The Academy Art Museum has announced that Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and First Lady Yumi Hogan will be the Distinguished Chairs for the Museums’ 60th Anniversary Gala on June 2, 2018. In addition to the Anniversary Gala featuring Denyce Graves, the Museum is honoring its past and celebrating its future with a series of exciting events including an Anniversary Exhibition, a Public Birthday Party and Public Art Event, and its Annual Craft Show and Members’ Exhibition.
“The First Lady and I have a strong connection to the arts, and a strong commitment to promoting the arts in Maryland,” said Governor Hogan. “We are proud to support the Academy Art Museum, which has partnered with many prestigious art organizations over the years to offer quality exhibitions, including the National Gallery of Art, the Walters Art Museum, and the Baltimore Museum of Art. We commend the Museum’s leadership, staff, and volunteers for their continued community involvement and innovative programs, and we look forward to sharing in their 60th anniversary celebration.”
The Governor has proposed record funding of $21.7 million in FY 2019 for the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC), which provides grants, technical assistance, and other support services, for the arts, and is a significant source of annual operating support for the Museum. The First Lady is an accomplished artist and an adjunct professor at Maryland Institute College of Art. Her artwork, created on traditional Hanji paper with Sumi ink and mixed media, has been featured in art shows and museums in Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia, South Korea and more, including an exhibit at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. She has also juried numerous art exhibitions, as well as has taught art classes to patients with cancer and people with disabilities.
Ben Simons, Director of the Academy Art Museum, states, “We are thrilled to have the Governor and the First Lady as our Distinguished Chairs for the 60th Anniversary Gala. Their continued commitment to the arts and its importance in our daily lives and in building healthy and vibrant communities resonates with our organization’s mission. Having them a part of our anniversary celebration will be special.”
Known originally as The Academy of the Arts, the Museum was founded in 1958 by a group of Talbot County residents who included among others first president A. Brittain “Britt” Banghart, a painter who studied with N. C. Wyeth, and Lee Lawrie, a German émigré most famous for his 1937 Art Deco “Atlas” sculpture at Rockefeller Center in New York City. In its six decades, the Museum has undergone two major building expansions, was reborn in 1999 as the “Academy Art Museum,” and in 2003 achieved accreditation by the American Alliance (then Association) of Museums.
For further information about the Museum’s 60th Anniversary events, call Damika Baker, Director of Development, at 410-822-2787.
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