Sankofa

This year's Artscape will once again be a melting pot of musical styles - and not just because the festival takes place on what is traditionally the hottest, most humid weekend of the summer. Top acts will include R&B crooners Boyz II Men; Southern rockers the Drive By Truckers; jazz's Lafayette Gilchrist; reggae's Maxi Priest and Shaggy; and "Bebop to Hip Hop," featuring the Sankofa Drummers and the Western High School Dance Team. The festival will be held July 22-24 in the 1200 block of Mount Royal Ave. Other notable acts on the list released yesterday by the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts include Biz Markie, Ozomatli, Morris Day and the Time, the Subdudes and the Eubie Blake Legacy Band.

A few interesting observations from the ratings wars, as Baltimoreans try to decide which they prefer, UPN (WUTB, Channel 24) or WB (WNUV, Channel 54).* Ratings suggest not all UPN fans have followed their shows from WNUV to WUTB -- not surprising, since WUTB didn't even exist until last month.For example, the Jan. 13 episode of "Moesha," on WNUV, earned a 7.1 rating, while the Feb 3 episode, on WUTB, collected a 2.9. The Jan. 14 episode of "Star Trek: Voyager," airing on WNUV, landed a 5.4 rating, compared with 4.0 for the Feb. 4 episode on WUTB.

In honor of Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 19, the Carroll County Arts Council will offer a daylong celebration of education and enlightenment. Activities will begin with a free movie, Our Friend, Martin, at 10:30 a.m. at the Carroll Arts Center, 91 W. Main St., Westminster. This CBS/Fox video blends historical footage of King with animation to tell the story of the civil rights leader who challenged Americans to turn his dream of freedom into reality. The movie is suitable for age 8 and older, as well as educators, clergy, Scout leaders or others interested in fostering dialogues about King's mission and how to live by his principles.

Art Pennsylvania artist J. Clayton Bright produces realistic bronze sculptures that the art elite might not deem fashionable. But his work, on view at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, is still popular and skillfully lifelike. page 15 Trips Philadelphia abounds with historical sites that offer learning experiences for the whole family. page 28 Stage Washington National Opera presents Umberto Giordano's Andrea Chenier, one of the major works in the verismo -- realism -- style that first electrified audiences at the end of the 19th century.

Drummers, belly dancers and a parade led by a Chinese dragon will descend on Charles Village today for the 10th annual Baltimore International Rhythm Festival. The free festival begins at noon with a parade on 27th Street between Charles and St. Paul streets, outside St. John's United Methodist Church. It will continue until midnight with musicians, drummers and dancers from Africa, North and South America, Asia, the Middle East and Europe. The Baltimore International Rhythm and Drumming Society, a nonprofit organization that works to promote peace through music, is sponsoring the event.

With little fanfare, a long-running tribute to a pioneer Maryland dance educator celebrates its 21st birthday this weekend at Morgan State University.Eighteen dance companies from the Baltimore region and several out-of-state guests will converge at Morgan State's Murphy Fine Arts Center for a two-day event that raises money for the Dorothy P. Stanley Scholarship Fund.Sankofa Dance Theater is among the performers. The group is directed by the husband-wife team of Kauna Mujamal and Kibibi Ajanku, with assistance from their extended family.

About 5,000 visitors from throughout the Baltimore-Washington area are expected for tomorrow's Maryland Jambalaya Fest at Lake Elkhorn in Columbia's Owen Brown village, an event intended to celebrate the diversity of people of African descent."

Colleges are winding up their semesters all at the same time, so it's no surprise to find a packed weekend of spring dance concerts at Morgan State University and Coppin State College.At Morgan State, Iantha L. Tucker's Modern Dance Ensemble will present works by guest choreographers Ronald K. Brown, who directs a company in New York, and Bakari Wilder, a cast member of "Bring in da Noise, Bring in da Funk." Brenda Brown, a member of Baltimore's Sankofa African Dance Theater, has made a piece with echoes of Senegal, Guiana and Gambia for Morgan State's ethnic dance class.

Step into the urban garden on Woodland Avenue late on a Tuesday afternoon and you'd soon forget that you were in the midst of one of the city's most notorious open air drug markets.Close your eyes to the deteriorating row houses across the street and you'd think you were in Ghana, with greenery, fresh air, syncopated drums and high-stepping young dancers. For a precious few moments, drug dealers stop dealing. Or they move from the garden.On one warm afternoon, a 13-year-old girl leads a dozen younger girls as the New World Dance Ensemble works toward its mission: bringing art to life in this sliver of Park Heights that has had more than its share of misery.

Paula Poundstone has headlined at the White House Correspondent's Dinner, and on Sunday she'll ham it up at Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis. Expect riffs on politics (she has, after all, covered presidential campaigns -- albeit for The Tonight Show). She also writes about politics for Mother Jones. But her musings often wander into pop culture and regular life. Shows are at 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Tickets cost $32.45 and are available at www.ramsheadtavern.com. The Rams Head Tavern is at 33 West St. in Annapolis.