Liz Lerman is a choreographer, performer, writer, educator and speaker. Described by the Washington Post as “the source of an epochal revolution in the scope and purposes of dance art,” her dance/theater works have been seen throughout the United States and abroad. Her aesthetic approach spans the range from abstract to personal to political. She founded Liz Lerman Dance Exchange in 1976 and cultivated the company’s unique multi-generational ensemble into a leading force in contemporary dance. Recently, she handed the artistic leadership of the company over to the next generation of Dance Exchange artists, and will be pursuing many new projects with fresh partnerships. The first of these new projects will take place this fall, when she will be artist-in-residence at Harvard University. Liz has been the recipient of numerous honors, including a 2002 MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellowship. Liz’s work has been commissioned by Lincoln Center, American Dance Festival, and the Kennedy Center among many others. Her newest critically acclaimed work, The Matter of Origins, examines the question of beginnings through dance, media and innovative formats for conversation. Hiking the Horizontal: Field Notes from a Choreographer, her new collection of essays, was recently published by Wesleyan University Press. Born in Los Angeles and raised in Milwaukee, Liz attended Bennington College and Brandeis University, received her BA in dance from the University of Maryland, and an MA in dance from George Washington University. She is married to storyteller Jon
Spelman. Their daughter Anna recently graduated from college.

Debra Rubino

Debra Rubino is the director of strategic communications at OSI-Baltimore. She is responsible for the creation and implementation of an integrated communications platform for OSI-Baltimore, including publications, public relations, electronic media, and events, especially to support the Campaign for Baltimore.

From 1998 to January 2006, Rubino served as vice president for communications at Goucher College, and was responsible for creating a new, comprehensive identity for the college, which had been a former women’s college. From 1988-1996, she served first as director of institutional communications at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), and then from 1996-1998, as associate vice president. At MICA, she was one of six individuals to  launch the Baltimore Collegetown Network, a consortium of 15 institutions from the region, at its inception by building a website (www.colltown.org). In 1999, the Baltimore Collegetown Network established itself as a 501(c)(3) and Rubino served as the Governing Board’s president for five years.
Rubino serves as the board president of Art on Purpose and is a member of the board of the Santa Fe University of Art and Design.  She was one of the founding board members of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance where she served for eight years.  She is also an active professional artist—a photographer and printmaker. She holds a BA degree from Franklin and Marshall College and an MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art.

Stacie Sanders

For seven years Stacie Sanders Evans has served as the executive director of the
Maryland chapter of Young Audiences/Arts for Learning. This organization is the founding chapter of the largest arts in education network, with 30 chapters in 24 states that reaches 7 million students annually.

Under her direction, YA’s financial achievements include eliminating the organization’s deficit in two years and more than doubling its operating budget to $1.6M through increasing earned and contributed revenue. Programmatic achievements include co-founding a statewide training program for professional artists called the Teaching Artist Institute, aligning YA programs with state academic standards and curriculum, and significantly improving the quality and impact of its programs. As a result, YA’s outreach has grown by 400% and YA and its roster of 100 artists are playing a larger and more relevant role in the lives and education of Maryland students.

Prior to this position, Sanders helped launch the North Carolina Center for Afterschool Programs, an organization dedicated to increasing youth access to high quality afterschool programs. The center’s work included advocacy, resource dissemination, convening leaders in the field, coordinating research, and designing professional development for practitioners.

Stacie’s experience also includes working with nationally renowned organizations like Charleston’s Spoleto Festival U.S.A. and Maryland’s Liz Lerman Dance Exchange.

Stacie holds a Masters in Business Administration from University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the College of Charleston, SC. She is a graduate of the South Carolina’s Governor’s School of the Arts and the North Carolina School for the Arts.

Shodekeh Talifero

Shodekeh Talifero is a professional beatboxer & vocal percussionist currently working in the Baltimore, MD area & beyond. Boldly taking his craft wherever the passion for music brings him, he works in a number of artistic fields for Dance, Music, & the Visual arts. By channeling the concepts of various instruments & sound scapes, he vocalizes many dynamic emulations of everything from drum sets, turntables, ocean waves, to sleigh bells. These abilities & his keen musical adaptability have brought him far & wide across many genres & artistic traditions within a very short period of time, which has also allowed him to repeatedly become the first Beat Boxer/Vocal Percussionist to serve in array of creative settings.

Shodekeh is the founding director of “Embody, A Music Series of The Vocal Arts” which strives for artistic & cultural unity through the many vocal traditions of the world from Opera, Throat Singing, to Beat Boxing, which will also evolve into a larger festival in 2012. He currently serves as Faculty/Musical Accompanist @ Towson University’s Department of Dance & The American Dance Festival @ Duke University. Over the years Shodekeh has completed a number of high level music commissions such as opening for President Bill Clinton at a Maryland State Reception with The Coppin State University Choir, “Witness” with VT Dance @ The Kennedy Center, “Fuse Muse” with percussionists Brian Prechtl & Barry Dove of The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, “The Kandinsky Beatdown” @ Virginia Tech University, “The Urbanite Project 2009″ with Urbanite Magazine, The Conference on World Affairs @ The University of Colorado (2008-2010), & “Transformations: New Directions in Black Art”, a 2009 conference of African American Art presented by The Maryland Institute College of Art & Harvard University. Shodekeh has also won many awards & honors such as his 2006-2007 residency with The Johns Hopkins Modern Dance Company, The 2007 Artist Studio Residency at The Creative Alliance @ The Patterson, grants & commissions for The United States Embassy of Lithuania’s 2009 & 2010 Month of American Culture Program, & placement on The Maryland State Arts Council 2009-2012 Touring Artist Roster Program. Shodekeh won a $25,000 Mary Sawyers Baker Prize in 2011.

Gregg Wilhelm

Gregg Wilhelm is Executive Director of CityLit Project, a Baltimore-based nonprofit literary arts organization that he founded in 2004.  CityLit produces literary festivals, conducts writers’ workshops and conferences, promotes author events, and inspires youth to enjoy reading and writing.  Twice named a “Best of Baltimore,” the annual CityLit Festival was called “a can’t miss event on the city’s cultural scene” by Baltimore magazine. Gregg has worked in book publishing since 1992 as an editor, marketer, and production manager for various presses (including Johns Hopkins University Press, Tidewater Publishers, and Woodholme House Publishers).  In 2010, he launched the organization’s CityLit Press imprint. Gregg has taught writing and publishing classes at Loyola University, Community College of Baltimore County, and University of Baltimore, where CityLit’s office is located.  He has been named “One to Watch” by Urbanite magazine, “40 Under 40″ by the Baltimore Business Journal, and an Arts MVP by Baltimore.  He appears on WYPR, WBAL-TV, and other media to talk about books.  He lives in Highlandtown with his wife, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing and a nurse educator for AIDSRelief, and their two-year-old daughter.

Roswell Encina

Roswell Encina is the Director of Communications of the Enoch Pratt Free Library (Baltimore City’s public library system). He manages the library system’s social networking sites, oversees the web department and coordinates media and public relations. A recent study by a librarian in Singapore ranked the “Top Influential Libraries on Twitter in the World” and the Pratt Library was ranked #6. Roswell has extensive public relations and media experience. He worked as a TV reporter for 12 years and also has more than five years of public relations experience. He is a Baltimore resident and enjoys everything Charm City has to offer.

Speaking of our members, in the next few months I plan to let you in on more of our GBCA member organizations’ contributions, collaborations, inspirations and accomplishments. In the meantime, I join you in exploring the amazing range of offerings in and around Baltimore. My latest journeys have run the gamut, from Opera Scenes at Baltimore School for the Arts to Gleam at CenterStage. Feeling fortunate to be here now,

Jeannie

Entering week two at GBCA I have been spending time with key volunteers, the Board of Directors and our membership to learn more about how best to implement our strategic plan. Everyone has been incredibly generous with their time and this “listening tour” is helping me to understand the depth of Baltimore’s vibrant cultural community. If you have thoughts or ideas you would like to share, please visit the GBCA Facebook page and tell us more.

All the best,
Jeannie

I am grateful for Nancy Haragan’s vision as the Founding Director and to Buck Jabaily for his many accomplishments at the helm of GBCA over the past two years.  Please join me in wishing him great success with the new Baltimore Open Theatre.  We look forward to seeing the fruit of his partnership with Phillip Arnoult.

Here’s to the exciting work that lies ahead in 2012,
Jeannie

With over 20 years in leadership positions with nonprofit organizations, Jeannie Howe has served as President of the Everyman Theatre Board of Directors. More recently as a consultant, she has led the Capital Campaign which has raised nearly $17 million for the theatre company’s move downtown next season. As Founder and President of BayCliff Associates since 2008, Ms. Howe has been a management and fundraising consultant for various clients including the Arc of Southern Maryland, Center for Mindful Awareness, and the National Marrow Donor Program.

Prior to that, Jeannie Howe spent ten years with The Marrow Foundation (now Be the Match Foundation) in Washington D.C. in various positions including Vice President and Chief Development and Program Officer, where she developed strategies which quadrupled contributed income, while overseeing the financial management and operations of the organization. Ms. Howe is also a founding member of the Baltimore Book Festival Leadership Committee and serves on the Parent Advisory Group for Baltimore School for the Arts.

In announcing her appointment, GBCA Board Chair and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra President and CEO Paul Meecham said, “Jeannie brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of the Greater Baltimore cultural scene, invaluable assets as GBCA begins its second decade as the voice for this vital and important sector in the social and economic ecosystem of the region. We look forward to her leadership as GBCA seeks to expand its advocacy of arts and culture for the benefit of all citizens.”

A native of Takoma Park, Maryland with a B.A. in Theatre from St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and an M.A. in Theatre from Miami University in Ohio, Jeannie Howe expressed her excitement at joining GBCA. “Over the past ten years, GBCA has created a rich dialogue in the cultural community and laid the necessary groundwork to strengthen this vibrant and economically powerful sector. I am honored to work with GBCA’s skilled Board of Directors to develop new collaborations, strategies, and resources that will further strengthen the cultural community and its contributions to the entire Baltimore area.”

Since it was launched in 2001 under its founding director Nancy Haragan, GBCA has served as a unifying voice and bridge builder for the arts and culture community. With a membership base of over 80 organizations, coalitions and individual artists, GBCA acts as a convener, providing information and services that benefit arts organizations in Maryland. In addition to a comprehensive online calendar of arts events in the greater Baltimore area, GBCA sends out job listings and half priced ticket offers weekly to over 20,000 arts lovers in Baltimore.

GBCA has sponsored or co-sponsored symposia and the annual Mayor’s Town Hall meeting, and has coordinated cultural organization participation in citywide festivals such as VIVAT! (2003), Tour de Clay (2005), and the MAPS Festival (2008), and also completed a Collaborative Arts Marketing Study. Significant initiatives launched over the past few years have included the Maryland Cultural Data Project, the Wealth Analysis and the Baker Artist Awards.

Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance recently completed an extensive strategic planning process, and the implementation of the plan will be undertaken in the coming year, with plans to enhance visibility of GBCA and its members, expand member benefits and programs, create an advocacy program, and provide forums for discussion about challenges and opportunities in the field.

Below I’ve collected a number of tributes to Nancy that have come our so far, and I know there will be several more this week.

Nancy Marie Haragan, Arts Advocate – The Baltimore Sun by Frederick N. Rasmussen

Remembering a Pillar of the Arts Community – Maryland Morning on WYPR by Tom Hall

Remembering Nancy Haragan – Baker Artist Awards blog by Cory Donovan with contributions from Melissa Warlow

Arts Advocate Nancy Haragan Passes – City Paper by Bret McCabe

Nancy Haragan – GBCA

In Appreciation – Nancy Haragan – Maryland State Arts Council

Her family has said that in lieu of flowers, donations in Nancy’s memory can be made to the Nancy Haragan Memorial Fund at the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance. GBCA is at 1800 N. Charles Street, Suite 810, Baltimore, MD  21201. Thank you to the many people that have already given to this new fund established in Nancy’s memory.

A graduate of Dominican University in River Forest, IL,  she arrived in Baltimore in 1974 and began her career in this city, which would quickly become her home, working as associate director of the Citizens Planning and Housing Association (CPHA).   She then worked at the Greater Baltimore Committee, Chessie System,  and then served as vice president in government affairs at USF&G for over 10 years.

In 1998, working with artists and arts administrators, Haragan launched the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance (GBCA),an association of over 95 Baltimore-area arts organizations that serves as a convener, a resource and an advocate for the local arts and cultural community.  Because of her exceptional entrepreneurial skills and technical prowess, she immediately created the BaltimoreFunGuide.com, an on-line calendar of events with weekly half-price tickets, a resource developed on two platforms—one explicitly for college students and one for the general public.  Discovering a model project that debuted in Pennsylvania, Haragan contacted and worked directly with Pew Charitable Trust to bring the Maryland Cultural Data Project here.  This system, implemented in 2007, is a web-based system that standardizes all financial information from arts organizations and builds a clear financial picture of the strength of arts sector.  She advised the William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund and was instrumental in the development of the Baker Artist Awards.  This resulted in an award-winning web showcase of Baltimore metropolitan artists, which now features almost 700 area artists.

After ten years, Haragan stepped down as GBCA’s founding director, but remained active on multiple boards until her death.  These included Arts Every Day, where she served as board chair; Maryland State Arts Council, Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, Art on Purpose, Station North Arts and Entertainment District.

Known for her signature red lipstick and her eclectic fashion sensibility, Haragan, a self-described newspaper and political junkie, read broadly and was interested in everything.  She is survived by her long-time partner Gwen Davidson; her father and step-mother Mary Ann and Robert Haragan of Ft. Myers, FL; five siblings, James Haragan of Louisa, KY, Ellen Haragan of NYC, Christopher Haragan  of Louisville, KY;  and Mary Radway of Louisville, KY; and Robert Haragan, Jr, from Los Altos, CA; seven nieces and three nephews.

To see the piece that was in today’s Baltimore Sun about Nancy click here.

A celebration of Nancy Haragan’s life will be held at the Baltimore Museum of Art on Friday, December 2, 2011 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm.  In lieu of flowers, her family has indicated that donations in her memory can be made to the Nancy Haragan Memorial Fund at the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance. GBCA’s address is 1800 N. Charles Street, Suite 810, Baltimore, MD  21201.

A reception to celebrate Nancy’s life is being held this Friday, December 2, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at the Baltimore Museum of Art in Fox Court. The event is open to the public, and all are welcome and invited to attend. Her family has said that in lieu of flowers, donations in Nancy’s memory can be made to the Nancy Haragan Memorial Fund at the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance. GBCA is at 1800 N. Charles Street, Suite 810, Baltimore, MD  21201.

With Thanksgiving this week, its important to remember that Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are great days to go out and enjoy the cultural scene (especially if you have family in town and you don’t know exactly what to do with them for four days). If you are hoping to get some holiday shopping done but have decided to be part of the Black Friday boycott because chain stores are opening earlier than ever before, consider going to Black Friday Art Market in Station North as part of their new Final Fridays initiative. The entire cultural community wins when you buy local.

The Maryland State Arts Council released a report today on the economic impact of the arts in the state of Maryland in 2010 today. To see the report, click here. According to the press release, the Central Region of Maryland, which, with the exception of Cecil County, comprises GBCA’s area of focus “contributed $533.4 million in economic impact from the arts, and provided 5,823 arts-related jobs” in 2010.

Make sure to read the report and to send it around to your staff, board, and supporters. Tout these numbers! This is something for all of us to be proud of.