Hi from College Park Arts Exchange

I'm very happy to be writing my first ever blog as director of College Park Arts Exchange.

A little about the organization: we are a grassroots arts organization supported in part by the City of College Park and Prince George's Arts Council. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit, and our mission is to build community by bringing arts experiences to everyone in College Park:  CPAE  = "Connecting People through Arts Experiences."

Some of our programs include children's arts drop-in, arts workshops for teens and adults, Cultural Connections events for adults and kids, book club, youth choir, youth orchestra -- and much more. Visit our website at www.cpae.org to see what's next.

If you were at Maryland Day and happened by the City of College Park tent, we were there making buttons with our button machine out of catalogs and magazines. It's amazing how cropping a random picture perfectly round and making it into a button delights young and old alike! Ann Potter, who leads an after-school arts drop in for us in Hollywood at Youth and Family Services, and Aaron Springer, who teaches photography and leads arts drop in for us at Old Parish House and College Park Community Center, were also there helping make buttons. Our next event with the button maker will probably be the ATHA Bike Ride planned to leave from the 94th Aerosquadron around 9 a.m. on June 4.

I hope to see you at one of our arts events, and I welcome you to contact us with your own arts ideas.