SWAC, the FIRST and OLDEST arts council in the state, and all other 24 councils including the Maryland State Arts Council, pattered themselves after SWAC, has been lifting us to higher ground, for 51 years. Think for a moment what would the world be like without music, without visual arts, without theater or dance? What if SWAC wasn't here to fund the Ballet, the Symphony, the Community Players, Art Galleries, dance, art and music lessons for children, free band instruments to students, college arts scholarships, arts grants to our schools to keep the arts alive and advocate on regional, state and national levels making Maryland the 3rd highest ranking state in the nation for arts funding? What if? The If, would be quiet, song less, joyless, cold, underachieving, poor, and despairing. The Salisbury Wicomico Arts Council (SWAC) funds the arts for youth and community with arts grants to schools, free band instruments to children, arts grants to community organizations such as theater, ballet, galleries, symphony, choral groups and more, arts scholarships for higher education as well as arts scholarships for children pursuing the arts by funding such arts education as piano lessons, band camps, visual arts and more, so literally the funds into the Salisbury Wicomico Arts Council go back out to the community, so when you fund the arts, you fund yourselves. .The arts are an academic and an economic engine, when people attend arts events, they eat out in restaurants, buy souvenirs, stay in hotels. When children participate in the arts, their test scores are higher, truancy is down, and character is built; you don't see a kid with a tuba on his hip, skipping school - just doesn't happen. Creating tomorrows leaders while boosting our economy, what's not to love?