Raising Connections
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Raising Connections
Marshmallows Mingle in Westminster, MD to Have a PEEPtastic Time 03-23-2026
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Stephen Strosnider, Executive Director of the Carroll County Arts Council, joins Rachann for a cheerful look at the 19th Annual PEEPSHOW held in the TownMall of Westminster, MD - March 27 - April 3, 2026. Together they explore the creativity, community spirit, and the magic of marshmallow masterpieces that make this event a local favorite. Learn how the event raises support for the Carroll County Arts Council's year-round programs. Admission is free and Marshmallow peeps are the star. It's a sweet celebration of fun and imagination - one marshmallow at a time.
Carroll County Arts Council the creative arts for all ages, interests and abilities!
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The first peep show was in 2007.
SPEAKER_01Yes. And it was just one person entering one competition. And it has grown into 200 and so entries. Last year we had over 500,000 peeps used in the peep show. What does the peep show smell like? The sweetest place you've ever been to.
SPEAKER_00How many colors of peeps are there? Not enough. And where do we go to see the peep show?
SPEAKER_01You have to go to Westminster Town Mall and see the marshmallow peep show. And see the marshmallow peep show.
SPEAKER_00Today's podcast is brought to you by Mariah Bell Manor Kennel, offering dog boarding, bathing, and daycare in an eco-friendly environment. Our pet care with a personal touch is not just a motto. It's really what we do. Our touch extends to the food without preservatives, quality and natural shampoos, inclusive boarding, and a green living environment. Sounds like I might want to check in. Visit us anytime on our Facebook page, Mariah Bell Manor Kennel, or Mariah Bellmanor Kennel.com. Enjoy your program. Welcome to Raising Connections, connecting your community to others through critters, companions, commerce, and agriculture. I'm Ray Shan Mayer. Let's raise some connections. Here we go. Today, as always, we have a fun and interesting guest. Steven, can you introduce yourself and tell us where you're from?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. My name is Steven Stroesneider. I am the executive director of the Carroll County Arts Council, and I live in New Windsor, Maryland.
SPEAKER_00Welcome in. We've got some connections to make.
SPEAKER_01I'm very excited.
SPEAKER_00There's an art center in Carroll County.
SPEAKER_01There is a beautiful one. There is the Carroll Arts Center. It is a restored movie theater. It's right.
SPEAKER_00It's beautiful.
SPEAKER_01We love it. Actually, now the only original Art Deco building in Carroll County. All the other ones have since been torn down. So we now hold that record, which is very exciting. And we're coming on our 25th anniversary for the Arts Center, since the city of Westminster very generously partnered with the Arts Council and restored this 1937 movie theater. So 1937, we're coming up on the 90th anniversary of the bones of that building. If you can't tell, I love anniversaries. I love celebrating things. So that's big plans for us celebrating the 90th. But our Carroll Arts Center, right on Main Street in Westminster, we have art galleries, classroom spaces, our beautiful restored movie theater. It's a real joy to be able to be there.
SPEAKER_00How did you end up the executive director of the Carroll County Arts Council and Center?
SPEAKER_01I was working at McDaniel College at the time, and we had just had our second little child. I was like, I think I need to get a little side hustling as parents need to do. I had a great connection with the arts center growing up in Carroll County. I went there to see shows. I had performed there a few times. So I said, well, you know, they are always looking for technicians to help run the movies. That was my background, is theater production. I've been a director, set designer. While I was at McDaniel, I was their technical director. And one of the great things I got to teach at McDaniel was their Jan term class, all about identifying a career based off of what passions you have inside you. And that what you major in does not mean that is what you're going to do in life.
SPEAKER_00That is so true.
SPEAKER_01It was one of the best courses I got to teach with students and help them identify, especially through my own career. So grew up in Carroll County, went to Francis Kaki High School. I was very fortunate to have amazing teachers there who allowed me to experiment and provide opportunities. I got to direct shows as a student. If we had an idea, teachers were like, great, what resources can we provide you to make it happen? Let's go ahead and create an independent study for that. And I took that mentality that I didn't know what a gift it was right then. The gift of an entrepreneurial spirit. Absolutely. And that's what I think that those teachers provided me with. I took that to college. I majored in acting. But again, I had a great college education where they said, that's fine, major in acting, major in musical theater, major in sound design. But you better believe we're gonna make you take a class in everything. Shenandoah University, where I went, you had to take stage management. You had to take financial literacy. They wanted to arm you with a background because they understood the realities of the arts sector in the real world, right? Absolutely. So you want they're preparing you. They were, it was absolutely preparing me. So I was very blessed to have that entrepreneurial high school experience, a college experience where I could say yes to opportunities. If I approached an instructor and said, Could I design that one? They'd be like, Okay, great, since you asked. So things are only as good as I choose to make them to be. Okay, great. I will keep choosing the good things or choosing the opportunities. For me, that was very helpful going into this real world because the arts can be very tough. Right out of school, I freelanced scenic design, tried to get extra work. What's very nice is there's a really big film and TV industry in Baltimore.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01It is easy to drive into. There's so many opportunities. You gotta keep grinding at it, right? And I think a lot of folks who know that, you know, it's just a part of the job. It's a gig life for a while. And then a great opportunity came up at Carroll Community College. I was like, wait, that's like my backyard. Be a staff member for the theater department, teach acting. Oh, great. And if you want to audition for the shows, go ahead and be in a show too. Wow. Oh, okay. Wait, in in Carroll County, I could do that right here in Carroll County. Yes, I will I'll do all those things. That was the first real world job of being able to take skills and adapt them. My wife will tell you, I never had any intention to teach.
SPEAKER_00Right? Isn't it amazing where the world leads you?
SPEAKER_01Isn't it amazing? And 12 years of teaching later, it was the best opportunity. That was when I kind of understood what my high school teachers, what did my director Sharon Garcia give me as a student? She prepared you. She prepared me. And it was when I was a teacher that I really appreciated what I got to be able to give that back.
SPEAKER_00But that's the connection that you've continued to make. Absolutely. When you get it, you give it back so you can learn more. Yes.
SPEAKER_01So continued teaching went from Carroll Community College. We were doing an opera program. We were doing six shows a year. There's an opportunity to teach at Glen Oak Country School. Fantastic experience, a different age group of kids, different resources, a very different academic setting from a community college. And what was very nice about a BFA from Shenandoah, because I had specialized education, I was able to teach these positions that I could have real world experience, got me that job. I didn't have a teaching degree. I told you I was not planning to teach, but because of how I was trained and the level of experience that I could bring to the table, it wasn't required. Well, you're bringing enough expertise in the field you are going to be instructing in. Please, we want you to help our kids who want to pursue this.
SPEAKER_00Have you gotten to the point where the students are coming back to you now?
SPEAKER_01Sometimes, yes. You know, a really funny story is that one of my staff, Gwen, who is our special events and volunteer coordinator, she actually is the overseer of the peep show. So Gwen at special events, she truly holds the peep show keys in terms of logistics. The peep show would be nowhere without Gwen. I can tell you that. My first year of teaching acting at Carroll Community College, Gwen was one of my students.
SPEAKER_00Oh my. So you have reached that point. I have. I have. And it's that connection of giving what you've gotten, and there you go.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. I love it. At the time, I had just had our second child. The drive from New Windsor into Ellicate City was a little much. And that's when COVID hit. This perfect storm of things. Uh, the opportunity to work at McDaniel appeared, and I had done, we had talked earlier a little bit about theater on the hill and sort of this legacy of arts in Westminster. And so I knew that theater so well. McDaniel was my wife's undergraduate graduate. I knew every part of that campus. And so an opportunity to enhance the arts there was great. It led me to this position at the arts council. It's home, it's community. I have a full-time job in the arts in Carroll County. And you get to say yes to things. Exactly. And I'm blessed to be in a position to not only have that, but shape the legacy and not just how the arts council self-produces art, but how the arts council can become an access point for the county for arts, that we can develop that arts ecosystem and how we can be an agent for the arts for the whole county. That's the goal, that arts ecosystem.
SPEAKER_00This morning we're making a huge connection. And for you, the Peep Show, was that the draw for your new position, the Peep Show?
SPEAKER_01Wow. I knew what it was and how big it was for the Arts Council. I can say that I fell in love with the Peep Show while working at the Arts Council. I wouldn't say that it was my biggest draw. I love that building. For me, the Arts Center building has a lot of deep roots for me. I grew up in Carroll County, went to Francis Gockey High School, one of my senior capstone projects. I remounted a play at the arts center. My mom did shows there. And so when the opportunity to work there came up, it's like coming home. Oh, wait, and the peep show? You're in. I'm in.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so for those of us who don't listen, and we have some transplants in this area. I've been here for 30 years now. Yep. Let me just put this for you, okay? My husband says to me, who had served in the military for many, many, many years on a great big aircraft carrier through the 80s. And I said, I'm taking our daughter to a peep show. She's two. I need to get her little white Mary Janes out to go. He looks at me and goes, Excuse me? You're going where? Yes for what?
SPEAKER_01Huh? Yes. So I've tried to train myself that when introducing folks for the first time, I always have to say the marshmallow peep show. And when I write emails to potential sponsors, we'd love to have you participate with the marshmallow peep show. That would be a hard thing. That is the draw. We're very used to it as staff, and we always talking about the peep show, but there are still times that the phrasing is just right, and we still, like school kids, are cracking ourselves up in the office. It doesn't go away.
SPEAKER_00It's humor. It is humor. It's meant to make you feel something. Absolutely. And it's humor. It's good. The peeps come from a place in Pennsylvania called Just Born. Yes. These peeps end up in works of art. And what is the inspiration? How does this work? Are you all making these works of art?
SPEAKER_01Oh, thank goodness no. We have an amazing community that is making these pieces. How it all started was back in 2007. Sandy Ox, our former executive director, she helped see the Arts Council through the transition to the Arts Center, helped really make the Arts Center and the Arts Council what it is today. Saw a post at the Washington Post a call for a peep artwork piece, and you had to submit it or put a picture in. Needless to say, Sandy did not win the Washington Post peep competition, but it had to have built a fire in her because the inspiration, the immediate next year, became the Art Center's Marshmallow Peep Show. So 2008 was the first year of this fundraiser. And at the root of the Peep Show, which we still carry today, is that it is a fundraiser for us, and that has grown over the years. We look at it as a triangle fundraiser, it really is the base, but it is an opportunity for artists to work their magic. It is an open forum with a unique medium and that it is open to everyone. It's open to novices, it's open to professionals, it's open to amateurs, it's open to businesses, school groups. We rarely say no to a peep entry that comes in in the last 19 years. And what is so unique about the peep show is you can't help but smile. As you're putting these entries together, it is an amazing experience. We just had drop off for this year, and the pride that people come in and they show it off, and they're like, this was the hardest and best thing that we've done as a family. It is a very sticky medium to work with. Oh yes. Right? Oh yes. Peeps have a mind of their own for sure. I bet it's kind of soft. Or a lot of folks now, I mean, I think that's what's been great over the last, even my, this is my fourth peep show working with the Arts Council. The creativity in how to utilize a peep, people are throwing them in blenders and making peep paste. They're chopping them up, shredding them, extremely unique. And you have folks that take on the full candy theme. And while they're making a diorama or a sculpture, that 90% of it is physical peeps, how they are creating the world around it is with pretzels and licorice and marshmallows. And it's very ingenious.
SPEAKER_00I'm thinking putting peeps in a blender sounds like the Halloween show. I mean, right there.
SPEAKER_01I've got Rocky Horror right there. Yes. We have diehard peep traditionalists who make their exhibit fully out of peeps. That is for them, they want to present a fully peepified piece of artwork. What we love too is that the criteria is simply it needs to be made or inspired by peeps. Oh, I didn't realize that. So we have beautiful paintings, very funny, I'll call them art puns, where people are, well, maybe one of my favorite is Our Lady of Guadalupe. Oh my goodness. Or there's hundreds, but they take the peep name or bunny or chick or, you know, something within that realm and create these fantastic puns. And that it could be renaming a classic book, Peeps and Prejudice, and they graphic design a book cover. That's a great entry. It brings a smile to your face.
SPEAKER_00You have to smile when you do. Just listening to you. I'm sitting over here grinning and thinking and going, I could peep this out. You know? Yes.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh, that's exactly what it is. People covering a single peep fully in rhinestones. That's brilliant. What I think is so great about it is it is a fundraiser, a creative outlet, which also has a contest. That's the big thing, is the vote chips. You come in, you buy your vote chips, and the audience decides who is the winner. I love that about the peep show is that it's truly an audience choice. It works because of the community. And I think that for us, we love that as the arts council. That right, that third part of the triangle is that it's a place for community gathering. We're open on Easter. We run 11 days, including Easter, and it is become a tradition for so many families. They head to church, they come to the peep show, they go and eat and dinner, they come in and they know they get their big old bag of vote chips. They head out, they're divvying them up. We have diehard peep show fans that come on one of the quieter days, on like our weekdays, go through, take their notes, observe all the entries. Oh my goodness. Then come back with their family on the busy weekend, get all the vote chips, then they know where they're going. It has grown so much. So in 2008, there were 60 entries.
SPEAKER_00I have to admit, I was there for the 2008 show. Oh my god. I took our daughter, who was very young at that point, and wanted to taste the peeps as we went through. So we had to buy peeps to go through the next year because you cannot eat the peeps as you go. Correct. I was there for the initial inaugural year. I was like, that's amazing.
SPEAKER_01So those 60 entries that first year. This year, the 19th anniversary. Oh my god. We had over 207 entries. Once it all panned out, once they're all in, and that includes movie entries, the 3D, 2D. I think in the space, we'll have 195 this year. There are peep movies. Oh my oh, let me tell you.
SPEAKER_00I'm thinking we're just getting peeps glued onto things. Oh no, no, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_01No, oh no. So what's amazing is there's a video entry option. Folks are making stop motion. They're making, oh this just makes me laugh.
SPEAKER_00It's great.
SPEAKER_01It's great.
SPEAKER_00Just the thought of it makes me laugh.
SPEAKER_01There are also animations. One year we had a young man who made a peep video game. We couldn't show it on the movie theater. So we do screen. You can live, we have put them on loop. So when you check out all of the entries, you can also go into our mini movie theater that we make, view all of those, vote for the movies. But he made a peep video game. Scan the QR code, you can play it. It's amazing. Peep movies, they're spoofs. We had a great, like noir private detective, these ingenious ideas. And sometimes they are the actual peep candy or they're peep plush, or they are again like they're using goldfish for a peep to go fishing. Something that I do like about the peep show as well is that we pride ourselves that it is a community participation. And so it's great for a scout troop to put something together. It's great for a youth group to put together, families doing it on their own, like I said, individuals. But I've been amazed at the business participation that as a company, they're putting in an entry. And so you're seeing a tire and auto shop or a paint supply store who you drive past them every day, and the peep show provides them with this amazing creative outlet. And you drive by, and I appreciate as a patron, I go, look at them, look at that business having fun. They are choosing to participate in this community atmosphere. I'm going to think about this organization because I am seeing firsthand their conscious choice. I mean, it's fantastic when organizations are sponsors of the peep show. The peep show is a big event for the arts council to put on. So we love our sponsors and we hope they get a lot of perks with being a part of the peep show. And we always encourage them at the heart of it to make an entry because that's where you're getting all the love. Last year we had over 21,000 people come through the peep show.
SPEAKER_00That's amazing.
SPEAKER_01Isn't amazing?
SPEAKER_00But that speaks to community. And it speaks to something that you and I have talked about. What made you uniquely, and I don't want to take the excitement away from the peeps, but what made you uniquely suited for this position was the ability to take art and your background in theater and your background with youth groups and your ability to talk with people and put them all together into that special building that had a place for your heart and go, I can build community here. I can, and the word you use was gather community. Yes. And that's what this is it's community feeding community. And I wish people could see your eyes. We're gonna have to start YouTubing this because your eyes just light up. Oftentimes we hear, ah, Carroll County doesn't have arts. But this is a community piece that's funny and it's humorous. And it's looking at ourselves going, yeah, we've got arts, we got peeps, we can do all kinds of things with them.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. And I think that is a big misconception about Carol County. I would say that about art in general, is that folks think that they have to understand, I'll air quote that, fine art in order to even come into the art center. Oh, that's for members, that place is for artists, and we're working really hard to dissuade that, to say that our mission is to create access to the arts, to help the community understand the human interaction. For us, it's art, but our goal is community gathering. Our medium is the arts, but a goal is cultural infrastructure within the county.
SPEAKER_00And art happens in so many places. Ah, isn't that absolutely so many of the interviews that we've had in the agricultural community? It's the art of being a farrier. It's the art of making cheese, it's the art of the craftsmanship with the leather.
SPEAKER_01Yes, very much so. And we want to honor that. We want to start making more space for that. We have a great resource in our arts center, and we want to keep that blooming and thriving. And we also need to take that next step in meeting our artists and our community where they are. We don't want the arts council to only be the arts center. We want to be able to nurture both of those worlds. One thing that we really love being a sponsor of, because we arts council wants to go out and sponsor events, something like the Carroll County Studio Tour. I love attending it as a patron. I bring my kids along. I'm like, guys, this is the day. We are going to go see folks at work in their workshops, in their studios. And for us, we pride ourselves in being a sponsor of that so that it continues. We want people to realize that they. There is actually art happening everywhere, which I love. We offer grants and scholarships to the Arts Council that we hope continue to push art into all the corners of the county so that you don't feel like you need to be in a certain location to thrive. And so that if you're in other counties, all you have to do is hop over into Carroll County and there's art right there. It's not mandatory to drive into Westminster or into a certain location. That's a big goal for us right now.
SPEAKER_00And that art can also be gifts. That art can be activities. Yes. That art can be entertainment. There's so many ways that craftsmanship and the quality of craftsmanship really plays into who Carroll County is and what our roots are.
SPEAKER_01I agree. I had a wonderful conversation with a colleague yesterday talking specifically about the Tawnytown culture and arts and growth in that area. And it led us to think that we have a Carroll County mindset, a way of life that I think all of us pride ourselves in, that we value our rural heritage, we value our economic growth in the county. And when we think of the municipalities, how can we help vitalize that? And how can we help each community better identify themselves as a community together? How can we help facilitate that entertainment, those crafts, those vendors? How can the capital A arts help identify smaller pockets of communities? Because I think we have a really good Carroll County community. And once we're all a little more enriched, I think it's just going to keep growing. I think there's a good horizon of community connection on the way. We have a lot of organizations that are coming out of COVID and realizing people are tired of being on their phones and being at home. And that the strength of our community is going to be strength in partnerships and connections, and that we all can't do this by ourselves. And that at the end of the day, it really is a good gathering of the community is going to involve art, hands down.
SPEAKER_00Because after all, branding and marketing is the use of art to promote the function.
SPEAKER_01Exactly.
SPEAKER_00Wow. So I've got to ask this. Okay. You ready for this? Oh, I'm ready for anything now. Okay. It's Easter. There are two things that happen at Easter bunnies and peeps. So has Bad Bunny made an appearance at the Peep Show?
SPEAKER_01I am so glad you asked. Yes. Yes. We have, I believe it's three different Bad Bunny entries this year, which I love all of them. I'm coming just for that. You have to. We have one that actually I'll spoil alert for you. Okay. Spoiler alert. Hold your ears. Here we go. Former executive director Sandy Ox. Her entry this year is a light up marquee bunny with sunglasses. He has a bad, like a peeps logo chain. He's in the grass of the halftime show. It's a great entry. It lights up. We have one diorama that has a little push button that plays music.
SPEAKER_00Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_01So you can jam out to the latest Bad Bunny tunes while walking around. It's fantastic. It's always great to see which pop culture icon is going to be made in peeps at any given culture. Last year it was wicked. We had so many peep glindas and alpha buzz, which was wonderful. We have plenty of uh, I'm sorry to do it, plenty of six seven entries this year. I know. Totally real. We were hoping we'd be able to get away with none, but the peep show is the pulse of pop culture. I will tell you that.
SPEAKER_00Okay, the peeps have got the pulse.
SPEAKER_01They do. If it's happening, it's gonna be made into peeps for sure.
SPEAKER_00All right, so if we want to be a participant in this peep pop parade, where do we go?
SPEAKER_01The 19th annual peep show is being held at Town Mall in Westminster, and we are in the former Sears space in the mall. And so you can get to the Peep Show from any entrance at the mall. We love that it is big, wide open, free parking. We have an entrance from the inside, and you jump in the line, grab your vote chips, and the first thing you get to do is view all the entries. Like I said, we're looking at 195 entries this year. Wow. It's amazing. We've had to start putting a second vote chip station halfway through because people will buy 50 vote chips, get halfway through. They're so good this year, and then they're like, I need 20 more chips. I need more vote chips so I can make it through to the end. We try to space them out. We want to make sure that there's a 2D, a 3D, a diorama, an oversize. We have the highest amount of oversized entries that we've ever had. 49 of the entries this year are over two feet big in any direction. Some of them are eight feet tall. That's what I love about the peep show is that they're. I'm trying to picture eight feet of peeps.
SPEAKER_00That gives a whole new meeting to the peepers. You're out. I mean, wow.
SPEAKER_01Yes, it's absolutely amazing.
SPEAKER_00An eight-foot peep di something or rather.
SPEAKER_01Okay, I'm gonna come just to see the eight-foot peep diorama thing or so we've had last year an amazing balloon artist made a 13-foot peep bunny out of balloons.
SPEAKER_00That sounds terrifying and enthralling at the same time.
SPEAKER_01It was bright yellow, it illuminated the space. It was a great entry. And that's what I think is also wonderful is we have craftsmen and artistry is that whatever your medium is, you could peep theme it. If you're a leather smith, great. Make some peep belts. If you're a blacksmith, I would love to. Oh, could you imagine? I'm seeing it now. I'm gonna go home and grab some horseshoes and make a little peep bunny out of. Oh, I'm loving it. Uh-oh, the inspiration's going. Jeez. The inspiration's going. Oh, something I didn't say that we're doing new this year. It's called the Community Resource Garden. And because there is so much space at the mall, and we only use about a third of it, we're opening up the public restrooms this year, which is a big hallelujah from a lot of our patrons instead of having to go to the mall. But to bridge the gap between the actual peep show event space and where the restrooms are, we are inviting for free nonprofits, civic organizations, human resource organizations to set up tables and sort of create a human resource corridor. I was at a Westminster Common Council meeting a couple months ago, and there was someone from a department who stood up and went, look, we're just not getting the traction we want in this program. And they said, Well, you could always, of course, have another resource fair. And everyone groaned and went, no one is attending a resource fair. No family is dragging kids to a resource fair. And I thought, man, it's a shame there's not some event, some fun event where you could sort of happen upon great community resources. Then I thought, we have one. I think it is our natural obligation to utilize the peep show. What other event gets 21,000 people into it and they stay?
SPEAKER_00We'll be right back and continue this conversation. Welcome back to Raising Connections. The first time I ever went to the Arts Center, it was because there were old movies that were being shown. Yes. Do you still show old movies?
SPEAKER_01We do. We have a group called Film Lovers in Carroll County, lovingly called the Flick Club. And they are our in-house club of movie lovers, aficionados. They come together and help us choose the movie programming throughout our year. And they are great at picking classics, modern movies. They do our documentary series, foreign film festival, and then they put in great classics. We've had old silent movies before. But one thing that we really enjoy doing during October is having a Scary Tales evening week. So we do an old scary movie, then we have our improv group, or we have a magician, then we end it with Rocky Horror Picture Show, our annual screening. And it's great. We've had picked it in the past as staff, but in recent years, we went to the experts and we said, Flick, can you help us pick a really good classic scary movie? So we are. And people come to our 1937s movie theater to see a 1930s movie. You can't get better than that.
SPEAKER_00Oh wow. All right. So I have to ask, do you get popcorn?
SPEAKER_01I have eaten so much popcorn since working at the Arts Council. Yes, always fresh popcorn at all of our movies. For 99% of our events, we always have concessions. We had stopped having popcorn during our classical music concerts. Some of our pianists were getting a little frustrated by the crunching. So there are exceptions, but yes, if you're seeing a movie at the arts center, there will be popcorn available.
SPEAKER_00That's a great entryway into the arts of Carroll County. Do you find the reason that people come to the movies is to say, oh, this is the way for me to enter into the arts community? I'm kind of doubting that. My thought is maybe it's I'm meeting my friends from here and my friends from there, and we need something to do in between.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Our films are a great gateway to the arts. One of my favorite observations or quotes that happens in our lobby is a group of friends go and have lunch on Main Street. They come to the matinee, or they see the matinee and they are going out. And one group comes in, another group comes in, they open arms, look at each other. You see the people you know when you come to the arts center. And that for me warms my heart that we are providing an arts opportunity. One of our biggest impact focuses is creating gathering places for the community. Of course, we want them to be arts focused. We want it to be strengthening the cultural infrastructure of the county. But for us, a success is creating a community gathering space. So movies are really the best opportunity for that.
SPEAKER_00I love that. And the concert pianist and the crunching. I hadn't thought about that. But I see how that might be.
SPEAKER_01It can be distracting for sure.
SPEAKER_00But that speaks to the different types of entertainment. It's not just the theater center. Absolutely. It's a concert pianist. So what else happens at the art center?
SPEAKER_01There's so much, and we're working really hard to widen that range. We've done a lot of work over the year to identify who are our audiences that come and are currently attending, but also who are the folks that really live in Carroll County and what is programming we can offer for them. So in a big nutshell, we have our films. So we work with Flick and we are screening monthly or every other month movies, our big documentary and farm film festival. Then in the live performance world, we have a partnership with Common Ground on the Hill. So we do six concerts a year with them. They have such a wealth of national and international artists with all of Walt Michael's work that he's done. And so that partnership allows us to have a tie-in regionally. So if folks in Carroll County aren't able to go see a great bluegrass artist because they always play in Nashville, our partnership with Common Ground lets us bring that artist to the art center. On the flip side, then we do our own programming. We have our headliner series, we like to call it, or our legacy series, where we are featuring a great artist like Billy Live, who's in the community, or partnering with a local group. Jake Fine presents. He is a great artist himself and he is producing music throughout the county and working with Jake. We have so many great local artists that we want to also showcase at the art center. So we have live music, right? Then we have our holiday specials, Thielen Irish Dance. We've been hosting them for, I believe, over 15 years. And that has become such a classic where people know their St. Patrick's weekend is going to involve the Tielon Irish dancers at the Arts Center. Folks like Charlie Brown Jazz, you can see the Charlie Brown Christmas Jazz at the Weinberg. You can see it a lot over the region, but we do hold it close to our heart that the Arts Council helped co-found the Charlie Brown Christmas Jazz. So that has become a tradition as well. In addition to film and live performances, we have a lot of education opportunities. We produce up to six children's theater shows a year.
SPEAKER_00Now, is that to be observed by children or to include children? To include children.
SPEAKER_01And it's wonderful. We have semester-long programs where elementary school or middle school students audition, they're in a show, and they are learning the ins and outs of putting on a production. That carries over to summer camps that we have, one week, two-week long. Then we have just educational programming as well. A great class, take the stage drama class. It is improv. It's teaching kids about public speaking. It is theater engagement without the stress of putting on a show, which is very nice. It's a, again, a good gateway into the performing arts. On top of that, in our classroom, we're offering adult education classes, watercolor, figure drawing. We had a really great jewelry making class a few weeks ago, our kids' classes. We're working towards more open studio time as well. We offer a teen open studio class where there isn't a set curriculum. The students have an open forum with whatever medium they want to bring their own artwork with them, to work with our instructor, to utilize our giant craft and supply cabinet. And then they know they can leave the work there over a six or seven week period, and they can have dedicated time to hone their own personal style. And I think that it works very well for that age. Our students in high school are needing a dedicated place to experiment. In schools, there's a lot of curriculum that you're matching, and you do have some flexibility in there, but we wanted to offer an opportunity for students to explore. So that's been a very successful program for us.
SPEAKER_00And it sounds as if the arts center is a center for the arts. It's not performing arts. And there's a difference in that.
SPEAKER_01There is a big difference in that. And we're looking to really go beyond that in the next few years is to look at becoming less of a Westminster destination where you are solely coming to the arts center to sort of have a transaction with us. Buy a ticket, see a concert, and thank you for coming. We hope you come again. And developing more of an arts ecosystem throughout the county. And what is the arts council's job as an arts agent for the county? How can we grow to not only utilize the amazing space we have as a resource, but spread that love across the county? We're looking at a lot more ways to share the impact we're making. The scholarships that we have, the grant opportunities. We're on track this year alone to help facilitate around$270,000 on behalf of artists within the county. So that's money that we are either hosting a gallery, we are hosting an exhibition, and that money is moving within the county because an arts council program was in place. We haven't calculated that, I believe, in the past. So it's sort of a root number for us to start looking at how can we make that grow? How can we make sure that our artists are getting the highest commission we can? How can we make sure that we have equitable payment for all of our artists, whether they're local and live right down the street, and we want to create a space where they can be a professional at the art center, then we're gonna put them through that pro that pro program. Pro program. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00I love it. The gateway drug for me was the peep show. And sugar is a drug for me. All right, so when we come back, you should see the smile that just went over Steven's face. Steven, if we want to attend the peep show, if we want to get involved, how do we do that?
SPEAKER_01It is so easy. Registration opens February 1st every year. The difficult part is because Peep Show revolves around Easter, the dates of Peep Show are different every year. So February 1st hits a rush of registrations, and then you're checking your calendar. Remember when Peep Show is coming, you gotta build that entry. But it's very easy. It's a$10 registration, and that allows us to keep the Peep Show event free. That is a huge goal for us. We talk about access to the arts. It's amazing how we've been able to have our largest fundraiser is the Peep Show. And yet we have been able to keep it free to the public since its inception. And that is a huge goal for us.
SPEAKER_00And it's a gathering place of community.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. And that will always be key is that we want to make sure that that is accessible. I mean, I've heard people say, look, I can't come to the art center for that concert for whatever reason. I'm not missing the peep show, right? We want to create as many touch points for people to be involved and have stake in that impact that we're creating for the community. And the peep show is just a big legacy piece of that.
SPEAKER_00I love it. So we're going to the website, we're showing up. It's free. It's at the town mall in Westminster. Come in where the old Sears was around the back and enjoy the peep show. Yes. Be involved, be part of the community.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. That's what we want is creating programming for all ages, all interests, all abilities. Our vision is for everyone to enjoy, pursue, and understand what the arts can mean to them.
SPEAKER_00I love it. Thank you for being part of our listenership. And thank you. We hope you finished your cup of coffee and you've made some connections, and maybe you drowned a peep in your coffee this morning. We'll see you at the Peep Show. Thank you, Stephen. Thank you. I hope the connections we've raised today stay with you as you engage your community through critters, companions, commerce, and agriculture. Join me again next week. We'll make some more connections. This program is a production of Raising Connections Media Company, hosted and produced by Rashan Mayer and edited and mixed by Robin Temple.