World-renowned choreographer and Howard County resident Mark Ryder?s legacy will continue through a grant program with the Columbia Foundation.
An endowment fund was established with the foundation by Ryder?s widow, Mary Ratcliffe, a Howard County Public Schools teacher, to support local choreographers.
Ryder, a choreographer and modern dancer who joined the University of Maryland dance department in the 1970s, died earlier this year. Ratcliffe established the fund as a collaboration with the Howard County Arts Council, which will launch and administer the grant program in February 2007.
Individual choreographers from Howard County or adjacent counties are eligible for the grant.
The first award will be at least $500, which can be used by a local choreographer at his or her discretion, and the fund is expected to grow. The fund is the first of its kind for the Columbia Foundation and the first individual artist award for the Arts Council.
