Free Workshops in Your Community

The Maine Arts Commission is committed to supporting artistic endeavors in every Maine community. We are reaching out into communities to find out what is needed. Agency staff and our partners have the ability to help artists and cultural organizations in many ways and professional development workshops are just one of those.
In response to recent request we are providing workshops in three regions in the coming months: Portland, Bethel and Bangor. The workshops are free to attend.
The first of these workshops is in at Portland Stage from 4:00 to 7:00pm on Tuesday, January 22.
As we all know, programs and administration must constantly change in order to support the ever changing nature of the arts. To make sure that artists and arts organizations have the best support possible, we have joined forces with Creative Portland to openly discuss the needs of the field.
From 4:00 pm onwards, the Maine Arts Commission’s new Executive Director, Julie Richard, will be on hand to discuss future plans for the agency. She will introduce some new initiatives and gather input from the field to ensure the agency continues to provide the services needed by the field. She will be accompanied by other agency staff members and together they will answer any questions from those in attendance.
At around 5:00 pm, Creative Portland will ask attendees to stay on for an information gathering session as they introduce the organization’s new website and seek feedback about it. This will be another in a series of Creative Portland’s public events in service to Portland’s cultural community.
More details are on our website. If you would like to have staff from the Maine Arts Commission visit your community, you can contact Kathy Ann Shaw at 207/287-2750 or kathy.shaw@maine.gov. Kathy will be glad to listen to your needs and work with you to arrange a workshop in the near future.

Professional Development Series

Creative Portland has received a grant from the Quimby Family Foundation to launch a professional development series, in partnership with Maine College of Art and the Maine Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, designed specifically for professional artists.

The professional development series will consist of 12 workshops held in MECA’s Osher Hall on the second Wednesday of every month from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m., beginning in October. Selected from a survey of artists this summer, topics will range from grant-writing and social media, to contract law and business start-up basics. On October 10, the inaugural session will cover the top-rated need identified on the survey by 79 of the 215 respondents: grant-writing skills for artists.

With support from the Foundation and a sponsorship from MECA, the cost will be $10 per session for participants and free to all MECA students and alumni.Registration is required for all attendees.

Creative Portland is a nonprofit organization founded in 2008 to grow and support the city’s creative economy. In July 2012, Creative Portland merged with the Portland Arts and Cultural Alliance to become the city’s official arts agency.www.liveworkportland.org

The mission of Maine College of Art (MECA) dates back to 1882 and is rooted in delivering a transformative learning experience that prepares students to thrive in the areas of artistic excellence, creative entrepreneurship, and civic engagement within an intimate and demanding educational environment.www.meca.edu

Maine Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts offers pro bono and reduced fee services to professional artists in Maine. www.mainevla.org

“DOING IT ON THE ROAD” Free Workshop for Touring Performers.

“DOING IT ON THE ROAD” is a free workshop for performing artists who are interested in touring their work. It will be held on Wednesday April 4 from 3:30-5:30 pm at SPACE Gallery, 538 Congress St. Portland. Co-hosted by Bates Dance Festival, Portland Ovations and SPACE Gallery, this workshop will be presented by the National Performance Network (NPN), as part of its regional programming. RSVP by April 1.

“Doing it on the Road: a Beginners’ Guide for Touring Performing Artists” will demystify the touring process for artists interested in learning how to tour their work, regionally and beyond.
NPN devotes a large part of its programming to support touring artists. With over 25 years of national nonprofit experience, NPN knows what it takes to tour successfully. NPN also has a network of 59 “Partner” presenters in 41 cities across the U.S. www.npnweb.org

This workshop will be co-hosted by Bates Dance Festival, a Maine festival that brings together an international community of choreographers, performers, educators and students in a cooperative community to study, perform and create new work. www.batesdancefestival.org
Portland Ovations www.portlandovations.org will also be co-hosting, bringing over 80 years of professional experience to the meeting. Space Gallery is the venue host and one of Maine's finest nonprofit contemporary art spaces, featuring visual arts, live music and performance, film, artists lectures and more. www.space538.org

Artists interested in attending should contact Nick Rosenblum at Space Gallery. nick@space538.org

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

The Maine Arts Commission Offers Free Accessibility Workshops

Accessibility Matters!

Did you know that new guidelines for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act go into effect in March? Do you know how these changes will affect your organization? Do you know where you can go for more information on these guidelines?

The Maine Arts Commission has all the answers you need and the agency is heading out on the road, with a team of experts, to share this information with cultural venues and community organizations in Maine.

Sixteen percent of Maine residents report some type of disability, and that is a large, untapped audience. New guidelines for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act go into effect in March, and the Maine Arts Commission is gearing up to prepare local arts organizations to meet compliance standards. The agency will conduct three accessibility compliance workshops in Portland on March 27, Camden on March 30 and in Bangor on April 27.

The workshops are free to attend and will include information on programmatic compliance as well as issues related to architectural and sensory barrier removal. They will be led by Maine Arts Commission Accessibility Coordinator Keith Ludden, who will be joined by Architect Jill Johanning, and Independent Living Specialist Jeremy Libby from Alpha One Independent Living Center, Aisha Hixon, Community Outreach Coordinator for the Iris Network, and Elissa Moran, Director of the Maine Center on Deafness. Johanning and Libby will discuss architectural barriers and solutions. Moran will discuss accommodations for persons with hearing impairments, and Hixon will discuss accommodations for persons with low vision.

These workshops are expected to attract a great deal of interest and we encourage you to sign up today. To register, follow this link

For more information, contact Keith Ludden, Accessibility Coordinator , 207/287-2713,keith.ludden@maine.gov NexTalk ID: keith.ludden, TTY: 207/877-3878.

Free Artist Workshop at Portland Gallery This Friday

Donna McNeil, Arts Policy and Program Director for the Maine Art Commission will provide a workshop for Maine artists at the Constellation Gallery in Portland this Friday.

Donna will explain what the agency provides in terms of programs, support and grant support. Donna will spend the most time discussing the grant offerings from the agency including the Good Idea Grant, Arts Visibility Grant, Innovation Production Grant and the Individual Artist Fellowship grant. Additionally, she will discuss how artists can work successfully with communities through our Artists in Maine Communities Grant as well as in education settings through our SMART (schools make art relevant today) grant.

Donna will not only discuss the particulars of the grants, but will offer a printer on electronic portfolios, what selection panels are looking for in submissions, how best to write a resume, letter of interest, artists' statement. She will also discuss Maine's Percent for Art program, how artists can translate smaller scale work into suitable pubic art projects and maneuver through the community and the committee hurtles. All information will be delivered with an eye toward enabling artists to be adept at any grant application, museum or gallery relationship, or public art competition.

The workshop is free and you can sign up by visiting the Constellation Gallery’s Facebook event page. http://www.facebook.com/events/227274130697563/ and click join to register. Space is limited and registration is on a first come and first serve basis. Email gallery@constellationart.com or call Tatia DiChiara at 207-272-8464 to register.

Website Design Workshop in Freeport

Steve Milligan, Technology Associate from the Maine Arts Commission will be conducting a workshop that focuses on online artist portfolios. Steve has over 10 years of experience in web design, usability, web standards and trends. The workshop will familiarize attendees with common web terms and theories. Although the workshop will not delve into the technical nuts and bolts of web development, it will provide a firm understanding of successful web design strategies through visual examples. Attendees will leave the workshop feeling confident and prepared to speak intelligibly with a designer to produce an effective, visually appealing portfolio website. The question and answer segment at the end will be extremely valuable and attendees are encouraged to participate openly. Attendees may bring examples of their existing, or proposed, websites to be critiqued.

The workshop will be at the Freeport Community Center at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, January 30. If you have any questions about this workshop, please call Kathleen Meade at 207/749-4451.

Free Agency Program and Grants Workshop at Center for Maine Craft

If you have ever had questions about funding available through the Maine Arts Commission then help is just around the corner. Kathy Ann Shaw, Senior Grants Associate and Kathleen Mundell, Traditional Arts Specialist will be visiting West Gardiner in February to provide the answers. This program is presented in concert with the exhibition Two Times Ten: 20 Years of Maine’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, an exhibition funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

This workshop will take place from 4 pm to 6 pm on Friday, February 17, 2012 and will be hosted by the Center for Maine Craft. The Center, a program of the Maine Crafts Association, is the central location for craft sales, education and activities in the state. All work for sale at the Center is handcrafted by Maine artisans. As many as 300 Maine craft artists from throughout the state may be represented in the Center at any one time. The Center is located at 24 Service Plaza Drive West Gardiner ME 04345.

Kathy and Kathleen will present basic information about the Maine Arts Commission’s grant programs, especially those in the traditional arts, and announce the offering of the new Maine Arts Commission / Maine Community Foundation Belvedere Craft Fellowship for artists in Hancock and Washington Counties. The presentation will include a review of the National Endowment for the Arts as needed and will feature tips and tricks for grant writing. This will be an informal gathering which will allow participants to ask specific questions and steer the presentation in the direction most helpful to them. There is no need to register.

For further information please contact Kathy at 207/287-2750 or kathy.shaw@maine.gov. The Center for Maine Craft can be reached at 207/588 0021

Two times Ten travels to d’Youville Pavilion in Lewiston and Center for Maine Craft in Gardiner

“Two Times Ten: 20 years of Maine’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program,” a photographic exhibit featuring portraits of participating master artists as teachers, cultural advocates and keepers of traditions. It features such artists as Cindy Larock, a master step dancer from Lewiston, who is now passing on the tradition to a whole new generation.

The exhibit is part of an upcoming series– sponsored by the University of New England Maine Geriatric Education Center (UNE-MGEC) in partnership with St. Mary’s d’Youville Pavilion and the Maine Arts Commission – which will include artist demonstrations and facilitated discussion called “Living Art–Living Well Studio.” The program explores how creativity and art affects the health of the body, mind and spirit of older adults. The first of the four part series takes place on Thursday, February 9, 2012 from 5:30-7:00 p.m. at St. Mary’s d’Youville Pavilion in Lewiston.

In February, “Two times Ten” will travel to the Center for Maine Craft in Gardiner and be on display between February 1 and February 28, 2012.

On February 17, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Center for Maine Craft, the Maine Arts Commission, in conjunction with the Center for Maine Craft, will provide a workshop that helps explain how to apply to the Maine Arts Commission’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship program. The workshop will also expand beyond this to provide general information session about all of the Maine Arts Commission funding programs.

Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor is Venue for Free Grant Workshop

Questions regarding Maine Arts Commission grants or programs will be answered at the Abbe Museum in Downtown Bar Harbor on Monday, November 14.

Kathy Ann Shaw, Senior Grants Associate, and Kathleen Mundell, Traditional Arts Specialist, will be on hand to provide specific information about the agency’s grants, programs and traditional arts programs: especially those for Maine’s native communities.

This free brown bag workshop will take place from 12 noon and 2 pm on Monday November 14, 2011, and will be hosted by the Abbe Museum in downtown Bar Harbor. The Abbe offers innovative exhibitions and programs on Maine’s Native American heritage. In recent years, the Abbe has grown from a small but lovely trailside museum, privately operated within Acadia National Park, to an exciting contemporary museum in the heart of downtown Bar Harbor. The Museum is located at 26 Mount Desert Street. Bar Harbor, ME 04609. For more information on the exhibitions featured during the workshop please visit their website.

Although Kathy and Kathleen will present basic information about the Maine Arts Commission’s grant programs, the presentation will include a review of the National Endowment for the Arts as needed and will feature tips and tricks for grant writing. This will be an informal gathering which will allow participants to ask specific questions and steer the presentation in the direction most helpful to them. There is no need to register. For further information please contact Kathy at 207/287-2750 or kathy.shaw@maine.gov. The Abbe Museum can be reached at 207/ 288-3519.

Little Theatre of the Deaf set to Perform in Maine

Deaf and hard of hearing children will have a unique opportunity to experience live theatre and workshops in their own language this month as the Little Theatre of the Deaf performs at the University of Southern Maine and at the Baxter School for the Deaf.

The actors will perform at the Baxter School for the Deaf on Friday, October 28, and then offer a public performance at 4:00 pm on Saturday, October 29 at Talbot Auditorium in Luther Bonney Hall, on the University of Southern Maine campus.

The Little Theatre of the Deaf is a small ensemble composed of Deaf and hearing actors from the acclaimed National Theatre of the Deaf, based in Hartford, CT. It performs children’s theatre for Deaf and hearing audiences and their families, bringing both worlds together on one stage.

“We are thrilled to bring the Little Theatre of the Deaf to Maine this fall,” said Keith Ludden of the Maine Arts Commission. “Not only will this exceptional troupe of actors offer two live performances, they will also present a mix of workshops. There will be workshops in creative drama for children and a workshop for ASL interpreters that interpret performances.”

The performances and workshops are sponsored by the Davis Family Foundation, the New England Foundation for the Arts and the Friends of Baxter School.

“This is a unique opportunity for children in Maine,” said Karen Hopkins the Early Childhood Coordinator at the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. “We are delighted to work with the Maine Arts Commission on this project and we hope there will be a large amount of interest in both the performances and the workshops.”

Tickets for the performance at USM are available at $8 for adults and $5 for children. They can be purchased through the American Sign Language (ASL) Lab at USM, 49 Exeter Street, Portland, Maine. 207/780-5957 (voice), 207/780-4069 (TTY), or 207/766-7097 (videophone).

The children’s workshops are free and limited to 25 participants on a first come-first-served basis. Children wishing to participate should also contact the American Sign Language Lab at USM. ASL student interpreters may purchase a package that includes both the interpreter’s workshop and the performance at $30. Both workshops are at the Wishcamper building, 34 Bedford Street, Portland, Maine at Room 211. The performance is at the Talbot Auditorium, Luther Bonney building, 90 Bedford Street, Portland, ME. Details of the performances and workshops can be found at MaineArts.com.

All Maine Arts Commission events are conducted in accessible facilities in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Persons requesting accommodations should request them at least ten days in advance, by contacting Keith Ludden, 207/287-2713 or keith.ludden@maine.gov.

Creative Capital Executive Director Provides Free Grant Information Session

On October 18, Ruby Lerner, president and executive director of Creative Capital, will be at Portland Public Library to answer questions regarding their current and upcoming grant rounds.

Creative Capital supports artists creating adventurous and imaginative work in Visual Arts, Film/Video, Performing Arts, Innovative Literature and Emerging Fields. In 2012, Creative Capital will be considering proposals in Emerging Fields, Innovative Literature and Performing Arts. The online letter of inquiry form opens on February 1, 2012 and closes on March 1, 2012.

Far from a traditional funder, Creative Capital is committed to working in long-term partnership with the bold and groundbreaking artists that they fund, making a multi-year financial commitment while providing advisory and professional development services. Acting as a catalyst for the development of exceptional and imaginative ideas, Creative Capital supports artists whose work is provocative, timely and relevant; who are deeply engaged with their artforms and demonstrate a rigorous commitment to their craft, yet are also boldly original and push the boundaries of their genre; who create work that carries the potential to reshape the cultural landscape.

Any working artist with at least five years of professional experience who is a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident and at least 25 years old is eligible to apply. Selected grantees receive up to $50,000 in direct support and a suite of services valued at more than $37,000.

The session, in Meeting Room 5 of the Portland Public Library, is free and open to the public. RSVP to grants@creative-capital.org.

For more information on Creative Capital, including past recipients and current work, please visit creative-capital.org.

Critics, Critiques and Journalism at Feeding Creativity Conversation Series

Freeport Creative Arts are continuing their creative conversation series at 7:00pm, October 3 at the Freeport Community Center. This discussion will feature some of the foremost voices in the arts in Maine.

Bob Keyes, arts journalist, Daniel Kany, art critic, and Daniel Fuller, Director, Institute of Contemporary Art, Maine College of Art will be a part of a dynamic conversation about the differences readers find when trying to get information about art, artists and exhibits.

This conversation will be moderated by Darrell Bulmer from the Maine Arts Commission. If you would like more details visit, Freeportcreativearts.org.

Other Maine Arts Commission staff will be on the road in the coming weeks. Kathy Shaw will be presenting a grants workshop in Ogunquit on September 29, 2011.

Keith Ludden will be continuing to offer Leadership Training workshops on October 7, in Lewiston.

Free Workshops to Explain Funding in the Arts

If you have ever had questions about funding that is available through the Maine Arts Commission and other granting entities then help is just around the corner. Kathy Ann Shaw, Senior Grants Associate with the Maine Arts Commission, will be visiting Ogunquit and Bar Harbor to provide all the answers you could ever need. She will be joined in Bar Harbor by Kathleen Mundell who oversees the agency’s traditional arts programs.

On Thursday, September 29, 2011 from 10 am to noon, Kathy Ann Shaw will offer a free workshop about how to access funding sources for artists and arts organizations. The workshop will be hosted by the Ogunquit Museum of American and the Ogunquit Playhouse and held at the Museum at 543 Shore Road, Ogunquit. For directions click here

Kathy will present basic information about the Maine Arts Commission’s grant programs. The presentation will include a review of the National Endowment for the Arts’ new funding categories and will feature tips and tricks for grant writing. This will be an informal gathering which will allow participants to ask specific questions and steer the presentation in the direction most helpful to them.

While in the area workshop attendees are invited to view the Museum’s current exhibitions and/or to attend the matinee of the Ogunquit Playhouse’s production of Miss Saigon

The next workshop in this series will take place on Monday, November 14, 2011, at the Abbe Museum, 26 Mount Desert Street, Bar Harbor. Kathy will be joined by Kathleen Mundell, the agency’s traditional arts specialist, who will address the agency’s folk and traditional arts programs.

For more information on either workshop, please contact Kathy Ann Shaw Senior Grants Associate, 207/287-2750 kathy.shaw@maine.gov.

Grassroots Media Conference, Sept 9-10

On September 9 and 10 WERU-FM Community Radio and Unity College will host Maine’s first Grassroots Media Conference at the Unity College Center for the Performing Arts. The conference is open to the public; however, participants are encouraged to make a donation to cover costs. You can find out more at http://mainegrassrootsmedia.org.

The event will develop a network of people who use media on the grassroots level, from journalists and artists to educators and organizers. The conference will offer workshop sessions, film screenings and performances. There will also be presentations by Rob Shetterly, artist of the portrait series Americans Who Tell the Truth; Jay Davis, president of the board for the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting; Shenna Bellows, director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union; Ben Fowlie, founder of the Camden International Film Festival; and members of the Beehive Design Collective, a Machias-based arts group focused on social justice.

For information on conference events, menus, places to stay, how to get involved and to pre-register go to www.mainegrassrootsmedia.org or contact Meaghan LaSala, WERU-FM Community Radio, 973-862-7105 meaghan@weru.org

Are You Ready For Juice 3.0?

The Maine Arts Commission is once again proud to be an active partner in the third iteration of the state’s foremost economic conference this November.

The Juice Conference is a multi venue event in downtown Camden with a $100,000 business plan pitch competition, keynote performances, panel sessions, how to workshops, and networking venues with a focus on cross-pollination of industries including arts & culture, community development, green industry, entrepreneurship, and technology & innovation.

There will be over 80 speakers who will energize, educate, and motivate conference attendees. Juice 3.0 will start with stories that celebrate risk and will result in important collaborations and connections that lead to innovation and creation.



Check out the promotional video above and then visit http://juiceconference.org/ to start getting all the information you need about this amazing conference.

Micro Budget Indie Film Talk, August 1

Filmmaker Kyle Martin

Kyle Martin and Lance Edmands, key members of the filmmaking team that helped create last year’s acclaimed indie success Tiny Furniture (Best Narrative Feature" 2010 SXSW, "Best First Screenplay" Independent Spirit Award), will be at Rockport’s Union Hall on Monday August 1 at 8:00pm. They will be sharing their experiences of the independent film world, showing clips of past work and talking about their upcoming project Bluebird which will be shooting in Millinocket in January 2012. This event is hosted by the Maine Media Workshops and College, admission is free and open to the public.

For more information on this event, please contact Melissa at mpage@mainemedia.edu or at 236.8581 ext. 363 or alternatively Emily at emily@louiserosenltd.com or 207.725.8215.

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.

Free Information Sessions Offered by Maine Arts Commission

Staff members from the Maine Arts Commission are taking to the road next week to present at two venues, one in Eastport on July 20 and the other in Lubec on July 21.

Artists and staff of cultural organizations are encouraged to attend these free presentations in order to gain knowledge of various ways of accessing funding.

The Tides Institute and Museum of Art will host the director of the Maine Arts Commission for an Art Talk titled, Public Art is Not an Oxymoron, on Wednesday, July 20 at 7:00 pm. Agency representatives will show examples of public art from around the state, the nation, and the world, discussing the ins and outs of navigating the process of public art, and the specifics of Maine’s Percent for Art law. A question and answer discussion will follow. This event is free and open to the public.
The Cobscook Community Learning Center (CCLC), in Lubec, will be the venue for a free workshop about funding sources for artists and arts organizations, and how to access them.

This workshop takes place from 12 – 2 p.m., Thursday, July 21. Staff from the Maine Arts Commission, including Donna McNeil, will present basic information about the Maine Arts Commission’s grant programs and additional funding opportunities available to artists and cultural organizations through the commission. The presentation will include a review of the National Endowment for the Arts’ new funding categories and tips and tricks for grant writing basics.

Attendees are encouraged to bring a brown bag lunch – the CCLC will provide a light dessert and beverages. This will be an informal gathering which will allow participants to ask specific questions and steer the presentation in the direction most helpful to them. Please call 207/733-2233 with questions.

Maine Arts Commission Presents Workshop for Area Artists at Stonington Opera House

Are you an artist or cultural organization seeking funding to support your work?

On Thursday, May 12, from 4:30 – 6:00 p.m., Kathy Ann Shaw, Senior Grant Associate of the Maine Arts Commission, will lead a grant workshop, answer questions, and host a “meet-and-greet your state arts commission” at the Stonington Opera House, in collaboration with Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

Kathy will present basic information about the Maine Arts Commission grant programs and additional funding opportunities available to artists and cultural organizations through the Maine Arts Commission. Her presentation will include a run through of the National Endowment for the Arts’ new funding categories and tips and tricks for grant writing basics.

Light refreshments will be served and the intimate gathering will allow participants to ask specific questions and steer the presentation in the direction most helpful to them.
The event will be preceded by an opening reception for an exhibition of work by Maine artist Randy Regier from 2 - 4 p.m. at Haystack’s Center for Community Programs, and will be a chance for area artists to explore recent upgrades to the Stonington Opera House and presentation/exhibition capacities at both locations.
For more information on the workshop contact Opera House Arts at 207/ 367-2788 or info@operahousearts.org.

Further presentations by Kathy Shaw are scheduled at the following times and locations:
July 21: Cobscook Community Learning Center, Lubec
August TBA: Ogunquit Playhouse or Ogunquit Museum of American Art
September TBA: Penobscot Theatre, Bangor Opera House
October 18: Mahoosuc Arts Center, Bethel
November 10: Abbe Museum, Bar Harbor

Percent for Art Informational Session at River Arts

Joe Kievitt
Untitled (detail), 2009
The Collins Center, University of Maine-Orono

If you have ever wondered what the Percent for Art program is, or how you can apply for these public art calls, then you should join Greg Parker, Public Art Coordinator for the Maine Arts Commission, as he provides an informational session on the process at River Arts, in Damariscotta, on February 9.

This event, which begins at 6:00pm, is free and open to the public, but organizers at River Arts ask that you call and make a reservation to allow them to prepare.

Several projects around the state require the hiring of artists to design, create and install art such as new school buildings. This informational session is open to all artists or groups of artists who would like to learn first-hand about these interesting and high profile projects.

Maine’s Percent for Art program sponsors public art for state buildings. The artwork commissioned through this program has taken many forms. Traditional representative sculpture, abstract wall-mounted works, projects that integrate artwork throughout the building in a holistic manner, mobiles, earthwork and new media are just a few of the categories that have been commissioned. An archive of the collection can be viewed through the Percent for Art Directory and current calls to artists can be accessed through the Opportunities Directory.

At this time, the Maine Arts Commission is making a call to all artists living in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, with a preference given to Maine artists, to submit proposals to design, create and install artwork at the New Jefferson Village School. The total project budget is $50,000 and the submission deadline is Wednesday, February 16, 2011; click here for details.

Please make reservations for this presentation by email: info@riverartsme.org
or phone 207-563-1507 . This presentation is free and open to the public.