Arts

Federal Hill art gallery owner Mark Cottman never forgot the night he saw comedian Richard Pryor perform at the old Civic Center. So when he heard that Pryor's daughter, Rain, was living in Baltimore and teaching at a city junior-senior high school arts academy, Cottman decided he wanted to help her students in their efforts to stage a production of playwright August Wilson's "Gem of the Ocean. " "Her father inspired me," said Cottman last week as he stood in a classroom at West Baltimore's ConneXions Academy of Art, where Rain Pryor chairs the drama department.

The George Washington Carver Center for the Arts and Technology, in Towson, had its 2012 commencement ceremony on May 29, in Goucher College's Kraushaar Auditorium. The members of the Class of 2012 are: Rebecca Adleberg, David Micheal Aker, Matthew Alford, Aisha Ali, Tabria Denise Allen, Eugenia Alperovich, Jessica Danielle Andrews, Jesse M. Averbukh Richard Lee Bailey, Alexandra Zoe Baker, Jared M. Banks, Erika Marie Bassett, Kiana Adrian Belton, Mary Rose Bedell, Sarah C.K. Berger, Jessica Leigh Blum, Andrew Grady Boram Jr., Emily Nicole Boylan, Carina Amelia Brady, Stephanie Ann Bronfein, Devon Burgoyne Long Cao, Heidi Grace Carlson, Zachary Myles Carpenter-Carter, Daniel S. Carr, Beverly Chan, Claire Chang, Jean Cho, Jessica Carin Clark, Kayla Nichole Clay, Kevin Brevard Cobb Jr., Anna Grace Cohee, Anne E. Conner, Alexa Cottman-Robinson, Zachary Alexander Currie Nicole Elise Dale, Isabelle Lee deMozenette, Molly E. Deacon, Angela Kathleen Isabelle DiGrazia, Evan Nicholas Dodson, Eriele Patricia Joyce Downer, Kiara Arielle Duppins Lama Anthony Ellis, Revekah Espina Miguel Andre Fernandez, Melissa Sydney Fleischmann, Lauren Elizabeth Fleming, Essence Kere Fredericks, Brandon Mitchell Fricke, Janai N. Frisby Zoe Amanda Ganslaw, Aliyah Kimani Gibson, Sarah Marie Gingerich, Miranda Briana Givens, Anastasia Maire Gnau, Maeve Elizabeth Gonder, Ryan Benjamin Gordon, Zachary A. Greenbaum, Jacob S. Greenberg, Miya Shelae Gross, Dylan...

The 47th annual Bel Air Festival for the Arts will held Sunday, Sept. 16 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Shamrock Park, to the rear of the Bel Air Town Hall on Hickory Avenue. Approximately 350 artists, photographers and crafters will display their hand-made work at this popular festival. Additionally, there will be continuous "live" entertainment on the band shell as well as roving entertainment. A wide array of food items will be available for purchase to help support a variety of Bel Air Parks and Recreation programs.

I remain opposed to the new plan for Symphony Woods as well as the process that has gotten it to the apparent finish line so quickly. CABD approved Cy Paumier's plan several years ago. If another architect had ideas why wasn't there an effort to combine talents and, perhaps, produce a plan all parties could approve? Since there seems no real hurry to improve Symphony Woods, why not consider a  more interactive, inclusive, holistic approach? The mall is a consumption entity belonging to Howard Hughes Corp., as well as others and with adjacent parts belonging to CA. Symphony Woods is a CA-owned public park with Merriweather Post Pavilion and empty acreage behind it belonging to Howard Hughes Corp.

We interrupt your normal Arts & Society section this Sunday to bring you our seasonal guide to the arts.Don't be alarmed, don't try to adjust your subscription - we'll return next week with our usual mix of trend stories, commentary, profiles and social insight. Meanwhile, we offer this comprehensive arts and entertainment calendar of fall and winter events in Baltimore. (We have also included highlights from Washington, and occasionally looked ahead to next spring).The fall promises to be an exciting time in the arts:* On Oct. 11, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will re-create the famous 1808 concert where Beethoven introduced his Fifth and Sixth symphonies and Fourth Piano Concerto.

In "Building Community: The Arts and Baltimore Together," a report released yesterday by the Baltimore Community Foundation, author Ernest L. Boyer calls on area officials to reaffirm the importance of the arts to the future of the Baltimore region. "It is the central theme of this report that the spirit of community can be sustained most vitally through the universal language of the arts," he writes. "The arts not only enrich a community, they are community." (Excerpts from the report are printed on the page opposite.

The 20th anniversary celebration of the Columbia Festival of the Arts began over the weekend with LakeFest, which featured free performances, exhibitions and activities at Columbia Town Center. The three-day outdoor event featured live music from more than 20 bands, a kinetic art parade, a crafts mart and fireworks displays.

"How does a community blessed with a rich and varied cultural tradition sustain it through troubled economic times?" That is the question that opens "Building Community: The Arts and Baltimore Together," a thought-provoking report unveiled yesterday by the Baltimore Community Foundation.The foundation's answer lies in a renewed commitment to the arts by city and state leaders -- not only to protect the city's cultural legacy by strengthening older arts institutions and encouraging new ones, but as a way of overcoming the racial and economic divisions that threaten Baltimore's future as a vibrant place to live and work.

Some Republicans are seeking to eliminate funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities to make the point the federal government has no business subsidizing the arts. That's a shortsighted argument. It ignores the enormous expansion of arts activities across the country made possible by the endowments since their founding 30 years ago.But the impact of such cuts would be hard to ignore. They would be felt by every arts groups in Maryland as well as museums, theater companies, dance troupes and orchestras throughout America.