Inside this issue 
Message from the Chair
What, no mud season? It is so hard to believe that it is now the very beginning of April and we have already cleaned our garden beds and trimmed all the broken branches, and the lilies and peonies are already over an inch long. It certainly bodes well for a very exciting growing season.
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Letter from Donna McNeil Director
The benevolence of this winter’s weather unveiled itself as a compensation for the faltering economy. The flowers are early, stunning us. We emerge like hungry bears out of the caves of our coats and hats and gloves and boots with bright ideas about partnership, economies of scale, cross-genre programming and a myriad of salves for the wounded budget. (Take a new look at our grants page.) But perhaps the best thing we can do for ourselves and our society is to say “Yes!”
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CCED Creative Communities = Economic Development
Maine’s distinct quality of place is its primary economic asset. In addition to spectacular lands, waters and coastlines, Maine’s towns and villages containing “human-scaled Maine Streets,” historic buildings and working waterfronts also contribute to Maine’s palpable charm. All these characteristics have attracted artists to Maine for decades, and they continue to do so. The presence of artists, art organizations large and small and art-related businesses that have come into being as a result of this rich artistic and cultural heritage has contributed significantly to this unique quality of place.
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American Masterpieces
mas•ter•piece : a work done with extraordinary skill; especially : a supreme intellectual or artistic achievement. Defined by their own artistic assessments and programming standards, 13 organizations applied to the Maine Arts Commission’s American Masterpieces grant program this year. In May, five organizations, spanning the state from Portland to Lewiston to Bangor and celebrating both the performing and visual arts, were funded.
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Good Idea Grants
After six years of Good Idea Grants, the Maine Arts Commission, prompted by feedback from the field, has reverted to a rotating deadline for this program. This means there are seven possibilities for grant approval each year. It also means there are fewer grants to review each time, giving staff and reviewers more time to give full attention to each idea.
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Arts and Humanities
The Maine Arts Commission and the Maine Humanities Council collaborate to provide Arts and Humanities grants that assist organizations in Maine as they investigate and present stories and cultural expressions of the state, its communities and its people. These grants support projects and public programs that include or combine both arts and humanities disciplines.
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Grants Calendar
Maine Arts Commission Grants Calendar for Fiscal Year 2012...
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Arts Visibility Grant
The Maine Arts Commission’s Arts Visibility grant helps to raise awareness of Maine’s art and artists through marketing funds that are awarded to individual artists and organizations. The grant awards up to $1,500 to approved applicants.
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Performing arts Innovative Production Grant
In mid-2009, the Media and Performing Arts (MAPA) committee endeavored to find a way to encourage projects in both the performing arts and media arts sectors. This was no small order considering the differences between the two disciplines. There was also much internal discussion about the feasibility of combining performing arts (theater, dance, singing, live music, etc.) and media arts (film, radio, computer, electronics, etc.) into one program.
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Congressional Art Competition
This is the second year that the Maine Arts Commission has overseen the Congressional Art Competition, an art competition sponsored by the U.S. House of Representatives for high school students from every congressional district in the United States. The winning entries, one from each congressional district, are displayed in an exhibition in the U.S. Capitol for one year beginning in June.
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Tourism Partnership
The Maine Arts Commission is proud to announce its partnership with the Maine Office of Tourism that is set to promote the performing arts in Maine. There has been a lot of discussion about cultural tourism by both agencies, and now is the perfect time to cement this partnership.
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Tax Incentives for Visual and Media Productions
On February 23, Governor John E. Baldacci signed LD 1449, “An Act to Expand Tax Incentives for Visual Media Productions,” into law.
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Community Arts Art at Work in portland
Community artist Marty Pottenger says an unexpected trail of breadcrumbs led her to Portland. Pottenger, a New York City theater artist and carpenter, thinks big. Among the projects she created in New York City was City Water Tunnel #3 — a performance work telling the story of workers on the largest nondefense public work in the Western Hemisphere — which won her an Obie Award in 1996. The construction project took 60 years to complete.
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Community Arts Juice Conference Highlights Creative Economy
More than 800 participants gathered in Camden for the 2009 Juice Conference. The participants were from a variety of sectors—arts and culture, environmental, entrepreneurial, economic development and technology. In addition to featured performances by dancers Aniruddha Knight and Liz Lerman, the meeting offered workshops on a variety of arts and culture topics. Imaginative Collaborations, chaired by Owen Smith, the Maine Arts Commission vice chair, explored the use of collaboration in the artistic process.
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Social Networking for Artists and Organizations
If you haven’t done so already, now might be the time for you to join the Maine Arts Commission’s social network. The agency uses social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, Flickr and YouTube to augment its website and to share information with the field.
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DeCordova Biennial
Three prominent Maine artists were invited to the prestigious DeCordova Biennial this year in Lincoln, MA: William Pope.L, Randy Regier and Greta Bank. It was Greta’s pals, however, who chartered a 52-seat bus and gathered 45 arts supporters, who boarded the bus in front of SPACE Gallery, on the evening of January 28 for the rally.
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Percent for art
Seven Percent for Art commissions are moving forward, having been recently approved by all the involved governing bodies. New to Maine’s Percent for Art program, Lea Cyr and Susan Brown were awarded three commissions in the last year. Cyr and Brown have been working as a team for three years and were inspired to start participating in the Percent for Art program because of the opportunity to both work with and make art for communities.
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Arts in the Capitol
Arts in the Capitol brings in exhibitions organized by Maine’s nonprofit arts organizations that feature the work of Maine artists. The program provides the citizens of Maine, state workers and state lawmakers with a unique cultural offering in Maine’s Capitol complex.
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Two times Ten Celebrating 20 Years of Traditional Arts
In 1990, the Maine Arts Commission began the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship program as a way of encouraging master traditional artists to pass on their skills to the next generation. Since then, the agency has sponsored (with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts) dozens of apprenticeships ranging from Acadian singing to Wabanaki brown ash basket making.
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Traditional Arts Celebrated with New Program
The Celebrate Traditional Arts (CTA) program helps cultural conservation and folklife organizations find innovative ways to support traditional culture and artists living and working in Maine. Now in its first year, the program provides $1,500 to support traditional artists’ presentations in a range of community settings including festivals, gatherings, fairs, museums, tours and other community events.
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Agency Listing
Directory for the Maine Arts Commission
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