The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Parkway Theatre, a cornerstone of Baltimore’s Station North Arts District and home of the Maryland Film Festival, is getting its first Organization in Residence.
AZIZA PE&CE, a Baltimore-based organization that’s dedicated to renewing the health and well-being of marginalized and underserved youth, is moving its programs and operations this spring to the landmark theater at 10 W. North Ave.
Directors of the SNF Parkway and AZIZA PE&CE (AP) announced on Saturday that the two organizations have formed a strategic partnership. Beginning in May, they said, more than 20 hours per week of after-school and out-of-school programming will activate the historic theater during daytime hours and provide expanded services to the city’s Black and LGBTQ+ youth (ages 14–24), even in the summer months.
“We’re thrilled to partner with AZIZA PE&CE and its phenomenal founder, Saran Fossett, to expand the arts-based programming available to young people in Station North,” said Parkway Theatre Executive Director Nancy Proctor, in a statement.
The Parkway’s new Organization in Residence program is aimed at maximizing the use and value of its facilities to the city and the state, and is complemented by an Artist Residency Program funded by the Mellon Foundation, Proctor said.
As stewards of a landmark building at the center of Baltimore, “it is critical for the well-being of our communities that we support families in the area and increase creative and economic activity in our neighborhood,” Proctor said.
AP was founded in 2008 by Fossett, who serves as its Executive Director. It expanded in 2011 by creating Positive Energy & Cultivating Excellence (PE&CE), a program to engage marginalized male and female youth from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ) community. The organization incorporated as a 501(c)3 entity in 2022 and has been based at 901 N. Milton Ave. in East Baltimore.
AP’s programs integrate creative arts, fashion, entrepreneurship, and mentorship to strengthen social-emotional development, leadership, and critical thinking skills. Its workforce initiatives include AP L.A.B. (Learning About Business), where youth design apparel, build brands, and develop entrepreneurial and financial literacy skills.
The Parkway Theatre originally opened in 1915 as a movie palace, closed in 1978, and reopened in 2017 as a three-screen cinema and arts center following an $18.2 million renovation designed by Ziger Snead Architects. The renovation preserved the historic building’s character while adding space that enabled the Parkway to become a multidisciplinary arts venue.
Proctor became the Parkway’s Executive Director in August of 2025, charged with helping revitalize Station North as well as the theater. She previously served as the “re-founding” director of The Peale, Baltimore’s Community Museum, which was largely vacant before she became director there in 2017 and oversaw a five-year, $5.5 million renovation.
AP’s strategic partnership and move to the Parkway were announced on Friday at its annual fashion event, “STRUT XIII: The Blueprint…Uncensored,” at the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor Hotel.
“We’re excited to move to the Station North Arts District and base our youth arts programs in the stunning SNF Parkway Theatre,” Fossett said in a statement. “It has just the kinds of spaces we need: from small classroom-style theaters with dedicated lounges for meetings and activities, to the 400-seat historic theater and main lounge for our major performances and events.
Besides having performances and programs in Station North, “we’re also looking forward to helping establish a new retail space at the Parkway for our young people to sell their original creations,” Fossett said.
