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1. Blackstone Memorial Auditorium
Theater for Humanity
Presented by:
Graciela Blackstone
April 2012

2. Why this Project?
• Vital Educational Center
• Desirable Community Gathering
Space
• Key Economic Development
Engine
• Critical African American
Historical Site Preservation
Vital historical location to provide a facility with a size and location convenient for all nonprofit,
civic, and private organizations to raise admirable funds to help Maryland citizens in need.
From cultivating the ground, to cultivating minds 2

3. Community Supporters
• Edward R. Riley, Maryland Senator
• Cathleen M. Vitale, Maryland Delegate
• John R. Leopold, County Executive, Anne Arundel County,
Maryland
3

4. Historical Preservation
We are transforming a 140+
year- old family farm, the last
African American owned
farm in Anne Arundel County,
to a historical location for
public use .
From cultivating the ground, to cultivating minds 4

5. Amphitheater Plans Advance
• Museum
• Amphitheater
• Walking Trails
• Education Center
• Hall Brown House
• Archeological Dig Opportunities
– Historic Maryland life beginning
early 1600’s
From cultivating the ground, to cultivating minds 5

6. About Graciela Blackstone
• 5th Generation Farmer on the
borderline of Crownsville and
Annapolis, Maryland
• Family lived, worked, and
eventually owned the land since
1659
• U.S. Army Veteran
• Father: MSGT James Blackstone Sr.
– Chief of Mechanical Engineers
– Tuskegee University Flight Instructor
for the Red Tails in 1941 Graciela Blackstone, who’s leading plans to build
the Amphitheater for Humanity on her family farm
in Crownsville, kneels on the property. Her family
has had links to the land since the 1600s.
From cultivating the ground, to cultivating minds 6

7. Amphitheater Features
• 24,000 sq. ft. steel frame structure
• Proscenium seating, thrust stage, sound and lighting control
room; seating for 750 to 1,000 people
• Equipment storage for scenery and props
• Lobby area expanded into gathering space
– Community multi-purpose space
• Warming kitchen for catering
• Administrative offices
• Open space, greenery and buffers
• Parking
From cultivating the ground, to cultivating minds 7

8. Contact Information
Graciela Blackstone
Blackstone & Associates, LLC
1820 Hall Brown Road
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
gra102358@yahoo.com
301-633-7697
From cultivating the ground, to cultivating minds