Fall 2006 Issue

Letter From the Director:
A Message from Alden C. Wilson, Director

In the last issue, we referenced the Creative Capital Foundation’s investment in Maine to study our artists’ support network. In this issue, I would like to say more about what has transpired over the past few months with the Creative Capital Foundation.

First of all though, I would like to say a few words about the Creative Capital Foundation. This organization was created in 1999, as a national nonprofit entity that supports individual artists pursuing innovative approaches to form and content in the visual and performing arts, film, video, emerging fields and innovative literature. To date, the Creative Capital Foundation has awarded more than $5 million to many artists projects and has provided those artists with a range of advisory and skills-building services. This program is truly “venture capital” for artists and a national model of best practices for support of individual artists and can be viewed online at www.creative-capital.org.

With $100,000 support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Creative Capital has been examining the feasibility of adapting its comprehensive model for individual artist support at the state level. The resulting initiative, The State Research Projects, solicited 48 states; Maine and Arizona were selected as the pilot states to be studied.

Maine was selected, according to the Creative Capital Foundation because the state “has embraced the crucial role that artists play in building dynamic communities and is looking to cultivate artists as one of the states many ‘natural resources.’” As such, Maine's artist community is a central component driving Maine’s creative economy and the results of the State Research Project will clearly strengthen the state’s efforts to define, promote and brand Maine through its cultural community and natural environment.

Consultants Barbara Shaffer Bacon and Kathie deNobriga, visited Maine and traveled the state, interviewing 21 artists and conducted focus groups involving 29 other artists, arts administrators, community members and meeting with the Maine Arts Commission and each of the agency’s committees at our annual meeting on June 17, 2006, which was devoted to the role of the individual artist in Maine Arts Commission program support. The consultants also surveyed the state’s cultural history and nine of our arts services organizations such as the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance, the Maine Crafts Association and the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance.

The initial findings of the consultants highlighted Maine’s opportunities and challenges that would need to be faced when establishing an artists program and fund similar to the national Creative Capital Foundation model. Among these findings are:

• Assure artists are at the table when investment decisions are made regarding Maine’s creative economy
• Advance critical discourses and documentation in and of Maine’s cultural ecology
• Nurture a network of support for the performing arts
• Create a better market for the visual arts
• Broaden the concept of cultural tourism
• Encourage and support ongoing professional development
• Bridge divisions culturally, geographically and by discipline

We believe Maine is ready to meet these challenges and are proud to be among the first two states to be considered to partner with the Creative Capital Foundation, and national and local funding sources to establish a new and expansive program of support for Maine artists.

We have always said that Maine is a “state of artists.” The growing relationship with the Creative Capital Foundation is one way in which to develop a public-private partnership to make our “state of artists” more robust and recognized of public value.
As always we look forward to your thoughts and comments.

Sincerely,
Alden C. Wilson
Director

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