Arts

There was plenty to celebrate when the Howard County Arts Council held its 16th annual Celebration of the Arts. Besides the awards handed out in various categories, there was an announcement that wasn't on the scheduled program for this festive event held Saturday, March 23 at Howard Community College's Smith Theatre. Addressing the well-dressed crowd of arts advocates, Howard County Executive Ken Ulman said: "It's time to have a wonderful, state of the art, 21st-century arts center here in Howard County.

Baltimore helped the avant-garde painter Max Weber forge a national reputation in 1915. Now, nearly 100 years later, this could be the city where the late artist begins his long-overdue comeback. It's not that critics and curators are unfamiliar with the Russian-born, Brooklyn-raised painter's work. As a new exhibit at the Baltimore Museum of Art makes clear, Weber has long been considered one of the most significant American artists of the 20th century. But, at the peak of his career, Weber was a bona fide celebrity, with spreads in "Time," "Life," "Look" and 'The Saturday Evening Post.

When the owners of the Brewer's Art announced it would begin selling cans of their flagship beer, Resurrection Ale, in the summer of 2010, many Baltimore beer-lovers rejoiced. On Friday, those some fans will have another reason to cheer: Cans of Ozzy Ale, another long-time favorite of the Mount Vernon bar, will be available for purchase, partner Tom Creegan announced today. The first can of Ozzy, which has 7 percent alcohol content, will be cracked open on Friday at 4 p.m., Creegan said in an email.

Dmitri Hvorostovsky, the Russian baritone who will give a recital for the Washington Performing Arts Society at the Kennedy Center Wednesday night, has one of the finest voices of our time. He doesn't mind saying so himself. “It is still a perfect instrument,” the 50-year-old Hvorostovsky said from New York, where he recently wrapped up well-received performances as Rodrigo in Verdi's epic “Don Carlo” at the Metropolitan Opera. “Of course the color has changed, but I've managed to keep it fresh.

A federal court in Virginia was asked Friday to determine the proper ownership of a miniature landscape painted by Pierre-Auguste Renoir and purchased for $7 in a box of odds and ends in a rural flea market. The complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria is essentially the first step in determining where the 1879 "Paysage Bords de Seine" will end up. Such a document is frequently filed by a third party — in this case, the U.S. government — that is holding property whose ownership is in dispute.

The exhibit "Arcane Convergence" brings together two artists whose shared abstract orientation merits the show's title. Fortunately, Linda Trope and Adam Zynger both create artwork that is easy to approach at the Bernice Kish Gallery at Slayton House. Trope's mixed media works on paper actually do incorporate representational figures and recognizable landscapes, but they're so spare and stylized that you should not expect anything specific by way of biography and geography. Instead, you'll constantly encounter lithe dancers whose gently curving bodies and limbs are painted with such zestfully assertive colors as pink and purple.

The sculpture court at the Walters Art Museum is one of Baltimore's most inviting spaces. Acoustically, it's a bit of a soup, but who cares in such an ambience? That point was drive home Sunday evening when An Die Musik Live and the Walters presented the last in this season's series of early music concerts. This one, which drew a spill-over crowd, featured one of the Baltimore Symphony's star players, principal trumpet Andrew Balio, in a bright burst of baroque repertoire.

Artists looking for a place to display their work can do so for one day at the Maryland Art Place. For a contribution of $10, you can bring one ready-to-hang art work in any media, measuring 40 X 40 inches or less, to the gallery, where it will become part of the annual Out of Order benefit exhibition. All artists must do their own installation, but MAP provides the nails and hooks. There is one day set aside for installation -- artists can stop by between 7 a.m. and midnight on April 2. It's first-come, first-served in terms of location in the gallery (and, for sculptors, in terms of available pedestals)

The Dance Conservatory of Maryland will hold its annual Contemporary Showcase this month, with proceeds being donated to Center for the Arts. The future Center for the Arts will serve Harford County as a facility, accessible to all, to nurture art, artists and the community in the disciplines of music, dance, theater and the visual and literary arts and Dance Conservatory of Maryland is excited to be able to support such a wonderful cause. The Contemporary Showcase will provide an offering of works from several classes at Dance Conservatory of Maryland, including jazz, tap, hip hop and modern.

The Harford County Cultural Arts Board is holding its annual Arts Gathering at the Liriodendron Mansion, 502 W. Gordon St. Bel Air, on Wednesday, March 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. The Arts Gathering is free and open to any Harford County arts organization's administration, staff, board members and volunteers. The evening's agenda will include beverages with lite fare, 5 to 5:30 p.m.; a presentation featuring artist Linnea Tober on Marketing for the Artist, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.; and networking, 6:30 to 7 p.m. Tober, a Havre de Grace resident, holds a bachelor of arts in art history from Keen University and a master of arts in teaching from Monmouth University.