The Kent County Arts Council celebrates 2017 as a year of transition. Director Leslie Prince Raimond will welcome John Schratwieser (former Director of the Prince Theatre / Garfield Center for the Arts, and outgoing Director of Maryland Citizens for the Arts) as a co-director in the summer of 2017. John and Leslie will work together to transition the arts council in several ways in the coming months. Leslie, after 35 years of service to the arts in Kent County, will retire at the end of the year, and John will take the reins of the Arts Council. In addition, Leslie and John are moving forward with the plan to purchase and renovate the Town Arts Building at 101 Spring Street in Chestertown, as an anchor/gateway building for Chestertown’s Arts & Entertainment District. The space will not only house the Kent County Arts Council, and a new gallery space, but also John’s other project. In November 2016, John assumed the directorship of AIR.C (Artist in Residence.Chestertown) which was created by Kelly and Alex Castro. Under John’s leadership AIR.C will morph into “Artikultur-MD; A space to create on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.” Part of the Town Arts Building will be dedicated to welcoming visiting artists who will be selected to engage arts based practices and solutions to social, civic and environmental issues. The partnership of the Kent County Arts Council and Artikultur-MD is designed to enhance and support the already strong arts ecosystem in Kent County. Leslie and John will be excited to unveil this new endeavor to the people of Kent County over the coming weeks and months.
