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Great Works

This program assists professional Maine arts organizations with annual operating budgets of $500,000 or greater to present significant projects such as an exhibition, performance, film or residency.

 
  • Deadline: to be announced
  • Maximum grant award: $20,000 (Organizations must show a 1:1 cash or in-kind match.)
  • Project must take place to be announced
  • Funding will be made available to be announced 

Through Great Works, the Maine Arts Commission is able to offer major support for significant cultural programs that will have a lasting curatorial, intellectual, preformative, literary or cultural impact on Maine audiences that represent the level of commitment to excellence available to an institution with considerable resources. Support will be provided for productions or exhibitions that are curated, commissioned or interpreted by the applicant organization. Projects are expected to incorporate contextual component(s) such as discussions, master classes, seminars or learning projects, or similar community engagement(s) with educational or community institutions.

 

Who is Eligible to Apply

 A Maine organization is eligible to apply if it:

  • is nonprofit and legally established in Maine, and
  • has tax exempt status 501(c)(3) from the Internal Revenue Service, and
  • promotes, presents, produces and/or teaches visual, performing, literary or media art(s) as its primary purpose, and
  • has an annual operating budget of $500,000 or greater based on the organization’s most recently completed fiscal year, and
  • has completed and filed all final reports required for previously awarded Maine Arts Commission grants.

 

An applicant must demonstrate a fiscal structure that allows them to legally and responsibly utilize grant funds. The applicant must provide a minimum of 1:1 cash or in-kind match. This demonstrates the applicant’s ability to take on the project. This match must be documented as part of the application package.

The applicant becomes legally accountable for complying with the above eligibility requirements upon submission of this request.

Review Process

Applications are reviewed by a committee of public members who are selected for their expertise in specific artistic fields. The committee will be chaired by a member of the Maine Arts Commission.

 Grant recommendations will be presented at the next regularly scheduled meeting of either the Maine Arts Commission or its executive committee. The approval of the review process, making the grant official, takes place at that time.

 

The review process and delivery of funds may take up to four months. This means that grant funds may be used to reimburse costs incurred for the project after the grant has been approved. Please plan accordingly.

Review Criteria

Grant proposals are reviewed on a competitive basis determined on the degree to which the project:

  • presents curated, commissioned or interpreted content of the highest artistic excellence and merit, and
  • describes the related educational, interpretive, or contextual components, and
  • provides evidence of successful marketing and broad public/audience involvement, and
  • includes evidence of efforts to address issues of accessibility and inclusivity.

 

Examples of Successful Grants

Penobscot Theatre Company
This grant supported the production of the Pulitzer Prize winning play Wit and worked with a host of community partners for public programming and outreach around the play's subject matter and themes.

 

Portland Museum of Art
This grant supported Weatherbeaten: Winslow Homer and Maine, the first major investigation of Winslow Homer's world at his Prout’s Neck studio.

 

Required Application Materials

Please review the following required materials carefully in preparing your application. Failure to comply with these requirements will result in disqualification of your application. Only complete applications will be accepted. Make copies of all application materials for your records prior to submitting them.

The preferred format for text files is .pdf, but .doc or .rtf files will be allowed. No other format will be accepted. Failure to save a document correctly may limit its ability to be uploaded through eGRANT and jeopardize the application. Instructions for submitting artistic work samples, if required, can be found below.

1.       eGRANT Application Applicants are required to upload all supporting documents through eGRANT.
2.     Application Budget Form (form below). No substitutions for the budget form are allowed (Organizations must provide evidence of 1:1 cash or in-kind match.).
3.     Application Narrative (form below) Clear, specific responses to each of the questions, addressed sequentially and numbered. Responses cannot exceed four pages. The project description is the central element of the grant request.
4.       Resume(s) For key staff members involved with the organization. Artists to be employed by the project may be included as well.
5.       Letters of Support From individuals or representatives of organizations or schools who can speak to their anticipated benefit from the project. (up to three).
6.       Profit and Loss Statement For the organization’s most recently completed fiscal year.
7.       Vendor Form (form below) To be provided by a first time applicant or those who’s contact information has changed. This is information used by the Treasury to generate a check if the grant is awarded. Applicants should be sure to indicate the address the check should be sent to.
8.       Assurances Form for Organizations only (form below) Form must include the original signature of an authorizing official. Please mark with name of applicant.

Mail or fax (207/287-2725) the assurances form and vendor form (if required) to the Maine Arts Commission, 193 State Street, Augusta, Maine 04333-0025.

Stop!

Each applicant must speak Kathy Ann Shaw, senior grants director (207/287-2750 or kathy.shaw@maine.gov) about the project before submitting an application. Failure to do so will disqualify the application.

How to Apply

Applicants are required to apply through the Maine Arts Commission eGRANT system. An eGRANT application will be accepted until 5:00 pm E.S.T. on the date of the application deadline. Because of the volume of eGRANT submissions on the day of any grant deadline, it is strongly recommended that you giveyourself a 24-hour buffer.

Applicants who are unable to apply through eGRANT must contact Kathy Ann Shaw at 207/287-2750 or kathy.shaw@maine.gov to discuss an alternative prior to applying. Alternative submissions will not be accepted without prior authorization.

The agency will not accept late or incomplete applications under any circumstance.

 

Grant information is available in large print format by request.All Maine Arts Commission programs are accessible to people with disabilities. All programs funded by the Maine Arts Commission must also be accessible.

 

Apply Now!

eGRANT Access and Application Forms
Vendor Form(PDF) and instructions(PDF)
ApplyeGRANT