HOWARD COUNTY ARTS COUNCIL CREATES $25,000 artRELIEF FUND FOR LOCAL ARTS COMMUNITY

Ellicott City, MD— Today, the Howard County Arts Council announces the creation of a $25,000 artRELIEFfund to help alleviate the affect the extended recession has had on the local arts community.

Seven Howard County arts organizations will receive artRELIEF grants: Candlelight Concert Society, Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts, Columbia Festival of the Arts, Columbia Orchestra, Columbia Pro Cantare, and the Howard County Poetry and Literature Society. The average artRELIEF grant award will be $3,500.

Arts Council Executive Director Coleen West
said, “ Non profit arts groups are used to operating on a shoe-string budget, but faced with lower ticket sales and a significant decline in contributions from individuals, foundations and corporations their already fragile budgets are at great risk. The Arts Council Board of Directors recognizes the difficulties our local artistic treasures are grappling with and is proud to be able to reallocate funds in order to provide some financial relief this year. In

creating this one-time initiative, we hope to inspire others to support the arts in their time of need.”

Arts organizations that received grants in the operating category of the FY10 Community Arts Development Grant program were eligible for artRELIEF funds.