Meeting-January 8, 2019 at 6:30 p.m.

Agenda

1. Take roll
2. Review and vote on editing or accepting minutes from the Nov. 13 meeting
3. Conduct business

Business

1. Welcome new LAC member Angie O’Neal
2. Special Guest: Christopher Dwyer
   
   1. Prince George’s Shakespeare in the Parks (Artistic Director)
   2. Pallotti High School (Head of Theatre Program)
3. Year in Review
   
   1. Add photos
   2. Publicize
4. City of Laurel 150^th Anniversary in 2020
   
   1. Cheryl to head subcommittee
   2. How should be LAC be involved? See Cheryl’s email on page 2
   3. Meeting this Thursday, January 10 at the Municipal Center
      1. Light dinner at 5pm
      2. Meeting starts at 5:45/6pm
5. Tile Mural Project – update and needs (Cheryl and subcommittee)
6. Theatre Ticket Program (Melissa)
   
   1. See attachment on page 3
7. Artist of the Month
   1. Laurel TV – see attachment on page 4
8. Subcommittee Reorganization
9. Birdhouse Update
10. Budget Request
11. Upcoming Meetings
    
    1. Tuesday, February 12 at 6:30pm
    2. Tuesday, March 12 at 6:30pm
    3. Tuesday, April 9 at 6:30pm

City of Laurel 150^th Anniversary Ideas

Hello friends,

Since I will be out of town, I wanted to share some musings about how we might connect the arts to the citywide celebration. And maybe you will add some of your own thoughts to this list.

Today I was down at the river and looked with new eyes at the mill race which is the stone ruin at the end of the path beside the municipal swimming pool. There is a wooden walkway and raised platform beneath the stone race. The purpose of the race was to divert water from the nearby river and force it into the wheel that provided the power for the many operations at the Laurel Cotton Mill.

I imagined some musicians in place at the top of the ruins, on either side of the deep gap, playing a new composition written for this occasion. Maybe some brass or perhaps strings but large instruments would be difficult to haul up through the woods. And then, dancers or performers would unroll lengths of softly tinted fabric and somehow evoke the spirit of the river to the melody being played.

Of course I know nothing about composing nor dance and I haven’t even dyed fabric unless

you count tie dye. But I know someone who knows something about each of these areas….

And then maybe a poet would read his or her work written also for this occasion.

I am talking to folks about planting 150 trees in Laurel.
Maybe we could get potters to donate 150 mugs to raise money for either ourselves or for LARS or…

I hope we can brainstorm and come up with meaningful ideas that look to the next 150 years, not just the past.

And I hope you all add lots of splendid imaginings to this little beginning.

See you soon.

Cheryl

p.s. Maybe 2020 will be the year we go back to the calendar idea with photographs of life in Laurel.

We should kick this around soon so we can enlist lots of images to choose from if we decide to do it.

Theater Ticket Program:

Suggestion for LAC proposal for City funding: purchase student tickets for an appropriate production at Laurel Mill Playhouse and Venus Theater and provide to theater teachers at Laurel High and Pallotti High. 

• Cost: 5 to 6 tickets to each theater = $100 x 2 = $200. 2 schools = $400 per year.

• Process: Teacher selects theater students who can arrange transportation to the performance and commit to attending.

• Precedent: Laurel High teacher Frank Hammond coordinated attendance at Venus's "Running on Glass" (about women who broke gender and color barriers to set athletic records) by 6 of his students, funded privately by an LAC member. These students had limited resources and knowledge about local theater. They were exuberantly grateful for the experience.

• Motivation: Enrich students' experience and understanding of regional theater, while also increasing attendance at Laurel's Main Street/C Street theaters. Also strengthen ties between LAC and local schools.