Release Date: Wednesday, May 30th 2012

Betty Mae Kramer Gallery & Music Room Opens New Exhibit

BETTY MAE KRAMER GALLERY & MUSIC ROOM OPENS NEW EXHIBIT Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC) announces that the Kramer Gallery will present a solo exhibition of works by SAMANTHA RITCHIE, the 2012 recipient of the Ida F. Haimovicz Visual Arts Award. A recent graduate of Albert Einstein High School in Kensington, MD, Ms Ritchie will receive a $3,000 cash award on Tuesday, June 12 at 6:30 PM at the reception for her exhibition at the Betty Mae Kramer Gallery and Music Room inside the Silver Spring Civic Building in downtown Silver Spring...  Ritchie, a member of the class of 2012 at Einstein High School and its Visual Arts Center, notes that “Art is an essential part of my life. I have always been artistic and I have grown up in a world of art. Foremost, my parents are artists. At home, art supplies are plentiful and I am surrounded by a library of art books and a wealth of inspiration from the family artifacts we collect and display. My parents never forced art on me but it was always such an integral part of my upbringing that it was inescapable and, thankfully, I have no desire to escape. Through art making, I am able to explore my environment in a different way that is personal to me.”  Ritchie will study art at Cooper Union in New York City in the fall...  

The Ida F. Haimovicz Visual Arts Award, now in its fifteenth year, was established by the family of the late Ida F. Haimovicz to support a Montgomery County high school senior intent on pursuing a visual arts career. The Haimovicz Award is administered by the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County.  At age 64, Mrs. Haimovicz, a resident of North Bethesda, attended a sculpture class at the Corcoran Gallery of Art.  This class started Mrs. Haimovicz on a much-loved hobby, says her son Joseph Hamer. I Mrs. Haimovicz wanted to provide financial aid to deserving high school students to enjoy their creativity while still young.  For more information about the Haimovicz Visual Arts Award and this exhibit, contact Michelle Grove at michelle.grove@creativemoco.com or  301-565-3805  x28. On display Friday, June 1 to Friday, June 29, 2012 from 9AM to 6PM, Monday – Friday. Opening reception and presentation of award on Tuesday, June 12 from 6:00 – 7:30PM Betty Mae Kramer Gallery and Music Room, Silver Spring Civic Building