity to for candidates to outline their positions and goals.”

Reflecting on the critical nature of Citizen Artist Baltimore’s grassroots organizing, MCA Executive Director John Schratwieser states:

“At MCA we believe voting is a critical component of advocacy. Through Citizen Artist Baltimore, we hope to support, and learn from, a local arts-centered initiative that engages citizens in the civic process, and helps elected officials see the arts as part of the solution for the future.”

Given the many contributions that the creative community makes to the success of the city, the Citizen Artist Baltimore campaign will offer candidates a means to clarify the role of the sector in their policies and strategies. The effort is also meant to engage artists, designers, performers and other cultural producers and patrons in the electoral process and improve access to arts, culture, and humanities for all Baltimore citizens.

Citizen Artist Baltimore Listening Sessions will be held:

Central: Tuesday, January 5 2016, 6:30-8:00pm – Design Conversation at
The Windup Space, 12 W North Avenue, Baltimore MD 21201

Southwest: Saturday, January 9 2016, 3-4:30pm
Zella’s Pizzeria, 1145 Hollins St, Baltimore, MD 21223

West: Monday, January 11 2016, 7-8pm
Jubilee Arts, 1947 Pennsylvania Ave, Baltimore, MD 21217

East: Wednesday, January 13 2016, 7-8:30pm
Baltimore American Indian Center, 113 S Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21231

Northeast: Saturday, January 23 2016, 1-2:30pm
Hamilton Branch – Enoch Pratt Free Library, 5910 Harford Rd, Baltimore, MD 21214

Northwest: Late January, date and location to-be-confirmed

Maryland Citizens for the Arts is an advocacy organization committed to expanding the nonprofit arts sector through public investment and service; thereby enhancing lifelong learning, quality of life, and economic vitality for all Maryland’s citizens.

The Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance is a membership and service organization that nurtures and promotes a vibrant, diverse, and sustainable arts and cultural community essential to the region’s economic success and quality of life.

The Robert W. Deutsch Foundation exists to promote innovation in science and technology, arts, education and social justice.

Website: http://citizenartist.vote
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/citizenartistbaltimore
Twitter: https://twitter.com/citizenartbmore
Hashtag: #citizenartistbmore