The Salisbury Wicomico Arts Council - SWAC
1967 57th2024
Programs of the Salisbury Wicomico Arts Council are supported in part by the:
The Instrument barn program designed to give any underserved child in Wicomico County the
opportunity to play an instrument, has been a gift of joy to both parents and child, a valuable tool
to teachers and a credit to our schools and community with improved academics. Statistics prove
that children involved with the arts have higher test scores, lower truancy rate, and strong character.
Additionally, The Instrument Barn program addresses the issue of narrowing the achievement gap
while encouraging youth civic engagement. SWAC seeks from the community donations of gently
used instruments that are then repaired, cleaned, refurbished and distributed to the student. The
Student can use the instrument until high school graduation, and then the instrument stays with the
school to be issued again. Hats off to The Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore who helped
initiate the IB program 11 years ago and continues the support, through grants. 
The community efforts to rebuild downtown to its former glory, bringing back the 60’s art of small town shopping and neighboring with cups
of coffee on main street, has become a contagious good for our downtown home. SWAC strongly support downtown revitalization and 3rd
Friday, and participates with a different themed arts event each month, urging folks to “Take a dip in the arts for free” enticing those who may
not consider ballet or opera but who by stopping at the SWAC booth find that the arts are enriching, fun and painless after all. SWAC 3rd Fri
events range from dog days art, Irish dance, poetry, film to German Polkas! “So grab a cup of black, come taste the arts, come downtown on 3rd Friday’s and come home.”
The Salisbury Film Society presents foreign independent and classic films that are rare and usually not available in this region. Eight films a year are shown on Sunday afternoons. All film showings are at Salisbury University in the Perdue Building room 156. Doors open at 2pm and film starts at 2:30pm Single and season tickets are available. Click Here
The Salisbury Film Society was created in Spring 2003 in order to make available to our community quality, thought- provoking films not otherwise seen on the Southern Eastern Shore. Past enriching experiences such as Beth Israel Synagogue partnered with SWAC to introduce the dramatic true story “Defiant Requiem” depicting the courage and resilience of people enabled by the arts, as Nazi concentration camp prisoners create an underground orchestra. SWAC was honored and thrilled to have Murry Sidlin, the Maestro and Music Director of the film, attend the screening and facilitate the post film group discussion. The Salisbury Wicomico Arts Council in gratitude with Salisbury University as partner, was able to show award winning “Boyhood” in timely fashion the same week the Academy Awards gave the film the coveted Oscar!“It is exciting when a Salisburian comes home from the big city to share their gifts, Ilyana has a heart for the arts with a focus on social justice, and we are proud to have her on the SWAC team! Wicomico County is brimming with great talent in the arts, this event is one example and an opportunity to applaud our own, while enjoying an inspiring film!”See Current Films and Purchase Tickets >>
As in every age, elders sometimes worry about the future of our world when observing today’s youth, but after meeting Kieran Murphy and Kaya Manizade local high school students, one can rest easy. These
two accomplished pianists came to SWAC with a plan to raise funds for the Instrument Barn program, stating that “they had been fortunate to have piano lessons, while other children are not, and they wanted to give
back.” “Classics for a Cause” is now an annual event involving local students, a variety of entertainment, and student event management. Young people have a unique opportunity to gain valuable marketing, event
management and performing experience, and create a prestigious resume tool for their future...
"All the performers were nervous, there's pressure to do well in front of the audience, to play something with perfect poise and technique, and internal pressure to be happy with your performance. Waiting to perform was stressful, but we all supported each other. Walking out, seeing everyone, all the emotions climaxed and I felt proud that the practices were paying off. I became immersed in the music, and as I conquered difficult passages, it was exhilarating to deliver this gift! I'm extremely grateful that I was given the opportunity to play at such an important event and support my community; thank you so much SWAC!" LOCAL MUSIC STUDENTS CONTACT SWAC TO BECOME INVOLVED WITH CLASSICS FOR A CAUSE!
“One November night, our futuristic worries became a peaceful lullaby as the music and character of Kieran and Kaya assured us . . we have nothing to fear.”
SWAC’s magazine Accent on the Arts in brilliant color and complete with a three month pull out calendar of arts events is mailed to SWAC members. As a SWAC member benefit Accent print space and SWAC email and Facebook marketing
promotions are offered for member news/event promotion as time, staff and frequency permits. Accent on the Arts keeps the community
abreast of arts advocacy, arts education, arts promotion and a plethora of county wide arts entertainment events
taking place right here at home.
Every year Over 300 MCA (MD Citizens for the Arts) CAAM
(County Arts Agencies of Maryland) MSAC (MD State Arts Council)
arts enthusiasts, SWAC, Senators, and Delegates, fill the House and
Senate Buildings in Annapolis to educate, motivate, award, and
advocate the great value of the arts as an economic and academic
engine.
As Governor Larry Hogan now acclimated to his position and sold
on the power of the arts, combined with state-wide team efforts,
unique strategy by MCA, and CAAM making arts soul mates with
lovely Yumi Hogan, whose duel platform is arts in education and homelessness, has had
epic results: The FY 2020 State budget proposed by Governor Hogan is a record
$24.4 million in funding for the arts, including the transfer of the Special Fund for
the Preservation of Cultural Arts directly to the Maryland State Arts Council and adds
the amount transferred to the base arts appropriation for the purpose of calculating the
following year’s funding, based on the 1994 Arts Stabilization Act!
Maryland is a leading state in the nation for arts funding, with all eyes on us
as we prove that when you support the arts, you support yourselves.
SWAC first celebrated Christmas in the Capital a few years ago when
SWAC CAD grant recipient Poplar Hill Mansion’s 4 Seasons Garden Club, spear headed by SWAC Board Member Dr. Sharon Clark,
(pictured here) created a Wicomico County Christmas tree and presented it to Governor Hogan and Mrs. Hogan. SWAC was
excited to fund the tree project, promoting the arts of our county beyond our borders!
In FY19 the 4 Season’s Garden Club enhanced the project by asking SWAC to create an “ARTS ORNAMENT” to be presented to
Governor and Mrs. Hogan, to literally “hang SWAC on the tree!” SWAC Staff worked tediously to produce the ornament pictured here,
with every detail of the arts and SWAC possible in one creation, topped with a photo of Mrs. Hogan speaking at the SWAC 2017
50th Anniversary Luncheon as our honored guest! It is reported that Mrs. Hogan was so taken by the ornament with her
image, that she requested to “keep it forever”. Mrs. Hogan is an amazing artist and art professor, she has been a strong voice for
increased arts funding for Maryland, and we are thrilled to be on her tree, and for her to hold us in her heart! 
Do you believe in the power of the arts, like to entertain, and have a lovely home you would like to share with SWAC members and arts enthusiasts? Then pick your theme; Spring Derby Day on your deck with mint juleps and big hats? Winter Super Bowl
excitement in your home theater? SWAC coordinates, promotes, sells tickets, and provides labor; you supply food drink and
entertainment, and then enjoy the gasps of awe as guests tour your home! SWAC is grateful to former SWAC Board Member
Palmer Gillis and his beautiful wife Sandy, for hosting the first SWAC T.H.P.F.T.A, raising $3895 for SWAC! The fun was
themed as a Key West Island Paradise complete with beach ambiance summer foods, and Jimmy Buffet sounds as E.S. Celebrity
Randy Lee Ashcraft & the Saltwater Cowboys performed to a breathtaking bay sunset. In 2017 Don and Lynn Taylor took us
around the world with arts, culture, music and foods from 7 countries all in their beautiful home, as we traveled with a Passport to the Arts!”
WHOSE home will SWAC showcase next, WHAT theme will you choose, WHEN can we visit, WHERE does your artistic soul dwell, WHO will care for the arts,
and WHY open your home to SWAC? Because, “For 50 years more, Give to SWAC and SWAC Gives Back!”
When you’re flipping the channels looking for great TV with
local flare, stop the remote on PAC 14 to enjoy the SWAC show “Arts for Better Living” NOW FILMED
LIVE ON LOCATION “bringing the arts to the people and bringing the people to the arts”. Every month
SWAC visits a performance or exhibit and brings great entertainment and stimulating interviews with
artists and community leaders, right into your home! Contact SWAC one month in advance if you have
an arts event going on and will pack a camera and come capture the moment on film for all to see! Keep
abreast of SWAC energy and participate in our arts advocacy efforts by staying informed and tuned in! 
Warm your spirit and cool your body at SWAC’s Fountain of Our Youth, located in the
City Park at the Zoo’s west entrance. This community celebration of our children is a
lovely pergola style structure emanating a fine mist from multiple nozzles. Surrounding
the fountain are bricks engraved with children’s names, and empty areas waiting for
another child’s life to be born, celebrated, honored, or introduced to the world of the arts, with a personalized brick. 
SWAC Facebook!
