John Schratwieser is the Director of the Kent County Arts Council in Chestertown, Maryland.  From 2010 through May 2017, John served as the Director of Maryland Citizens for the Arts, working to secure public funding for the arts (in the form of the budget of the Maryland State Arts Council) in Maryland.  During his tenure he helped raise state funding from $13.2 million to $22.7 million annually, bringing Maryland to the position of third in the nation in per capita funding for the arts.  From 2004 until 2010 John led the Prince Theater Foundation in Chestertown Maryland, creating and expanding community responsive programming in an historic Art Deco movie theater in the heart of the downtown business district.  John has a bachelors degree in Religious Studies and a Masters in Public Administration and he has worked in the nonprofit arts sector for more than half of his nearly 30 years in the work force.  John serves on the Boards of Stories of the Chesapeake Maryland Heritage Area, the Kent County Local Management Board, and Adkins Arboretum in Caroline County, Maryland.  He lives with his partner Michael and their Golden Retriever, Franklin, in a historic Quaker farmhouse built in 1782 in Worton, Maryland.