Maryland Homes and Gardening

Maryland Hall: A gathering place for the arts

Details

Category: Community

Published on Monday, 06 August 2012 06:43

Written by Karen Gaspers

About a dozen little girls in black or pink leotards stand along a line that runs the length of the dance studio at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis. As the teacher and her assistant hand out pink sequined skirts for them to wear, they jump and clap their hands.

"Don't forget me!" one squeals.

Once on, they check themselves out in the full-length mirrors that wrap two sides of the room.

"Ready?" the teacher asks. And they begin to dance.

I watch these 3- and 4-year olds skip and twirl around the room. There is even a pile up when one little girl in a purple leotard and tutu abruptly stops to pose in front of the mirrored wall.

Outside the studio, Katie Spinks of Cape St. Claire, whose daughter, Maggie, is one of the tutued girls in this Tiny Toes Tap and Tumbling class, tells me she's been bringing Maggie, three-and-a-half, and her brother, Jack, two-and-a-half, to Maryland Hall for classes since they were both babies.

"I really see them enjoying the arts," she says when I ask her why. "They meet and play with other children, and it's instilling a love of music and art in them."

What makes Maryland Hall different, she says, is that it not only offers classes, but performances that enrich the experience.

"Her grandfather took her to 'The Nutcracker' in December and she loved it," Spinks relates. "She sat through the whole thing, and that doesn't happen often with a 3-year-old."

That experience led Spinks to enroll Maggie in the Tiny Toes class. "She's loving it."

Who wouldn't? Maryland Hall has that affect on people. Built in 1932, for the bulk of its life this two-story, red brick building on Chase Street served as the public high school for whites in Annapolis, integrating during its final years. That chapter ended in 1979, when the student body and staff moved to a new building, making way for the nonprofit Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts (although the building is still owned by the AACo Board of Education). For 33 years and counting, Maryland Hall has served as an arts center, providing a broad range of arts-related offerings for people of all ages and backgrounds.

But what does having a place like Maryland Hall really do for our community? Is it more than just the sum of its parts, more than just a place for kids to take dance lessons? What is its worth to us? On the eve of its first Capital Campaign, I've decided to find out.

• < Prev
• Next >