Chesapeake Arts Center Leaders Win Annie Awards from the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County
Congratulations to Executive Director Donna Anderson and VP/Artistic Director Nicole Caracia for winning “Annie Awards” from the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County at a ceremony at Maryland Hall on October 12, 2023. This year marked the 23rd annual presentation of these prestigious arts awards honoring one member of the Anne Arundel County community in each of nine categories: Arts Education, Arts Leadership, Arts Maverick, Arts Patron, Historic Arts, Literary Arts, Performing Arts, Visual Arts, and Lifetime Achievement in the Arts.
Donna & Nicole. Photo courtesy of Nyia Curtis.
Anderson won the Arts Leadership Award which is given to an individual or organization that has made significant contributions to the county’s arts community through guidance, mentorship, inclusivity, and innovation. Caracia won the Arts Maverick Award, given to an individual who has provided a fresh and innovative approach to the arts with a significant impact on the community. This is the first time that any member of the CAC staff has received an Annie Award in CAC’s history or in Annie Awards history. Congratulations to them both on these honors.
Donna Anderson, Arts Leadership. Photo courtesy of Nyia Curtis.
Below are the introductory remarks and the videos about Donna and Nicole shared at the awards ceremony.
It is said that the primary job of a leader is to foster the development of the next generation of leadership. Donna Anderson demonstrates this every day in her work as the Executive Director at the Chesapeake Arts Center, where her senior staff members collectively nominated her for this award. They commended not only what she has done for the organization and its surrounding community, but also the support and mentorship she offers for their own careers.
Donna accepted the position of Executive Director just weeks before the pandemic. Her unwavering leadership during that time played a critical role in enabling CAC to not only survive but thrive while so many other arts organizations were struggling. Through it all, Donna ensured that no employees were laid off or furloughed, even committing to pay event crew members for months when performances were cancelled. After that, she moved crew members into other roles, providing them with an income stream. Donna sought out every possible source of grant funding to keep the organization financially sound. She worked diligently with her staff to offer virtual and later outdoor and socially distanced programming that could keep the community engaged.
With Donna’s leadership, CAC weathered the storm and emerged a stronger organization. During her tenure CAC has seen membership boom, class attendance triple, opening of a new gallery space, expansion of the ceramics program from one classroom to three, an increase in community partners and performances, staff growth, and much, much more.
Most of you know that Donna brought with her to CAC a wealth of previous experience as an arts leader in Anne Arundel County, much of it at Maryland Hall. Leading Marketing and Development here, her communication skills and administrative and staff mentorship – and sense of humor – helped the organization to become what it is today.
Through her work in positions of leadership at both of our community’s major arts centers, Donna Anderson has helped to make Anne Arundel County a better place the arts.
Nicole Caracia, Arts Maverick. Photo courtesy of Nyia Curtis.
Nicole Caracia came to Chesapeake Arts Center in 2013 as Marketing Director, where she coined the tagline, “Your Home to Be Creative.” That phrase still stands today because she has made CAC home for so many!
Nicole has infused her own creativity into every position she has held at CAC, where she is currently Vice President and Artistic Director. She has focused on erasing the physical, social, and financial barriers to the arts for the underserved communities in the area, in order to make CAC’s creative programming available to all. Over the last decade Nicole’s many accomplishments have included:
Forging partnerships with surrounding schools to offer free art classes to after-school students.
Opening CAC’s galleries to artists from all walks of life, giving them the opportunity to exhibit and sell their work.
Initiating the Student Internship program with AACPS, working closely with students as supervisor and mentor.
Organizing and distributing arts supply kits during the pandemic so all students could have art-making materials at home.
Collaborating with AACPS on the Arts Empowered Minds Initiative, an NEA grant-funded project to increase access to arts education programming in Northern Anne Arundel County.
Organizing a professional development series at CAC, offering free adult arts classes to teachers, to deepen their understanding of the various art forms.
Working with Baltimore City Parks and Recreation and PVA students on a program whereby the older adults wrote and drew pictures about their experiences relating to racism and civil rights in the 1960s, and the younger students paired with them to read these stories aloud. It was CAC’s first multi-generational program, and undoubtedly had a long-term effect on the students – it was not only an arts program, but also a history lesson.
Nicole is herself an artist, owner of Charm City Studios and an award-winning photographer. In her “spare time” she freelances for Live Nation photographing musicians and concerts, working tirelessly into the wee hours of the morning.
An accomplished artist, educator, leader, and mentor, Nicole Caracia is also a free-thinker and non-conformist, never compromising her strong commitment to the arts – a true Arts Maverick.
Photo courtesy of Nyia Curtis.