The Howard County Arts Council will honor its 2015 Howie Award winners as it celebrates 35 years of fostering the arts at the 19 th Annual Celebration of the Arts on Saturday, March 19, 2016, at the Peter and Elizabeth Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center, Howard Community College, Columbia, MD. The Celebration gala affords members of Howard County’s arts, education, government, and business communities the opportunity to gather to honor individuals and businesses that have made meaningful contributions to the arts in Howard County.
The Howie Awards are presented annually by the Arts Council to an Outstanding Artist who has contributed a high level of talent and vision to the artistic life of the community; an Outstanding Arts Educator who has made an exceptional contribution to arts education in Howard County; and an Outstanding Business or Community Supporter that has made a significant impact on the arts in Howard County.
This year’s honoree for Outstanding Artist is Maureen Berry. Maureen is the Director of the Teelin Irish Dance Company and Owner/Director of the Teelin School of Irish Dance. In 2009, Maureen was the top recipient of the Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award for Dance Choreography.
Maureen’s extensive dance training ranges from modern, ballet, salsa, tap and jazz to traditional Appalachian clogging and Irish step dance. She earned her BFA degree in Dance Performance from Towson University and joined Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble as a full-time performer in June 1997, subsequently touring all over the world. She was awarded her TCRG teaching certification by An Coimisiun le Rinci Gaelacha (the Irish Dancing Commission, in Dublin, Ireland) in 2001, and is an active member of the Irish Dance Teachers Association of North America.
Maureen is currently focusing her energy on teaching and directing. Highlights of her career include producing, choreographing and starring in the highly successful original productions of feature-length stage shows: Portraits of Ireland (2006-2011), StepDance (2012-2013), and Sláinte (2014), and she will be debuting Celtic Storm (2016) at the Weinberg Center for the Arts in Frederick, Maryland.
Pamela Land is the 2015 honoree for Outstanding Arts Educator. Pam is the founding theatre arts teacher and director at River Hill High School in Clarksville, Maryland. Since 1996, she has taught the art of theatre to over 2,000 students and produced and/or directed nearly 50 main stage productions which have included over 4,000 students. Pam holds a BFA in Speech and Drama (Towson University), and an MS in Curriculum and Instruction (McDaniel College).
Pam currently serves as the lead theatre arts teacher for the Howard County Public School System, mentoring new teachers, facilitating professional development for veteran teachers, and supervising curriculum workshops. As a part of HCPSS Theatre Arts Student Enrichment Initiatives, she co-founded the Howard County Student Theatre Festival and the All County Improvisational Acting Troupe. Pam also regularly serves in advisory and developmental capacities to the Maryland State Department of Education Fine Arts Office and Arts Education in Maryland Schools.
For over a decade, Pam has also performed professionally as a singer, dancer, and actress in local theatre, regional theatre and national tours across the United States and Canada.