In 1998, Curtis began what would be an 18-year commitment to interactive installation art, 9 solo-biennial exhibits from 2000 to 2016. In the end, Curtis will have installed 81 large-in-scope, interactive works throughout 9 vast mill spaces of 8 Maine towns. Curtis’s 9th and final biennial is MEMORY (September 17–October 28, 2016, Bates Mill, Lewiston) her long intention to mount her last biennial in the town that hosted her first. As Curtis completes her opus, she wants to help other Maine artists make the work they want to make. She's offering her forthcoming, 400-page catalogue 9 SOLO BIENNIALS for an extremely low pre-publication donation rate. If this donation campaign is successful, it will spark the Forward Fund, a grant program for Maine artists to be administrated by Engine (feedtheengine.org).

In addition to the fate of the grant, the number of donations Curtis's book receives during this 2016 campaign will determine how many books will be distributed in 2018. So, if you've been waiting for this big book, you'll want to secure your copy now. You might not be able buy the book in 2018. And if you can, you might be charged the full retail price.

If you donate $40 in 2016 toward the Maine printing of 9 SOLO BIENNIALS (retail $80), you'll receive a signed, full-color edition for FREE in 2018. If you donate $20 you'll receive a signed, black-and-white edition FREE. If Curtis's book receives 1,500 donations by the end of 2016, $9,000 will go into the Forward Fund and be granted to one Maine artist in 2019. If Curtis's book receives 3,000 donations in 2016, $27,000 will support Forward Fund grants of $9,000 in 2019, 2020, and 2021.

More About The Book9 SOLO BIENNIALS is an autobiographical catalogue documenting Curtis's eighteen-year, interactive process in Maine's mills. This long-anticipated narrative will be printed in Maine, will include 200 pages of images, and will give readers a behind-the-scenes look into the rigorous 22-month process of mounting each exhibit. Each of nine chapters (one for each solo biennial) includes a history of the mill where the exhibit took place, as well as an essay by one of New-England's most respected museum directors, curators, or arts writers, including Sharon Corwin, Bob Keyes, Natasha Khandekar, William Low, Jessica May, Donna McNeil, Owen Smith, Chris Thompson, and Andrew Witkin. Finally, 9 SOLO BIENNIALS celebrates and thanks the businesses, organizations, and more than 1,000 patrons, donors, and volunteers who contributed to Curtis's long-term project.

More About The FundIf this donation campaign is successful, the Forward Fund will help propel the forward motion of a Maine artist's work. The Forward Fund will support any emerging, mid-career, or established artist whose work needs "a boost of energy," whether the artist is just starting with his or her work or specific idea, or keeping more-developed work or ideas progressing forward. Curtis arrived at the idea for the Forward Fund (named by Engine's Co-Founder Joshua Bodwell, inspired by her biennials' "forward" works), as a way to "pay forward" the support she has received from the state of Maine to mount her nine ambitious exhibits.

How To DonateTo secure a copy of 9 SOLO BIENNIALS and to help spark the Forward Fund, people can donate by sending a check by mail, by bringing a check to MEMORY, or by using PayPal. One helpful detail, is that donors don't have to pay for shipping--if they plan to pick up their books in Fall 2018 at one of the nine Maine openings/events for AMY STACEY CURTIS: 18 YEARS. This is a 9-institution retrospective slated to celebrate Curtis's big accomplishment. For more information visit: www.amystaceycurtis.comTo help make the Forward Fund go, visit and share this video: https://youtu.be/iXbBIx9P1Lw