CCAC Welcomes 2008 We hope you all had a wonderful holiday and New Year.  Here, at the Arts Council, we were busy before the holidays planning our 2008 arts events.  By this time, you should have received your 2008 Arts Events Calendar in the mail.  It’s chock full of all the exciting ways to celebrate the arts in 2008.  We kick off January with the annual Cecil County Public School’s “Winter Art Show.”  This multi-media exhibition features the work of students in Cecil County’s Public Schools.  We follow that show up with our first open exhibition of 2008, “A Tree for All Seasons.”  This exhibition, welcome to all artists and all media, celebrates “luscious landscapes and sensational scenery.”  We can be reminded of all the beauty of nature even in the middle of the cold winter.  In March, our “Colorful Language” exhibition will be in the gallery, and the opening reception for that show will feature a reading by former CCAC Executive Director, Erin Murphy.  The front gallery will feature solo artist Donna Winterling.  In March we will also offer several new workshops.  The University of Delaware Ballroom Dance Team will offer Ballroom Dancing. Learn the waltz, fox trot and cha cha and make TV’s Dancing with the Stars look easy!  We’re also offering a special workshop for artists on “Improving Your Art Business.”  Learn how to better market your artwork and yourself.   April’s showers bring lots of exciting opportunities at the Arts Council.  We will hold our first Art Lovers Pot Luck Supper of the year. Here’s your chance to mingle with fellow art lovers, and get a tasty meal at the same time.  Who could turn that down?  We’ll also offer workshops in Collagraph and Silk Painting.  Stop by the Arts Council and check out the samples we have on hand of these exciting media, and see what you will learn. This month also marks the deadline for our Annual Scholarship Award applications.  So, if you are, or know, of any Cecil County residents planning to major in the arts, be sure to get your applications in to the Arts Council on time! At CCAC we love May, because that’s when two of our favorite annual events occur.  Upper Bay Counseling and Support Services’ exhibition, Expressions of Healing, will be hung in our gallery, and our Open Studio Tour, sponsored by Bay First Bank, will be held the Saturday of Mother’s Day weekend.  Mark your calendars now and don’t miss the opportunity to visit over 20 Cecil County artists, at work, in their studios. June marks the annual Cecil County Arts Council’s Member Exhibition and Meeting.  We want this year’s exhibition to be our biggest exhibition ever, so start planning on what you will enter now! All artists of all skill levels should plan to exhibit.  This is Cecil County’s chance to…”Show It All Off!” In July our Summer Music in the Park Concert Series kicks off July 4th weekend and that also marks the opening of the first exhibition of the year held at Chesapeake City’s Town Hall Gallery with solo artist, Geraldine Morris.  Toward the end of month, when summer’s heat becomes truly stifling, “Dog Days” will be in the Elkton Arts Center  gallery, and solo artist Valerie Schulte will be featured in the front gallery. August will bring Thomas Jaggers to the Chesapeake Town Hall gallery with his show, “Bay Side.” And of course, throughout August, every Sunday, our summer concert series will continue in Pell Gardens.  And for those of you interested in applying for one of our major CAD grants, August 1st marks the deadline for applications. In September summer starts to leave us and a whole new schedule of arts events arrives on the horizon.  CCAC will be looking for entries for our Annual Juried exhibition and we will excitedly distribute our CAD grants to the recipients.  Eleanor Guinard will hold a solo show in Chesapeake City, and later that month, we will hold our second “Pot Luck Supper.”   We will spend the whole month of October gearing up for our biggest event of the year, our 2008 Silent Auction Gala Event on November 1st!  By popular request, we will again hold the event at The Chesapeake Inn Restaurant and Marina. But be sure to get your tickets early.  The 2007 event sold out! In December, as always, things will begin to wind down just as the holidays arrive.  But don’t forget our ongoing opportunities.  Our Belly dancing class, our Lunchlines poetry group, and our “Artists in Action” open studio group all meet on a continuing basis throughout the year.  There are also several grant opportunities that are ongoing.  So, be sure to check our website, www.cecilcountyartscouncil.org regularly, for new and exciting events that are still in the works for 2008.  And, if you haven’t yet received your 2008 Arts Events Calendar, call 410-392-5740 and be sure to get yours, now!