We are pleased to announce that Mary K. Baxter has joined the Arts Council staff in the position of Deputy Director. Mary has a BA in Communication Arts from Concord University where she studied Public Relations and Theatre. Mary co-founded Dramatic Adventure Theatre and served as Executive Director, along with other key program and administrative roles, producing 32 original plays with 300+ artists in 9 countries on 4 continents from 2006 to present. During her tenure with Dramatic Adventure Theatre, she helped organize workshops that reached 2000+ students in 28 communities and villages and over 45 community designed and led service projects worldwide.
Mary also served as Program Coordinator at Free Arts, NYC, which provides underserved K-12 children with educational arts and mentoring programs; as the bookkeeper for the Washington International Horse Show in Washington, DC; and as a board member for Heal My Voice, empowering women and girls to step into greater leadership in their lives. She is a published author with short stories in several books.
Mary replaces Tammy Oppel, who moved on to a position with the Maryland State Arts Council. As Deputy Director, Mary will be responsible for managing the Howard County Center for the Arts and maximizing the use of the Center as a resource for the arts.
In other staff news, Kathleen Bender-O’Keefe has assumed the role of Visitor & Facilities Services Assistant. Kathleen holds a BA in Anthropology with a minor in Museum Studies from St. Mary’s College of Maryland. She previously worked for the Baltimore Museum of Industry, Howard County Recreation and Parks, and Maryland State Parks.
Kathleen’s responsibilities include scheduling and administration of facility rentals; administration of resident artist/arts organization leases and rental payments, coordination of the annual Holiday Maker-Mart, and a host of other duties.
Kathleen replaces Dana Whipkey, who assumed the position of Grants & Special Projects Assistant after the departure of Katie Wofford. Katie left the Arts Council in July to pursue graduate studies in Philadelphia.
Please join us in welcoming Mary and Kathleen!