Photo by Sam Yu Carroll Creek Linear Park, seen Oct. 6, 2007, during Frederick’s “In The Streets” festival, is part of Frederick’s Arts and Entertainment District.

That was the focus of a trio of speakers Friday morning for the monthly Frederick County Chamber of Commerce's Business Outlook series.

Maryland launched its A&E District program in 2001, designed to create tax breaks for artists and enhance downtown areas.

Cumberland was among the first to sign up, establishing an A&E District when its downtown area was not doing well, said Andy Vick, executive director of the Allegany Arts Council.

"You could have shot a cannonball down Baltimore Street and no one would flinch because few people were there," Vick said.

Vick and his wife, who is an artist, moved to Cumberland to get away from the hustle and bustle of Washington. He was hired first as a consultant to the city to bring in artists and later to the arts council.

"It is an amazing tool for us to hang our hat on," he said of the state's program that provides tax breaks for artists.

To qualify, artists must live within the county and create and sell their work within the district.

"Art isn't always considered when people think of economic development, but it has been a powerful part of our economic growth," Vick said.

Frederick 's downtown is much more robust than when Cumberland implemented its A&E District, he said. With extensive city-funded promotion in national and regional publications, artists were lured to Cumberland, creating an array of galleries and theaters that blend well with historic, dining and other cultural entities.

While Cumberland has only four gallery walks a year -- Frederick has one each month -- the walks are tied to other events and during the summer each Friday, Saturday and Sunday there are concerts.

"People are looking at Cumberland as a place for a second home, an escape from the metropolitan area" because of the cultural atmosphere, Vick said. "They used to skip us and go to Deep Creek Lake for those $1 million homes. Now they look at Cumberland and a $150,000 second home."

Frederick has been part of the A&E District program since 2003, said Shuan Butcher, executive director of the Frederick Cultural Arts Center, and Kara Norman, executive director of the Downtown Frederick Partnership.

"Artists are conducting business and draw business to the downtown," Butcher said.

Those visitors will not only enjoy the artistic aspects of the city, but dine at restaurants, visit retail shops and possibly stay in a local hotel.

Norman said the city expanded its A&E District outside the boundaries of the Historic Preservation District because it wanted to ensure there was residential space available for artists.

When the state's program was launched, it required artists to live within the district. That was later changed to allow them to live within the county. Frederick 's A&E District encompasses 327 acres and 2,039 properties.

Tax benefits, Norman said, include a break from admissions and amusement taxes over a 10-year period and property tax credits over seven years. The properties transitioned to artistic use cannot be former residential units.

The A&E District has led to First Saturday Gallery Walks, a special logo, a Wayfinding Program that uses signs to direct visitors, an awareness of arts in Frederick around the region and a positive economic impact, Norman said.

"We have three theaters within 50 feet of each other downtown," she said.

Maryland was the first state to initiate an A&E District, Butcher said. It is being used as a model by a dozen other states.

There is a limit to the number of districts approved in Maryland each year and for specifics, the speakers said they could be contacted, or the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, which oversees the program.