Arts in Thurmont

A&E

in Thurmont

By Vickie Grinder

What would our society be without art, artists, and performers? I think we all know life would be pretty boring without it! Thurmont supports the arts and entertainment industry and recognizes that we are very fortunate to have so many talented artists in Northern Frederick County. Let’s start with Elower-Sicilia Productions of Dance, better known as ESP Dance Studio. ESP is a national award-winning company that opened in1969, and has been serving Frederick County and points beyond for 52 years teaching children age three and up! Their highly trained and certified instructors have a wealth of experience in teaching and performing various styles and disciplines and have thousands of national titles to show for it. ESP Dance was also named one of the top 50 Legacy Businesses in Frederick County in 2020.

ESP Dance Studio 15 Water Street www.espdancestudio.com

Next on our tour, we will walk two doors up from ESP

Dance Studio and fid the Thurmont Main Street

Center. Here you will find a historic building dating back to 1885 and served as a Moravian Church then followed a feed store with a dairy operation in the basement, and later in time the building served as the public library. The Town of Thurmont acquired the building in 2013 and now is home for our local artists, artisans, and locally made products. In the Center, you will fid fifteen talented local artists and artisans, and art lessons from artist Rebecca Pearl. The Center also serves as a visitor center where you can pick up brochures for attractions in Northern Frederick County and local restaurant menus.

Main Street Center, 11 Water Street thurmontmainstreet.com for hours

Our next stop on our A&E tour is a recording studio, Commodore Recording T - Arts

Studio, owned by Doug & Patty Benson.

in ThurmontCommodore Recording Studio offes a musician-friendly multitrack studio producing excellent commercial-grade masters, transfer/archiving facility ca-

pable of handling high-throughput for larger collections, and single items and family heirloom recordings. They also offer world-class remastering service, cleaning and restoring audio for commercial release and personal use. Commodore Recording Studio provides an affordable, professional environment that is comfortable and performance with over 35 years of audio recording experience! Commodore Recording Studio 204 East Main Street www.commodorestudio.com

All aboard! Our last stop on our A&E journey is just a block away from Commodore Recording Studio where you will discover our Main Street Murals. This is a public art display which came to fruition through collaboration with the Thurmont Lions Club, the Town of Thurmont, grants, and many donors. This building once served as an electric substation for the former trolley car system and the building sat empty for decades. These colorful mural panels depict the landscape of Thurmont and celebrate Thurmont’s history and modern times. The art work was completed by local artist Yemi Fagbohun. Stop by to explore all the panels and take some photos too! That concludes our A&E tour and hope you come to see us and support the arts!