Art Education

Student artwork went to new depths in the third annual Underground Art Exhibit in Annapolis. Titled Artistic Visions - Celebrating March as Youth Art Month, the exhibit runs from Jan. 10 to April 17. It showcases artwork by more than 600 elementary, middle and high school students from public schools and Association of Independent Maryland Schools in the state of Maryland. The exhibit is named for its location - in the tunnels that run between the State Buildings and the Legislative Services Building.

Student artwork went to new depths in the third annual Underground Art Exhibit in Annapolis. Titled Artistic Visions - Celebrating March as Youth Art Month, the exhibit runs through April 17. It showcases artwork by more than 600 elementary, middle and high school students from public schools and Association of Independent Maryland Schools in the state of Maryland. The exhibit is named for its location - in the tunnels that run between the State Buildings and the Legislative Services Building.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Students from Martinsburg (W.Va.) High School will be among the artists featured at the West Virginia Department of Education's Fourth Annual Arts Alive event celebrating the artistic talents of public schoolchildren. The celebration is scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. at the Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences in Charleston. It is a free event open to the public. Arts Alive: The Best of West Virginia will showcase artwork of students statewide. The signature event will feature the visual arts, as well as instrumental and vocal music, dance and theater.

Shepherd University's Department of Contemporary Art and Theater partnered with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Eastern Panhandle to raise money for mentoring programs for children in the community. The event, A Little Affair to Make a Big Difference, was held Sept. 24 at Shepherd University. The artwork, created by children attending the event, will be auctioned off in spring 2012 at The Purple Iris in Martinsburg, W.Va. Caryn Michael, senior art education major, helped plan for the daylong workshop to help foster an appreciation of art as the boys and girls learned new skills while creating original paintings for the sale.

The Mary K. Bowman Historical and Fine Arts Fund of the Community Foundation of Washington County MD, Inc. has announced its 2011 grant awards totaling $50,396. Nine organizations received grants for current initiatives that support the charitable and educational interests to preserve and maintain historical and cultural properties in Washington County. The fund was established by the trustees of the Mary K. Bowman Fine Arts and Historical Trust when they decided to dissolve the trust and turn the assets over to the Community Foundation.

WASHINGTON. -- U.S. Sens. Barbara A. Mikulski and Benjamin L. Cardin, both D-Md., have announced that the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) recently awarded a $10,054 grant to Hagerstown Community College to expand its pharmacy technician program. HCC's pharmacy technician program is 6 months old and has a growing enrollment, according to a release from Mikulski's office. ARC funds will be used to purchase laboratory equipment and materials needed to provide students in the program with advanced skills training, the release says.

Unusual vacations. Creative home art or education projects. Unique hobbies. Distinctive family traditions. A triumph in the face of sharp challenge. There are hundreds of interesting stories about people and families across the Tri-State area. Many of them will never get the attention they might deserve. We hope you can help us with that. The Herald-Mail's Family section is looking for interesting people and families to write about. Is your family noteworthy? Do you know friends or neighbors who might make a good feature story?

The Mary K. Bowman Historical and Fine Arts Fund presented 14 grants totaling $53,000 to various groups at an awards event Thursday at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. The advisory board for the arts fund - a component of the Community Foundation of Washington County MD Inc. - received 17 applications requesting nearly $150,000 to provide financial support for current initiatives, fund officials said in an emailed release. Those initiatives support the preservation of historical and cultural properties in Washington County, as well as promoting the fine arts and encouraging others to do so, the release said.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - A record level of funding - $1.4 million - was raised by United Way of the Eastern Panhandle Inc. in 2006 and officials with the organization say they are able to leverage more money for the cause now that all three Eastern Panhandle counties have merged into one United Way organization. Before last year, Berkeley and Morgan counties were served by one United Way organization and Jefferson County had its own United Way, officials said Monday. In 2006, the two organizations merged to form United Way of the Eastern Panhandle, Inc. Combining the two organizations allows for a larger staff that can raise larger amounts of money, said Jan Callen, executive director of the merged United Way. The latest fundraising figures for the organization were announced during a press conference Monday afternoon at the downtown Bank of Charles Town.

In May, the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in Hagerstown held its annual benefactors reception. The event was to thank museum donors who contributed to the museum during the past year. The theme of this year's event was "Children's Art Education" and focused on the museum's school for the arts, offering classes year-round for adults and those ages 2 and older. To get the art students involved, the museum offered a contest. The winning artwork, selected by the museum's board of trustees, became the artwork on the invitation to the event.