Olney Theater to Require Proof of Vaccination for Attendees, Performers and Staff
Statement by Olney Theatre Center of Current Vaccination Policies for the 2021-2022 Season
Olney, MD – August 5, 2021 – We fully support the statement by other theatres across the greater Washington, D.C. area to provide proof of vaccination in order to attend live performances indoors.
At Olney Theatre Center, we have also mandated COVID vaccination for our performers and theatre staff. Currently, Olney Theatre Center is offering outdoor performances which are moved indoors to a less than half-capacity theatre when there is foul weather. Proof of vaccination is not currently required for these socially distanced performances, however, mask use is mandatory.
Beginning in September, performances of The Thanksgiving Play in our 150 seat Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab will require proof of vaccination and masks for those ages 12 & above in attendance. The Thanksgiving Play is not appropriate for those ages 12 and under. Vaccine policies beyond October and in all other Olney Theatre venues will depend on the course of the virus and the advice of public health experts and will be announced at a later date.
ABOUT OLNEY THEATRE CENTER
Mission
Olney Theatre Center for the Arts produces and curates theatrical performance for the diverse audiences in our community, and educates, learns from, supports and inspires a more inclusive generation of theater-makers.
Vision
We strive to become an arts and culture powerhouse, redefining the American regional theater movement by cultivating and sharing the creativity of our community.
History
Once a summer stock retreat in rural Maryland, Olney Theatre Center is now an award-winning, year-round regional theatre surrounded in a 15-mile radius by 1.6 million people representing three of the most ethnically diverse counties in America. Since our founding in 1938, some of the biggest names in theatre have appeared on our stages: from “Golden Era” stars like Helen Hayes and Tallulah Bankhead to contemporary artists like Sir Ian McKellen, Robin De Jesús, and many others. OTC welcomed Artistic Director Jason Loewith and Managing Director Debbie Ellinghaus in 2013 and 2014, respectively, who established a new artistic strategy to broaden programming with the goal of nurturing a diversity of voices and audiences. Olney Theatre Center now produces musicals and plays under the three rubrics of Classic, Contemporary and Family programming. Since 2013 Olney Theatre Center has twice won the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Musical Production, the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play and presented six world premieres. Complementing this work, OTC fulfills its mission as a teaching theater with educational programs like the Our Play program in local 5th grade classrooms, a summer camp and a year-round professional apprentice program. National Players, now in its 72nd Season, is the hallmark outreach program of OTC, a unique ensemble touring innovative theater to communities large and small across the United States.
For more information, please visit olneytheatre.org/history.
Follow Olney Theatre Center on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @olneytheatre and on Facebook at facebook.com/olneytheatre.
“This Is Gaithersburg: Art as Civic Dialogue” Exhibit Now Open at Boher Park
Featured image: “We The People” by James Terrell, courtesy of gaithersburgmd.gov
A new art exhibit titled “This Is Gaithersburg: Art as Civic Dialogue”, is now open at the Activity Center at Bohrer Park (506 South Frederick Avenue in Gaithersburg) from July 16-September 12, 2021. There will be a reception to meet the artists on Thursday, July 29, from 7-8:30 p.m.
Details below from the City of Gaithersburg:
The City presents a special exhibition celebrating what it means to live, work and play in Gaithersburg. “This is Gaithersburg: Art as Civic Dialogue” features artwork that reflects important conversations about the vibrant and diverse people, places and ideas that are part of the rich cultural fabric of the City. The exhibit is on display July 16 through September 12, 2021, at the Activity Center at Bohrer Park. A reception to meet the artists will be held on Thursday, July 29, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Masks are encouraged for those not vaccinated.
A panel of professional jurors reviewed submissions for this special exhibit based on the artwork’s unique insights, technical quality and adherence to the theme. Selected artists include Nighat Ahmed, Judy Anderson, Anne Cherubim, Lea Craigie, Sandra Davis, Steven Dobbin, Phil Fabrizio, Trisha Gupta, Juliet Hossain, Lily Kak, Richard Levine, Terry Pellmar, Yolanda Prinsloo, Roxana Rojas-Luzon, Chitra Sharma, Jeanne Sullivan, Lisa Aerianna Tayerle, James Terrell, Manduka Francis Uduh, Marleen Van den Neste, Deborah Walmer & Nansie Wilde.
Featured themes include the environment, equity, social justice, the pandemic, heritage, culture, civic service, and immigration. Brief recorded talks will be posted to the Arts on the Green Facebook Page & Twitter account throughout the duration of the exhibit to share more about the artists and the pieces they have created. Artwork juried into the exhibition may be considered for acquisition for the City’s permanent art collection, particularly for long-term display at the new municipal facility opening at 16 South Summit Avenue in 2022. The public is invited to vote for their favorite piece, with the artwork receiving the most votes winning a People’s Choice Award. Cast your vote here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HKX5Y96.
Please note that most of the featured artwork is for sale and all images are copyrighted by the artists.
Olney Theater Offering Free Tickets to First-Time Theater Goers
This summer, the Olney Theater Center is giving away free tickets to anyone who has never purchased tickets to an event at their theater. You can redeem the offer by entering a special online code when purchasing tickets from their website. Details and press release below:
“THIS SUMMER, THE FIRST SHOW’S ON US!” SAYS OLNEY THEATRE CENTER TO THOSE WHO’VE NEVER ATTENDED ONE OF THEIR PROGRAMS.
Ticket giveaway is an open invitation to the whole community
Olney, MD – July 16, 2021 – Olney Theatre Center announced today that it was offering free tickets to first-time attendees of its massive program of live summer events on the open-air Root Family Stage. These tickets can be claimed by anyone who has never purchased a ticket at Olney Theatre by using the checkout code: “FirstTimeFree” at olneyoutdoors.LIVE. The offer applies to the four paid, ticketed programs in Olney Outdoors: Sing Praise! – a series of faith-centered concerts featuring gospel, Jewish, and East Asian traditions; The Andrew A. Isen Cabaret Series; Jazz@Olney; and Theatre for Young Audiences. Those programs include more than 44 individual performances through September 3.
Debbie Ellinghaus, Managing Director of OTC, said “Olney Theatre wants to help the community return to normal by kicking off live performances again with Olney Outdoors, a brand new outdoor performance series that includes jazz, cabaret, faith-centered concerts, spoken word, theatre for young audiences, drag, dance, and more. Many of these programs are already free, but to make the paid programs more accessible to new audiences, OTC is offering free tickets to first-time guests for the entire summer season. First Show Is On Us is supported, in part, by a donation from Bob and Eveline Roberts. This initiative promotes and strengthens one of our key priorities, making sure the entire community has access to our theatre, feels welcomed, and can experience the joy of live performance after so many months of dark stages and shuttered doors.”
The following events are eligible for free tickets under the program (all other programs of Olney Outdoors are already free).
Andrew A. Isen Cabaret Series
All Shows Fridays at 7:30 pm
Friday, July 23
Awa Sal Secka & Bobby Smith
Friday, July 30
Ines Nassara & Tracy Lynn Olivera
Friday, August 6
Donna Migliaccio & Nova Payton
Friday, August 13
Rayanne Gonzales & Rayshun Lamarr
Friday, August 20
Greg Maheu & Vishal Vaidya
Friday, August 27
Malinda Kathleen Reese & Alan Wiggins
Weekends- Theatre for Young Audiences
Performances at 10:00 am and 12:00 pm
Saturday, July 24
Disney Sing-A-Long
Young Artists of America
Sunday, July 25 (10:00 am only)
Stories of Nature & Faith through the Hindu Pantheon
Saturday & Sunday, July 31 – August 1
PNC Presents
Paper Dreams
Imagination Stage
Saturday & Sunday, August 7-8
PNC Presents
Paper Dreams
Imagination Stage
Saturday & Sunday, August 14-15
PNC Presents
Paper Dreams
Imagination Stage
Saturday, August 21
Rick Spacey: Space Detective
Only Make Believe Theatre
(sensory friendly)
Saturday, August 28
Stoopkid Stories
Saturday Nights-
Jazz@Olney
All shows at 7:30 pm
Saturday, July 24
Rochelle Rice
Saturday, July 31
Christie DaShiell
Saturday, August 7
Elijah Jamal Balbed
Saturday, August 14
Akua Allrich
Saturday, August 21
Warren Wolf
Saturday, August 28
Mark G. Meadows
Sing Praise!
Sundays at 5:00 pm
Sunday, July 25
Charles Butler & Trinity
Sunday, August 1
Trio Sefardi/Vladimir Fridman
Sunday, August 8
Baltimore Choral Arts Society
Sunday, August 15
Chao Tian and Tom Teasley
Sunday, August 22
Capria McLearn &
Sunday, August 29
Richard Smallwood
All acts subject to change. In case of rain, events will be held inside the Olney Theatre Mainstage, where all patrons must wear masks.
ABOUT OLNEY THEATRE CENTER
Mission
Olney Theatre Center for the Arts produces and curates theatrical performance for the diverse audiences in our community, and educates, learns from, supports and inspires a more inclusive generation of theater-makers.
Vision
We strive to become an arts and culture powerhouse, redefining the American regional theater movement by cultivating and sharing the creativity of our community.
History
Once a summer stock retreat in rural Maryland, Olney Theatre Center is now an award-winning, year-round regional theatre surrounded in a 15-mile radius by 1.6 million people representing three of the most ethnically diverse counties in America. Since our founding in 1938, some of the biggest names in theatre have appeared on our stages: from “Golden Era” stars like Helen Hayes and Tallulah Bankhead to contemporary artists like Sir Ian McKellen, Robin De Jesús, and many others. OTC welcomed Artistic Director Jason Loewith and Managing Director Debbie Ellinghaus in 2013 and 2014, respectively, who established a new artistic strategy to broaden programming with the goal of nurturing a diversity of voices and audiences. Olney Theatre Center now produces musicals and plays under the three rubrics of Classic, Contemporary and Family programming. Since 2013 Olney Theatre Center has twice won the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Musical Production, the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play and presented six world premieres. Complementing this work, OTC fulfills its mission as a teaching theater with educational programs like the Our Play program in local 5th grade classrooms, a summer camp and a year-round professional apprentice program. National Players, now in its 72nd Season, is the hallmark outreach program of OTC, a unique ensemble touring innovative theater to communities large and small across the United States.
For more information, please visit olneytheatre.org/history.
Follow Olney Theatre Center on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @olneytheatre and on Facebook at facebook.com/olneytheatre.
Wheaton Gateway Unveils New Community Art Installation
Seven local artists produce dynamic art installation highlighting community and celebrating diversity
July 15, 2021 (Silver Spring, MD) — Seven local artists and the Wheaton Gateway Development Team have teamed up to produce a dynamic new art installation, unveiled in June, which highlights community and celebrates diversity. The theme of the work is Connection as a Cornerstone to a Strong Community, and the installation is located at the prominent corner of University Boulevard and Viers Mill Road in Wheaton, MD.
The Wheaton Gateway Development Team, consisting of the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County (HOC), Duffie Companies, and Willco, worked alongside Wheaton Arts Parade to identify and engage local artists who would bring the vision to life.
“Wheaton is richly diverse in creativity and culture, and the same can be said for its artistic community,” said Stacy Spann, executive director of HOC, a co-lead of the Wheaton Gateway Development Team. “The art installation at Wheaton Gateway honors the spirit of community engagement and provides local artists an opportunity to demonstrate their talents and add to the vibrance of this neighborhood.”
The installation, including four original banners and three original murals, spans more than 500 feet long and six feet high. Three mural artists — Aundrae Williams, Lelia Quri, and Sandra Perez-Ramos — interpreted the theme using brilliant acrylic colors, graphics and images applied directly to a plywood canvas.
“My art depicts two hands of different colors showing the variety in demographic of people who live in our area,” wrote Aundrae Williams in his artist statement. “Behind each hand is a different background which shows we all have different backgrounds that shape our perspectives of people and the things around us,” he continued. Lelia Quri said she drew upon “women’s relationship with water sources and agriculture on a global level” as the inspiration behind her work.
The four banner artists — Robert Cohen, Felisa Federman, Dinah Myers Schroeder, and Naomi Weintraub — completed their work digitally, and then their original work was scanned and reproduced onto a high-quality vinyl banner affixed to a perimeter fence.
The public can visit the installation and learn more about the artists by scanning the QR codes located near each piece.
Artist Applications Being Accepted Through Aug. 6 for Downtown Bethesda’s ‘Paint the Town’ Mural on the Woodmont Corner Garage
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, July 6, 2021
The Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) is partnering with the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District in a call for artists to participate in the “Paint the Town” initiative to promote and bring more public art murals to Downtown Bethesda. The deadline for applications is Friday, Aug. 6.
This year’s project will be a mural that will cover the Old Georgetown Road side of MCDOT’s Woodmont Corner Public Parking Garage. Garage 11 is located at 7730 Woodmont Ave.
This is the second mural project MCDOT has undertaken to enhance the vibrancy of highly visible County spaces. The other is outside of MCDOT’s Woodmont-Rugby Public Parking garage located at 8216 Woodmont Avenue.
“I am proud of the work MCDOT is doing to enrich the County landscape through the arts,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “Creative partnerships like this are a wonderful way to integrate art into our daily lives. One of the fundamental purposes of art is to uplift and inspire. Coming out of a pandemic, we need that more than ever. It makes a difference. A mural can change the feel of a neighborhood.”
A stipend of $27,500 will be provided to the chosen artist to pay for time, supplies, fabrication, installation, travel and other project-related expenses. The artist will be chosen by Aug. 30 and the project will be completed by Nov. 15.
Artists must be at least 18 years old and be a resident of Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C. Additional requirements and the application form can be found here.
“This is a great way to revive some of our public spaces,” said MCDOT Director Chris Conklin. “These projects bring color and interest to spaces that would not otherwise be very exciting.”
Maryland designated Downtown Bethesda as an “Arts & Entertainment District” in 2002. The District is managed by the Bethesda Urban Partnership, with the mission of creating and implementing arts and entertainment projects that contribute to the artistic, cultural and economic growth of Downtown Bethesda.
A collection of colorful murals located within the Bethesda Arts and Entertainment District can be viewed at https://www.bethesda.org/bethesda/bethesda-murals.
MoCo Mom Bloggers and Virtual Tastemakers and Why We Love Them
By Zeina Davis ([email protected])
Local moms are doing big things right here in Montgomery County. We would like to share a few of our trend setters and trail blazers that have hit our radar below. Like traffic on 355, these ladies are here to stay.
Mimi Markopoulos | Life on a Crosscutway
Mimi hails from Damascus, Maryland where she resides with her husband and two daughters. Her husband owns the local treasure, Nick’s Diner in Wheaton. Mimi focuses her content on DIY and home making. Her elegant style and fun DIY’s will help you become a pinterest queen.
Blog: https://www.lifeoncrosscutway.com/
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Colleen and Jen | Adventure Moms DC
This local dynamic duo gives amazing advice on what to do in and around DC with specific guides curated for families.
Website: https://www.adventuremomsdc.com/
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Yolande Kelly | Life Style IG Influencer, Blogger and Event Planner
Yolande hails from Brookeville, MD with her husband and two children. She focuses on stylish and approachable fashion, family life and all things events.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CP9ZIvzBr76/
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Courtney Whittington | Founder, DC Moms Collective
Courtney’s DC Moms Collective is so much more than a blog. This group of mom contributors range from SAHM’s (stay at home mom’s) to small business owners, local pediatricians and more. They have wonderful guides for camp, schools, doctors offices and parks as well as beautifully written essays and blogs that speak to all moms.
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Leticia Barr | Tech Savvy Mama
This local mama is an award-winning technology, education, and parenting blogger who teaches middle school computer science. She combines her knowledge of child development, psychology, education, tech and parenting to provide useful advice for families about the digital parenting topics.*
*Overview reformatted from techsavvymama.com
Website: https://techsavvymama.com/
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Jenna Levine Liu | Sixx Cool Moms
Jenna lives in Germantown with her husband and 20 month old and is the founder of the now National, Sixx Cool Moms. Sixx Cool Moms began with a private facebook group called Cool Moms of Montgomery County which is, in and of itself, a wonderful community of local moms who aren’t afraid to be real (see full list of FB mom groups below). It has now grown nationally and includes a website and blog, which features many local businesses in Montgomery County like this: https://coolmomsusa.com/jennas-first-time-aerial-yoga/?fbclid=IwAR16oNNAuQqMPFi0-TBerKPxyBjpNM0Vv7qvIDnaQE7PZZZLmv3PfywA6gQ
Website/Blog: www.Coolmomsusa.com
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Vanessa with This Joyful Life
Vanessa lives with her family in Rockville, MD and focuses on family, wellness, travel and beauty.
Website: https://thisjoyfullife.org/
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Brianne Izzo | Cupcakes and Kale Chips
Brianne Izzo is a chemical engineer turned chef. This local mom specializes in providing both regular and gluten free meals that balance health and flavor.
A couple more local moms doing cool stuff!
https://sunshinewhispers.com/things-to-do-in-maryland-with-kids/
https://www.instagram.com/squeakcity_dc/
Are you a local mom with a (non-mlm) small business or blog? We want to hear from you! Email [email protected] and put: MoCo Mom in the title with links to your business.
Local Mom Facebook Groups
Whether you are looking for a new pediatrician or a new friend, these groups are a wonderful space for local moms. Please note: these are private groups moderated by volunteers. You must request permission to join and fit their criteria.
Bethesda Rockville Potomac Gaithersburg Moms
https://www.facebook.com/groups/112745472394126/
Bethesda Potomac Rockville Moms
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BethesdaPotomacRockvilleMoms/
North Potomac, Darnestown, Gaithersburg Germantown Moms
https://www.facebook.com/groups/369262356818879/
No Excuse Mom Montgomery County (Fitness Related)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/noexcusemommontgomerycounty/about
Cool Moms of Montgomery County (Featured Above)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/coolmomsofmoco/
Clarksburg Moms Club
https://www.facebook.com/groups/124947010895344
About Zeina:
Zeina Davis is a local Marketing Specialist and Writer in Gaithersburg, MD where she resides with her two children and husband. To connect with her please email [email protected].
New Mural at Gaithersburg Skate Park
Eric Karbeling, a 2008 Gaithersburg High School graduate, is putting the finishing touches on a new mural at the Gaithersburg Skate Park (510 S Frederick Ave). The art project is expected to be finished June 11.
Eric spent time as a teenager roller blading at the park.
We stopped by the skate park earlier today to check out the progress. Photos below:
Per City of Gaithersburg:
The Skate Park is undergoing a makeover. Local artist and 2008 Gaithersburg High School graduate, Eric Karbelin, is nearing completion of an art mural project, with a target date of June 11. Project designs were developed during an April meeting with Eric, City staff, and Skate Park users. Eric, who recently finished a mural at his alma mater, Laytonsville Elementary School, walks viewers through the process during a video documentation here. Additional information about Eric can be found at www.erickarbeling.com and www.instagram.com/erickarbeling.
The Skate Park mural joins an extensive inventory of public art projects in the City. An interactive map lists the descriptions & locations of nearly 30 public art installations. This newest piece will be celebrated at a special unveiling the weekend of July 3 & 4. There will be prizes and giveaways during activities taking place at the Skate Park from 2 to 4 p.m. each day. The Skate Park is located within the Bohrer Park at Summit Hall Farm complex, 510 South Frederick Avenue, next to Gaithersburg High School. Other amenities include the Water Park, Miniature Golf Course, the Activity Center, and the park itself, with walking trails, fishing ponds, picnic pavilions and a playground.
A variety of exciting summer programs, including School of Skate camp sessions, private instructional lessons, and other clinics are held throughout the season at the Skate Park. It is open Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 3 p.m. to Sunset, and on Saturdays and Sundays from Noon to Sunset.
All Skate Park participants must have a valid waiver in order to use the facility. Admission to the Park is free and helmets are required due to safety regulations. At this time, a mask is required when entering the facility but optional while skating or outdoors. Social distancing is encouraged. For more information, please call 301-258-6350 or e-mail [email protected]. Learn more about the Gaithersburg Skate Park here.
Please note: The Skate Park closes in the event of rain or excessive heat.
Elder Pine Brewing Company at 4200 Sundown Rd in Gaithersburg is collaborating with the students of the Maryland Institute College of Art / Rinehart School of Sculpture in Baltimore to host a sculpture exhibit titled “To Sprout, To Share, To Sing” now through August 19th.
The brewery is providing an opportunity for the students to showcase their work given the lack of exhibition opportunities this year due to COVID-19.
Photos from the exhibit and press release below:
New Exhibit at Sandy Spring Museum Inspired by Malcolm Davis
Sandy Spring Museum has just debuted a new exhibit Inspired by Malcolm: A Passion for Shino.
The juried exhibition will feature 64 original ceramic works created by 47 artists. All works feature the use of Shino glazes, commonly associated with the late Malcolm Davis.
About the Exhibit:
Inspired by Malcolm: A Passion for Shino honors the memory of Malcolm Davis, a world-renowned potter who influenced and inspired so many to listen to and follow their heart’s desires.
After serving as a minister for twenty years, Davis’s life changed when he took his first ceramics
class in 1973. Within a few years, he left his career as a campus minister to pursue pottery fulltime. Davis established his own mountaintop studio in West Virginia in 1985, where he experimented with a Japanese-style glaze called Shino. He perfected his own Shino technique, which allowed him to create pottery unlike any other. This glaze, known as “Malcolm Davis Shino,” is found in studios all over the world. The glaze is prized for carbon-trapping, which creates extensive black areas and black dots in contrast to the more typical white, red, and orange colors of other Shinos.
After perfecting his glaze, Davis took the unusual step of publishing the formula for public use.
Recognized for his artistry and passion, he traveled widely teaching others about pottery.
The exhibit was juried by Matthew Hyleck, noted ceramic artist and education coordinator at
Baltimore Clayworks, and included works by artists from around the country. First, second, and
third place prizes will be awarded during the opening week by Mr. Hyleck.
Inspired by Malcolm: A Passion for Shino is sponsored in part by Judith Davis, Montgomery
Potters, District Clay Center, Baltimore Clayworks, and The Clay Co-Op.
For more information, visit www.sandyspringmuseum.org/Shino
Per the Montgomery County Planning Board:
Winning mural concept showcases diverse culture of Wheaton through dance
The outside of M-NCPPC’s downtown Wheaton Headquarters is getting a new mural!
The mural design was selected through an online community vote as part of The Wheaton HQ Mural Project. A total of 11,703 votes were cast online in March 2021 for three different mural designs.
Nicole Bourgea’s concept of dancers reflecting Wheaton’s multicultural community received over 60% of community members’ votes. Now, Bourgea will work with Montgomery Planning to finalize plans to paint her mural design in spring 2021.
The Wheaton HQ Mural Project is made possible by a generous donation from Stonebridge Development, the private partner who helped to build the Wheaton Headquarters.
Nicole Bourgea, a local artist from Kensington, submitted her qualifications in fall 2020 in response to M-NCPPC’s call for mural artist qualifications. Out of 28 submissions, a jury of representatives from the local community, the Montgomery Planning and Parks Departments, and the Regional Services Center selected her as well as two other finalists to prepare mural designs for the community to vote on.
Bourgea submitted the following description of her work as “Artist #1” to help inform the public voting process:
This mural is a bold, colorful celebration of the fact that while we dance to our own beats, we all smile in the same language. We come from diverse multicultural legacies with unique perspectives and various abilities, but we each have an important gift to offer with our life.
The concept for this mural was inspired by the artist’s son who has Down syndrome and LOVES to dance. To see him dance—overcome with joy and the need to move his body to express that joy—is to know unequivocally that the most human thing we can do is to live fully alive! We dance for different reasons, in many different styles, but each dance is a tribute to the heart that beats in the chest of the dancer.
This mural will be situated in the heart of Wheaton, MD, a community bustling with businesses run by people originating from many rich cultural legacies. This wall therefore represents a unique opportunity to both encourage these diverse heritages to thrive, as well as to welcome pedestrians of all backgrounds to experience the magic of this vibrant neighborhood. All lives are enhanced and enlivened by interactions with cultures and traditions once foreign to us. These experiences point to our shared identity as people. This design is a celebration of Wheaton’s strength as an authentic, vivid collage of humanity as well as its deep roots and bright, evolving future.
Mural Location
The mural will be located on the outside of the new, 14-story M-NCPPC Wheaton Headquarters strategically placed in the heart of Wheaton’s Arts and Entertainment District. This LEED Platinum building, which opened in August 2020, is owned by M-NCPPC and houses the headquarters of Montgomery Planning and Montgomery Parks as well as several county agencies.
The mural will be placed on the building’s north-facing concrete block wall, adjacent to an existing surface parking lot owned by the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT), between Triangle Lane and Grandview Avenue.
The mural will be applied to the north wall of the headquarters shown above (click each to enlarge).
Noyes Children’s Library Foundation Enviromental StoryWalk
The Noyes Children’s Library Foundation is bringing another of their StoryWalk adventures to Kensington beginning this Saturday.
Fourth Outdoors Noyes StoryWalk® Highlights Environmental Awareness
In celebration of Earth Day, families are invited to read the bilingual book Rainbow Weaver by Linda Elovitz Marshall, illustrated by Elisa Chavarri, on posted signs as they stroll through a park in Kensington. The Noyes Rainbow Weaver StoryWalk® will be available for self-guided exploration from Saturday, April 17, 2021, through Saturday, May 15, 2021, at Capitol View-Homewood Local Park (2929 Edgewood Road, Kensington, MD 20895).
The StoryWalk® is presented with the cooperation of Montgomery Parks and the Oakland Terrace Elementary School PTA. The park is adjacent to Oakland Terrace, an MCPS Spanish-English immersion school. Rainbow Weaver, which is told in both Spanish and English on each spread in the book, focuses on a young girl who wants to weave like her mother and the women of her Guatemalan village but doesn’t have materials. She discovers that she can weave with plastic bags littering the village, and then sell her weaving to help pay for her school and school books.
A QR code at the StoryWalk® to scan will take users to the Foundation’s website for crafts and printable coloring pages related to the book. While enjoying the StoryWalk® experience, visitors are asked to wear masks and observe social distance.
Families are encouraged to share a photo of the walk on the Noyes Children’s Library Facebook page (facebook.com/MakeMoreNoyes), post to Facebook and tag the Noyes Children’s Library Foundation, or post to Instagram and tag @makemorenoyes.
Families can also tune into free weekly storytimes on Tuesdays presented by the Foundation on Facebook Live (facebook.com/MakeMoreNoyes). A storytime on Tuesday, April 20, 2021, will include D.C. stage actor and Kensington mom Karen Vincent reading Rainbow Weaver. The storytime can be viewed live at 11am (EST). Storytimes with Vincent continue weekly on Tuesdays at 11am on Facebook Live.
While the Noyes Library for Young Children remains closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Noyes Foundation has been providing literacy outreach to the Greater D.C. community. The first Noyes StoryWalk®, presented by the Noyes Children’s Library Foundation in January, featured pages from The Mitten by Jan Brett in store windows in Kensington; a February StoryWalk® focused on The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats and was installed at Warner Circle Park in Kensington; and the StoryWalk® in March at Kensington’s Clum-Kennedy Park highlighted Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea by Meena Harris.
More information on Noyes Foundation events can be found at noyeslibraryfoundation.org/events.
The Noyes Children’s Library Foundation works to raise funds, enhance early literacy programs, and inspire community engagement so that all children can discover the wonder of books through Noyes Children’s Library. The Foundation is a grassroots nonprofit founded in 1991 to raise funds for the historic Noyes Children’s Library, a specialized branch of Montgomery County Public Libraries in Kensington, Maryland. The all-volunteer Foundation has grown to support the library’s mission in many ways, and now, in cooperation with Montgomery County, the Foundation is leading the Make MORE Noyes Renovation Campaign to make Noyes universally accessible, while expanding its space and early literacy mission. For more information, go to noyeslibraryfoundation.org.
