Big Read Grants Available for Maine Communities

The Big Read is accepting applications from nonprofit organizations to develop community-wide reading programs between September 2013 and June 2014. The Big Read is a national program designed to revitalize the role of literature in American culture and to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment. Organizations selected to participate in The Big Read receive a grant (between $2,500 and $20,000) , educational and promotional materials, and access to online training resources and opportunities. Approximately 75 organizations from across the country will be selected.

Previous engagements with this program in Maine are listed below by year:
2011 – 2012
Island Readers & Writers, Bar Harbor– The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
2010-2011
Dyer Library/Saco Museum, Saco -The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
2009-2010
Island Readers & Writers, Bar Harbor– The Call of the Wild Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, Portland – Fahrenheit 451
2008-2009
Victoria Mansion, Portland – The Age of Innocence Auburn Public Library, Auburn– Fahrenheit 451
2007-2008
Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, Portland – The Joy Luck Club Patten Free Library, Bath – The Grapes of Wrath.

To review the guidelines and application instructions, visit The Big Read website.
Application deadline: February 5, 2013 by 4:00pm CST
There are three new titles in the Big Read Library this year:

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri With penetrating insight, Jhumpa Lahiri follows the Ganguli family from their traditional life in Calcutta through their fraught transformation into Americans.

True Grit by Charles Portis A classic Western, True Grit recounts the backcountry adventure of a one-eyed marshal, "Rooster” Cogburn, and a spirited fourteen-year-old, Mattie Ross, as they seek to avenge the death of Mattie's father.

Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea Filled with radiant depictions of the Mexican landscape and unforgettable characters, Luis Alberto Urrea's novel chronicles a young woman's quest to protect her hometown from banditos.

You can see all the available work online.

Maine Basketmaker Molly Neptune Parker Honored as National Heritage Fellow

Re-posted from nea site 

Washington, DC — "Basketmaking for me is about innovation and creativity within the context of a traditional art form," said basketmaker and 2012 NEA National Heritage Fellow Molly Neptune Parker. The same words apply to all recipients of the 2012 NEA National Heritage Fellows, which recognizes folk and traditional artists for their artistic excellence and efforts to conserve America’s culture for future generations. The fellowships are the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts, and include a one-time award of $25,000.

Throughout their careers, these artists have honored the history of their art forms while also incorporating their own creativity and innovation to carry the art forms into the 21st century. For example, Harold Burnham, 11th-generation in a line of boat designers and builders, creates his vessels using hand tools and incorporating locally harvested wood, just as members of his family did some 300 years ago. However, while rooted in the past, Burnham's designs demonstrate his own blend of form and function. Another 2012 fellow, Leonardo "Flaco" Jiménez, learned to play the accordion from his father, a giant of this early Texan-Mexican tradition, but then went on to collaborate with contemporary musicians such as the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and Ry Cooder.

This year’s nine recipients are masters of diverse traditional art forms, including two that have never before been honored through the National Heritage Fellowships: Okinawan dancing and dog sled and snowshoe building. In addition, for the first time ever, the NEA is recognizing a director of a state arts agency for his work in promoting the importance of the folk and traditional arts in defining and giving life to a community.

The 2012 NEA National Heritage Fellowship recipients are:

• Mike Auldridge, Dobro Player (Silver Spring, MD)
• Paul & Darlene Bergren, Dog Sled and Snowshoe Designers and Builders (Minot, ND)
• Harold A. Burnham, Master Shipwright (Essex, MA)
• *Albert B. Head, Traditional Arts Advocate (Montgomery, AL)
• Leonardo "Flaco" Jiménez, Tejano Accordion Player (San Antonio, TX)
• Lynne Yoshiko Nakasone, Okinawan Dancer (Honolulu, HI)
• Molly Neptune Parker, Passamaquoddy Basketmaker (Princeton, ME)
• The Paschall Brothers, Tidewater Gospel Quartet (Chesapeake, VA)
• Andy Statman, Klezmer Clarinetist, Mandolinist, Composer (Brooklyn, NY)

* Albert B. Head is the recipient of the Bess Lomax Hawes NEA National Heritage Fellowship award. The Bess Lomax Hawes Award recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution to the preservation and awareness of cultural heritage.

Recipients of nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts will perform in Washington, DC October 4, 2012 .

Molly Neptune Parker is a recipient of Maine Art's Commission Fellowship Award for Traditional Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts Native Arts Award, and First People's Fund's Community Spirit Award. More information about Molly Neptune Parker can be found on the NEA biography pages 


More information about the National Heritage Fellowship is online on the NEA site or you can contact
Liz Auclair at the NEA. 202-682-5744, auclaire@arts.gov

 

ARTSIPELAGO is Awarded ArtPlace Grant

ArtPlace releases 47 grants supporting creative placemaking initiatives in 33 communities nationwide

ARTSIPELAGO, a comprehensive community revitalization strategy that bets on art as the centerpiece of a comeback in rural Eastern Maine, has been given a significant vote of support in the form of a $250,000 grant from ArtPlace.

The Tides Institute & Museum of Art in Eastport, Maine, the organizing force behind the program, will leverage related arts and cultural initiatives by linking and expanding them in transformative and revitalizing ways. The group hopes to sharpen the region’s image as a distinctive destination for both residents and travelers. This is the first ArtPlace award in the state of Maine and one of only two in New England this year.

ARTSIPELAGO transcends two countries and a multitude of islands, peninsulas, communities and cultures. The project involves the creation of a new arts and cultural passport, and year round guide to this international border region — featuring artist studios, cultural centers, ferries, films, and festivals to local foods, lighthouses, music, parks, theater and more. In addition, arts performances, workshops and demonstrations will be integrated throughout downtowns during the region’s festivals. Funding will also support the establishment of a downtown regional StudioWorks facility linking artist residencies, students, and communities.

ArtPlace is a new national collaboration of 11 major national and regional foundations, six of the nation’s largest banks, and eight federal agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts, to accelerate creative placemaking across the U.S. To date, ArtPlace has raised almost $50 million to work alongside federal and local governments to transform communities with strategic investments in the arts.

"Across the country, cities and towns are using the arts to help shape their social, physical, and economic characters," said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. "The arts are a part of everyday life, and I am thrilled to see yet another example of an arts organization working with city, state, and federal offices to help strengthen and revitalize their communities through the arts. It is wonderful that ArtPlace and its funders have recognized this work and invested in it so generously."

A complete list of this year’s ArtPlace awards can be found at artplaceamerica.org.

 

Opera House Arts Receives Jazz Masters Award

The Stonington Opera House got some good news at the start of its 100th anniversary. At the January 10 celebration of the NEA Jazz Masters program, Rocco Landesman, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, announced that Opera House Arts at the Stonington Opera House is one of 12 organizations to receive grants totaling $135,000 to bring outstanding jazz musicians, writers, producers, and scholars to communities across the nation.

"There is no substitute for being in the presence of a great artist, and through the NEA Jazz Masters Live grants, the NEA is pleased to provide opportunities for Americans all across this country to have exactly that experience," said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. "Twelve exceptional organizations will be our partners this year."

Opera House Arts (OHA) applied to present 2012 Jazz Master Charlie Haden at the center of its 12th Annual Deer Isle Jazz Festival August 2-­‐4, 2012, co-­‐produced with jazz journalist Larry Blumenfeld. Bass player Haden was born in Iowa and his musical roots are in country, American folk, and gospel music, making him an excellent fit for the musical heritage of OHA’s own community as well as a wonderful extension of the Deer Isle Jazz Festival, which has in the past presented jazz masters ranging from Randy Weston to Charles Lloyd. While perhaps best known for his recordings with Ornette Coleman, Keith Jarrett, and Dewey Redman (who inaugurated the Deer Isle Jazz Festival in 2001), Haden has been the leader of his own Liberation Music Orchestra, featuring vocalist and arranger Carla Bley, since the 1970s. His newest recording, “Come Sunday,” with pianist Hank Jones is a collection of 14 pieces of church music and was released in January 2012. The Deer Isle Jazz Festival proposed to feature and honor Haden not only in concert but also in a documentary film, Ramblin’ Boy, which documents his start in country music; in a panel discussion on his musical evolution; and in a tribute set, “For Charlie: Music By and For Charlie Haden,” by Maine’s own Duncan Hardy Sextet.

For more information on the festival, please go to www.operahousearts.org.

NEA Announces Art Works and Creative Writing Fellowships

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman announced that the agency will award 863 grants to organizations and individual writers across the country. The awards total $22.543 million, encompass 15 artistic disciplines and fields, and support projects in 47 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Of those 863 grants awards, 823 are for projects at not-for-profit organizations, The remaining 40 awards are made to individual writers. "Art Works is the guiding principle at the NEA," said agency Chairman Rocco Landesman. “And I’m pleased to see that principle represented through the 823 Art Works-funded projects included in this announcement. These projects demonstrate the imaginative and innovative capacities of artists and arts organizations to enhance the quality of life in their communities.”

Congratulations to the Maine applicants who received six grants totaling $151,000. The grants were awarded to the following:

Alice James Poetry Cooperative, Inc. (aka Alice James Books)
Farmington, ME
$24,000
CATEGORY: Art Works FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Literature
To support the publication, promotion, and distribution of books of poetry. Titles will be chosen via editorial solicitation and three annual competitions---the Beatrice Hawley Award, the Kinereth Gensler Awards, and the Kundiman Poetry Prize.

Bates College (on behalf of Bates Dance Festival)
Lewiston, ME
$30,000
CATEGORY: Art Works FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Dance
To support dance artist residencies as part of the annual Bates Dance Festival titled, Cultivating a Vibrant Dance Community. The project will bring together leading dance figures, companies, and emerging artists such as Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Rennie Harris PureMovement, Jane Comfort and Company, Keigwin + Company, and Kyle Abraham for one- to four-week residencies to connect, create, and perform in a collaborative, supportive environment.

Cultural Resources, Inc. (Consortium)
Rockport, ME
$20,000
CATEGORY: Art Works FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Folk and Traditional Arts
To support the Wabanaki Artists' Network. In collaboration with the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance, Cultural Resources will offer training and marketing opportunities to young, emerging Native artists. In addition, a statewide network will be established, linking non-Native organizations and tribal artists through a traveling exhibition and artists residencies, providing the potential for a national model for Native and non-Native collaboration.

Haigh, Jennifer
Hull, ME
$25,000
CATEGORY: Literature Fellowships FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Literature

Portland Ovations (aka Formerly Portland Concert Association)
Portland, ME
$25,000
CATEGORY: Art Works FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Presenting
To support the presentation of dance, music, and culturally specific works. Each presentation by such artists as dance company Trey McIntyre Project, performance group CIRCA (Australia), violinist Jennifer Koh, and singer/songwriter Dan Zanes will be accompanied by discussions, lectures, workshops, master classes, and open rehearsals.

Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Inc.
Skowhegan, ME
$27,000
CATEGORY: Art Works FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Artist Communities
To support a residency program for emerging visual artists. Artists will be provided with a private studio, full room and board, and weekly private and group critiques by a faculty of leading professional artists.

More information can be found on the NEA website.

ArtPlace Grant

ArtPlace is a national program working to drive the revitalization of cities and towns with an investment model that puts the arts at the center of economic development. A twelve million dollar loan fund has been created to accelerate creative placemaking and put art and culture at the heart of a portfolio of strategies to transform communities.

The initiative is collaboration between the NEA, Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Ford Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Rasmuson Foundation, The Robina Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation and an anonymous donor. Other federal partners includethe departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Education, and Transportation, along with leadership from the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Domestic Policy Council.

The first 34 ArtPlace grants have been invested in places that range across the country and vary in size. The initial round of grants totals $11.5 million, with an average grant size of approximately $350,000. ArtPlace invites Letters of Inquiry from initiatives involving arts organizations, artists and designers working in partnership with local and national partners to produce a transformative impact on community vibrancy.

Guidelines can be found here
You can register here for an October 3 webinar on developing a letter of inquiry
Letter of Inquiry deadline is November 15, 2011.

Strengthening Maine’s Nonprofit Arts Boards

The Maine Arts Commission is offering a series of free board development workshops throughout the state to bolster the strength and effectiveness of Maine’s nonprofit arts and cultural organizations.

Board members, leaders and directors from cultural organizations are invited to attend the workshops that begin on September 8 in Portland and move on to Norway, Lewiston, Bangor, Belfast, Presque Isle and Camden.
With funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Maine Arts Commission has organized this series of workshops to address both board development and the training of future leaders within organizations. The all day sessions will be led by Tony Scucci, a senior governance consultant with Board Source. Scucci has an extensive list of clients that have included the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the American Red Cross.

The board development workshops will focus on increasing the board’s understanding of it duties, roles and responsibilities and clarifying expectations. These workshops will take place at the following times and locations:

• September 8, St. Lawrence Arts Center, Portland
• September 9, Western Maine Art Group, Matolscy Gallery, Norway
• October 19, University of Maine Museum of Art, Bangor
• October 26, University of Maine, Presque Isle
• October 27, Waterfall Arts Center, Belfast

The leadership training sessions will help participants understand their own leadership qualities and styles; it will also provide clear guidance on the five core leadership competencies. These sessions take place at the following times and locations.

• October 7, Olin Arts Center, Bates College, Lewiston
• October 28, Camden Opera House, Camden.
Complimentary luncheons will be provided for attendees at all venues. Those wishing to attend should sign up soon as space is extremely limited. Full details, including registration, for each location can be found on MaineArts.com.

Saco Museum Hosts Maine Arts Commission Grant Workshop

Local artists and members of arts organizations and cultural institutions are encouraged to bring their lunch to the Main Gallery of the Saco Museum this Valentine's Day, February 14, to learn more about the grant opportunities available to them through the Maine Arts Commission.

The grant workshop, which is free and open to all, will be lead by the Maine Arts Commission’s Senior Grant Associate Kathy Ann Shaw. The workshop begins at noon and continues until 2:00 pm.

Kathy will present basic information about the Maine Arts Commission grant programs and the National Endowment for the Arts new funding categories. The workshop will be an intimate gathering that allows participants to ask specific questions and steer the presentation in the direction most helpful to them.

A PowerPoint of grant writing basics and a walk through of the agency’s eGRANT system will also be presented.

As an added bonus, attendees to the grants workshop will have the opportunity to see the special exhibition Unconventional Portraits: Photographs by Charles Moody, funded in part by a Community Arts and Humanities grant from the Maine Arts Commission and the Maine Humanities Council.

The Dyer Library and Saco Museum are located at 371 Main Street (U.S. Route 1) in the heart of Saco's downtown district.

Directions:
From the Maine Turnpike, take Exit 36 onto Route 195. Take Exit 2A - Route 1 south (Main Street). Pass Thornton Academy (on your right). The Saco Museum/Dyer Library is on the left about 8/10 of a mile down Main Street. Turn left into the parking lot - the museum is on the left, the library on the right.

If you have questions regarding the grant workshop, please contact Kathy Ann Shaw at 207/287-2750, or e-mail Kathy at Kathy.shaw@maine.gov

New NEA Guidelines and Webinars

The NEA has its new guidelines for Grants for Arts Projects and Our Town available now on its website along with grant overviews and registration for webinars relating to each of these grants.

To view the guidelines, go to www.arts.gov/grants/apply, select the field or discipline most relevant to your project, and choose Grants for Arts Projects or Our Town from the list of funding opportunities.

Grants for Arts Projects

Organizations may apply under the following categories:

Art Works: To support the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts. Within these areas, innovative projects are strongly encouraged. An organization may request a grant amount from $10,000 to $100,000. (Two application deadlines: March 10 and August 11, 2011)

Challenge America Fast-Track: To support projects that extend the reach of the arts to underserved populations. Grants are for $10,000. (Application deadline: May 26, 2011)
Our Town

Organizations may apply for creative placemaking projects that contribute to the livability of communities and place the arts at their core. An organization may request a grant amount from $25,000 to $250,000. (Statement of Interest deadline: March 1, 2011)

Upcoming Webinars

The NEA will be conducting a series of webinars on the new guidelines. These are grouped by discipline/field so that appropriate staff will be available to answer your questions. Interested parties can join any webinar that suits their schedule:
Click on the date/time link to go to the registration page for that webinar.

Our Town
January 25, 3:30-4:30, Eastern Time
With design staff

January 27, 1:00-2:00, Eastern Time
With design staff

Grants for Arts Projects + Our Town
February 3, 1:00-2:00, Eastern Time
with Artist Communities, Folk & Traditional Arts, and Presenting staff

February 3, 3:30-4:30, Eastern Time
with Accessibility, Challenge America, Local Arts Agencies, and States & Regions staff

February 7, 3:30-4:30, Eastern Time
with Design, Media Arts, Museums, and Visual Arts staff

February 14, 1:00-2:00, Eastern Time
with Dance, Music, Opera, Musical Theater, and Theater staff

February 14, 3:30-4:30, Eastern Time
with Arts Education and Literature staff

If you're unable to make the webinars, you can access brief overview presentations on the guidelines by clicking on the links below:

Grants for Arts Projects Guidelines Presentation

Our Town Guidelines Presentation

For questions about the guidelines or your application, see "Agency Contacts" for the NEA staff that is most appropriate for your project.

Happy Birthday NEA

This week is a milestone for the National Endowment for the Arts as it celebrates 45 years of providing grants and services to the nation. Without the NEA we would not be able to do the work that we do to make the arts an integral part of the social fabric of the state of Maine.

For those who like statistics, the total dollar amount of NEA grants awarded to nonprofit organizations in its 45-year history is $4 billion through 130,000 plus grants. The economic activity generated by the nonprofit arts sector each year is $166 billion.

To read a the full press release from the NEA that includes many arts related statistics please visit their website at NEA.gov.

Free National Endowment for the Arts Grant Writing Workshops

At the invitation of Congressman Mike Michaud, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) will be conducting free grant workshops in Maine later this month in an effort to raise awareness of federal funding that is available to arts and cultural institutions here in Maine.

Two workshops have been scheduled, the first will be at the University of Maine Museum of Art in downtown Bangor on September 30, and the other will be at the Franco-American Heritage Center in Lewiston on October 1.

The workshops are free and open to the public to attend. Registration information can be found on the pages of MaineArts.com or by calling Darrell Bulmer at the Maine Arts Commission 207/287-6746.

Young Poets Sought for National Competition

The beginning of another school year marks the beginning of another round of Poetry Out Loud in Maine. The Maine Arts Commission, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, announces their call to schools wishing to participate in this national poetry recitation competition.

This year the Maine Arts Commission has arranged to increase the number of spaces available so that 50 schools may compete. All participating schools will be able to send a finalist to one of two regional competitions and one state finalist will receive an all expenses paid trip for two to the National Poetry Out Loud Finals in Washington, D.C., where they will compete for the national title and a $20,000 college scholarship.

For more information on the program please visit http://poetryoutloud.org/ Maine teachers wishing to sign their school up for the competition should e-mail John Holdridge at the Maine Arts Commission at john.holdridge@maine.gov. Please put “POL” in the subject heading of your e-mail.

Highlights from last year's final can be seen below.

Request for NEA "Art Works" Logo

Chairman Rocco Landesman Announced a Request for Proposals for a New "Art Works" Logo for the National Endowment for the Arts. The new logo will embody the three meanings of "Art Works". The RFP is available at www.arts.gov/artworksdesign

When used by the Chairman, the phrase "art works" has three meanings: "artworks" are the plays, paintings, dances, films and the other works of art that are the creation of artists; "art works" describes the effect of art on audiences and viewers, art works to transport, transform, inspire, and challenge us; and "art works' is a reminder that arts workers are real workers with real jobs who are part of this country's real economy. The proposed logos should incorporate all three of the meanings of "Art Works" and tie them to the NEA in such a way that the proposed logo might be used alone or in conjunction with the NEA's current logo. Chairman Landesman said, "Those two words – "art works" – pretty much sum up everything we are about at the NEA, and I hope you will see them everywhere. Art, artists, and arts professionals work to change the communities they inhabit: they are placemakers and help create livable, sustainable, complete communities. I look forward to having a logo that conveys that."

Questions concerning this proposal shall be submitted only via email to harrisl@arts.gov before or by 5:00 pm (EST) on Wednesday, February 10, 2010. Proposals are due by 5:00 p.m. EST on Friday, February, 26, 2010. Potential proposers must direct all inquiries to Latonca Harris at harrisl@arts.gov or (202) 682-5476.

Complete information about the RFP requirements and instructions for submitting may be found at www.arts.gov/artsworksdesign

Maine’s Creative Economy Model Could Guide the Nation

The Maine Arts Commission Director met with the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, Rocco Landesman, and U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree in Washington Tuesday to discuss the success of Maine’s Creative Economy.

Stories documenting this meeting have appeared in the Portland Press Herald on January 19 and in the Bangor Daily News on January 20. Click the names of these papers to read these articles.

NEA Offers Live Webcast Friday

On Friday, November 20, the National Endowment for the Arts is hosting a forum about America’s artists and other cultural workers and the way that art works as part of this country’s real economy. Academics, foundation professionals, and service organization representatives will come together to discuss improving the collection and reporting of statistics about arts and cultural workers, and to develop future research agendas and approaches.

The NEA is inviting everyone to view this forum through a live webcast that will be available from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. at www.arts.gov. In addition, an archive of the event will be available on www.arts.gov the week following the forum.

NEA Chair Announces "Art Works" at 2009 National Conference

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman delivered a keynote address today to close the 2009 national Grantmakers in the Arts conference: Navigating the Art of Change.

In his remarks, Chairman Landesman laid out the guiding principle that will inform his work at the agency, which can be summed up in two words: “Art works.” Chairman Landesman explained that he means this in three ways:

1. “Art works” is a noun. They are the books, crafts, dances, designs, drawings, films, installations, music, musicals, paintings, plays, performances, poetry, textiles, and sculptures that are the creation of artists.

2. “Art works” is a verb. Art works on and within people to change and inspire them; it addresses the need people have to create, to imagine, to aspire to something more.

3. “Art works” is a declarative sentence: arts jobs are real jobs that are part of the real economy. Art workers pay taxes, and art contributes to economic growth, neighborhood revitalization, and the livability of American towns and cities.

Chairman Landesman announced that he will spend the next six months learning and highlighting the ways that art works in neighborhoods and towns across America. You can read the entire release on the NEA website.

Former Colby Student Named as Chair of The National Endowment for the Arts

Broadway producer Rocco Landesman has been confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as the new chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in Washington D.C.

Landesman, who received his undergraduate education at Colby College in Maine, and received the degree of Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa from Colby in 2005, will begin work at the NEA this week.

At the age of 62, Landesman comes to the NEA with a wealth of knowledge and experience, not to mention his impressive theater résumé and string of Tony Awards. During his decades on the Great White Way, he produced some of Broadway's most successful shows, including Angels in America, The Full Monty, Big River and The Producers (made famous when he instituted a record ticket price of $480). He has also spent over 20 years as president of Jujamcyn Theaters, New York’s third largest theater owner.

Bob Lynch, chairman of Americans for the Arts, noted, “Landesman embarks as chair of the nation's arts agency with a robust agenda, an upward trajectory of funding, broad Congressional approval, and a White House committed to attracting national attention to the value of the arts and integrating them into broader domestic policies."

Upon his nomination, Mr. Landesman said, "I am honored to receive the Senate's vote of confirmation. I look forward to serving the nation as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. I believe this is an auspicious time for the NEA and the country. Art is essential to the civic, economic, and cultural vitality of our nation. It reflects who we are and what we stand for -- freedom of expression, imagination, and vision. I am eager to work with our many partners to bring quality arts programs to neighborhoods and communities across the country."

Landesman is a person who likes to speak his mind, and he comes to the NEA with a reputation of shaking things up.

Speaking with Damon Winter from the New York Times on Friday, Mr. Landesman said he was eager to get to work, which he planned to do on Tuesday. “It’s a daunting thing,” he said. “This historically has not been a great job — or not for a long time — and the challenge will be to make it one and to really accomplish something. There hasn’t been the financial commitment.

“It’s not easy in this climate with scarce dollars,” he said. “On the other hand, there’s a crisis among arts institutions because so many of them are going out of business or about to – it’s an emergency. Even the pathetic N.E.A. levels of funding will matter to a lot of these institutions and that funding needs to increase.”

Photo: Robin Pogrebin

Washington Decides on Arts Funding

At the end of July there will be a vote on the Senate floor that is based upon the Fiscal Year 2010 Interior Appropriations Bill. This bill includes funds for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) set at $161.3 million, the same level proposed by President Obama in his budget sent to Congress in May. The companion legislation passed by the House of Representatives in June would allocate $170 million for the arts endowment in the coming year, an increase of $15 million over the NEA's current budget.

The differences between the two bills will be worked out in negotiations by a House-Senate conference committee; Maine’s Senator Susan Collins is a member of this important committee.

Maine artists receive over half of their government funding from the NEA, and an increase of $15 million nationally would have an impact locally, not only through direct grants from the NEA to Maine's artists and arts organizations, but also through an increase to the allocation that the Maine Arts Commission receives through their partnership agreement with the NEA.

Senator Collins and her staff are keen supporters of the arts, and are always willing to listen to the viewpoints of their constituents. If you should ever need to contact her office regarding arts related policy making, the best person to contact is Priscilla Hanley priscilla_hanley@collins.senate.gov (202) 224-2523, or you can call their main office at (202) 224-2523.

Poetry Out Loud Update

William Whitham of Bangor High School has advanced to the final 12 in the National Finals of Poetry Out Loud in Washington D.C. today.

William, who has now secured $1,000 in prize money, will compete in Tuesday's final against students from Ohio, Vermont and Viginia; the other eight finalist states are still to be determined

You can follow the final on the National Endowment for the Arts Twitter site.

Maine Arts Stimulus Funding Grant Now Available

The Maine Arts Commission is pleased to announce the creation of a competitive grant program, presented in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, that offers funds to subsidize the preservation of jobs within nonprofit arts organizations.

Organizations that have suffered critical staffing cuts or can provide proof that an important existing position is in jeopardy, or have compelling reasons why the retention of a creative worker is vital to the health of the organization, may apply for this grant. This includes the employment or commissioning of creative workers to make work in support of an organization’s mission only when the initiative can show that it is in long-term planning stages. No funds will be made available for the creation of new or previously unscheduled work.
The Maine Arts Commission will offer a deadline of May 29, 2009 for applications for approval after June 28, 2009. If all monies are not fully expended in that round, a second deadline of July 10, 2009 will be offered.
The maximum grant amount is $10,000.For full details visit the Maine Arts Commission Website.