Summer’s here! It might seem like we’ve all gone to the beach because of how quiet the blog’s been since our IGNITE! Conference, but that’s not the case at all. There’s always tons going on here at AHCMC:

• On July 13, we had our Boast, Roast & Toast to Fran at the Bumper Car Pavilion in Glen Echo Park to celebrate our Grants Director Fran Abrams’ transition into a new stage of her life! As always, it’s great to see so many of our friends in the arts and humanities community. More pictures are available on our Facebook page — go ahead and tag yourself if you see yourself!

• At the party, we announced (to Fran’s surprise!) The Fran Abrams Humanities Award. This annual award will go to a high school student who excels in the humanities. (By the way, we’re accepting donations for the award — contribute here!)
• Speaking of awards…we are accepting nominations for the County Executive’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities. Honor a colleague, board member, donor — whoever you think is deserving and has enhanced the creative community in Montgomery County! The categories are: Education Award, Community Award, Volunteer Award, Outstanding Artist or Scholar Award, Business or Individual Patron Award, and Emerging Leader Award. More information and the nomination form are available here.

• The Betty Mae Kramer Gallery & Music Room was opened in the new Veterans Plaza Civic Center across our offices in Downtown Silver Spring. We’ll be coordinating four to six exhibitions and performances each year, and Mr. Sidney Kramer and his family have started off the endowment fund with a generous leadership gift. Information about submitting exhibition proposals and contributing to the fund is available here.

• We’re teaming up with Nonprofit Montgomery to organize the Nonprofit Energy Alliance II.  If you’re a nonprofit organization in D.C. or suburban Maryland interested in purchasing green energy, please signal your interest no later than July 31. A free informational webinar will be held on Tuesday, August 3 at 2:00 pm (register here). For more about the first Nonprofit Energy Alliance, please download the press release.
  
• Our Marketing Department is getting together the Guide to Children’s Arts Activities for the 2010-2011 school year. These fliers include listings of classes, workshops, performances and events for children, and are distributed to all elementary school students in the Montgomery County Public School system. The Winter/Spring 2010 edition is available here. If you’d like to be notified of future marketing opportunities, please sign up for our e-newsletter and opt in for the “market@ahcmc” list!

• Our Marketing Department is also working with our website developers, Wood Street, to launch a new look for both the AHCMC and Do & Go websites! We’re really, really close to launching — check out a sneak preview:

And as always, follow us on Twitter and Facebook to see what we’re up to!
Have a happy summer!