Paul Faria Receives Recognition for 20 Years Service to Maine’s Artists and Educators

At the Maine Arts Commission’s annual meeting in Bath on Monday, Paul Faria, Arts in Education Associate, was recognized for his 20 years of service to the field. Paul received rapturous applause during a standing ovation from the 100 plus attendees.

Paul joined the Maine Arts Commission on January 3, 1989 as Percent for Art assistant before transitioning into the position of Public Art associate. Paul held that position for 13 years, until December of 2002 when he briefly became Public Service associate. After a short period in that position Paul moved to his more familiar role of Arts in Education associate where he has remained since October of 2003.
During his time as Arts in Education associate Paul has overseen numerous agency efforts, such as the First Lady’s Maine Youth Excellence in Art initiative; the National Endowment for the Art’s and Poetry Foundation’s Poetry Out Loud National Recitation contest; the Congressional Arts Awards; and of course various agency grants programs, such as Partners in Arts and Learning, and SMART (details in the latest Maine Arts Magazine).

To this day, Paul continues to represent the agency at all of its most high profile functions with the utmost professionalism, and continues to be an inspiration to his colleagues and to the field.