The Maine Arts Commission is a state agency that receives funding appropriated by the Maine State Legislature. In addition, the Agency partners with the National Endowment for the Arts for additional annual funding. The Maine Arts Commission shall encourage and stimulate public interest and participation in the cultural heritage and cultural programs of our state; shall expand the state's cultural resources; and shall encourage and assist freedom of artistic expression for the wellbeing of the arts, to meet the needs and aspirations of persons in all parts of the state.
The Maine Arts Commission offers grant funding to Maine organizations, individuals, schools, and municipalities. The grant cycle opens January fifteenth each year with the majority of deadlines before the end of March, with some offerings that have additional autumn deadlines. Funding support must be used for projects between July 1 of the current year and June 30 of the following year. If a project has components that fall outside of the timeframe, those components cannot be funded, although components within the timeframe are eligible for funding. All applications must be made through the agency online Grants Management System.
Full List of Grant Recipients - FY 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022
Fellowships - FY 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022
July 2021 report for the FY22 awards.
For a PDF of the FY22 awardees can be found here or at the link below.
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FY 2022 Arts & Humanities (spring) - The Maine Arts Commission and the Maine Humanities Council collaborate to provide Arts & Humanities grants that assist organizations in Maine to investigate and present stories and cultural expressions of the state, its communities and its people. |
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| Applicant | Community | Project Title | |||
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Blue Hill |
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Castine |
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| Engine Inc. | Biddeford | Good Days | |||
| Kennebec Valley Art Association | Hallowell |
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| Maine Highlands Senior Center | Dover-Foxcroft |
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| Rangeley Lakes Historical Society | Rangeley |
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Wiscasset |
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FY 2022 Creative Aging (spring)- The Creative Aging grant supports organizations and artists that develop high-quality, participatory, arts programs for older adults. Funds are available to support teaching artists from the Maine Arts Commission’s Creative Aging Teaching Artist Roster to work in community settings such as libraries, senior centers, arts organizations, and assisted- and independent-living centers. |
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| Applicant | Community | Project Title | ||
| Bangor Region YMCA | Bangor |
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| Eastern Area Agency on Aging | Brewer |
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| Gorham Arts Alliance | Gorham | EcoArts for Seniors | ||
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FY 2022 ARTS LEARNING—This program provides funding to support high-quality visual or performing arts education for PK-12 students and/or educators of this population. |
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| Applicant | Community | Project Title | |||
| 317 Main Community Music Center | Yarmouth | Music Education Partnership for Biddeford Schools | |||
| Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine | Portland | Youth Theatre Ensemble | |||
| Leaps of Imagination | Rockport |
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| Mayo Street Arts | Portland |
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| Palaver Strings | Portland |
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| Portland Ovations |
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| Portland Stage Company | Portland |
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| RSU 22 | Hampden |
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| RSU 25 | Bucksport |
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FY 2022 Organization Partnership - This program provides much-needed unrestricted operating funds to arts organizations and establishes a process for partnering with the Maine Arts Commission to advance the role of the arts in strengthening communities and enhancing local economies. |
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| Applicant | Community | Project Title | ||
| A Company of Girls | Portland |
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| Aroostook Arts and Education Center | Presque Isle | Enrich Arts Programming in Aroostook County | ||
| Bangor Symphony Orchestra | Bangor | Bangor Symphony Orchestra 2021-22 Season | ||
| Bowdoin International Music Festival | Brunswick | To support the Bowdoin International Music Festival's 2021 Season | ||
| Brick Store Museum | Kennebunk | Brick Store Museum Partnership | ||
| Celebration Barn Theater | South Paris | 2021 Partnership Grant Application for Celebration Barn Theater | ||
| Center Theatre, Inc. | Dover-Foxcroft | Center Theatre for the Performing Arts Operational Support | ||
| Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine | Portland | Partnership with Maine Arts Commission | ||
| Eastport Arts Center | Eastport | EAC MAC Partnership | ||
| Haystack Mountain School of Crafts | Deer Isle | Organization Partnership | ||
| Maine Academy of Modern Music | Portland | The Music Plays On | ||
| Maine Crafts Association | Gardiner | Maine Crafts Association 21/22 Operating Support | ||
| Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance | Portland | Organizational Partnership | ||
| Mayo Street Arts | Portland | Partnership | ||
| New England Music Camp Association | Sidney | Providing Arts Education Through Outreach Partner Programs | ||
| Ogunquit Playhouse Foundation | Ogunquit | Looking Towards the Future | ||
| Opera Maine | Portland | To support a Partnership Grant for Opera Maine | ||
| Penobscot Theatre Company | Bangor | Organizational Partnership | ||
| Points North Institute | Camden | Points North Institute Partnership | ||
| Portland Chamber Music Festival | Portland | Support for the 2020-2021 season | ||
| Portland Museum of Art | Portland | Partnership Support | ||
| Portland Ovations | Portland | Annual Partnership General Operations Support | ||
| Portland Stage Company, Inc. | Portland | Support for Portland Stage's 2020-21 Season | ||
| Portland Symphony Orchestra | Portland | Production of combined virtual and live concert season | ||
| President & Trustees of Bates College | Lewiston | Bates Dance Festival Partnership Grant | ||
| Schoodic Arts for All | Winter Harbor | Continuing to offer outstanding programming in time of Covid | ||
| Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Inc. | Madison | Unrestricted Operating Funds | ||
| William A. Farnsworth Art Musuem | Rockland | Farnsworth Art Museum Partnership | ||
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FY 2022 Project Grant for Artists - The Project Grant for Artists supports creative projects throughout Maine, assisting artists with the creation of new work and the continuation of existing arts programs. Projects can be in any artistic discipline and on any scale. |
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| Applicant | Community | Project Title | |
| Alexander, Anne | Windham | Diverse Petals | |
| Alexandrou, Rachel | Alna | Foraged Feast | |
| Allen, Judith | Portland | Mapping the Walk | |
| Alonzo, Lisa | Brunswick | Analog Alley Mural Project | |
| Amend, Joyce | York | Pouring My Heart Out | |
| Aoki, Aretha | Topsham | Izumonookuni | |
| Backus, Todd | Portland | Too Strange to Live, Too Weird to Die | |
| Barr, Lynne | Cornish | Telling Stories | |
| Beaudoin, Genevieve | Brunswick | "Change Your Mind" Live Performance Music Video | |
| Beckford, Simon | Liberty | Local Wildlife Stickers | |
| Benson, M.J. | South Portland | Plein Air, Pigments, & Public Engagement | |
| Bernard, Kim | Rockland | Pedal Shredder | |
| Booher, Jennifer | Bar Harbor | Stained Glass Windows of Mount Desert Island | |
| Brimstein, Quincy | Portland | Building Community and Finding Expression through Creative Ecology | |
| Brooks, Robin | Topsham | Stories of Our Foremothers | |
| Bruun, Peter | Southport | First The Crying | |
| Burns, Greg | Brunswick | Abstract Photography Residency | |
| Carey, Jordan | Portland | Roots & Culture | |
| Caswell, Cole | Peaks Island | Rise | |
| Charland, Caleb | Brewer | Materials Needed to Enlarge A Novel Photographic Printing Process | |
| Chen, Ray | Falmouth | Age of Influence - US National Exhibition Switzerland | |
| Clay, Chris | Portland | You Haven't Been Down Every Road | |
| Cotter, Caroline | Mount Desert | "Don't Wait" Music Video | |
| Crupi, Viva | Portland | Pivot & Rebrand | |
| Cullen, Lynne | Portland | "Walk Among the Shadows: The Secret History of Eastern Cemetery" | |
| Darling, Eric | Appleton | Drift Rope Project | |
| Davis, Sophie | Waldoboro | Rise Up! | |
| Evans, Sian | Veazie | La Survivance: Here All the Time | |
| Fein, Randy | Lincolnville | Collaborate with Hero Media Arts to create an online presence | |
| Fisher-Lochhead, Daniel | Mount Desert | Danny Fischer-Lochhead Tap Quartet Mini-Tour | |
| Franzel, Johanna | Cape Elizabeth | Writing Ourselves Awake: Making Embodied Creativity Accessible | |
| Gaffney, Sarah Kilch | Vassalboro | Leaves to the Sky Book Project | |
| Gallagher, Ross | Bath | Maine Soundscapes & the Comtemporary Electronic Exponents of Jazz | |
| Gorman, Michael | Palermo | Never Leaving This Boat | |
| Gottlieb, Audrey | York | Copyright Registration of Photographs | |
| Gray, Julie | Saco | Under the Shroud, Beyond the Veil: Self Portrait as Spirit | |
| Hamacher, Sophie | Freeport | (Super)vision: On Motherhood and Surveillance | |
| Harrison, Ruthanne | Richmond | Mixed Media Video Presentation | |
| Haskell, Sarah | York | Botanical Dyes: Co-creating with Nature | |
| Henkin, Lauren | Rockland | Exhibition Catalog-Prop Books | |
| Herrling, Malcolm | Bradley | Maine In The Raw: Black and White Portraits | |
| Hoffman, Nancy 3. | Peaks Island | Who Nose? The Tarot of the Human Body | |
| Howard, Camille | Portland | The Anglerfish | |
| Jackson, Derek | Portland | Life Tonight | |
| Jerome, Judith | Deer Isle | Website Redesign and Development | |
| Juli, Sara | Falmouth | Burnt-Out-Wife | |
| Kendall, Jessy | Lewiston | Letterfounder Craft Studio | |
| Kendall, Zak | New Sharon | "Room to Grow" Vinyl Record Production | |
| Leighton, Sarah | Searsport | Rug Hooking Education | |
| Logue, Peter | Rockport | "An Artist's Guide to Investing" e-book for artists | |
| Manning, Deiran | Winter Harbor | Diabelli Variations | |
| Maus, Pam | Owls Head | Brenda Commander: Indigneous Woman, Tribal Chief | |
| Miller, Nina | Portland | Healing Harmonies - Bringing Back Our Community | |
| Moulton, Pamela | South Portland | The Forest Is Off The Wall | |
| Mullin, Zachary | South Portland | Hip Hop In the Park | |
| Ng, Elaine | Rockland | Fingerprints of Place | |
| Ober, Elijah | South Portland | Calcium | |
| Ouellette, Dylan | Presque Isle | Home Studio Revamp | |
| Qualey, Erica | Walpole | Virtual Art Teaching Studio Upgrade | |
| Richard, Michael | Portland | Artist MAC Grant | |
| Roberts, Jill | Kennebunk | Sumi Scarves | |
| Rosen, Becky Jane | Portland | Matrilineal | |
| Rosengren Moran, Hannah | South Portland | Eco-Friendly Alphabet Zine | |
| Russell, Kate | Sedgwick | Threadbare at Carding Brook 2021 | |
| Skaar Rocknak, Anneli | Camden | Monarch | |
| Sockbeson, Sarah | Veazie | 29 Native Voices Podcast Production Project | |
| Stake, Kristen | Portland | Choreographing Community | |
| Stewart, Heather | Portland | "I Have No Carbons" | |
| Stone, Michaela | Rockport | Studio Crie Outdoor Market | |
| Sugatski, Kallie | Portland | Experiemental Outdoor Concert Series | |
| Sylvain, Robert | Portland | Memere's Notebook CD Release | |
| Szwajkos, Sarah | Camden | Liminal - Limited Edition Homemade Book | |
| Tanguay, Carla | Mount Desert | Maine Music Therapy Resource Establishment | |
| Thibeau, Kaitlin | Scarborough | Plants and Prints | |
| Trautman, Michael | Portland | Death of a Clown | |
| Trunzo, Sara | Unity | Cabin Fever Dream EP | |
| Viera Jr. Antonio da Rocha | Gray | The Malaga Ship | |
| Warden, Norma | Auburn | Bringing Books to Life Through Photography | |
| Wiley, Thom | Southwest Harbor | The Calvineers Movie | |
| Williams, Augustus | Bristol | Moving Boxes | |
| Wingo, Chekotah | Blue Hill | The Gatherers | |
| Wong, Evelyn | Portland | Mooncakes for Democracy | |
| Yobaskas, Lauren | Cape Elizabeth | Opera in the Pines | |
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FY 2022 Project Grant for Organizations - The Project Grant for Organizations is designed to support creative projects throughout Maine. Grant funds assist arts organizations with the production of high-quality creative activities, the creation of new work, and the continuation of successful arts programs. Projects can be in any artistic discipline and on any scale. |
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| Applicant | Community | Project Title | |
| 317 Main Community Music Center | Yarmouth | Maine Folk Music Dance Series | |
| Alice James Brooks | Farmington | Electronic publication, promotion, and distribution of poetry | |
| Bar Harbor Festival Corporation | Bangor | Community Connections - Eight Classical Music Events | |
| Bearnstow | Mount Vernon | A Bearnstow Jaunt | |
| Blue Hill Bach | Blue Hill | Blue Hill Bach Summer Festival Online | |
| Castine Historical Society, Inc. | Castine | Castine's Clark Fitz-Gerald: A Sculptor's Life and Vision | |
| Cobscook Community Learning Center | Trescott | Making In Place: Connecting Across Isolation | |
| Creative Portland | Portland | Gulf of Maine ECOARTS: 'Bigelow Project' | |
| Creative Portland Cooperartion | Portland | Reopen & Revive: Summer Performance Outdoor Stages | |
| Ellsworth Community Music Institute | Ellsworth | Arthur Russell Festival Short Documentary | |
| Friends of Congress Square Park | Portland | In the Square Arts Programming | |
| Friends of DaPonte String Quartet | Damariscotta | Young Strings Workshop | |
| Friends of the Strand Theatre | Denmark | Jazz Residency Initiative 2020-21 Programming | |
| Heart of Ellsworth | Ellsworth | Ellsworth's First Outdoor Mural | |
| Ice Dance International | Kittery | 2020/22 Winter Residency. | |
| Institute of Contemporary Art | Portland | Monitor: Surveillance, Data, and the New Panoptic | |
| Kennebec Youth Symphony Orchestra | Manchester | Support for Conductors and Mentors | |
| Knox County Homeless Coalition | Rockland | TLP Mobile Makerspace | |
| LA Public Theatre Inc. | Lewiston | Youth Education and Outreach Program | |
| Maine Mental Health Connections | Bangor | Together Place Neighborhood Recovery Mural Project | |
| New Surry Repetory Theatre & School | Blue Hill | New Surry Theatre 50th Season 2021-22 | |
| Palaver Strings Inc. | Portland | Welcome Here: Music and Stories of Welcome in Maine | |
| Pierre Monteux Memorial Foundation | Hancock | Student scholarships | |
| Portland Public Library | Portland | Art in Captivity: Inside Out | |
| Portland School of Ballet | Portland | Pointe Shoe Fund | |
| Salt Bay Chamberfest | Damariscotta | Salt Bay Chamberfest 27th Season: Doors Open! | |
| Salt Pond Community Broadcasting Co. | East Orland | Maine Musician Hour | |
| The Telling Room | Portland | The Telling Room Anthology Project | |
| The Theater at Monmouth | Monmouth | Shakespeare in Maine Communities Program | |
| Waterfall Arts | Belfast | Digital Storytelling Model | |
| Wiscasset Creative Alliance | Wiscasset | Sidewalk Redux: Wiscasset Village | |
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FY 2022 Jane Morrison Film Fund - The Jane Morrison Memorial Film Fund supports educational opportunities for filmmakers. Funds from this program are designed to help filmmakers take advantage of opportunities that develop their skills and keep them current with film technology and standards. |
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| Applicant | Community | Project Title | |
| Daly, Donna | Owls Head | Professional Development | |
| Fatora, Luke | Rockland | Professional Development | |
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FY 2022 Organization Development - The Organizational Development grant is designed to support capacity-building projects for arts organizations. Grant funds can help address issues that include positioning of the organization, board and staff development, planning, financial management, and marketing. Projects can be in any artistic discipline and on any scale. |
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| Applicant | Community | Project Title | |
| Beloit Poetry Journal Foundation, Inc. | Windham | Assessment and Plan for Use / Preservation - Capacity Building | |
| Center for Furniture Craftsmanship | Rockport | Executive Director Seach | |
| Classical Uprising | Portland | Strategic Planning for Sustainable Growth | |
| Engine, Inc. | Biddeford | Capacity Building Support | |
| Friends of the Maine State Museum | Augusta | Exploring the Maine Labor Mural Online | |
| Chocolate Church Arts Center (Bath) | Bath | Maintenance of CCAC Organizational during COVID-19 | |
| Maine Charitable Mechanic Association | Portland | Mechanics' Hall: Strategizing the Future | |
| Saco River Grange Hall, Inc. | Bar Mills | Structural Survey for Expansion and Repairs | |
| Side x Side Inc. | Portland | Moving Forward: Equality within Side x Side Inc. | |
| SPACE Gallery | Portland | Reestablishing SPACE in the post-pandemic arts landscape | |
| Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts | Newcastle | Capturing the Impact of Watershed's New Studio and Public Spaces | |
| Waterville Creates | Waterville | Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Assessment + Action Plan | |
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FY 2022 Dance Education - The Dance Education Grant provides funding to support schools or organizations doing dance education projects that enrich PK-12 students and/or educators. Eligible schools must NOT currently have a dance education program in place. |
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| Applicant | Community | Fellowship | |
| RSU 22 | Hampden | Nature, Art & Movement | |
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FY 2022 Traditional Arts Apprenticeship- The Traditional Arts Apprenticeship helps communities sustain their cultural heritage by providing an opportunity for master traditional artists to pass on their skills to a qualified apprentice or apprentices. |
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| Applicant | Community | Fellowship | |
| Theriault, Brian | Fort Kent | Making Traditional Snowshoes | |
Get Started in our Application Portal
Apply for a Grant
For General Questions:
Director of Grants & Accessibility
Kerstin Gilg: 287-6719
Help by Discipline:
Assistant Director
Julie Horn: 287-2790
Program Officer
Martha Piscuskas: 287-2750
Traditional Arts Specialist
Kathleen Mundell: 236-6741