Contemporary Arts

Maine Arts Commission Grants | Fiscal Year 2006

http://mainearts.maine.gov/Grants/index.shtml

During fiscal year 2006, which runs from July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006, the Maine Arts Commission made 91 grant awards in nine different programs to schools, nonprofit organizations and individual artists in 54 Maine communities (and two communities in the Boston area as part of the agency’s partnership activities), totaling approximately $400,000. For a look into how public dollars impact the lives of grantees, please see the stories below.

Arts Service Partnership Agreements are designed to assist qualified Maine arts organizations to enter into one-year funded service agreements. These partnerships are intended to strengthen cultural resources for the benefit of Maine communities. Participating Art Service Partners propose programs and services that will advance one or more of the Maine Arts Commission’s priority areas. Through these partnerships, art service organizations will better serve their constituents’ needs, the public’s interest and advocate for the arts statewide.

“ Being one of the Maine Arts Commission’s Arts Service Partners has helped us to extend the benefits of our programs to more artists and more audiences in broader reaches of the state. As a Partner, the Center for Maine Contemporary Art has helped increase participation in Maine’s creative economy; coordinated The Maine Print Project, involving 25 visual arts institutions statewide and brought the work of many emerging artists to the attention of audiences throughout Maine and beyond, through exhibitions both on- and off-site. It is encouraging to work side-by-side with the Maine Arts Commission to advance the interests of Maine’s contemporary art and artists."

Oliver L. Wilder, President and CEO,
Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, presenting exhibitions and educational programming related to contemporary art in Maine, received $10,000 for a partnership agreement

“ The partnership funding the Maine Alliance for Arts Education received from the Maine Arts Commission for 2006 had a strong impact on the Maine Alliance for Arts Education and on arts education. We were able to increase access to arts education for Maine students, connect arts education to the creative economy and advocate effectively for arts education issues. For example, the funding allowed us to send our journal, Arts Every Day, to more than 1,500 arts education supporters three times last year and allowed us to completely redesign our website (www.maineartseducation.org) to make arts education resources (news, grants, advocacy tools and more) available to all. We were able to make a strong contribution to the report from the Governor’s Council on the Creative Economy, Connecting Creativity, Commerce and Community, to ensure that arts education has a significant place in developing the creative economy. In addition we were able to organize Arts Education Advocacy Day at the State Capitol in March 2006, bringing together arts education supporters from across the state to celebrate, advocate and present awards."

Carol Trimble, Director,
Maine Alliance for Arts Education,
which encourages and strengthens educational excellence in visual art, music, theater, dance and writing in all Maine schools and communities, received $10,000 for a partnership agreement.


	Gary Wittner with South African master musicians Paul Hanmer (pianist), and McCoy Mrubata (saxophone) Photo by Kevin Gibson.

Discovery Research is designed to assist Maine’s communities with strategic cultural research and development initiatives. Discovery Research is a community-wide inventory and consensus-building process in which cultural resources and needs are identified. The program assists communities in discovering their own cultural resources by providing funds to survey local events, artists, traditions, and tradition-bearers as well as cultural organizations which promote or support the performing, visual, craft or literary arts.

“The Maine Arts Commission provided funds to support our work in planning and writing a major federal proposal for a regional cultural development effort in the Saint John Valley of northern Maine. This effort stems from all the work that my colleagues and I have been doing to build a strong cultural community in the region. The Maine Arts Commission has been with us, year after year to help us achieve our goals. I’m very grateful to them for their continued support."

Sheila Jans, L’association
Culturelle & Historique du Mont Carmel, Lille,
a community arts organization aimed at preserving and presenting French culture and housed in a historic church, received $1,500 to prepare a major USDA Rural Development grant application.


	Teaser panels for the upcoming comic version of playwright Carolyn Gage’s The Obligatory Scene by Katie Diamond, The Obligatory Scene Pen and ink; photoshop, July, 2006.

Good Idea Grants are designed to assist in supporting and fostering the growth of Maine’s artists. They include any “good idea” that furthers an individual artist’s creative endeavor(s).

“The grant money I received from the Maine Arts Commission helped me tremendously. I used it to take lessons in various aspects of African music both here in Maine and during my recent trip to South Africa, where I studied with drummers from South Africa and guitarists from South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. I did several concerts with South African jazz musicians, playing music with a strong traditional influence, and the lessons were invaluable in preparation for these events."

Gary Wittner, Raymond,
jazz, blues and traditional musician,
received $1,000 to study African & Afro-Cuban styles.


	Hand written copy of Passamaquoddy’s 1794 Treaty - X signatures of tribal signatures. Photo by Nancy Leavitt.

“I received my Good Idea Grant to produce Beyond the L-Word: An Evening of Lesbian Theatre. Because of a medical situation that arose, coupled with the death of my mother, I needed to scale my full-production plans down to a staged reading, and I was very grateful that the Maine Arts Commission grantors allowed me this flexibility. The reading was wildly successful and resulted in a contract with up-and-coming Portland artist Katie Diamond to adapt one of the plays, The Obligatory Scene, to comic book format."

Carolyn Gage, Portland, Lesbian playwright, lecturer, touring performer, director and activist, received $1,000 to support a series of readings.

“It was an honor to be chosen as the representative of the US lettering arts community to research, write and present a paper at the Guild of Book Workers 100th Anniversary conference. This process has enriched my own understanding of the craft and informs a wider audience of teachers, professionals, and students of the importance of hand lettering in our nations’ history, in art and our everyday lives."

Nancy Leavitt, Stillwater, an internationally recognized lettering and book artist, received $500 to attend and exhibit at the Guild of Book Workers.
Excerpt from Without a Map
by Meredith Hall:
"It is my birthday. I want ritual. This place in Lebanon is called Jbeil, “the beautiful place.” I wash slowly in the Mediterranean Sea at dawn, dipping my head back into the cool, still water, an anointment. I wash my dress, and sit for the rest of the day on a long smooth ledge which falls away into the water. I have been feeling the silence acutely, the absolute lack of attachment. It frightens me, because I know I have slipped into the deepest current and may not come back. But I like the narcotic of walking and will not stop. I know the roads to Damascus and Latakia and Tyre. The walking claims ground as mine, and I am as much at home here as I have been anywhere since I was sixteen.

Between me and my mother, me and my father, me and my castaway child, beyond this quiet sea, is the dark and raging Atlantic. The sun on the Mediterranean stuns the mind. I am blank. I am here, in this beautiful place. I am twenty-three. I am alone. I have nothing."


	The Christopher A. Clough Diary, 1867-1870 - chronicling the daily activities of a busy farmer, trapper and jack-of-all-trades in Kennebec County. Thursday, April 11, 1867 - His log begins, “This is my birthday I am 27 years old today.” Photo by Nancy Leavitt.

Individual Artist Fellowships are designed to assist Maine artists who are applying for the Individual Artist Fellowship program. These grants reward artistic excellence, advance the careers of Maine artists, and promote public awareness regarding the eminence of the creative sector in Maine.

“Time is the great gift to any artist. The Maine Arts Commission Fellowship has given me several months free of my usual work responsibilities. That means that I have been able to leave the demands of the daily world and enter that deep and solitary space where writing happens. This has been a richly productive time, free of the constraints and distractions which dilute and distort the writing. I am very grateful to the Maine Arts Commission and to Maine’s citizens who make this time possible for so many artists."

Meredith Hall, Pownal, assistant director of the writing program at the University of New Hampshire and recipient of a Pushcart Prize and the Gift of Freedom Award, received $13,000 in unrestricted funds based on her artistic excellence.

Partners in Arts & Learning are designed to assist school systems to build upon work already done by applicants creating three-year plans for improving arts education opportunities for students, their teachers and their communities.

“ The Lewiston-Auburn 2006 Partners in Arts & Learning project is important because it is the first time the two cities—that have a long history of working together—have developed a unified curriculum project working through the arts. The school districts are responding to the arts assessment survey and an interest the teachers had in boosting literacy skills while working thorough the arts. L/A Arts is very excited to be embarking on a Readers Theatre program in partnership with the School Districts of Lewiston and Auburn. Readers Theatre is a literacy-based process designed to enhance reading comprehension, develop and refine reading fluency and encourage good communication skills while boosting self-confidence, self-awareness and self-esteem."

Jen Ryan, Director of Education for L/A Arts which has served the cities and school systems of these twin cities for more than 30 years as the designated local arts agency. Lewiston and Auburn School Districts, received $20,184 and $7,997 respectively to conduct arts in education activities district-wide.


	Cindy Larock gives a dance lesson.

Traditional Arts Apprenticeships are designed to assist Maine’s communities to preserve valuable artistic traditions. The program provides an opportunity for master traditional artists to pass on their skills to qualified apprentices.

“My apprenticeship with Jessie was very satisfying for me as a teacher and promoter of French culture, as she learned quickly and was attentive and respectful of those attributes which distinguish French Canadian dance from other similar types of ethnic dance … One experience that will remain fondly imprinted in my memory as a high point in my career was our participation at last summer’s American Folk Festival ... The result was a rare multi-generational display of talent: the original master Benoit [Bourque]; myself, his former apprentice; my apprentice Jessie and a quartet of Jessie’s young fiddle students."

Cynthia Larock, Lewiston, dance instructor and caller, specializing in New England and French Canadian contras, Quebecois step dancing and other dance forms, received $3,250 to teach apprentice Jessica Gagne-Hall traditional Franco dance forms.

“I am very inspired to work with a young talent such as Milo Stanley. His ability and enthusiasm for fiddling is boundless. We have a very good relationship and work well together. I am looking forward to continuing to be a mentor and teacher and feel fortunate to have this opportunity to work with him."

Douglass M. Protsik, Woolwich,
member of Old Grey Goose and director of the Maine Fiddle Camp,
received $3,000 to work with apprentice Milo Stanley.

“[I’d like] the opportunity to become more involved with the fiddling community in Maine and to learn from the Masters all aspects of their craft … I enjoy playing in my own community the most."
Milo Stanley,
10 years of age, fiddle apprentice.


	Milo Stanley practicing fiddling.

Special Projects grants allow the Maine Arts Commission to service the cultural community above and beyond existing grants programs. These projects often come about as a result of special revenue raised by the Maine Arts Commission from other public and private resources and are used to strengthen the health of the arts statewide.

“The Poetry Out Loud project provided the Maine Alliance for Arts Education with the opportunity to work directly with teachers and students in the greater Augusta area. It was a chance to go into schools we hadn’t worked with before--to provide arts education for the students and to introduce our organization and its services to the teachers. I’m especially glad that we were able to make it possible for teachers to bring in some of Maine’s outstanding poets for workshops with students."

Maine Alliance for Arts Education, which encourages and strengthens educational excellence in visual art, music, theater, dance and writing in all Maine schools and communities, received $8,000 (funded by the National Endowment for the Arts) to assist the Maine Arts Commission in developing the Poetry Out Loud program.

Federal Grants in Maine
In addition to direct grants to the Maine Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts made nine competitive awards — an investment of $150,000 — to Maine arts organizations and one prestigious fellowship to a Maine writer in fiscal year 2006.

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is a federal agency that provides significant support to the Maine Arts Commission and funds other cultural activities in Maine. This year, both the Maine Arts Commission and the NEA mark their 40th anniversary of leadership in the arts. The NEA is a public agency “dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education.

Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Arts Endowment is the largest national funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities and military bases.”

http://mainearts.maine.gov/Grants/index.shtml

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