Maine Expansion Arts Fund Awards $59,000 in Grants to Expand Access to the Arts

ELLSWORTH & PORTLAND — The Maine Community Foundation’s Maine Expansion Arts Fund has awarded 13 grants totaling $59,250 to support indigenous, ethnic, or rural arts programs or projects, particularly those that serve areas with limited access to arts events.

Grant recipients include:

• Deertrees Theatre, Harrison, to reach out to senior citizens, students and immigrants by providing affordable entertainment, offering informational meetings, classes and volunteering possibilities
• Down East Singers, Rockport, to produce a virtual concert, in collaboration with Bay Chamber Concerts and Halcyon String Quartet
• Eastport Arts Center, to improve the lobby entry to provide a safer, more efficient, and more welcoming experience.

The Maine Expansion Arts Fund is a collaborative effort of the National Endowment for the Arts, Lillian Berliawsky Charitable Trust, Maine Community Foundation, and Maine Arts Commission to strengthen and ensure the future of Maine’s artistic traditions. Additional funding is provided through the Elizabeth Laughlin Anderson Memorial Fund.

The next deadline for grant applications is September 15, 2021. Guidelines, application and a list of recent grants are available at www.mainecf.org. A full list of 2020 grantees can be found below.

2020 Maine Expansion Arts Fund Grants

• Apogee Arts, Brooksville, to produce a series of movement-based videos with socio-political messages created with students from the region: $5,000
• Bagaduce Theatre, Brooksville, to present a new play set in rural Maine, Hattie and Robert: Letters in our Pockets by Monique Fowler: $4,825
• Bethel Area Arts & Music, to install a large-scale, public art mural inspired by members of the community and designed by a professional Maine artist: $5,000
• Deertrees Theatre, Harrison, to reach out to senior citizens, students and immigrants by providing affordable entertainment, offering informational meetings, classes and volunteering possibilities: $5,000
• Down East Singers, Rockport, to produce a virtual concert, in collaboration with Bay Chamber Concerts and Halcyon String Quartet: $2,025
• Eastport Arts Center, to improve the lobby entry to provide a safer, more efficient, and more welcoming experience: $5,000
• Friends of the DaPonte String Quartet, Damariscotta, to bring a Maine Bicentennial Concert and accompanying educational opportunities to underserved communities in Maine: $5,000
• LEAPS of Imagination, Rockport, to bring in-depth art programs to underserved children and individual art packets to students in keeping with COVID safety precautions: $4,400
• Maine Forestry Museum, Rangeley, to promote, expand and preserve the folk art traditions of clogging, bluegrass/folk music, and childhood oral lore: $3,000
• Our Town Belfast, to add artwork to the city's downtown crosswalks, increasing visibility and safety while creating visual interest: $5,000
• Penobscot Nation Boys and Girls Club, Old Town, to create a safe theater stage for the community to express themselves: $5,000
• Saco River Theatre, to help with general operating expenses and innovative programming during the COVID-19 pandemic: $5,000
• University of Maine Foundation, Orono, to create and promote a virtual Wabanaki Winter Market, including educational content and a Wabanaki Artist Directory: $5,000