CCBC Receives National Endowment for the Arts Grant for BALTIMORE STORIES

Community College of Baltimore County is the recipient of a $15,000 Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Given to support Baltimore Stories, CCBC's yearlong series of stories about Baltimore told through dance, music and theater, the funding supports commissioned work by artists who live or have roots in the Baltimore area.

Baltimore Stories will feature artists in diverse genres bringing to life both local stories and the visions of local artists. Alongside CCBC's resident artists and programs, the commissioned artists will use music, dance, spoken-word and film, to engage audiences with questions about what Baltimore means - in the words and experiences of those who live here, those who are from here, and those who have chosen to make Baltimore home. The artists include Maria Broom, actress, dancer and storyteller; Peter Pucci, world-renowned choreographer; and Derrick Wang, a Peabody trained composer and lyricist.

Broom, locally known for her reoccurring roles on The Wire and The Corner, will engage local community members and students to craft personal stories of Baltimore experiences. Pucci, who is also a CCBC Essex alum, is producing a 45-minute dance project involving dancers with the CCBC Dance Company, Towson University's community dance program, local high schools and "The Collective" a professional Baltimore Dance troupe. And Wang, known for composing the opera Scalia/Ginsberg, is composing an original piece for the Baltimore Symphonic Band (in residence at CCBC) using his relationship with Baltimore as his inspiration.

"CCBC is rooted in community, and this investment from the NEA affirms our commitment to our audiences and artists," says Anne Lefter, Director of CCBC's Performing Arts Program. "By fostering community through storytelling - whether that story is told through words or music or dance - we work to bring neighbors together to share an experience that explores and strengthens our understanding of who we are, in this place, at this time." The presentations will take place on each of CCBC's campuses and at venues in the greater Baltimore area, and will be created and performed in collaboration with Baltimore's diverse communities.

For fiscal year 2017, NEA approved more than $82 million to fund local arts projects across the country. The NEA received 1,728 Art Works applications and awarded grants ranging from $10,000 to $100,000.

For more information about CCBC's Performing Arts program, visit www.ccbcmd.edu/performingarts. For more information on projects included in the NEA grant announcement, go to arts.gov.

Since 1957, CCBC, which now educates nearly 63,000 students each year, has opened the doors to accessible, affordable, high-quality education inspiring brilliance among generations of area residents. Over the past 60 years, hundreds of thousands of students have made their starts, earned degrees, launched and advanced careers, transformed their lives, and the lives of others, through CCBC experiences. Visit www.ccbcmd.edu/brilliant for more about CCBC's 2017 diamond anniversary.

CCBC is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (267-284-5000). The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

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