County provides fertile ground for the arts

Classes run from five to 10 weeks. Sessions are quarterly: fall, winter, spring and summer.

The center also has two galleries, the Main Gallery and Window Gallery, which exhibit the works of local, regional and national artists.

Through March 27, the Main Gallery is featuring the Western Maryland Potters and the Window Gallery is holding a student and faculty clay exhibition.

From April 7 through May 8, a faculty and student exhibition will feature works in all media, including glass, fibers, ceramics, paintings, photography, sculpture and jewelry. The Howard County Art Guild Howard County Center for the Arts, 8510 High Ridge Road, Ellicott City. Information: 410-730-6257.

The Howard County Art Guild, founded in 1993, is an organization of artists who meet every other month at the Howard County Center for the Arts in Ellicott City.

It conducts workshops to promote the works of local visual artists.

To help aspiring artists get a taste of what it is like to be professional, the guild sponsors three annual judged shows.

The guild presents continuing shows at Barnes & Noble in the Long Gate shopping center in Ellicott City and Riverside Roastery in Dobbin Center, Columbia. The art changes every one or two months.

Guild meetings are held at the Center for the Arts at 7:30 p.m. on the fourth Monday of odd-numbered months. Meetings feature artists or speakers who discuss a topic of relevance to the art world.

The next Howard County Art Guild meeting is scheduled for March 28.

Events

Columbia Festival of the Arts 5575 Sterrett Place, Columbia. Information: 410-715-3044, or www.columbiafestival.com.

Founded in 1988 as a local grass-roots effort, the Columbia Festival of the Arts is the region's biggest extravaganza, showcasing national and international performers and drawing an average of 35,000 festivalgoers to its indoor and outdoor events.

The program blends headliners, rising stars and cutting-edge performers in a variety of theatrical programs and master classes. Recent performers have included Aretha Franklin, Marcel Marceau, Bobby McFerrin, Twyla Tharp Dance, the Washington Ballet, Israel's Haifa Festival Orchestra and Mikhael Baryshnikov.

This year, the festival will be held June 10-19 in various venues throughout Columbia. Sunset Serenades Centennial Park South, Ellicott City. Information: 410-313-7275. Text telephone for the hearing-impaired: 410-313-4665. Inclement weather information: 410- 313-4451.

Sponsored by the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks, and corporate sponsors since the early 1990s, 10 concerts are offered at 7 p.m. Wednesdays beginning in mid-June at Centennial Park South in Ellicott City.

Acts have included swing, country, jazz, blues, reggae and classical music, plus comedy and at least one children's performance.

Concerts typically draw 800 to 1,000 people a week. Audiences bring picnic dinners and lawn chairs or blankets. Part of the terrain is on a hillside overlooking Centennial Lake. Lakefront Summer Festival Columbia Town Center Lakefront. Information and inclement weather cancellation: 877-713-9674.

Whether it's to listen to a bluegrass band or watch Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, audiences flock to the Columbia Lakefront Summer Festival.

Every year, from late June through early September, the Columbia Association sponsors free entertainment nightly at the Town Center lakefront.

The free events include performances of jazz, rock 'n' roll, bluegrass, country, rhythm and blues, honky-tonk and Western swing. In addition to live musical performances, the festival features movies, free dance instruction and line dancing. Sunday concerts begin at 6:30 p.m., and all other nights they begin at 8 p.m.

A complete schedule is printed in the June edition of CA Monthly. Howard County Arts Council Performing Arts Showcase Howard County Center for the Arts, 8510 High Ridge Road, Ellicott City. Information: 410-313-2787; or www.hocoarts.org.

For two days each year, artists from the Mid-Atlantic area have eight minutes each to audition to perform at Howard County schools and for organizations and festivals.

The showcasing artists are selected by a panel that reviews the applications. The showcase is an opportunity for the PTAs, libraries, senior centers and other organizations to decide whether they want to hire the performers for workshops, performances, demonstrations and in-school residences. This year's auditions were held earlier this month. Celebration of the Arts in Howard County Howard County Arts Council. Information: 410-313-2787; or www.hocoarts.org.

The Howard County Arts Council celebrates the arts with an annual gala that features visual, performing and culinary artists.

The Celebration of the Arts in Howard County will be held from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. April 16 at Jim Rouse Theatre in Columbia. Tickets are $75 and $50. The reception, featuring a jazz band, silent auction and treats from local restaurants, will be from 6 to 8 p.m. and performances will start at 8 p.m.