MONTGOMERY COLLEGE CULTURAL ARTS CENTER withTHE MARYLAND STATE ARTS COUNCIL

presents�

MARYLAND TRADITIONS 2014 ALTA AWARDSACHIEVEMENT IN LIVING TRADITIONS & ARTS

LEFTY KREH BENDING WATER PARK AND INDIAN WATER TRAILS THE PAINTED SCREENS OF BALTIMOREA PERFORMANCE BY 2014 NEA NATIONAL HERITAGE FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS THE HOLMES BROTHERS

December 6, 2014 Silver Spring, Maryland

A LETTER FROM THE GOVERNORDear Friends:

Welcome to the 8th annual Maryland Traditions Achievement in Living Traditions and Arts Awards Ceremony. Congratulations to the 2014 recipients.

Since 1974, the folklife program at the Maryland State Arts Council has documented Maryland’s expressive traditions to ensure that our culture stays vibrant and strong. As we join together today, we celebrate the people, places and traditions

that exemplify outstanding stewardship of Maryland’s rich and diverse folklife.

The individuals we recognize are accomplished artisans who are dedicated to sharing their skills with younger generations; the places we recognize help sustain our vibrant and dynamic communities; and the traditions celebrated today help give shape to our identities as Marylanders.

For 40 years, we have recognized those who infuse our everyday lives with the artistry of our ancestors, bridging our past with a promising future. As we look toward that future, we are grateful for their contributions. Best wishes for a memorable event.

Sincerely,

Governor Martin O’Malley

About Maryland TraditionsMaryland Traditions is the folklife program of the Maryland State Arts Council, with additional funding provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. Since 2001, Maryland Traditions has seeded a network of regional partners engaged in documenting and celebrating folklife in Maryland. Folklife is cultural knowledge handed down from generation to generation through word of mouth or by example. It may be verbal, musical or visual, occupational or religious. It may be indigenous or have found a welcoming home in Maryland in more recent times. Through fieldwork, grants, public programs, archives, apprenticeships, awards, and publications, we carry out our aim of sustaining living traditions.

Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center The Center’s mission is to improve cultural literacy and build bridges between the arts and varied academic disciplines for the campus and surrounding community. The CAC provides a comprehensive program which presents and examines traditional and contemporary indigenous, American, and international cultural expression. In order to achieve this goal we incorporate a diverse array of events, including art exhibitions and theatrical, dance and musical performances that represent a wide range of cultures.

Program OPENING WELCOME Dr. Tony D. Hawkins Dean of Arts, Humanities &

Social Sciences, Montgomery College Cliff Murphy Director, Maryland Traditions Dominick Murray Secretary, Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development

PRESENTATION OF THE ALTA | TR ADITION THE PAINTED SCREENS OF BALTIMOREPR E S E N T E R Elaine Eff, and the Painted Screen Society

of Baltimore

PRESENTATION OF THE ALTA | PL ACE BENDING WATER PARK AND

INDIAN WATER TRAILS | Somerset County PR E S E N T E R S Michelle Stefano Asst. Director, Maryland Traditions FI L M Produced by Maryland Traditions and

UMBC New Media Studio

SPECIAL PERFORMANCE In celebration of the forthcoming release of

OLA BELLE REED & SOUTHERN MOUNTAIN MUSIC ON THE MASON-DIXON LINE

PR E S E N T E R Julia Olin Executive Director, National Council for the Traditional Arts

PE R F O R M A N C E Dave Reed, Hugh Campbell | Cecil County, MD, Danny Paisley, Ryan Paisley, Michael Paisley | Chester County, PA, and TJ Lundy | New Castle County, DE

PRESENTATION OF THE ALTA | PEOPLE BERNARD “LEFTY” KREH

Frederick/Baltimore County

NE A NATIONAL HERITAGE FELLOWSHIP PERFORMANCE PR E S E N T E R Theresa Colvin Executive Director,

Maryland State Arts CouncilPE R F O R M A N C E The Holmes Brothers 2014 National Heritage

Fellows | Baltimore County/Middlesex County, VA

RECEPTION

PEOPLEBERNARD “LEFTY” KREH (Frederick/Baltimore County) is a master of fly fishing and fly tying, an expert guide, acclaimed journalist, and prominent environmental conservationist. A resident of Cockeysville, Lefty was born and raised in Frederick, where he caught and sold catfish along the Monocacy River. He is considered the foremost expert on fly-casting and salt-water fly fishing in the world, and is the inventor of “Lefty’s Deceiver,” a saltwater fishing fly developed in Crisfield, Maryland and celebrated on a 1991 US Postage Stamp. Kreh’s development of the “swivel cast” technique has brought him global fame. His writing for the Frederick News Post, the Montgomery County Sentinel, the Winchester Star, and his nationally-syndicated Baltimore Sun column, triggered a renaissance in fly-fishing in the mid-20th century that continues today.

PLACEBENDING WATER PARK AND INDIAN WATER TRAILS (Somerset County) comprise cultural landscapes and waterways on Maryland’s Lower Eastern Shore that are deeply connected to the history and heritage of the Accohannock Indian Tribe. The park is home to their annual “Healing of All Nations” Pau-wau, and provides a gathering place, an outdoor museum showcasing traditional dwellings, and a campground available to the public. The adjacent Indian Water Trails—branching from the Pocomoke Sound—have been essential to the indigenous peoples of the region for gathering food and resources, and for transportation. Today, the Tribe runs a kayak and canoe touring business on the waterways, which allows the Accohannock to illustrate the stories of their tribe, and aids in the conservation of an ecologically diverse and historically evocative landscape.

TRADITIONTHE PAINTED SCREENS OF BALTIMORE is one of the most iconic living traditions unique to the city, celebrating its 101st birthday this year. Born in early 20th century East Baltimore, where their inventor, the Czech immigrant William Oktavec set up shop, the screens provide a decorative means of ensuring privacy: the painted exteriors “trap” the vision of onlookers, preventing them from seeing inside. Screen painting continues today in many forms – from window screens to fly swatters and patio furniture – reflecting innovations and evolving tastes. To promote and safeguard the tradition, folklorist Elaine Eff, co-founder

of Maryland Traditions and author of The Painted Screens of Baltimore: an Urban Folk Art Revealed, and Dee Herget, who has been painting since the 1970s, founded The Painted Screen Society in 1985.

ALTAThe Maryland Traditions ALTA AWARD The Achievement in Living Traditions and Arts (ALTA) Award was created by Maryland Traditions in 2007 to recognize outstanding stewardship of Maryland’s living traditions. The award is named in honor of folklorist and community leader, Dr. Alta Schrock (1911-2001), who was a native of Garrett County and among the first Mennonite women to receive a PhD, taught biology at Frostburg State University, and also founded publications, events, and lasting institutions designed to share and safeguard her region’s traditional art forms. Her achievements in cultural conservation include the creation of The Spruce Forest Artisan Village, Penn Alps, the Journal of the Alleghenies, and the Springs Festival.

Each year, three awards are presented in the categories of people, place and tradition. Recipients are selected based on their demonstration of the highest standards of excellence in such areas as research, documentation, presentation, entrepreneurship, artistry, stewardship, and community impact; places honored are those that specially serve to keep traditions alive and that are meaningful and effective gathering places or sites for carrying on living or endangered traditions; and traditions recognized are those that connect communities to cultural heritage in ways that exemplify Maryland’s dynamic spirit and may include events, occupations, knowledge, cultural scenes, and organizations.

2014 ALTA AWARD Recipients

Screen painter, Dee Herget

In 2014, there were two NEA National Heritage Fellows with Maryland roots: the Singing & Praying Bands (recipients of the 2011 ALTA Award for Tradition) and the Holmes Brothers, who are performing at the ALTA Awards tonight.

Wendell and Sherman Holmes were born and raised in Christchurch, Virginia, about fifty miles east of Richmond, where the Rappahannock empties into the Chesapeake Bay. They grew up playing the same mixture of music they draw from today: gospel, soul, R&B, country, and blues. In the 1960s, Sherman moved to New York City, where Wendell joined him to play with a variety of bands. Eventually, the brothers were joined by drummer Willie

“Popsy” Dixon, and the Holmes Brothers (as you see them tonight) were born in 1980. The Holmes Brothers have toured internationally, performing with artists such as Van Morrison, Peter Gabriel, and Willie Nelson. Their latest album, Brotherhood, was released in 2014. Today, Wendell Holmes lives in Rosedale, Maryland, and he was the recent recipient of a Maryland Traditions Apprenticeship Award (an award designed to help master artists pass living traditions down to future generations) to work with Brooks Long, a young soul singer from West Baltimore.

About the NEA National Heritage Fellowships

The National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowships were launched in 1982 to pay tribute to the nation’s foremost practitioners of traditional arts. Nominated by individual citizens and selected by a panel of cultural specialists, fellows receive a one-time award of $25,000. National Heritage Fellowships are the highest federal honor given to traditional artists in the United States. Today, over 350 tradition bearers have been recognized for their commitment to their art form and communities (sometimes facing great obstacles) and for their interest in furthering the traditional arts. The Bess Lomax Hawes Award was introduced as part of the Heritage Fellowships in 2000, and is given annually to individuals “whose contributions, primarily through teaching, advocacy, and organizing and preserving important repertoires” have greatly benefited their artistic tradition or enhanced the public visibility of folklife.

Maryland Recipients of the NEA National Heritage Fellowships

2014 The Singing and Praying Bands of Maryland and Delaware | African-American Religious Singers 2014 The Holmes Brothers | Blues, gospel, and R&B Band Rosedale, MD & Saluda, VA2012 Mike Auldridge | Dobro player Silver Spring, MD 2011 Warner Williams | Piedmont Blues Songster Gaithersburg, MD2009 Mike Seeger | Musician, Cultural Scholar and Advocate Baltimore & Silver Spring/Lexington, VA*2007 Roland Freeman | Photo Documentarian, Author and Exhibit Curator Baltimore/DC*2005 Chuck Brown | African-American Musical Innovator (Go-Go) Brandywine, MD2004 Chum Ngek | Cambodian Musician and Teacher Gaithersburg, MD*2001 Hazel Dickens | Appalachian Singer-Songwriter Baltimore/WV/DC2001 Joe Wilson | Folklorist, Advocate and Presenter Silver Spring, MD/Trade, TN*1998 Apsara Ensemble | Cambodian Traditional Dancers and Musicians Fort Washington, MD1998 Harilaos Papapostolou | Greek Byzantine Chanter Potomac, MD1986 Khatna Peou | Cambodian Court Dancer/Choreographer Silver Spring, MD1986 Ola Belle Reed | Appalachian Banjo Picker/Singer Rising Sun, MD1983 Lem Ward | Decoy Carver/Painter Crisfield, MD

*Bess Lomax Hawes Award recipient

Des

ign

by

Evin

s D

esig

n, B

alti

mo

re

2013 Wallace M. “Wally” Yater (People) is a master blacksmith living in Boonsboro (Washington County); Piscataway Homelands: People, Culture and Traditions (Place) of Prince George’s, Charles, and St. Mary’s Counties; and The Oyster Fritters of the Sharptown Firemen’s Carnival (Tradition) are an enduring community tradition of the Eastern Shore (Wicomico County).

2012 The Carroll County Ramblers (People) are a family bluegrass group based in Taneytown (Carroll County); Sparrows Point Steel Mill and its Communities (Place) honors a now-closed steel mill that shaped the lives of hundreds of thousands of steelworkers and community members (Baltimore County); and J. Gruber’s Hagers-town Town and Country Almanack (Tradition) is the oldest almanac in the US still produced by heirs of the original founder (Washington County).

2011 Rich Smoker (People) is a master decoy carver who lives in Marion (Somerset County); Patterson Bowling Center Duckpin Bowling Lanes (Place) is the oldest duckpin bowling alley in the world (Baltimore City); and The Singing & Praying Bands of Maryland (Tradition) are an African-American devotional tradition distinct to the Chesapeake Tidewater region.

2010 The descendants of Nathaniel “Uncle Nace” Hopkins (People) hold the annual Emancipation Day celebrations in Trappe (Talbot County) since 1867; Globe Poster (Place) opened in Baltimore in 1927 to produce hand-set letterpress show posters; and Jousting (Tradition) is the state sport and one of the oldest rural traditions of the mid-Atlantic (Statewide).

2009 George Wunderlich (People) of Hagerstown (Washington County) is an acclaimed builder of minstrel-era banjos and a leading public cultural historian of the instrument; Blob’s Park & Bavarian Bier Garten (Place) in Jessup (Anne Arundel County) was opened in 1933 and was home to great polka music and German fare; and Swan Meadow School of Oakland (Tradition) teaches students the folklife of the Amish and Mennonite communities of Western Maryland (Garrett County).

2008 The United Methodist Women of Smith Island (People) have perpetuated the stories, songs and occupational traditions of Smith Island (Somerset County) for generations; J. Patrick’s (Place) was greater Baltimore’s main venue for celebrating Irish music; and The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival (Tradition) fills the Howard County Fairgrounds with sheep breeders, cooks, and textile artists.

2007 Anna Holmes (People) of North Brentwood (Prince George’s County) was a beloved educator, quilter, family historian and community activist; Penn Alps & Spruce Forest Artisan Village (Place) in Grantsville (Garrett County) continues to safeguard Appalachian culture; and The National Outdoor Show (Tradition) promotes the traditions of Dorchester County’s marshes since 1938.

Past ALTA AWARD Winners NEA National Heritage Fellowships

Phot

o b

y M

ich

ael G

. Ste

war

t, co

urt

esy

of t

he

NEA

NCTA

Martin O’MalleyGovernor

Anthony G. BrownLieutenant Governor

Dominick MurraySecretary, Department

of Business and Economic Development

For more information on Maryland Traditions visit: www.msac.org/programs/maryland-folklife

Department of Business & Economic Development www.ChooseMaryland.org

Maryland State Arts Council www.msac.org 175 West Ostend Street, Suite E | Baltimore, MD 21230 T E LE PH O N E: 410-767-6555 M D R E L AY T T Y: 1-800-735-2258 or 711

If you need assistance using this publication, please contact the MSAC office. T E LE PH O N E: 410-767-6555 or T T Y: 1-800-735-2258 or 711 for individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. Individuals who do not use conventional print may contact the Maryland State Arts Council office to obtain this publication in an alternate format. T E LE PH O N E: 410-767-6555 | E M AI L: msac@msac.org

T H AN K S TO: The National Council for the Traditional Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts, Maryland Traditions Partners, John Oktavec, Jim Gracie, Virginia Busby, Mike Hinman, Kristin Sullivan, Edwin Remsberg, Julia Evins, Aaron Henkin, Bill Shewbridge, Landry Digeon, Christine Ferrera, and Dustin Roddy.

ALTA Photos by Edwin Remsberg.

The ALTA Awards Ceremony and Concert is produced by the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA). A Maryland Traditions partner based in Silver Spring, the NCTA is a private, not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the presentation and documentation of folk and traditional arts in the United States. Founded in 1933, it is the oldest folk arts organization in the nation.