January 7, 2025
Contact: Stephanie Schuster
Phone: 410-313-2787
Email: development@hocoarts.org
Howard County Arts Council will launch Arts & Culture Planning process on January 23!
ELLICOTT CITY, MD – Join Howard County Executive Calvin Ball and the Howard County Arts Council for the official kick off and press announcement of the Howard County Arts & Culture Plan on Thursday, January 23, from 11-11:30am in Monteabaro Hall at the Horowitz Visual & Performing Arts Center at Howard Community College. The event will begin with a performance at 10:45am and include remarks from local public officials, project leadership, and a project introduction by the consultant team.
“The arts motivate, excite, and connect us to the world through hopes, dreams, and all that can be. I’ve been thrilled to partner with the Howard County Arts Council to make our community a national leader in arts and culture,” said Howard County Executive Calvin Ball. “As our community continues to evolve, it’s essential that we plan for the future of arts and cultural development in a way that strengthens our community and supports our local artists and organizations to make impacts from neighborhoods to around our globe. Our new Arts & Culture Plan will serve as a transformational blueprint to ensure that Howard County remains one of the best places to live, work, create, vision, and thrive for all.”
Howard County’s previous comprehensive arts and culture plan was last updated in 2003. Over the past 20 years, the county has grown substantially and experienced significant shifts in population and demographics, changing the demands for arts and culture experiences along with the needs of artists and arts organizations. The new Howard County Arts & Culture Plan aims to inventory existing arts and culture assets in the county, identify strategies to grow and engage creative resources, guide future investments in the sector, and address the changing needs of the diverse local arts and culture communities. The plan also seeks to ensure the sustainability of the creative sector and promote economic and community development through the arts.
Coleen West, Executive Director of the Howard County Arts Council said, “Arts and culture are essential to the history, vibrancy, and cohesion of Howard County. They inspire us and bring people together to uplift our communities, improve our well-being, and enhance our social ties. The county has grown and changed dramatically since the last comprehensive arts and cultural plan was adopted. It is time to develop a new plan that can address these changes and set a framework for advancing arts and culture and strengthening Howard County’s position as a hub for innovation and creativity in the region. In the coming year, I look forward to working with as many people as possible to develop new goals, strategies and policy recommendations that align with the aspirations and insights of our diverse communities and chart a course for a sustainable and inclusive arts and culture eco-system where creativity can flourish, and everyone can participate.”
Over the next two years, the Arts Council will work with a 31-person steering committee made up of local community leaders and Designing Local, a firm that specializes in arts and culture planning, to capture a shared vision for the future role of arts and culture in our community. The steering committee includes the following community members:
Jonathan Alexander, St. John’s Baptist Church
Tonya Aikens, Howard County Public Library System
Misako Aoki, Misako Ballet
Nina Basu, Inner Arbor Trust/Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods
Janelle Broderick, Howard Community College
Dan Burns, Columbia Association
Theresa Colvin, Former MSAC Executive Director
Terry Eberhardt, Howard County Public School System
Ellen Flynn Giles, Howard County Historical Society & Former HoCo Arts Board
Arthur Gold, Commission on Aging
Jeremy Goldman, Silhouette Stages
Tomeka Hodo, Delta Sigma Theta
Amanda Hof, Visit Howard County
Tessa Hurd, Howard County Department of Recreation & Parks
Jennifer Jones, Howard County Economic Development Authority
Sang Hee Ju, Korean Culture & Art of MD
Kwame Kena, Visual Artist
Ian Kennedy, Merriweather Arts & Culture Center
Michael Koplow, The ClayGround Studio & Gallery
Vanita Leatherwood, HopeWorks of Howard County
Kristin O’Connor, Howard County Department of Planning & Zoning
Darlene Richeson, MaZie Global Solutions, LLC & HoCo Arts Board
Luzmila Robknson, La Alianza Latina Commission
Brandey Rodgers, Howard County African American Roundtable
Berta Sabrio, Columbia Orchestra
Beck Seckler, LGBTQ+ Commission
Tim Singleton, HoCoPoLitSo
Fahimeh Vahdat, Howard Community College
Yolanda Vazquez, La Alianza Latina Commission
Coleen West, Howard County Arts Council
George Wilson, Former HoCo Arts Board
The steering committee will also help with engagement strategies to reach communities and individuals who can offer fresh ideas and insight to capture emerging opportunities and overcome longstanding challenges.
Community engagement activities will begin early next year, through interviews, listening sessions, community surveys, and other channels. A plan that sets a new vision for the next generation of arts and culture in the region will be developed in 2026 and any policy recommendations will be presented to the Howard County Council for approval at that time.
The Howard County Arts and Culture Plan has been made possible through generous funding from the Maryland State Arts Council, Howard County Government, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
For more information contact Stephanie Schuster at development@hocoarts.org.