Creative Arts

The number three has a special significance at Bridgeway Community Church in east Columbia these days, one that has nothing to do with religious doctrine. While the Rev. David A. Anderson does deliver sermons dealing with the Holy Trinity, three happens to be the number of Sunday services held each week to accommodate nearly 3,000 worshippers at the church off Route 108, as well as the number of parking lots leased from neighboring industrial firms on Red Branch Road to handle parking overflow.

Author, singer and songwriter Daryl Cobb will promote literacy through the creative arts when he visits Pine Grove Elementary School, in Parkville, on Tuesday, Feb. 19. Cobb's published works include the 2012 children's novel, “Pirates: The Ring of Hope,” and 14 picture books, such as “Bill the Bat Loves Halloween,” “Henry Hare's Floppy Socks,” and “Greta's Magical Mistake.”   Much of his work is written for children, and...

If the mission of the Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts is to encourage artistic expression, the center's opening gala certainly set a good example. Some 250 guests were treated to tours of the old Brooklyn Park High School -- newly converted to hold classes in arts like dance, theater, painting and ceramics. The building's main gallery offered a feast for the eyes, displaying not only the work of some of the country's top artisans but also a bounteous hors d'oeuvres buffet. It all helped whet the appetite for music and dance performances in the building's main theater.

Monday, Jan. 28 Photo club The Digital Photography Club of Annapolis meets at 7 p.m. at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, 801 Chase St. in Annapolis. Bill Tongue presents "Textures, Layers & Masks Using Photoshop. " There will also be a field trip review and a member's showcase. Information: 410-267-0461 or digitalphotoclub.nethttp://digitalphotoclub.net. Wednesday, Jan. 30 Photographers meet The Arundel Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m. in Room D114 at Severna Park High School, 60 Robinson Road.

Mission: To provide a broad range of creative experiences through quality arts education and culturally diverse programs in the visual and performing arts. Maryland Hall is home to three art galleries - the Cardinal Gallery, the AIR (Artists in Residence) Gallery, and exhibition space in the foyer. The focus is to exhibit artworks from the Mid-Atlantic region, with an emphasis on artists from the immediate area. The Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Ballet Theatre of Annapolis, the Annapolis Opera and the Annapolis Chorale also are residents of Maryland Hall.

I CAN'T BELIEVE we did this," my friend Janie Ballard whispered as the curtain rose Saturday night on a preview presentation at the Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts.We sat in the back of the auditorium of what was once Brooklyn Park High School and what would one day be the performance arena of the center.My friend was radiant, drawing energy from the applause of the enthusiastic audience. For months she had worked with the North County arts community toward a common goal of providing classes, a performance area and gallery space for the artists of northern Anne Arundel county.

I BEGAN to get excited as I walked toward the building and saw cars parked everywhere and crowds of people walking toward the same destination as if we were all attached by strings and being reeled in.Those of us who attended the Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts know that something wonderful happened in Brooklyn Park from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Jan. 10.We wonder why people aren't shouting it from the rooftops, why it didn't make front-page news. The stage came alive again in the former Brooklyn Park High School.

Judging by the amount of activity going on at Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts, you might think the grand opening was next month rather than the beginning of next year. The center office in the 7400 block of Baltimore-Annapolis Blvd. in Glen Burnie reflects multilevel planning for a wide range of activities. Volunteer Charlene Servey of Linthicum keeps things moving, tracking dates for a variety of activities on giant calendars that nearly cover two walls. The calendars reflect the planning for fund raising, community outreach, cooperative ventures, and large and small performing arts activities to benefit the center and keep its name alive during the final phase of construction.

The Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts is taking its show on the road to keep its name before the public while renovations continue at the building that will be its home, the old Brooklyn Park High School on Hammonds Lane. The center is to open in fall 2000.Organizers have scheduled a show called "A Celebration of Dance" at Glen Burnie High School March 6 and are planning "A Celebration of the Written Word," focusing on poetry, in Pasadena in April.Wayne Shipley, a center board member and guiding force behind its opening celebration last January, said the board is also considering celebrations of song and the fine arts as well as co-sponsoring a high school drama festival if members can find the money.

On toes and flatfooted, in khakis and leotards, with boots, sandals or nothing on their feet, dancers will shimmy, shake and gyrate on stage at Glen Burnie High School to celebrate dance.The production -- two hours of stomping, stretching, leaping, tapping, spinning and wiggling on March 6 -- will include nearly 30 brief performances in the second of a series put on by the Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts, the north county's newest arts hub."Celebrate Dance" will showcase local talent and, organizers hope, continue to feed a community hungry for the arts.

Baltimore's Pat Moran won an Emmy Award Saturday for casting on HBO's "Game Change. " It was the second for the woman who has cast virtually every major film and TV production done in Baltimore for the last 25 years. Moran was also nominated for her work on "VEEP," the Baltimore-based HBO satire starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus. "We won one and we lost one, but you know what? We won one, and that's fantastic," Moran said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles right after the creative arts Emmys were awarded.

Lighthouse tours Tours of the Thomas Point Lighthouse continue Saturdays, Aug. 11, Aug. 18 and Sept. 8. There are three tours a day, at 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m., and visitors can learn about how lighthouse keepers lived, other lighthouses on the Chesapeake Bay and how many are still around. Tickets are $70 per person, and reservations are required. Information: 410-295-0104. Coaching clinic Leadership Through Athletics has announced that this year's coaching clinic will be held from 9:30 a.m. to noon Sept.

For years, one group of arts lovers has dreamed of building a "world-class" performance hall in Annapolis. And for just as long, a second group has wanted to renovate and expand the performing arts center the city already has. The future of those dreams may depend on the findings of a feasibility study that the Maryland Stadium Authority is launching this summer. Seeking the best way to support a thriving arts community in Annapolis, state officials have asked Crossroads Consulting Services LLC of Tampa, Fla., to look at options for accommodating local performing groups and their patrons.

The Anne Arundel County School System on Tuesday night fielded questions from parents and students about the county's upcoming Performance Visual Arts magnet program for high schools, a first-time endeavor that will offer students a chance to work with arts professionals while extending their school day four times a week. About 100 parents from throughout the county listened to the school system's presentation at Old Mill High School in Millersville. The program is set to launch for ninth- and 10th-graders in August and will be housed at Annapolis and Broadneck high schools.

Soon, a large aluminum sign will loom about 8 feet above the rooftop of the theater building for Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts, under construction. The illuminated sign, which will be visible from Ritchie Highway, will beckon audiences to the performing arts center on Hammonds Lane in Brooklyn Park, scheduled to open in late fall. The center will occupy the ends of the huge multipurpose building that was once Brooklyn Park High School. After renovations and construction, it will also house Brooklyn Park Middle School, which will be finished by midsummer, officials say. The arts center will offer two theaters plus offices, galleries, dance and ceramic studios, shops and workrooms, and areas for set construction and storage.

Musical and theatrical offerings ebb and flow over the course of a season, as do contributions from most performing arts organizations. But at flourishing centers of culture such as Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, aesthetic "down time" is unheard of. Take this weekend. For baby boomer rock `n' rollers who still crave joy with their beat, Maryland Hall is presenting the "Doo Wop Reunion Show" featuring Charlie Thomas' ever-popular group, the Drifters. This tuneful walk down memory lane at 7 p.m. Sunday comes from an enormously popular PBS show seen around the country.