Celebration Raises $99,000 in Support of the Arts in Howard County

On Saturday, March 24, over 500 business and arts leaders attended the Arts Council's 15^th Annual Celebration of the Arts in Howard County Gala at Howard Community College's Peter and Elizabeth Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center in Columbia. This year's annual benefit gala raised $99,000, with an additional $72,000 in donated goods and services in support of the arts in Howard County. Since 1998, over $1 million has been raised through Celebration of the Arts!

 

A highlight of the evening was the 2012 Rising Star competition. After viewing nine amazing Rising Star finalists, the audience selected Samantha McEwen as the 2012 Rising Star winner and recipient of a $5,000 professional development award! Samantha's moving rendition of 'Your Daddy's Son' from the musical Ragtime was truly awe-inspiring.  Opera singer Luke Grooms was voted runner-up, receiving a $2,000 award for his performance of 'Si, Ritrovarla lo Giuro' from Rossini's La Cenerentola. Other gifted finalists who performed were:  Mark Allen (Musical Theatre), Antonio Beverly (Modern Dance), Joe Duffey (Irish Step Dance), Rasa Mahmoudian (Violin), Tim McKay (Percussion), Alexandra Rodrick (Opera), and Eddie Sanders, III (Bassoon).

The 2011 Howie Awards were presented for outstanding leadership in the arts in Howard County. The 2011 recipients were: Dr. Tom Benjamin for Outstanding Artist; Brooke Kuhl-McClelland for Oustanding Arts Educator, and Mays & Associates for Outstanding Business Supporter of the Arts. A special Legacy in the Arts Award was also presented to John Taylor, "The Kinderman."

During the early evening reception guests were entertained by Brant Challacombe on piano in the Studio Theatre, classical ensembles featuring students from Howard Community College's Music Department in the Upper Bar Room, and roving characters in costume from Drama Learning Center's Teen Professional Company .

 

Guest performers featured on stage were The Young Columbians, under the direction of Toby Orenstein, and accompanist Patricia Hammer on the piano.

 

More than twenty of the county's finest restaurants and caterers provided food for the gala and competed for Best Display. Biddle Street Catering & Events was awarded first place for Best Display; Absolutely Perfect Catering finished in second place, and Putting on the Ritz was third. The silent auction featured 82 local artists, who contributed 105 works of art, and 69 works of art were sold!  

 

Each year, proceeds from the Celebration support grants to local arts organizations and schools (grades K-12); scholarships for emerging artists, and programs in the arts. The Arts Council salutes all of the board members, sponsors, guests, artists and volunteers who made the event such an overwhelming success.

 

For more information, call 410-313-ARTS (2787) or visit the Arts Council website: www.hocoarts.org.