I’m catching up with arts news in a busy summer. Here are a few highlights:

In 1916, Cincinnati MacDowell Society began awarding the MacDowell Medal to an outstanding local artist for his or her contribution to the fine arts in the community. At the society’s annual meeting last month, this year’s medal was awarded to Barbara Kellar, for receiving a 2018 Regional Emmy for her CET show, “Showcase with Barbara Kellar,” as well as for her service to MacDowell. She is a past CMS president.

The portrait was painted by member Setsuko LeCroix as a personal surprise for Barbara. The medal, by the way, was designed by sculptor, member and past president, Ernest Bruce Haswell.

Louis Langrée extends contract at Mostly Mozart: Music director Louis Langrée, who leads the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, has extended his contract with Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival through the summer of 2023. He has directed the New York festival since 2003, making 2023 his 21st season. The announcement was made by artistic director Jane Moss on the eve of the 2019 festival earlier this month.

Now in his 17th season, Langrée is credited with expanding the scope of the chamber orchestra’s repertoire well beyond the classical period, from Baroque composers such as Jean-Baptiste Lully to composers of today such as Magnus Lindberg. He has just finished conducting a run of the Barrie Kosky and Berlin Komische Oper production of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” — a first for Mostly Mozart — at the David H. Koch Theater.

“Mostly Mozart has evolved in recent decades from presenting exclusively Mozart-themed concerts into an international multi-disciplinary arts festival featuring new work and acclaimed productions across all genres,” said Moss, in a statement. “The musical heart of the festival, though, remains the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra. Louis Langrée is beloved and respected by the orchestra’s musicians as well as our audiences—not only for the extraordinary musicianship, intellect, and creativity he brings to the podium, but also for his charm and his generosity of spirit.”

Saying that he was “humbled, proud and grateful,” Langrée added that the Mostly Mozart Orchestra musicians come from “major symphony, ballet, and opera orchestras from all over the country as well as from chamber music and even from Broadway, so each has a different perspective to bring. After spending the regular season with their ‘home’ orchestras, it is always a special moment when we first meet again to build on the music we have made in previous summers.”

Music director of the CSO since 2013, he will launch the orchestra’s 125th anniversary season on Aug. 3 with a special event in Washington Park, “CSO Look Around.”

In March 2020, he will make his New York Philharmonic debut conducting a program of Debussy, Ravel, and Scriabin.

Calling all artists: According to the 2019 Ohio’s Creative Economy report by the Ohio Citizens for the Arts with the Center for Regional Development and Bowling Green State University, the creative economy generates $6.1 billion in the Cincinnati metropolitan statistical area and supports 39,000 jobs.

In light of that, ArtWorks is inviting local artists in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky to take a survey to assess their needs. The responses will populate the first-ever Cincinnati Artist Report led by ArtWorks and Wave Pool.

ArtWorks is a nonprofit that hires youth apprentices led by professional artists to create murals and other art projects throughout the Greater Cincinnati region. The organization is aiming to increase programming for professional artists.

“This project is allowing us to really understand what local artists want and need,” said Cal Cullen of Wave Pool, a contemporary art fulfillment center located in Camp Washington. “And we can do it in a way that is fun, engaging and art-based.”

The survey is available at surveymonkey.com/r/CincinnatiArtistReport and will remain open through Saturday, August 31, 2019.