History
The Betty Mae Kramer Gallery and Music Room in the Silver Spring Civic Center opened in November 2010 as a living tribute to the former First Lady of Montgomery County who devoted her energy to garnering support for the arts and humanities in Montgomery County.
Mrs. Kramer, who passed away in March 2010, led the volunteer efforts to establish the Executive’s Ball for the Benefit of the Arts in 1986 when her husband, the Honorable Sidney Kramer, was elected County Executive. As of 2010, the Ball raised more than $1 million to benefit a variety of nonprofit arts and humanities organizations.
In 2007, Mrs. Kramer received the Montgomery County Executive’s Excellence in the Arts and Humanities Special Lifetime Achievement Award. Mrs. Kramer, an avid singer, also was known for contributing her vocal talent to community events. She was an active volunteer in numerous community groups and received an Honorary Degree of Associate in Arts in public service from Montgomery College in 1997 due solely to her commitment to community service.
The gallery and music room are managed by the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC), a nonprofit organization designated as Montgomery County’s arts and humanities agency. The primary objective of the gallery is to exhibit professional artists who live in Montgomery County. Other special exhibits and concerts are featured as well.
Although the County government built the space, no public funds are available to operate the gallery and music room. An endowment fund has been established by AHCMC for the management of the gallery and music room in perpetuity. Mr. Kramer and his family provided a generous leadership gift to begin the fund, but additional annual donations are needed for continued management, promotion, and improvement of the gallery. All gifts of any size are welcome to honor Mrs. Kramer’s contribution to Montgomery County during her lifetime and support the operation of the gallery and its mission of promoting local artists and creative professionals in Montgomery County.
To make a donation to the Betty Mae Kramer Gallery and Music Room, click here.
Policies
The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC) is responsible for managing the Betty Mae Kramer Gallery and Music Room in the Silver Spring Civic Building at Veterans Plaza in accordance with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Silver Spring Regional Center. The Silver Spring Regional Center manages the building for Montgomery County.
The space is intended to support local artists, provide a public place for residents to enjoy art, convene communities and bring County residents to the downtown Silver Spring area.
In implementing its role managing the Gallery, AHCMC has established the following policies:
A. Exhibits
1. The gallery will exhibit professional artists who reside in Montgomery County.
2. Every artist whose work is hung in the Gallery must be juried into a show either by AHCMC staff or by a guest curator or juror(s).
3. There will be no solo shows. This allows the Gallery to accommodate the exhibition of multiple Montgomery County artists. The number of artists in each show will be determined by the manager, curator or jury.
4. No requests to exhibit will be accepted from any clubs or groups of artists, such as a camera club or a watercolor group, since this type of application does not allow each individual artist to be juried.
5. Applications to exhibit will be accepted from a group of artists that submits background information and images for each of the artists in the group, provided that all group members are Montgomery County residents and there is a theme or relationship that provides the basis for the artists to be exhibited together.
6. The Gallery is not available to be rented by an artist or artists for purposes of displaying their own work.
B. Use for meetings/social events
1. The Gallery is available to be used for meetings and social events only with specific permission from AHCMC as to the date, time, program and food to be served. No red wine or any food items, such as beets, that may stain the floor, are permitted in the gallery.
2. No art may be displayed or sold in the Gallery other than the artwork installed by AHCMC.
3. No changes to the artwork being shown in the Gallery may be made to accommodate the meeting or event.
4. No arts/crafts projects may be undertaken in the gallery.
5. No music programs may be presented in the gallery if they involve amplification or if they involve performances by more than 6 musicians at one time. Any proposed music program must be specifically approved by AHCMC.
6. The use of the Gallery for meetings and social events must be arranged through AHCMC (kramer-gallery@creativemoco.com) and CUPF (mindy.williams@montgomerycountymd.gov) with adequate notice to assure that these policies are observed.