Howard County’s got talent, too.

The “Rising Stars” portion of Saturday night’s 12th annual Celebration of the Arts in Howard County found a near-capacity crowd at The Jim Rouse Theatre in Wilde Lake pretty much wowed by a cellist, a modern dancer, some Broadway-ready belters, a couple of opera singers and an actor-playwright.

In the end, though, it was a young actress —  DeWanda Wise — who took full command of the stage, splashed it with raw emotions and the redeeming power of mother’s love, and took home the $5,000 grand prize. The graduate of Atholton High School has been acting for 10 years, and holds an MFA from the Tisch School of the Arts.

“The community I come from supported me, lifted me, and were with me all the way,” said Wise before thanking the audience for voting her the award.

The presentation show seemed a bit peppier than in past years, running a little more than two hours with no intermission. Besides the nine competitors in the talent contest, awards were given for the three previously announced winners of the Howard County Arts Council’s 2009 “Howie” Awards.

Wayne Larrivey was named Outstanding Arts Educator for the No Boundaries Musical Theatre Program, founded in 1999 to allow those with developmental disabilities to share in the joys and stimulation of producing live theater. The program runs from September to June and results in a full-stage production designed to prove it’s “not disability but possibility.”

Longtime local arts booster Richard B. Talkin was called to the podium to accept his Howie Award as Outstanding Business Supporter of the Arts for his impact in the nonprofit sector. “This is the reason we support the arts,” Talkin said, indicating the stage of the Rouse Theatre. “We need art, we need creativitity. We need its beauty.”

Also recognized was Howard County painter and art teacher David Zuccarini, who was unable to attend. He was named Outstanding Artist for his body of work and as a long-standing asset to the cultural life of the community.

Also presented was a special Legacy in the Arts Award to Doris and Claude Ligon for their founding of the African Art Museum of Maryland and various cultural programs. Doris Ligon thanked the arts council and the community on behalf of her late husband. “Even up to Claude’s last hospital visit,” she told the audience, “the museum was evermost on his mind.”

The show also included guest segments by accomplished local performing artists. Columbia’s Hua Sha Chinese Dance Center kicked things off on a celebratory note with its cheerful reminder of cultural legacies and what appeared to be unabashed salutes to, among other things, nature, rhythm, limbs and hair.

A 2006 “Rising Star” winner, Caleb Jones demonstrated again his exploratory grasp of the cello with an anything-but-classical approach to the classical repertoire. And 10-year-old Maya Goldman ended the show with a flawless serving of full-throated optimism courtesy of that timeless “Annie” anthem, “Tomorrow.”

Earlier in the evening, a silent art auction, reception performances on a makeshift stage and samplings of fine cuisine from notable area restaurateurs put patrons in a receptive mood. The Celebration of the Arts gala is presented annually by the Howard County Arts Council to help fund non-profit arts groups and local programs. It has helped raise more than $800,000 thus far, with the April 25 proceeds yet to be tallied.

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