Join us for the Celebration of the Arts in Howard County on Friday, October 25, from 6–10pm at the Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center, Howard Community College—our signature arts event of the year!
Proceeds support HoCo Arts’ year-round mission, including $900,000+ in grants, arts outreach, scholarships, exhibitions, low-cost studios, and classes for all ages.
Sponsorships range from $1,000–$10,000, with benefits which include event tickets and full-color ads in the program. Or, become a Celebration Extra at the $500 level and receive two event tickets and recognition in the program. Your support keeps the arts thriving in our community. We can’t wait to celebrate with you in October! More here
The Howard County Arts & Culture Plan seeks to identify and catalog the county’s existing arts and cultural assets, develop strategies to support and grow creative resources, guide future investments, and meet the evolving needs of our diverse arts communities. Learn more and complete the survey today!
To support this effort, Howard County is launching a Mini-Grant Program designed to help organizations promote the Arts & Culture Master Plan. Applicants can apply through one of three distinct pathways: Community Advocate, Community Convener, or Competition Entry.
Community Advocate: Approximately six applicants will each receive $150 and a media toolkit to share plan-related content through their networks — a minimum of six posts over six weeks (tracked via Arts Council tags).
Community Convener: Five applicants will receive $750 to help them facilitate a community conversation and provide a report on their findings to the planning team.
Ellicott City’s annual plein air event, Paint It! Ellicott City 2025 is just around the corner, from June 5–8. During the event, visitors can stroll the streets of Old Ellicott City, explore local shops and eateries, and interact with artists as they bring the town’s architecture, landscapes, and unique character to life on canvas and other artforms.
An exhibit showcasing the work of 28 juried artists will be hosted at the Center for the Arts from June 9 through August 2. A public reception will be held on Monday, June 9, from 6–8 p.m., where guests can enjoy live music, light refreshments, and the much-anticipated presentation of awards by guest juror Crystal Moll.
Awards include the Gino Awards—two $1,000 cash prizes honoring the legacy of Ellicott City artist Gino Manelli (1915–2010), generously sponsored by the Manelli Family. Additional awards are made possible by the support of dedicated sponsors including AARP Maryland, the Howard County Historical Society, Patapsco Heritage Greenway, Blossoms of Hope, the Ellicott City Partnership, and the Family of Carole Zink.
Ryan Squires, has joined the HoCo Arts team as the new Education & Programs Assistant! Ryan is a theater maker, educator and Howard County native who is thrilled to be giving back to his community in this role. He graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in 2024 with a degree in Theater and English with a concentration in playwriting. He has worked as the Education Coordinator and Lead Stage Manager for Compass Rose Theater in Annapolis as well as serving as Assistant Camp Director and teaching artist for HoCo Arts Summer camps for multiple years. In his current position he administers the summer camp program as well as any and all seasonal class offerings, workshops, drop-in sessions and education-oriented community partnerships. Welcome Ryan!
Sojourn is a sculpture made in response to artist Adam Walls’ recent move to the rural mountains of western North Carolina. Walls was inspired by the desire for a comfortable place to relax in a shaded area and enjoy some of the iconography related to the homeward callings used in this sculptural bench.
ARTsites 2024 will be on display through July 2025 at various locations throughout Howard County. Sculptures and sites are listed here.
The sculpture’s form embodies the green movement, celebrating and bringing environmental awareness around our country.
ARTsites 2024 will be on display through July 2025 at various locations throughout Howard County. Sculptures and sites are listed here.
Paint It! Ellicott City‘s 2025 Juror is Crystal Moll, a plein air painter and gallery owner. After earning her BFA from Moore College of Art & Design, Moll moved to Baltimore in the late 1980’s and has been working as a full-time fine artist ever since. She paints mostly cityscapes and works directly from life. In 2009 she opened a gallery in Federal Hill and moved the gallery to the Arts District in Highlandtown in 2023. The Crystal Moll gallery showcases her work along with the work of local artists and offers a distinct selection of plein air art paintings, limited edition signed prints, tiles, and posters of Baltimore’s urban landscape in addition to custom framing.
HoCo Arts Executive Director Coleen West joined Howard County Executive Calvin Ball, Maryland Secretary of Housing and Community Development Jake Day, State Senator Guy Guzzone, and numerous stakeholders on April 8 for the groundbreaking of the new Performing Arts Center (PAC) and Artists Flats in Downtown Columbia.
The PAC will be built on the site of Toby’s Dinner Theatre, a 46-year cultural landmark in Columbia. It will feature a 340-seat dinner theater, two 200-seat black box theaters, a public art gallery, classrooms and dance studios. HoCo Arts will manage a gallery and community black box theater as part of the project.
The PAC will complement existing Downtown venues such as the Merriweather Arts & Culture Center and the Chrysalis. Toby’s will also become part of the Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts (CCTA), continuing its legacy by offering performing arts education to local youth.
The Howard County Arts & Culture Plan seeks to identify and catalog the county’s existing arts and cultural assets, develop strategies to nurture and expand creative resources, guide future investments in the sector, and respond to the evolving needs of our diverse arts communities. By actively engaging with the Howard County community, we aim to create a shared vision for the role of arts and culture in our county’s future.
Complete the survey and learn more!
Rybee House 4 is the fourth installment in the ‘Rybee House’ series of roofed sculptural bench designs, blending whimsy, fantasy, and stylized archetypal imagery of shelter and nature. The roof symbolizes a sense of home, while the bench, adorned with a raised relief leaf graphic, offers a resting place in nature. The houses and doorways evoke themes of transition and change—paths of entry and emergence.
ARTsites 2024 will be on display through July 2025 at various locations throughout Howard County. Sculptures and sites are listed here.