ABOUT US
LEADERSHIP
Founded in 2013, Merriweather Arts and Culture Center (MACC) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and its leadership consists of a nine-member board of directors— Candace Dodson Reed (Chair), Ken Ulman (Vice-Chair), Debbie Ellinghaus (Secretary), Jeff Lavis (Treasurer), Maurice Bellan, Lou Ulman, Greg Fitchitt, Elizabeth Kromm, and Barry Curtis. Ian Kennedy serves as MACC's Executive Director.
PARTNERS
The Merriweather Arts and Culture Center owes much of its success to partnerships. Notably, Howard County Government and the State of Maryland have provided significant financial support to the redevelopment of Merriweather Post Pavilion, and operating support to MACC. Additionally, the organization is supported in part by the Maryland State Arts Council. In 2018, MACC and the Columbia Festival of the Arts signed a collaboration agreement to expand the operational and programmatic reach of both organizations, and set the stage for new, dynamic events and programming in and around Downtown Columbia. The organization also benefits from other key community sponsors, including Visit Howard County Maryland and the Howard County Arts Council, who help support MACC's operations and fulfill its mission.
OUR MISSION, VISION, AND VALUES
Mission: The Merriweather Arts and Culture Center is a non-profit community organization dedicated to growing arts, culture and community in Merriweather Post Pavilion and throughout Downtown Columbia. As owners of Merriweather Post Pavilion, we work to enhance this cultural centerpiece—and the majestic woodland park that surrounds it—through artistic and community programs and stewardship. In collaboration with community partners, businesses, government, and educational institutions, we produce, present and promote artistic and learning programs that engage, uplift, and inspire.
Vision: Our vision is to lead a thriving cultural ecosystem in Downtown Columbia where our local, regional, and global communities come together to celebrate the best of our cultures and experience the joy and wonder of the arts. Through a constellation of places and programs, Downtown Columbia is a place where art happens regularly, spontaneously, and inclusively.
Values:
We strive to ensure that artistic and cultural opportunities are available and appealing to all residents of Columbia.
We believe the arts can help build community and that they are an important component in fulfilling the values upon which Columbia was founded.
We are committed to being transparent and responsive to the community.
Our success depends on partnerships and collaboration with the many existing arts and community groups who share our vision and aspirations for Downtown Columbia.
We want to expand the presence and reach of artistic and cultural programming in Columbia, including creating new spaces or incorporating art into existing spaces.
MACC believes in supporting visionary programming and activities that reflect and engage our diverse community.
We provide programs and activities to make Merriweather Post Pavilion accessible and appreciated by our diverse community, especially youth and families.
We aim to spark joy, creativity and connection to help contribute to the vibrancy of our community and local region.
We aim to help provide engaging opportunities for every community member to be inspired and amazed by the magic of the arts.
Together, the owners and operators of Merriweather Post Pavilion affirm that:
We will engage in efforts to conceive, create, and produce artistic, cultural, and entertainment programs that are inclusive and inviting to the residents of Columbia and the broader region - seeking to be visionary, forward-looking, and responsive to the social and cultural context of the times.
We will nurture the critical connections that build and bolster a sense of community and a sense of place through programming and operations that are designed and implemented with intention.
We will continually assess our operations, leadership, and communications to ensure that we are rooted in these values and accountable to them.
We recognize that we are part of a larger constellation of arts and community spaces and programs, and that our success is tied to our ability to be a good partner, collaborator, and neighbor.
We recognize that music and the arts present important opportunities to consider and contemplate the unique challenges we face as a society, and we support the free expression of ideas and activism at Merriweather and throughout our community.
We will continue to foster and seek to perfect an environment where artists and guests are comfortable, feel welcome, and know that their needs will be accommodated.
We are committed to the work of identifying and eliminating biases in our operations and programming, while collaborating with stakeholders in our community to broadly and effectively promote, observe, and uphold these values.
OUR VENUE
Nestled in the wooded heart of downtown Columbia, Maryland, Merriweather Post Pavilion (MPP) is a world-renowned amphitheater designed by Frank Gehry that has hosted the biggest acts in music and performing arts over the last five decades. MACC recently oversaw a comprehensive renovation of the venue—the first in nearly 50 years—that has enhanced MPP’s status as a home for top-notch artistic, cultural, and entertainment events for decades to come. This renovation included project major upgrades to the Merriweather stagehouse, backstage, fan services plazas, and seating area, as well as the creation of its new, signature “SkyLawns” featuring elevated general admission seating on grassy knolls above the pavilion’s seats.
Beyond Merriweather, Columbia is experiencing an exciting evolution. Long envisioned as the vibrant town center, Downtown is realizing its full potential following the passage of a community-driven master plan in 2010. That plan followed years of discussions about the future of the city - new residential, commercial, and retail development, and community enhancements that will transform Downtown into a dynamic place to live, work, and play.
More than a decade since the plan passed, Downtown’s transformation is well underway. The former Rouse Company headquarters building has been redeveloped and holds Howard County's only Whole Foods Market, along with community gathering spaces that add vitality to Columbia's Lakefront. The Metropolitan brought new, high-quality housing and dining options to Downtown, and an open-air expansion at the Mall in Columbia added a variety of new retailers and restaurants. Just to the south of Merriweather Post Pavilion, a new hub of culture and commerce is emerging, bearing the name of the venue it encircles—the Merriweather District. It is home to residences, restaurants, and Color Burst Park, where MACC hosted its first series of dance parties in 2021.
Exciting changes are taking place every day in Downtown Columbia, and MACC is adding artistic and cultural opportunities to the mix, as well. For more information, visit the Downtown Columbia Partnership.
OUR HISTORY
MACC started under the name Downtown Columbia Arts and Culture Commission in 2013, and spent a few years focusing on the eventual acquisition of Merriweather Post Pavilion, along with the planning and design of a comprehensive renovation project for the venue. MPP’s renovations commenced in 2015, and by the end of 2016—with renovations well underway—MACC acquired the amphitheater from its former owner, the Howard Hughes Corporation.
While MACC continued to oversee the renovations at Merriweather in 2017 and beyond, our focus began to shift towards the realization of a new vision for Downtown Columbia. In this vision, Merriweather—and its surrounding constellation of venues and programs—would serve to solidify Downtown Columbia’s reputation as a premier destination for arts, culture, and community.
For MACC, this meant developing a cohesive vision for arts and culture in Downtown—working with key partners and stakeholders like Howard Hughes, the Columbia Festival of the Arts, and the Downtown Columbia Partnership to collaborate and coordinate on new and enhanced programming. It also meant MACC would develop new programming concepts specific to Merriweather Post Pavilion that would appeal to members of the community who are not served by the well-known concerts produced by MACC’s tenant and venue promoter, IMP Productions.
In 2017, MACC began hosting a series of well-received and well-attended outdoor movie nights at Merriweather Post Pavilion. The organization also hosted a pre-concert celebration for MPP’s 50th Birthday party that included a signature cake shaped like the storied venue—provided by the world-famous Charm City Cakes.
Movie nights returned in 2018, and MACC continued working to refine a strategic arts vision for Downtown Columbia and Merriweather. The organization’s focus was on working with community partners to find new and innovative uses for the venue, including hosting community events in the backstage building. MACC then brought Downtown Columbia Partnership’s ‘Books in Bloom’ festival and Darin Atwater’s Soulful Symphony to Merriweather in 2019.
While Merriweather and MACC have endured their share of challenges over the years—including the catastrophic collapse of the venue’s roof during construction in 2018—nothing could prepare the venue or the organization for what came in 2020. Unfortunately, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic brought about the first summer season in Merriweather’s history without any public events. At the end of the year, however, MPP was able to bring some light and joy back to the community with the Symphony of Lights holiday event.
As the pandemic entered its second year in 2021, MACC developed ambitious programing plans for the summer, but only some were realized due to the ever-evolving protocols and metrics around COVID-19. While concerts resumed at Merriweather, MACC focused its programming energy on hosting a series of outdoor dance parties at Color Burst Park in the Merriweather District, featuring acclaimed regional artists like Go-Go Band Rare Essence and Latin music group Mambo Combo.
MACC’s successful 2022 season started with a packed house of fifth graders and parents for the Howard County Library System’s ‘Battle of the Books.’ This was followed by a first time collaboration with Columbia Festival of the Arts for ‘Time For Three with the Howard County High School Gifted and Talented Orchestra.’ MACC then kicked off summer with a well-attended showing of the popular Disney film Encanto, followed by more family-friendly Merriweather Movie Nights and a special ‘Film with Orchestra’ from Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, featuring Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone™️.
