Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County

Grants program: ahcmc is a non-profit, local Arts agency designated by law to disburse Montgomery County funds in support of the Arts and Humanities in the form of competitive grants. Ahcmc relies on advisory review panels to evaluate grant applications. In fy 2023, grants totaling $8,404,198 were awarded to Montgomery County artists, scholars, Arts and Humanities organizations, and community organizations. Ahcmc requires grantees to serve Montgomery County's diverse population of nearly 1.2 million residents. Prospective grant applicants are introduced to the grant application process and requirements in free grant preparation workshops led by our grants officer. Approximately 246 prospective applicants attended 18 grant preparation workshops by webinar. Participants included artists, scholars, Arts and Humanities organizations, civic organizations, schools. Workshop participants met with ahcmc's grants program officer to learn about submitting a grant application.

Public art: Montgomery County's public art program, administered by ahcmc, seeks to build and inspire community identity and placemaking and to nurture artists engaged in public art. We strongly believe that public art enhances the quality of life in Montgomery County. Residents of and visitors to Montgomery County who come in contact with the over 400 pieces of public art and over 600 pieces of works on paper.we continue to collaborate with County agencies, such as the Maryland - national capital parks and planning commission, as an advisor and expert on the development of creative placemaking initiatives. We also manage the betty mae kramer gallery and music room, a 1,200 square foot gallery located in the silver spring civic center. The betty mae kramer gallery and music room is the first and only art gallery dedicated specifically to showcasing Montgomery County's professional visual artists. The gallery serves visual artists in Montgomery County and County visitors and residents wishing to see visual Arts.

Marketing, communications and outreach: ahcmc's integrated marketing and professional development service, market power, provides subscribers with print and digital ads cooperative advertising opportunities, professional development programs, and a county-wide cultural calendar (culturespotmc.com) that auto-populates 2 other online calendars. Market power currently serves 40 subscriber organizations with more than 54 individuals participating marketpower programs from these organizations. Along with these services, ahcmc engages Arts and Humanities constituents and individual artist and scholars through 5 different targeted newsletters, our blog, social media channels, and both original republished editorial articles and content on culturespotmc.com.