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Executive Director’s Letter November 5, 2019

It’s Brilliant Baltimore all week long, so don’t miss a thing! Get out there and enjoy the festive crowds at the Inner Harbor and throughout the City. Congratulations to the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts and CityLit on a fantastic opening weekend. It was packed with activities and opportunities to engage with writers and beautiful light installations. There will be a few more literary events this week accompanied by a wonderful range of performances through Sunday.

I am delighted to announce the 2019-2020 Urban Arts Leadership Fellows:

  • Bintou Kouyate
  • Jennifer Rae Lucas
  • Elizabeth Dunlap
  • Kelly Palmer
  • Kayla Fryer

I join Equity and Inclusion Director, Kibibi Ajanku in extending our gratitude to the UAL Advisory Council for their dedication to the selection process and for identifying such a stellar group of emerging leaders.

You may remember GBCA’s announcement regarding our recent National Endowment for the Arts grant to establish a Field School with Urban Arts Leadership Fellows and folklorists to teach ethical practices for community engagement. With this development and because we wish to continue refining the practices of the program, we have made a few changes, most notably, in the size of the class and the calendar of operations. This change also allows GBCA to double the stipend from $5,000 to $10,000. We have long felt that the size of the stipend, which started at $2,500 in the early years of UAL, has not been an equitable compensation for the time and labors of the fellows. This has required that they juggle job schedules, sometimes two, in order to complete the term. While not yet a living wage, this is an exciting and attractive move forward for the program.

All my best,

Jeannie

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