What's Happening with Glen Echo Park

We’re on site at this historic Montgomery County, Maryland landmark with Ama Mills-Robertson, Chief Program Officer at Glen Echo Park, to unpack what’s really happening beyond the nostalgia: galleries, classes, camps, dances, theater, and hands-on studios where you can actually learn to make things.

We talk about what visitors can do today, from pottery, painting, drawing, photography, mixed media, and music lessons to serious craft programs like silverwork and glassblowing. If you’re looking for things to do in Montgomery County near DC, this is the kind of place that can be a casual weekend stroll or a long-term creative home.

You’ll also hear about free entry, free parking, National Park Service connections, and newer accessibility steps like sensory-friendly carousel rides with dimmed lights and slower movement.

Transcript

Transcript

Welcome And First Impressions

Derrick Kenny 0:00

Lions. Tigers. Oh my. Glen Echo Park. We're gonna find out all about it today on What's Happening Moco.

Announcer 0:12

Good day and welcome to What's Happening Moco, an authentic, undescripted podcast from your Montgomery County government. Now, here's your host, Derek Kelly.

Derrick Kenny 0:26

Good day, and welcome to What's Happening Moco. I'm so excited. Today we are at the Glen Echo Park. Oh my god, it's like going back in time. But did you know there's a whole lot of things going on here at the park? And who better tell us more about what's happening at the Glen Echo Park than Alma Mills Robertson? She's a chief program officer here at Glen Echo Park. Can I call you Alma?

SPEAKER_03 0:50

Of course.

Derrick Kenny 0:51

Alma, how are you today?

SPEAKER_03 0:52

I'm doing well. How are you?

Derrick Kenny 0:53

Good, good. I'm quite surprised. I knew there was a carousel here, but I didn't know there were classes, I didn't know there were workshops, I didn't know there were a bunch of kids running around. Tell us a little bit about Glen Echo Park for someone that didn't know about what's happening right now today.

SPEAKER_03 1:10

Okay.

More Than A Carousel

SPEAKER_03 1:11

So Glen Echo Park, we're a multidisciplinary art center. And so, as you mentioned, we have our carousel, which is in its 105th season.

SPEAKER_04 1:22

Whoa.

SPEAKER_03 1:22

And she is still spinning around each season from May through September. And we have happy kids who you know take rides on the carousel. But also we have classes and programs here at the park. So we do offer classes in pottery, painting and drawing, jewelry.

Derrick Kenny 1:46

Oh gosh.

SPEAKER_03 1:47

So many things. I mean, there's something for you know anyone when they come to visit the park. We also have dances here in our historic Spanish ballroom. So there's so much to do here, but we are a multidisciplinary art center. Um we have two amazing children's theaters, um, puppetry, um, musical theater. Um we also do summer camps. I'm sure you can hear some of some of the campers in the background. Yeah. Joy, all right. Exactly. But there's so much to do here. Um we also have an aquarium. So we have an aquatic and an aquarium. Okay. All that in an aquarium.

Derrick Kenny 2:28

Now let's take a step back. So we we know that this is a lot going on here.

SPEAKER_03 2:32

Yeah.

Derrick Kenny 2:32

Um, and I want to take a deep dive into quite a few things that are happening. But let's take a best step back and talk about you.

SPEAKER_05 2:38

Okay.

Derrick Kenny 2:38

Um

Alma’s Path Back To MoCo

Derrick Kenny 2:39

you're from again, you live in Montgomery County, Maryland. Uh, what are some of the things you like about Montgomery County?

SPEAKER_03 2:44

So I moved back to Montgomery County six six, seven years ago. So I grew up north of Baltimore, um, originally from West Africa, Ghana. And we've got some beautiful paintings behind us um by a Ghanaian artist who lives in Montgomery County. Oh, but anyway, I live in Montgomery County. I love Montgomery County, um, and I just love going to the different parks and also the music venues. Um, I mean, there's so much to do here. Lots of great restaurants, Bethesda Row, you know, it's a lively, you know, place to go and you know, hang out with friends and you know, shop and you know, grab, you know, matcha, which is my thing.

Derrick Kenny 3:31

Matcha, yes, delicious. So you mentioned Montgomery County being lively, and one of the things I would describe Glen Echo Park as I arrived here this morning, it's a Friday morning around 11 o'clock a.m. lively.

SPEAKER_03 3:44

Yeah.

Derrick Kenny 3:44

Didn't expect that. Um, what what um what in your mind? What did you expect? I didn't I didn't know what to expect. I thought I knew about the history. Um established 1891. You know, something so old, you're thinking maybe it's a museum, it may be an homage to the past. Um, but you you come here, you hear the laugh of children, yeah, bright colors, the carousel is going, the music is going.

SPEAKER_05 4:08

Yeah.

How Programming Stays Fresh

Derrick Kenny 4:09

How do you how do you keep things going? How do you what do you do as your role as chief program officer to keep things so contemporary and attractive for visitors?

SPEAKER_03 4:19

Yeah. So in my role, I oversee a portfolio of programs. So I oversee our exhibitions program. So here we are in one of our uh partnership galleries. This is the Popcorn Gallery. Um we have two others, Stone Tower Gallery and our Parkview Gallery. Um I also oversee our educational programs. So our classes and all of our educational offerings here at the park, um as well as our dance and events programs and festivals and things like that. So all our public face and experiences, um, those are um things that I oversee with my team. I've got a great team and um they help make my job easier and make me look good. Um but we have an amazing team of people who are really dedicated to ensuring that the park is um, you know, accessible to everyone because our history um is complicated, just like the rest of the country, right? Um

Civil Rights Turning Point

SPEAKER_03 5:32

and you know, it used to be a segregated private amusement park. Wow. Um so you and I couldn't, you know, visit the park, we couldn't ride the carousel, we couldn't swim in the pool. But now um but now we you know, I mean, we have it's an incredible story, but um a group of Howard University students and um neighbors in the Bannockburn. H you H U, you know. All right.

Derrick Kenny 5:59

I have to go. Howard Alum uh Howard University, all right. Let's go.

SPEAKER_03 6:03

Yes. Um so um a group of um Howard University students and neighbors um not far from here, Bannockburn, um, came together and protested um during the summer of 1960 because you know the park was segregated. Um and a year later, things changed and the park owners opened the park to everyone. Um and so, but the park, um our vision now is in a way we've gone back to the very original vision back in the 19th century because the park was uh a chautaqua, which was a place for people to go to Chautauqua. Yeah, don't ask me to spell it.

Derrick Kenny 6:48

We're not gonna spell it, but you're gonna say what the movie is.

SPEAKER_03 6:51

Yeah, so it should it was a place where you could come, like a place of respite, a place where you could come and learn um and experience lots of different things. So you could come and listen to music, you could see a performance. Um it was just you know, a beautiful kind of vision where folks who lived in the city could escape, you know, the you know of a city, and then you come to, you know, Glen Echo Park where it was idyllic and beautiful and you could experience culture, um, arts and culture. So I feel like we're back to that, you know, that model where this is a place for anyone to come to and experience culture, take part in um the arts, and you know, learn new things. Um and um there's also great thing about the park is a lot of people create community here. Oh wow. Especially a lot of our students. They've been taking classes here for many, many years, and they form friendships. Um, and so you know what we do here also, you know, um fosters community. That's great.

Taking Classes And Showing Art

Derrick Kenny 8:07

That's great. Yeah, there's a lot of things going on here. You mentioned the carousel, you mentioned the camps, you mentioned students, you mentioned um museums like the like a room where we're in the gallery. Um how do people get involved? How do how do people become students? Um, how do people show share their art? Uh how do you suggest people approach uh Glen Echo to become part of this community?

SPEAKER_03 8:29

Well, first of all, just come to the park. You know, we have a huge free parking lot, not very far away from where we are. Um come visit the park.

Derrick Kenny 8:39

Um but also one of my my favorite words. Yeah. Free?

SPEAKER_03 8:43

Free. Free parking is free.

Derrick Kenny 8:45

Oh, I love that. All right. Parking is free and it's huge. So no parking problems here.

SPEAKER_03 8:49

It's huge, it's easy to find. Um, but yeah, so first come visit the park. Um, if you want to take classes, you go in our website, blancopark.org, and you register for a class. And there are, you know, a variety of classes you can choose from.

SPEAKER_04 9:07

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 9:08

So if you want to learn how to take photographs, we have, you know, um a photography class, okay. Photography classes, digital, you know, um lots of different, you know, um offerings. If you want to learn to make jewelry, we have a silver works. Yeah, we have a silver works studio.

Derrick Kenny 9:27

Silver works. Yeah. Silverworks sounds like you know, metal and fire and we also have glass blowing, definitely lots of fire.

SPEAKER_03 9:36

More fire, all right.

Derrick Kenny 9:37

More fire, all right. Glass blowing. All right, so no, no. Literally, these are classes where you can learn to make things with silver. You're not just talking about a string and beads, you're talking about smelting silver and making a chain or a ring or something.

SPEAKER_03 9:55

Okay, it's incredible. We've got amazing instructors. Um, here at the park, we have 13 different resident groups who are who we partner with to provide classes here at the park. Um, and you know, the other question about how you showcase your art, like where we are right now, this is a juried show that is um so artists, you know, submitted a proposal, and we had a juror who selected the pieces that are currently in this gallery. But if let's say if you make art and you want to exhibit in one of our galleries, um, we do have an open call every year where anyone can submit a proposal for an exhibition, and then we have a selection committee that you know selects um the shows for our three, our three galleries every year. We also have our Labor Day Art Show, which is our kind of like our signature annual exhibition program in the historic Spanish ballroom, and that's more have has a more of a community vibe to it.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

Historic Spanish ballroom? Yeah. Wow, you guys have a ballroom as well.

SPEAKER_03 11:08

We do, we do, where you can go and dance. Oh, if you want to dance, you know, if you want to learn to dance waltz, Contra. You can also learn how to dance here as well. You can learn how to dance.

Derrick Kenny 11:20

Okay, so you can make jewelry. Yeah, you can glass blowing where and glass blowing is like when you um you take hot glass and you blow through a straw and some kind of way with tools and ingenuity, you create things like horses or lamps or yeah, vases or glasses or whatever. You can do that. You can learn how to do that here. Yeah. Okay, and you can learn how to dance.

SPEAKER_03 11:43

You can learn how to dance, you can learn how to paint. Uh there's so much you can do here. You can learn photography, um, and then there's also mixed media. So if you're interested in like, you know, doing um collage or something like that, you can learn how to do that here. Um I mean, there's there's something for everyone. And you know, as I mentioned too, you can you can learn how to um, you know, um uh what was I gonna say? Musical theater.

Derrick Kenny 12:17

We have you know the and musical theater, acting, yeah, and directing, I guess, and all the props and singing, okay, well, all of that.

SPEAKER_03 12:24

We also have a music program. Oh wow. So you can if you want to learn how to play a guitar or a violin or the piano, you know, we've got this comes all the way back around to your critical role as the um program officer, chief program officer.

Derrick Kenny 12:40

How do you

Building Programs With Partners

Derrick Kenny 12:41

bring you mentioned the communities involved in this and you mentioned um that there's um an element of the park. How what who who's involved in bringing all of these diverse programs and activities together and how do you I guess kind of manage the pieces to bring everything together?

SPEAKER_03 13:00

Yeah. So yeah, I mean, we've got a great team here, so it's it's a team effort. Um we're always looking, especially when it comes to the exhibition program, we're always looking for local artists who are doing some really amazing things, you know, working in a variety of media, um, and artists who bring a new, you know, audience to the park. Um so we have our exhibition team, and so we work together to make sure that we're, you know, kind of um advancing our our goals and our mission for the exhibition program. Um and then in terms of like the classes and things like that, we're always looking for artist instructors, um, especially for our summer camps who can offer great positive fun experiences for you know campers during the summer. So, you know, we're always kind of you know looking to enhance what we're doing here. Um and that is really like we you know, in a way, we have to um kind of work with creative people, yeah, right, like artists, um, curators, um, you know, lots of different people who can, you know, work with us to ensure that, you know, we are providing quality program here for lots of different interests. That's fantastic.

Origins, Buildings, And NPS Tours

Derrick Kenny 14:31

It seems like and you mentioned earlier that you're going full circle back to the initial idea. Um let's talk about that again. What's the what's that the spirit of uh art and community? Let's talk a little bit more about that. Like let's just talk about the history. Um we we we have a little bit of the civil uh civil rights history uh 1960 that um opened this park up to everyone. Yeah you started 1891. Uh what was the impetus behind that and uh what was uh significant about that time?

SPEAKER_03 15:03

Um so it's the history is there were two brothers, there were twins, who purchased this land. Um they were known for inventing the first egg beater. And so they invented the first egg beater, cool. The Balsey brothers. The Balsey brothers. So they purchased the land and created the the Chautauqua um um assembly um model here at the park. But that started, I believe the Chautauqua model started. Um there are other Chautauquas like in New York, you know. There's and so I there were other places that had that. Umsley, the Ballsley Brothers. Uh kudos to the Ballsley brothers for their their their um their innovation and yeah, um, so that's how it started. Um but yeah, I think the park has always had like that um spirit of community, right? People come in together to experience art, to experience culture, to be entertained. Um so the park is a place, it's like you know, it's a magical place, um, but it's also a place for people to gather um and for people to create memories. We have lots of families who come here for, you know, their um for weddings, you know, um birthday parties, lots of different like um milestones are celebrated here at the park. So this really is a place for the community.

Derrick Kenny 16:48

It's a definitely a place for a private event or whether just for classes or public, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:53

But it's a public park. Anyone can come here, but if you want is there a cost associated with coming to the park?

Derrick Kenny 16:59

No, it's free. You remember I said parking is free? I know the parking was free, but I didn't know the park was free. Yeah, you just you can just come in. I love that.

SPEAKER_03 17:07

Um but if you want to ride the carousel, of course, you pay a small fee, I believe it's two dollars. Um, classes, you know, there's a tuition for the classes. Um and um let's see, what else? But yeah, to come to the park, it's free.

Derrick Kenny 17:23

So a nice place to come and walk around. Yeah. How how big is the park? How many buildings do you have or on the scan?

SPEAKER_03 17:28

We have hmm, I'm trying to remember how many structures we have, but we do have some structures that are historic. Um so the Stone Tower is original. Oh wow. One of the original buildings that the brothers built. Okay. Um and the Stone Tower Gallery, we currently have um, or the Stone Tower, we have a gallery in there, we have um artist studios in there as well. The Spanish ballroom is also historic where you can dance. Um and but it's you know, it's a a pretty large property, and it's part of the National Park Service portfolio because it's a historic park. Um so you know, we do have a park ranger here who gives tours of the civil rights history and the parks history once a month. Okay. Um, and so, you know, we do have that, you know, um um partnership with um NPS as well. Yeah.

Derrick Kenny 18:32

That's fantastic.

Popcorn Gallery And Power Of Place

Derrick Kenny 18:33

All right, now uh what can you tell me about this beautiful? Well, first, because the podcast is a podcast, and some people are only hearing the audio. So let me describe the popcorn gallery. Um there are paintings on the wall right behind us. There are two paintings. Uh one of a young man uh with a short haircut, well, actually a uh kind of a mid-length haircut, uh, African-American or actually African.

SPEAKER_04 19:00

African.

Derrick Kenny 19:01

Um, in a village, I guess, in Ghana, like Accra somewhere, you would think. Um a woman playing the drums. There's a nice uh colorful pattern interwoven within there, and it has some elements that are physical in there as well. And then right behind me, there's another one that looks like kids uh going to school, and another wonderful pattern. And if you look across the room, there are like there's like a mountain village or something behind our uh our um photographers there, um, there's other paintings across the wall, and it's a round space. It's like a round, bright, beautiful space right across from the carousel. And from where we're sitting, we can see the carousel and the lights and the movement, and when we come in earlier, you hear the music.

SPEAKER_03 19:47

Yeah.

Derrick Kenny 19:48

Right?

SPEAKER_03 19:48

The band organ, which is a hundred years old.

Derrick Kenny 19:51

A hundred years old.

SPEAKER_03 19:52

The band organ that's playing the music in the carousel.

Derrick Kenny 19:55

There's actually a literal organ in there being um programmed by a band. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:00

Program Yeah, playing the roles of music.

Derrick Kenny 20:03

Are you serious?

SPEAKER_03 20:03

Yeah, and when the weather gets over a hundred degrees, yeah, they start to play Christmas carols. Are you serious? Yeah, so last week they played a lot of Christmas songs.

Derrick Kenny 20:13

Is there is there a reason for that? Or that just happens?

SPEAKER_03 20:15

It's the the team that's their thing. Okay. When the weather gets, yeah, when the temperature exactly. So we had that last week. Um, but yeah, the Popcorn Gallery um is one of our largest gallery spaces, and this is where we typically have group shows like this show. It's called the Power of Place. Um, and it's also a space for um established artists. Um, it could be a play a space where we exhibit, you know, um maybe a two-person show. Um but it's a beautiful gallery in the round. Um and so it kind of when you come to the gallery, you know, it kind of leads you to kind of explore and see, oh, what's around the corner, and you know, so um it's yeah, it's one of our um, like I said, large galleries um where we have some really incredible um shows up here. But yeah.

Derrick Kenny 21:21

Um what would you want people to know? Um if you someone came up to you in the street, a kid, um came up to you and said, Wow, I heard you work at Glen Echo Park. Why should I come there? What would you what would your what would your um two moment uh elevator speed or the?

SPEAKER_03 21:41

Um I would say they should come because it's a fun place to visit. It's really magical. You know, sometimes if you've never been here before, it's almost like you're stepping into, you know, a different world and you're drawn to the different spaces and the buildings.

The Carousel’s Story And How To Visit

SPEAKER_03 22:00

and you want to explore more and more and it I think it piques you know um people's interest interest interest curiosity um sparks curiosity yeah um but I would say come visit because it's it's a really special place we've got a carousel that's you know I mean one of the most beautiful carousels around this area in the east coast um and also it's a place where you can come and you know um be creative learn new skills um and also meet new people um and you can come and dance in the ballroom let's let's let's talk about that carousel because this carousel is kind of like the central figure I think you might want to character the main carousel main character in the show yeah let's talk about the carousel how old is it uh was what how was it made uh was it does it have a name what tell us something about the carousel tell us about the carousel so it's the dance olousel okay um and it is in its 105th season oh wow um and we operate the carousel like let's see May through sometimes late April through um late September but it's not um all year round because it's you know historic it's old um and it it just it needs a break after you know after the season is done exactly exactly um but the it's I mean there's so many different animals on the carousel they were all hand carved okay um 105 years ago oh my gosh um and they're just beautiful you know the the artistry behind the creation of the carousel I think is really um incredible it just brings a lot of joy to a lot of kids and families but it was also a site of our civil rights protest where you know they couldn't ride the carousel yeah a couple of the Howard University students had tickets and they tried to ride the carousel and they couldn't they were arrested so um so it's it's a site of you know for a lot of African Americans you know there is that painful you know experience in history right um but thankfully you know the park it's it's a different we're in a different you know world now and anyone is welcome to come to the park um and you know it's it's just a really special place.

Derrick Kenny 24:51

It really is and um the the um the the dance like there's so many things that light the eyes and the the ears uh but then also the mind yeah as well the classes etc yeah um how do I think you mentioned it earlier but let's let's give people your website so people yeah can get more information find out about classes uh sign up for things or even if they want to secure space um what is the website they can visit so the website is glennechopark.org okay that's it glenechopark.org.org all one word glennecopark.org yeah and they can find out all about the park yeah about the carousel yeah and I don't want to take for granted that everyone knows where carousel is we have a diverse county people from all over the world I'm not sure if carousels are or merrygo rounds merrygo rounds merrygounds so so basically there are these these what these um these figurines or yeah these animals that are on poles and people sit on the animals or in carriages or something and they go up and down. Some of them go up and down others are more stationary but they it just goes around in a circle and it's a beautiful one and there's music as well so it appeals to the different senses.

SPEAKER_03 26:03

We do um one of the things that we started doing especially with the carousel is um there's some who um it's just um a a bit more challenging for them to have that experience in a carousel um sometimes it moves a little too fast for some people okay so we've now um kind of um once a week we do like a sensory friendly oh wow carousel rides so the lights are dimmed um sometimes there's no music um and it moves a little slower um so that uh accommodates you know the little ones who you know um have some you know sensory exactly exactly so that's something that we started doing um to be more accessible and accommodate into you know different families um needs and things like that um let's we also have a lot of our um materials are also bilingual oh wow okay so we want to ensure that you know the park is accessible exactly the materials are also accessible um to lots of different you know folks but right now we a lot of our uh materials are bilingual fantastic yeah just a a a wonderful menagerie or collection of activities excitement places to visit um to see and experience all here at Glen Echo Park thanks to the chief program officer Ama Mills Robertson uh who came all the way here from Ghana well I was born in Ghana yes Ghana uh by way of Montgomery County Maryland one of our uh prized residents but of course um leaders that's helping to lead activities here at Glen Echo Park thank you for all that you do and hopefully you guys will get a chance to meet her and her staff when you come to visit yeah Glen Echo Park very vibrant and are you guys open uh five seven days a week or open seven days a week okay um and you know you don't need the reservation you just come and show up just you just come and show up the galleries um are open on weekends so the gallery in it's open only on Saturdays and Sundays okay noon to six o'clock um and yeah and I mean you can just come whenever and come and yeah come and hang out it's free to come hang out it's free to park there are some nominal fees for classes or to ride the Ferris wheel the uh carousel not the Ferris wheel carousel there used to be a gabrilla coaster at the end of the day but any that's another part of it that's a whole nother story yeah and that's what's happening Moco Glen Echo Park fun for the whole family is great for the eyes the ears uh arts culture you name it is here be sure to like subscribe and share this episode to other people that might want to enjoy Glen Echo Park thanks for listening to what's happening Moco and follow us on Facebook this podcast is brought to you by County Cable Montgomery your source for news and information from the Montgomery County government and connect with us via cable on Facebook on Instagram or YouTube by searching for County Cable Mobile