Downtown Columbia Arts And Culture Commission Inc

THE DOWNTOWN COLUMBIA ARTS AND CULTURE COMMISSION IS A NOT-FOR-PROFIT COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION DEDICATED TO GROWING ARTS, CULTURE AND COMMUNITY IN MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION AND THROUGHOUT DOWNTOWN COLUMBIA. AS OWNERS OF MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION, WE WORK TO ENHANCE THIS CULTURAL CENTERPIECE AND THE MAJESTIC WOODLAND PARK THAT SURROUNDS IT THROUGH ARTISTIC AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMS AND STEWARDSHIP. IN COLLABORATION WITH COMMUNITY PARTNERS, BUSINESS, GOVERNMENT, AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, WE PRODUCE, PRESENT AND PROMOTE ARTISTIC AND LEARNING PROGRAMS AND ENGAGE, UPLIFT, AND INSPIRE.

SEE SCHEDULE OIN 2023, MERRIWEATHER ARTS AND CULTURE CENTER ("MACC") BUILT ON ITS SUCCESSFUL POST-PANDEMIC PROGRAMMING APPROACH OF BUILDING COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS THAT ARE ALIGNED WITH OUR VISION AND VALUES. THE RESULT WAS A SEASON OF PROGRAMMING THAT EXCEEDED MACC'S OWN EXPECTATIONS.MACC'S PROGRAMMING SEASON IN 2023 BEGAN IN MARCH, WHEN IT HOSTED ITS FIRST EVER IN-SCHOOL ARTISTS RESIDENCY. IN 2022, MACC WAS APPROACHED BY ITS PARTNER, THE HOWARD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM ("HCPSS"), ABOUT CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS TO RE-ENGAGE WITH IN-SCHOOL MUSIC PROGRAMS. DISTANCE-LEARNING HAD CAUSED ATTRITION IN THEIR PROGRAMS, AND ON TOP OF THAT, BOTH MACC AND HCPSS ARE AWARE OF INEQUITIES WITH RESPECT TO ARTS EDUCATION AND ENRICHMENT BETWEEN DIFFERENT SCHOOLS WITHIN THE SYSTEM.WITH THAT IN MIND, MACC, HCPSS, AND THE COLUMBIA FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS ("CFA") DEVELOPED A PLAN TO HOST IN-SCHOOL RESIDENCIES IN SEVEN MIDDLE SCHOOLS IN AND AROUND COLUMBIA WHERE THERE ARE LARGE POPULATIONS OF STUDENTS WHO MAY NOT OTHERWISE HAVE ACCESS TO PROGRAMS LIKE THESE. AND FOLLOWING A WELL-RECEIVED PERFORMANCE AT THE CFA'S LAKEFEST IN 2022, MACC SECURED HIP HOP DUO THE REMINDERS FOR THIS WEEK-LONG PROJECT IN MARCH OF 2023. THE RESPONSE FROM THE STUDENTS, TEACHERS, AND ADMINISTRATORS AT THESE SEVEN SCHOOLS WAS NOTHING SHORT OF OVERWHELMING. SOME OF THE COMMENTS MACC RECEIVED FROM STUDENTS: "THEY WERE INCREDIBLE AND CREATIVE AND "THE SINGER WAS NATURALLY GIFTED. THEY WERE AWESOME."A TEACHER FROM MURRAY HILL MS SAID: "EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MY MURRAY HILL KIDS LOVED IT. THEY COULDN'T STOP TALKING ABOUT IT. LOTS OF SMILES, AND STORIES TO TELL THE NEXT DAY." ANOTHER TEACHER SAID: "THEY WERE INCREDIBLE! THE MOST DOWN TO EARTH FAMILY! I LOVE HOW THEY MADE SURE TO GET ALL STUDENTS INVOLVED (EVEN THE TEACHERS DANCED A BIT ON STAGE). THANK YOU FOR THIS. IT MADE MY THURSDAY AWESOME!"THE REMINDERS WERE ABLE TO CONNECT WITH MORE THAN 1,200 STUDENTS ACROSS THE SEVEN SCHOOLS DURING THE WEEK IN HOWARD COUNTY AND AT EACH SCHOOL STUDENTS WERE ABLE TO SING, DANCE, CLAP, AND CELEBRATE THE JOYS OF MUSIC WITH THEIR PEERS. AT THE SAME TIME THAT MACC WAS PLANNING THIS RESIDENCY, IT WAS ALSO WORKING WITH HCPSS TO BUILD ON A COLLABORATIVE CONCERT FRAMEWORK THAT IT FIRST CREATED IN 2018, WHEN MACC AND HCPSS BROUGHT TOURING GROUP TWOSET TO COLUMBIA TO PERFORM WITH THE HOWARD COUNTY YOUTH ORCHESTRA (THEN KNOWN AS THE GIFTED AND TALENTED ORCHESTRA). IT FOLLOWED UP WITH A SIMILAR COLLABORATION IN 2022 WITH THE GROUP TIME FOR THREE AT THE JIM ROUSE THEATRE BEFORE ULTIMATELY SETTING OUR SIGHTS ON AN EVENT AT MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION ("MPP".) AFTER MONTHS OF CALLS AND EMAILS TO AGENTS AND MANAGERS, MACC FINALLY IDENTIFIED IN JANUARY OF 2023 A TOURING GROUP WITH BROAD ENOUGH APPEAL WILLING TO TAKE A CHANCE ON A CONCERT WITH A HIGH SCHOOL ORCHESTRA. THE BAND, GUSTER, HAD PERFORMED NUMEROUS CONCERTS WITH ORCHESTRAS PREVIOUSLY, BUT THIS WOULD BE THEIR FIRST WITH A YOUTH ORCHESTRA. AS THE PRESENTER AND PRODUCER, MACC FOUND ITSELF OFTEN OUTSIDE OF ITS COMFORT ZONE BUT WAS ABLE TO BRING IN NEW AND EXISTING PARTNERS TO HELP ENSURE THE CONCERT WAS A SUCCESS. AMONG THOSE PARTNERS WERE A HOST OF CONTRACTORS AND A FEW CONSULTANTS, BUT MOST CRITICAL WAS THE CFA, WHICH HELPED TO BOTH PROMOTE THE SHOW AND COORDINATE PRODUCTION. THIS PARTNERSHIP PROVED TO BE VERY SUCCESSFUL, AS THE EVENT EXCEEDED ITS SALES GOAL OF 2,500 TICKETS AND IT WAS MET WITH RAVE REVIEWS FROM THE AUDIENCE, ORCHESTRA, AND GUSTER, WHO REMARKED SEVERAL TIMES FROM THE STAGE AND ON THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA ABOUT HOW EXCITED THEY WERE TO PERFORM THE CONCERT AND HOW MUCH FUN THEY HAD. THIS WAS MACC'S BIGGEST EVENT YET AND IT TEMPORARILY OVERSHADOWED SOME OF THE OTHER PROGRAMS. FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW, MACC PARTNERED WITH THE HOWARD COUNTY LIBRARY SYSTEM TO BRING ITS POPULAR BATTLE OF THE BOOKS EVENT TO MERRIWEATHER ON APRIL 29, WITH MACC HELPING TO COORDINATE AND FACILITATE USE OF THE VENUE AND PROVIDING ASSISTANCE WITH PRODUCTION MATTERS. A FEW WEEKS LATER IN RESPONSE TO NEEDS EXPRESSED BY OUR COMMUNITY ABOUT TEEN PROGRAMMING, MACC SOUGHT TO CREATE A SPACE FOR TEENS TO GATHER, SOCIALIZE, AND CONNECT WITH THEIR PEERS. ACCORDINGLY, THE CENTER OPENED MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION ON A SATURDAY EVENING IN MAY AND BROUGHT IN A FEW ACTIVITIES AS WELL AS STUDENT MUSICIANS AND IMPROV PERFORMERS. THE EVENT WAS A GREAT FIRST STEP, AND FOLLOWING UP ON THIS EVENT, MACC ESTABLISHED A TEEN COUNCIL TO HELP GUIDE ADDITIONAL TEEN PROGRAMMING AND THIS WORK IS BEING SUPPORTED BY HOWARD COUNTY'S YOUTH ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMMING GRANT PROGRAM. MACC HOSTED A SECOND TEEN NIGHT LATER IN THE SUMMER, WHICH INCLUDED SEVERAL ACTIVATIONS AND ACTIVITIES, A SCREENING OF THE FILM CLUELESS, AND A VIDEO GAME TOURNAMENT ON THE BIG SCREEN AT MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION. ALSO IN MAY AND AS PART OF MACC'S VISION OF CREATING A THRIVING AND CONNECTED CULTURAL ECOSYSTEM IN DOWNTOWN COLUMBIA, MACC IDENTIFIED AN OPPORTUNITY TO RE-ENGAGE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS PARTICIPANTS BY INCLUDING AN AUTHOR OF ONE OF THE BOOKS ON THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS READING LIST AT THE ANNUAL DOWNTOWN COLUMBIA LITERARY FESTIVAL, BOOKS IN BLOOM. TAE KELLER, AUTHOR OF THE SCIENCE OF BREAKABLE THINGS, PARTICIPATED IN AN AUTHOR'S TALK AND Q&A FACILITATED BY MACC'S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT BOOKS IN BLOOM.IN JUNE, MACC LAUNCHED ANOTHER SEASON OF ITS LONGEST RUNNING PROGRAM-MERRIWEATHER MOVIE NIGHTS-WITH A SING-ALONG SHOWING OF FROZEN AND ADDITIONAL MOVIE NIGHTS FOLLOWED IN JULY WITH BLACK PANTHER, AUGUST WITH CLUELESS AS PART OF THE BACK TO SCHOOL TEEN NIGHT, AND OCTOBER WITH FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF. SPEAKING OF MOVIES, FOLLOWING A SUCCESSFUL PERFORMANCE OF A "FILM WITH ORCHESTRA" FEATURING THE BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ("BSO") IN 2022, MACC AGAIN WELCOMED THE BSO TO MERRIWEATHER FOR A PERFORMANCE OF ROCKY IN CONCERT IN SEPTEMBER. IN ADDITION TO PROGRAMS AT MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION, MACC ALSO PRESENTED A SERIES OF OUTDOOR CONCERTS AT COLOR BURST PARK IN THE MERRIWEATHER DISTRICT. THIS SERIES WAS A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE COLUMBIA FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS AND THE HOWARD HUGHES CORPORATION AND IT WAS A VERY SUCCESSFUL AND WELL-RECEIVED SERIES. THE SERIES FEATURED A DIVERSE LINEUP OF ARTISTS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND ACROSS MANY GENRES, INCLUDING LAS CAFETERAS, BASSEL AND THE SUPERNATURALS, THE KENTUCKY GENTLEMEN, EMILY WOLFE, EMMET COHEN, BETTER OFF DEAD, AND THE RETURN OF WASHINGTON DC'S RARE ESSENCE GO-GO BAND. IN ADDITION TO PRODUCING AND PRESENTING EVENTS IN AND AROUND DOWNTOWN COLUMBIA, MACC ALSO WORKS WITH COMMUNITY PARTNERS TO SUPPORT THEIR PROGRAMS AND EVENTS, AS IT DID IN JUNE WITH THE COLUMBIA FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS' LAKEFEST, THE 3RD'S WOMEN OF COLOR ART EXPO ("WOCAX"), LUMINUS'S RACE FOR THE WORLD 5K, AND HOWARD COUNTY PRIDE IN OCTOBER. AS IS TRADITION, MACC AND MPP'S SEASON CAME TO A CLOSE WITH THE ANNUAL SYMPHONY OF LIGHTS HOLIDAY LIGHTS EVENT HOSTED ON THE GROUNDS OF MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION. THIS YEAR, MACC WAS ABLE TO PROVIDE FREE ENTRY TO ONE OF THE TRADITIONAL WALK-THROUGH NIGHTS FOR HOWARD COUNTY TEENS AS PART OF ITS TEEN COUNCIL AND PROGRAMMING.