The Howard County Arts Council (HCAC) was awarded a $110,043 Community Arts Development grant for fiscal 2015–16 from the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC), an agency of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, Division of Tourism, Film and the Arts.

The fiscal ’16 funding represents a 3% increase over the previous year’s award and will be used to support the HCAC’s local grant initiatives and educational programs at the 27,000-square-foot, multi-purpose Howard County Center for the Arts in Ellicott City. At the center, the HCAC offers year-round activities in the arts, including classes, visual arts exhibits and performances in the community black box theater.

The center also provides affordable studio space for 14 visual artists; office space for three resident arts groups; meeting space for six all-volunteer-run arts groups; and low-cost rehearsal and performance space for 30-plus dance, music and theater groups. All told, more 40,000 people visit the center each year.

MSAC’s Community Arts Development program provides funds and technical assistance to the local arts councils of the 23 counties of Maryland and Baltimore City in order to better serve artists, arts organizations and audiences throughout the state and to encourage local decision-making, arts activity and funding for the arts at the local level.

In addition to its grant to the HCAC, MSAC provided a total of $139,767 in grants to the following arts organizations in Howard County.

  • Candlelight Concert Society, $15,000
  • Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts, $30,728
  • Columbia Concert Band and Columbia Jazz Band, $2,500
  • Columbia Festival of the Arts, $30,000
  • Columbia Orchestra, $12,131
  • Columbia Pro Cantare, $5,951
  • Howard Community College-Educational Foundation for Rep Stage, $19,891
  • Howard County Concert Orchestra, $2,500
  • Howard County Poetry and Literature Society, $5,912
  • Jayamangala, $3,904
  • Kinetics Dance Theatre, $3,000
  • Little Patuxent Review, $2,500
  • Misako Ballet Company, $2,500
  • ShowTime Singers, $1,500
  • Sundays at Three, $1,750

According to the “Economic Impact of the Arts in Maryland: FY2013 Report,“ released by MSAC, Maryland’s nonprofit arts sector has a $1 billion impact on the state’s economy and supports more than 12,000 jobs. The report details how spending by the MSAC’s grantees, which include the county arts councils and their audiences, ripples through Maryland’s economy, creating and retaining jobs and generating revenues for businesses, families, and state and local governments.

To review the complete report, visit www.msac.org/publications. For more information about MSAC, call 410-767-6555 or TDD/TTY 410-333-4519 or visit the MSAC at www.msac.org.