BALTIMORE — Earlier this month, the Baltimore County Council awarded nearly $2.6 million in operating grants to dozens of cultural organizations located outside its boundaries, including the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and Everyman Theatre.

That’s nearly five times the operating funds that have been promised to the arts, science and nature-based groups who make Baltimore County their home, according to an analysis of budget data by The Baltimore Sun.

County officials say that the grants are consistent with the mission of the county’s Arts and Sciences Commission to distribute funds “to cultural institutions and nonprofit organizations in the greater Baltimore area that benefit county residents.”

And they say that their constituents frequently drive to the city to participate in cultural activities.

For example, Baltimore County Chairman Izzy Patoka said that as a Jewish man, the city-based Jewish Museum of Maryland is important to his family. In addition, his wife frequently visits the American Visionary Art Museum near historic Federal Hill.

“We are all part of the Baltimore region,” said Patoka, a Democrat.

“County residents rally around the Ravens and we rally around the Orioles even though they’re located in the city. When you start to look at organizations based on what jurisdiction they’re in, it creates more division than unity.”

The Sun examined four years of the county’s budget data, beginning with the fiscal year that started on July 1, 2021, when the nation was still in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among the findings:

•Over the past four years, operating grants to cultural organizations, which help pay for the groups’ daily business expenses, increased from $2.7 million to $3.1 million.

•Each year, Baltimore County organizations received between 10% and 18% of the total operating funds distributed to arts groups, from $274,000 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2021, to $571,150 in the current budget cycle.

•The remaining operating funds were funneled primarily to arts and science organizations in the city of Baltimore, plus a few recipients in Howard, Harford and Anne Arundel counties.

•This year alone, 10 cultural groups received six-figure operating grants from county taxpayers. But only one — the Peggy and Yale Gordon Center for the Performing Arts in Owings Mills — has a Baltimore County address. Grants went to Maryland Zoo ($425,000), Baltimore Museum of Art ($290,000) and Everyman Theatre ($100,000) among others.

“I think we are fortunate that Baltimore County recognizes that the arts exist within an ecosystem that benefits all residents regardless of ZIP code,” said Jeannie Howe, executive director of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance, an advocacy group representing more than 100 cultural organizations in the city and surrounding counties.

“Due to the unique configuration of Baltimore City and County, patrons and artists travel across geographic boundaries to experience the best of both worlds — connecting and collaborating in ways that play to the strengths of the creative sector and benefit all.”

While operating grants are especially useful because they can pay for everything from salaries to advertising to administrative costs, they don't represent Baltimore County's total cultural spending.

The county council also set aside an additional $442,775 this year for roughly two dozen grants for specific cultural projects. These donations, each less than $10,000, have been earmarked exclusively for organizations within the county, including the Catonsville Presbyterian Church's concert series, and the Children's Playhouse of Maryland.

"Baltimore County — and the entire Baltimore region — feature an incredible array of world-class arts, science and humanities offerings that draw residents and visitors alike," County Executive John “Johnny O” Olszewski, Jr., a Democrat, said in an emailed statement to The Sun.

"We are proud to support many of the cultural organizations that benefit our resident [and] provide a platform for diverse voices and perspectives."

As is typical of urban areas nationwide, arts groups tend to proliferate in urban areas with large populations living in close proximity, such as the City of Baltimore. Like many suburban and rural enclaves nationwide, Baltimore County has no major art museums, full-sized symphony orchestras or professional theater troupes within its geographic boundaries.

Most arts activity in Baltimore County takes place in one of four locations: The Gordon Center in Towson, which presents concerts and comics, shows films in its 550-seat theater, and hosts art exhibits, or the county's three college campuses — the University of Maryland Baltimore County, Towson University and Goucher College, which offer a robust slate of arts programming.

A spokeswoman for the Gordon Center declined to comment on the county's donation to city groups, and other Baltimore County cultural groups did not respond to interview requests.

Baltimore County Council member David Marks, a Republican, wrote in an email to The Sun that he doesn't object to the county's annual appropriation to city arts groups, though he occasionally questions individual grants.

"The longest-serving and most powerful cultural institutions are simply based in Baltimore City," Marks wrote. But he added that if the county is going to donate to arts groups in the city, he would prefer to direct funds to the major and most well-established organizations.

"I have long had the opinion," Marks wrote, "that our priority should be funding the institutions in Baltimore City that serve the largest number of county residents. There are some very small city-based groups that receive funding that don't seem to meet that threshold."

The county's support of city arts groups might raise more eyebrows if it had not been a routine practice since at least 2001, according to county records, and if the sums involved were larger.

But while the $2,570,500 promised this year to arts groups headquartered outside Baltimore County might seem like a hefty sum, it represents just a tiny fraction of the county's $5 billion budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year. Put another way, the total promised to outside arts groups amounts to roughly one-half of a penny for every $1,000 that the county is planning to spend this year for its schools, to maintain its roads, to tune up fire engines, and everything else.

Jonathan Sachs, director of the county Department of Economic and Workforce Development, said that before handing out a single cent of county money, grant applicants are required to document how their programs benefit county residents.

For instance, last year, Baltimore County residents made up 40% of all visitors to the Baltimore Museum of Art and 20% of Walters Art Museum customers, according to organization spokeswomen. Admission at both institutions has been free since 2006.

Sachs said that the city's B&O Railroad Museum opened its doors to more than 1,100 Baltimore County students last year, while between 35% and 48% of Everyman Theatre's subscribers are county residents.

In addition, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra performed at least four concerts last year inside Baltimore County: at Oregon Ridge, Boordy's Vineyards, Goucher College and the University of Maryland Baltimore County.

While symphonies and theaters charge for admission, ticket sales finance just about a third of the total cost to mount a concert and half the total cost to put on a play.

"As a resident of the county," Sachs said, "I was really proud that we ask arts groups to provide this documentation and that we look at it so closely before we approve any grants.

"We view the amenities in the region as part of the benefits of living in Baltimore County."

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