Christina Lippincott

The Maryland Heritage Areas Authority has awarded eighty-seven matching grants totaling $5.19 million to Maryland nonprofits, local jurisdictions, and heritage tourism organizations. Two projects in the Stories of the Chesapeake Heritage Areas in Caroline County have been awarded over $138,000 in funding:

• The Hubbard Leverton Foundation received the maximum capital State Heritage Area grant award of $100,000 to support restoration of the Leverton House to its circa 1840-1850 appearance. The Leverton House is the only standing Underground Railroad station house on the Eastern Shore and possibly the state of Maryland. Upon completion and with the help of this funding for the project, public access will be permitted to visitors to offer a more immersive experience to this profoundly piece of African American History.
• Adkins Arboretum received a non-capital award of $38,356 in State Heritage Area funding to create Indigenous Voices of the Chesapeake- a pilot series of podcasts, a website, and a short film. Aimed to develop meaningful relationships with the indigenous communities in the Chesapeake Bay region while creating awareness about the region’s earliest stewards and cultures and offering space for Indigenous people to tell their own stories.

Maryland Heritage Areas Authority awards grants to nonprofit organizations and government entities withing their local Heritage Area. These grants support projects involving historical, cultural or natural resources, sites, events or facilities. Eligible projects must have a heritage tourism component or contribute to research that will directly inform a heritage tourism product.

The next funding cycle for State Heritage Area grants will open in December 2024 for projects planned to start in July 2025. View upcoming heritage and preservation funding opportunities here. 

 Tuckahoe State Park, in cooperation with the Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) Office of Outdoor Recreation, invites you to celebrate National Trails Day on Saturday, June 1 with a full day of family-friendly programs at the park. In accordance with the Maryland Park Service’s theme for 2024, “step forward in nature and back in time,” visitors will be invited to take part in activities such as guided walks, prize raffles, a fishing derby, informational displays, archery programs and much more. 

The day’s event will kick off at 10 a.m. with a ribbon-cutting for Tuckahoe’s new Lore of the Land: Sensory Trail. Sensory trails – often planned specifically for people with disabilities, especially those with sensory impairments – encourage visitors to use more of their senses and benefit all ages and abilities. The easy to navigate loop trail provides a series of stations designed to collectively immerse people in a multi-sensory journey. They learn to recognize different sounds, textures and smells along the trail, thereby gaining confidence in their own abilities to interpret the environment at their own pace. 

For Tuckahoe Seasonal Ranger Autumn Berry, who was instrumental in developing Tuckahoe’s sensory trail, it was personal. “My mother has retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and it’s difficult for her to enjoy outdoor experiences because of her visual limitations; I’ve seen her struggle with the terrain on normal trails. With that in mind, I wanted to develop different stations that would allow people like her to touch and feel natural items normally encountered while walking the trails without fear of getting disoriented or even worse, getting hurt.” 

The day’s guided walks will have something for everyone: opportunities to learn about habitat restoration projects, see Maryland’s wildlife up close, and journey back in time to hear more about the people who lived in the area before it became a state park. June 1st is also a “Free Fishing Day” in Maryland, so all are invited to take part in the fishing derby at the lake. With so much on the schedule, every visitor is sure to find something of interest. 

National Trails Day is held annually on the first Saturday in June and recognizes the incredible benefits federal, state and local trails provide. Events held throughout the country help promote awareness of the wide variety of services the trails systems offer, and encourage people to discover their local trails, become active concerning trail issues, and share their excitement for the outdoors. 

For more information about National Trails Day events at Tuckahoe State Park, call the park directly at (410) 820-1668. 

As the vibrant green hues of St. Patrick’s Day approach, Denton is gearing up for an unforgettable weekend filled with festivities, live entertainment, and Irish cheer. Local businesses and event organizers have come together to create an exciting lineup of events that promise to make this St. Paddy’s Day Weekend truly special.

Schedule of Events 

250^th Anniversary of Caroline County VIP Celebration
Friday, March 15th | Museum of Rural Life, Denton
On Friday, March 15th, the Caroline County Historical Society invites you to join them as they kick off the 250th anniversary of our county. Guest speaker Julie Markin, Director of Archaeology at Washington College, will present on a recent dig in the county. Refreshments will be offered, and tokens will be given redeemable at participating Downtown Denton Businesses. Tickets are available online at https://donorbox.org/250th-anniversary-vip-event-tickets. Find out more about the event HERE.

St. Paddy’s Day 5K Run/Walk
Saturday, March 16th | Registration opens at 8am, race at 9am
Join us for our 16th annual St. Paddy’s Day Race! Start your salute to the Irish and your spring fitness conditioning on this certified fast and scenic course through Denton with a 5K and 1-Mile Fun Run.  Plenty of lucky surprises await on the course and at the finish.  Register anytime through our finish line production partner Seashore Striders at www.seashorestriders.com.  Early registrants are guaranteed a commemorative performance tee.  This event benefits youth registration financial aid and scholarship fund for recreation programs produced by CCRP. Registration begins at 8:00 a.m.; race starts at 9:00 a.m., Fretterd Community Center

All About the Green Scavenger Hunt
Saturday, March 16th | 12pm – 4:15pm
The We Are All About the Green Scavenger Hunt in Denton, Maryland is your chance to explore the charming downtown area while solving riddles and looking for leprechauns. The FREE event will take place Saturday, March 16th from 12pm – 4pm and is open to all ages. Grab your map at Market Street & 2nd  Street in Denton. Completed entries will be eligible to win gift certificates to be used at local businesses. There are three prizes up for grabs: $100, $50, and $25. Gather your friends and get ready to explore Denton’s hidden gems. It’s time to paint the town green!

Trike/Bike Races with the Caroline County Humane Society
Saturday, March 16th  |  12pm – 4pm  |  200 Block of Market Street

Cornhole Sponsored by Summit Bank
Saturday, March 16th |  12pm – 4pm  300 Block of Market Street

Secret World Alpacas
Saturday, March 16th  |  12pm – 4pm  |  3rd & Market Streets

DJ
Saturday, March 16th | 12pm – 4pm  |  3rd & Market Streets

Shore Gourmet Mobile Van
Saturday, March 16th | 12pm – 4pm  |  300 Block of Market Street

Museum of Rural Life Open for Tours with Docents
Saturday, March 16th | 11am – 5pm  |  16 N. 2nd Street

Live music by NCHS and Colonel Richardson Jazz Bands
Saturday, March 16th | First Concert at 12:15pm, Second Concert at 1pm  |  Grassy Knoll at 3rd & Market Streets

Performances by Jan’s Daycare
Saturday, March 16th | 12:45pm  | Corner of 3rd & Market

Performances by To the Point Dance Studio
Saturday, March 16th | 2:30pm  | Corner of 3rd & Market

Drum & Dance Circle
Saturday, March 16th | 4pm – 5pm  | Community Garden Behind FACES

Face Painting by Serena Zimberoff
Saturday, March 16th | 12pm – 2pm & 2:30 – 3:45  | 400 Block of Market Street near CCCA

Irish Bowling & Potato Races Sponsored by Shore United Bank
Saturday, March 16th | 12pm – 4pm  | 400 Block of Market Street between CCCA & Caroline’s 

Cooking Demonstrations at Caroline’s Sidebar
Saturday, March 16th | Caroline’s Sidebar, 401 Market Street, Denton
Sourdough Bread from Noon – 1pm, Sauerkraut from 1pm – 2pm, Irish Soda Bread from 2pm – 3pm and Sourdough Crackers from 3pm – 4pm

Midnight Pancakes at the Pub
Saturday, March 16th – Sunday, March 17th | Midnight | Market Street Public House, 200 Market Street, Denton
Ring in St. Patrick’s Day with Midnight Pancakes at the Pub!

St. Patrick’s Day at the Market Street Pub: Kegs and Eggs, Music & All Day Fun
Sunday, March 17th | Market Street Public House, 200 Market Street, Denton
Head to the Pub for Kegs & Eggs from 7am – 10am, live music throughout the day, and all day fun!

Brunch at Caroline’s 
Sunday, March 17th | 10am – 3pm | Caroline’s, 401 Market Street, Denton

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day Weekend in Denton, MD. Whether you’re Irish or just Irish at heart, there’s something for everyone in this weekend-long celebration of culture and community.

About Denton

Denton, MD is a diverse and vibrant community known for its rich cultural heritage and welcoming atmosphere. The city takes pride in hosting memorable events that bring residents and visitors together to celebrate and create lasting memories.

The pure joy and energy of Pamela Crockett’s swirling autumn leaves and dried pods bursting with seeds thoroughly upends the idea that the dying back of autumn into winter’s cold is a time of sadness. In her oil paintings on view in the Visitor’s Center at Adkins Arboretum through March 1, this Baltimore artist proves it to be a beautiful, ever-changing period crowning the whole cycle of the year. There will be a reception to meet the artist on Saturday, January 13 from 2 to 4 p.m.

Although there are smaller works included in the show, most of Crockett’s paintings are large and powerful. Studying the complex anatomy of plants with the aid of watchmaker’s lenses, she paints their intimate details larger than life and in color so vivid they’re almost scary. As animated as anything in the animal kingdom, a trio of crinkled sycamore leaves waves joyfully as they tumble across the canvas, while segments of sea oat grass recall an inquisitive water creature.

A fragment from a flower bulb on a friend’s coffee table first sparked Crockett’s interest in the cycle of decay.

“In it, I saw an ephemeral beauty,” she said. “The motion of its twisting, curling leaves described the story of its graceful demise. I keep wanting to look closer and closer, as if nature’s secrets and mysteries may reveal themselves if I get in close enough.”

The title of the show, So Impotent Our Wisdom, a phrase drawn from a poem by Emily Dickinson, gives a clue to Crockett’s deeper intent. These paintings are like a call to action. Irrepressibly alive and filled with fascinating details, sometimes including actual seeds or seaweed, they’ll entice you to think about how little we know of this complex and captivating natural world so threatened by human activity.

A veteran teacher of art at several colleges and universities, Crockett is steeped in the craft of paintings and uses its techniques to great effect. She starts each painting by drawing with graphite and colored pencil, then adds color and texture.

“The earliest stages of these oil paintings are very thin layers of colors that display the illusion of texture,” she explained. “I build up in thin layers using a lot of translucent colors. The colors are often applied by stamping with such items as sponges, cheesecloth, bubble wrap, and plastic. As the paintings progress, I build up the forms with actual texture, almost sculpturally.”

Many of the surfaces of Crockett’s paintings seem made by natural forces—the flow of water, the patterns left by the passage of wind, the scattering of seeds or stars across an open field of color. Looking closely, you can never be sure whether you’re seeing the vastness of the cosmos or the infinity of microscopic worlds.

The fleeting quality of the seasons and the fleeting nature of life on earth are captured in the dance of brilliant red oak leaves spinning across the surface of “Seasoning.” Materializing from a seemingly infinite background of blue, they twirl out across narrow bands of deep crimson pressing in from both sides. While the angular curves of the leaves also evoke unfolding flowers and flurries of birds (think autumn flocks and migration), the crimson bands and blue sky are sprinkled with flecks of color and tiny details including occasional strokes of green suggesting newly sprouting plants, a crescent moon and drops of paint that bloom like galaxies.

Far more than simply depicting autumn leaves, “Seasoning” evokes both the cycle of the seasons and the interrelationship of all the elements of the cosmos. Like all the paintings in this show, it will stick in your memory and urge closer consideration of the vitality and fragility of the natural world.

This show is part of Adkins Arboretum’s ongoing exhibition series of work on natural themes by regional artists. It is on view through March 1 at the Arboretum Visitor’s Center located at 12610 Eveland Road near Tuckahoe State Park in Ridgely. Contact the Arboretum at 410-634-2847, ext. 100 or info@adkinsarboretum.org for gallery hours.

Program to Fund More Than $600,000 in Preservation Projects

(November 28, 2023) CROWNSVILLE, MD – The Maryland Historical Trust (MHT), a division of the Maryland Department of Planning (Planning), today announced two in-person workshops and four virtual sessions to inform participants about $600,000 in available funding for historic preservation grants through the Historic Preservation Capital Grant Program. The in-person workshops and virtual sessions are free to attend.

Registration is required at https://forms.gle/fdkM6Dc8QMypq33E7. The virtual sessions will be offered on December 8, 2023, January 18, 2024, February 7, 2024, and February 28, 2024. The in-person workshops are December 14, 2023 (in Crownsville) and January 10, 2024 (in St. Leonard).

During the in-person workshops and virtual sessions, MHT will discuss the eligibility of applicant organizations, properties, and projects, easement requirements, documentation required for the application, and selection criteria.

The goal of the competitive program is to promote the preservation of historic properties listed on, or eligible for listing on, the National Register of Historic Places, either individually or as a contributing structure within a historic district. Grants of up to $100,000 are available for acquisition, restoration, and rehabilitation projects of eligible properties. Predevelopment costs can be funded for certain applicants.

Eligible applicants include nonprofits, local governments, business entities, and individuals. Project selection will be based on the property’s relative historical or cultural significance, urgency or need of the project, and a public benefit component that meets the mission and goals of MHT as indicated in the grant guidelines. Grant projects selected for funding will be announced summer 2024.

Applications for grant funding can be submitted starting February 1, 2024, through the MHT online grant portal at mht.maryland.gov/Pages/funding/grants. The deadline for applying is March 18, 2024.

The application must be submitted through MHT’s online grant portal. Hard copies will not be accepted. Guidelines, eligibility information, and a sample grant application will be available by December 1 on the MHT Historic Preservation Capital Grant Program website at https://mht.maryland.gov/Pages/funding/grants-capital.aspx .

Previously recorded webinars relevant to the Historic Preservation Capital Grant Program are available on the MHT YouTube page at bit.ly/3HzksSc and include information about easements, match requirements, specifics for religious sites, and recommendations on how to best answer application questions.

For more information about the Historic Preservation Capital Grant Program, please contact Stacy Montgomery, Capital Programs Administrator, at stacy.montgomery@maryland.gov.

MHT was formed in 1961 to assist the people of Maryland in identifying, studying, evaluating, preserving, protecting, and interpreting the state’s significant prehistoric and historic districts, sites, structures, cultural landscapes, heritage areas, cultural objects, and artifacts, as well as less tangible human and community traditions. Through research, conservation, and education, MHT assists the people of Maryland in understanding their historical and cultural heritage.

The nine-county effort which culminated in the designation of the Chesapeake Country All-American Road in 2021 now has a new logo! With direction from the consulting firm, Conservation by Design, the Chesapeake Country All-American Road will have a comprehensive interpretative plan.

The route from Cecil County to the Virginia line offers an epic journey in one of the last truly special landscapes in the Mid-Atlantic region. The Byway links together the Eastern Shore’s most unique resources – its working landscapes and waterfronts, historic town centers, recreation sites, and pristine natural areas – and provides travelers with opportunities to enjoy and understand the area’s rich history and culture while gaining appreciation for the traditions and working life of local watermen, farmers, and merchants.

On Sat., Nov. 4, Adkins Arboretum continued its mission to provide an exceptional experience in nature with free admission to its 2^nd annual Plein Air Adkins paint out, exhibit, and sale. This event gave both artists and the public a memorable and immersive encounter with the native landscape on a perfect autumn day.

Forty-one artists painted the Arboretum’s wetlands, meadows, and woodlands while observers watched, walked and soaked in the warm fall colors. As blank canvases and panels became works of art, the public could see nature as interpreted through each artist’s eyes. Live music and food trucks complemented the festivities.

Artists painted from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., then framed their works and exhibited them on their easels at the edge of the South Meadow behind the Visitor’s Center. The public browsed and made purchases as judge Alison Barry reviewed the work and chose the award winners.

Barry, the grand prize winner of last year’s inaugural event, said the quality of the work was outstanding, and she could have given even more awards. In her judging, she looked for excellent handling of the artist’s medium and good use of composition, color and values. Barry also sought paintings that were not just journalism dutifully recording the scene but instead revealed the character of the artists and a poetic interpretation of the landscape.

The award winners were Grand Prize: Christine Rapa; Second: Amanda Milliner; Third: Pamela Chase; and Honorable Mention: Nancy Fine, Rhonda Ford, Richard Fritz, Jose Ramirez and Maureen Wheatley. Homer Proctor won Artist’s Choice.

Don’t miss the experience of seeing nature through a painter’s eyes at the 3^rd Annual Plein Air Adkins on Saturday, November 2, 2024. There’s none other like it!

Nature is far from passive in the artwork of Caitlin Gill and Bridgette Guerzon Mills. In their joint show, M(Other) Nature, on view in the Adkins Arboretum Visitor’s Center through December 23, dreams, nightmares and reality intertwine as two roosters decorated with dried flowers and intricate cut-outs of leaves attack one another in Gill’s “Cock Fight” and a bare, silhouetted tree sprouts up from the delicate embroidery of a vintage baby’s gown in Mills’s “Baptism.” There will be a reception to meet the artists and learn more about their work on Sat., Nov. 11 from 2 to 4 p.m.

The two Baltimore area artists had never met but when they got together at Mills’s studio to plan the show, they found they have a lot in common.

“We’re drawn to similar materials,” Mills said. “I found it interesting that we both use found natural materials in our work.”

“A big inspiration for us is materiality, texture, and nature,” Gill agreed. “We both seem particularly drawn to found objects, lace, insects and nests, and there’s a lot of exploration with textiles.”

Both artists have always felt a strong connection with nature, particularly its feminine creative power. The title of their show, M(Other) Nature, refers to our culture’s contradictory feelings about nature, that while we celebrate its beauty and creativity, we feel separate from it, as if we are something other than nature, and so have no qualms about exploiting its resources.

Both Gill and Mills explore the life-giving aspects of nature, underscoring their mutual interest in its feminine qualities by using materials associated with women—cloth, lace, doilies, and thread.

Gill said, “Mother Nature as a metaphor is contingent on the feminine ability to create life. I think the need for knowledge as a mode of control and dominance is something nature has endured, similarly to women, so for me, this is an exercise in reclamation and liberation.”

Visitors may remember Mills’s site-specific sculptures in the Arboretum’s forest from several of the Outdoor Sculpture Invitational shows. A Master Naturalist, for last summer’s show, she created a large book with nuts, seedpods, bark and moss stitched onto its cloth pages that explored trees’ role in the health of the forest. Continuing this exploration, her materials for this show include similar found materials as well as cloth, lace, photo transfers of trees, birds and insects, paint, encaustic and actual hand-stitching so that her artworks bridge the real and the imagined. These are gentle works, lovingly made and carrying a sense of mystery and melancholy.

“I aim to reveal the fragile imperfection of life,” she explained. “Stitching in my work also references the universal idea that we are all connected.”

Like Mills, Gill explores the contrast between vulnerability and the power of the life force but with an often disquieting focus on the physical experience of exploitation. A pale grub, part painted and part collaged, curls up alone and exposed on the loose-knit fibers of a sheet of handmade paper, while a beautiful golden-red fox, also a fusion of paint and collage, seems at first glance to be running until you read its title, “Fox, roadkill.”

“The history of animal rights follows a nearly parallel trajectory to women’s rights,” Gill said. “All my work is directly or indirectly about the feminine experience and its relationship to nature and western culture.”

Much as women have historically been required to take passive roles, adhering to rules set by a male dominant society, Gill’s birds, insects and animals are isolated from their natural environments, alone and vulnerable to exploitation. It’s uncomfortable subject matter, but there’s an underlying sense that they possess a strength and resilience that will ultimately help them to survive.

Mills explained, “I think that both Caitlin’s and my work attempts to speak to our connection to the earth and to nature. It’s a fragmented relationship often at odds—natural/unnatural, connected/disconnected, beautiful/grotesque, creation/destruction and life/death. The list can go on and on!”

This show is part of Adkins Arboretum’s ongoing exhibition series of work on natural themes by regional artists. It is on view through Dec. 23 at the Arboretum Visitor’s Center located at 12610 Eveland Road near Tuckahoe State Park in Ridgely. Contact the Arboretum at 410-634-2847, ext. 100 or info@adkinsarboretum.org for gallery hours.