Three Agency Grant Deadlines Approach

The Maine Arts Commission has three grant deadlines coming up in the next six weeks. The first of these is the second round of the Maine Arts Recovery Program which provides up to $10,000 in funds to subsidize the preservation of jobs within nonprofit arts organizations. These stimulus dollars intend to help arts organizations as well as Maine’s creative workers in all genres of the arts. The deadline for this grant is September 11.
The guidelines for this grant adhere to the policy set by our federal partners at the National Endowment for the Arts. Although funding is designated for nonprofit arts organizations, you may note that the guidelines do include the employment or commissioning of creative workers to make work in support of an organization’s mission when the initiative can show that it is in long-term planning stages.

The other available grant deadlines approaching boast the easiest application process that the agency offers.

The Good Idea Grant (GIG) family offers funding for good ideas, and aims to move funding to artists in a way that supports these good ideas as quickly as possible. Both the GIG programs have their deadline on September 18, with approvals expected on October 23.

The GIG Contemporary supports and fosters the growth of Maine’s artists. The parameters of the grant are purposefully broad and encourage applicants with any “good idea” that furthers an individual artist’s creative endeavor(s).

The GIG Arts Visibility just joined the GIG family with a successful first round in March. Artists and organizations who are interested in this grant have found the successful stories that were covered in the latest Maine Arts Magazine to be most useful. This grant, in simple terms, assists Maine’s artists and arts organizations by providing the means with which to increase the visibility of specific artistic projects. This includes any "good idea" that supports an individual artist or organization through increased visibility.

In order to keep the GIG process simple, applicants are asked to complete a one or two page narrative in response to two or three simple questions. Work samples and resumes are requested to allow panelists to judge quality. Panels consist of expects in the field, and Maine Arts Commission staff members have no input on the process other than answering technical questions and working technology.