Stephen Strosnider has been named executive director of the Carroll County Arts Council, after serving as interim executive director since June. Before that, the 35-year-old New Windsor resident was the organization’s assistant director of programs and communications since October 2022.
“Even during that interim position, the board was very supportive in letting me make decisions and guide us,” Strosnider said. “Now, in the full-time executor directive position, I’m very excited to lay out some more long-term plans, to get us back to the roots of our mission, where we are looking for ways to serve every citizen in the community.”
The executive director should be passionate about connecting people with the arts, competent at handling grants, knowledgeable about technology, and skilled at teamwork and management, Lynn Wheeler, of New Windsor, said in June, and Strosnider has each of those traits. Wheeler was Carroll County Arts Council board of directors’ president at the time.
“I will bring a great energy to the building, to our efforts and to the community,” Strosnider said. “We’ve had executive directors who were fine artists and musicians, and now there’s a theater person, and I think my background in performing arts brings a lot of resilience. It brings a lot of event and logistics knowledge and experience.
“I think that theater artists and performing arts practitioners have a great ability to pivot and to assess current situations, and make executive decisions that are for the best interest of the whole. In theater and in performing arts, it is collaborative, it is a community, and the goal of the end product is community-based.”
Lynne Griffith, the art council’s previous executive director, left the organization after two-and-a-half years, according to a June 12 news release.
Wheeler said the board of directors and Griffith, “mutually agreed that we were going to pursue another direction.”
Strosnider and Wheeler agreed that Griffith would be remembered for ushering in an era of more diverse programming while leading the Arts Council, including the inception of Carroll County’s Black American Film Festival.
Strosnider said he was considered for the role as part of the arts council’s internal candidate search. Prior to joining the arts council, Strosnider worked as a technical director and theater facilities coordinator at McDaniel College, Glenelg Country School and Carroll Community College. Throughout his career in education, he has taught courses in stagecraft, acting, and civil engineering and architecture. He also brings experience in acting and directing.
Strosnider grew up in Sykesville and Keymar, and discovered his love for the arts as a young actor at Francis Scott Key High School. The Carroll Countian earned a bachelor’s of fine arts in acting from Shenandoah University, which he said prepared him well for his career.
“We were trained in stage management, we were trained in bookkeeping and finances, we were trained in backstage,” Stosnider said. “I was able to learn the ropes in every possible career, and not just in a superficial way, but it was extremely hands-on. Without a doubt, those four years were instrumental in my being able to pursue things.”
As the assistant director, Strosnider helped use technology to improve operations. In his role as interim executive director, Stosnider said he learned a lot about the council and its storied history, as well as hiring new staff and introducing a plan to close the arts center most days in January.
A part-time program assistant and a part-time administrative assistant have been added, Strosnider said. Within the next six months, the arts council plans to hire a full-time visual arts professional and a full-time operations professional.
The arts center will also be closed most days in January, Strosnider said, so staff can get on the same page about responsibilities and goals. The center will remain open on Fridays in January, which coincides with the council’s documentary series, before opening full-tilt with a Feb. 1 concert. January is always the council’s slowest month, Stosnider added.
“We can regroup,” Strosnider said, “and we can look at roles and responsibilities, which is a very exciting thing. The most productive companies are the folks that know exactly what they’re supposed to be doing, where they can grow, and where they can look for for more opportunities, so that’s something that we’re very excited about. The adage for a lot of organizations is, ‘You’re putting the plane together while it’s in the air,’ so we all looked at each other and went, ‘You know what? Let’s just land the plane. Is there any reason why we can’t?’ So, we’re going to do it.”
The director said he aims to maintain and strengthen ties with Carroll County Public Schools, Common Ground on the Hill, Carroll County’s Chamber of Commerce, municipal governments in Carroll County and the Greater Baltimore Committee. The council partners with the school system to bring arts-related programing to schools or bring students to events. Partnering with Common Ground on the Hill helps the council attract more high-profile acts and artists.
“We have partnerships to bring in the big names and the big entertainment,” Stosnider said, “but we also need to find those places to serve the culture and the heritage that we have right here at home. Having that nice balance is going to, I think, continue to solidify why the Arts Council is so important for the community.”
The council has a symbiotic relationship with county tourism, Strosnider said, as improving the quality of life in Carroll will attract more residents, which will result in more funds for the arts council. Improving quality of life by enhancing access to the arts is always worthwhile, he added. Strosnider is participating in the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Carroll program this year.
The arts council’s mission is supporting artistic education and expression, based in Westminster’s Carroll Arts Center, at 91 W. Main St., a historic building constructed as a movie theater in 1933.
The nonprofit is known for hosting the popular annual PEEPshow and Festival of Wreaths fundraising events, hosting performances at the arts center, and contributing thousands of dollars each year to support the arts in Carroll County. PEEPshow is the county’s largest annual event for tourism. The arts council had a fiscal 2023 operating budget of more than $1 million and receives major funding from The Maryland State Arts Council, Carroll County Department of Recreation & Parks and the City of Westminster, according to Strosnider.
In the coming years, the organization will celebrate the 90th anniversary of the arts center’s historic building, the 60th anniversary of the Carroll County Arts Council and the 30th anniversary of Westminster’s ownership of the arts center.
“You don’t need to be a fine arts person to enjoy our galleries, and you don’t need to be a musical theater kid to come and enjoy a performance in the theater,” Strosnider said. “Our goal is to curate and provide multiple, numerous and a broad spectrum of arts opportunities so that people can come and see what they love, or come and learn to love something new. That’s where we’re going to move forward with the goal, to go back to celebrating the local talent that we have.
“Carroll County is teeming with a vibrant and talented arts community, and I interpret our mission to be celebrating that. It’s our goal to celebrate our own.”
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