Contact East, Earlybird Deadline August 15

Contact East 2012 will be in Fredericton New Brunswick on September 19 to 23. Sponsored by the Atlantic Presenters Association, the conference will feature some of the best theatre, music and dance that Atlantic Canada has to offer. Early bird pricing ends August 15, so register today.

Organizers of  Contact East would like to see New England presenters at this event where artists showcase their talents to regional, national and international buyers. In addition to live showcases, participants can attend an industry conference comprised of panels, educational workshops, and a Contact Room where managers, presenters and artists can meet to do business.

If you are interested in attending you should also look into the Presenter Travel Fund at NEFA, which provides financial assistance to arts programmers and curatorial staff in New England. Presenter Travel funds can be used to help cover the costs of attending the Contact East Conference.
http://www.nefa.org/grants_services/presenter_travel_fund 

Center Stage Artists Come To Maine.

Center Stage is a groundbreaking program designed to bring diplomacy to Main Street by bringing ten striking foreign performing ensembles to the U.S. for month-long tours from June-December 2012. Sufi-rock bands from Lahore…master Haitian troubadours…puppetry and Hip Hop collectives from Yogyakarta…power-house contemporary dance companies from Port-au-Prince and Padang…Acclaimed at home but little-known to many Americans, performing artists from Pakistan, Haiti, and Indonesia will tour the U.S. through the Center Stage program. 

Tonight and tomorrow Arieb Azhar (Islamabad, Pakistan) will be performing at One Longfellow Square, as part of the Portland Performing Arts Festival. The show begins at 7:30, be sure to attend if you can. One Longfellow Square is offering 2 for 1 tickets at the door.

Arieb Azhar (Islamabad, Pakistan) playing at Acoustic Artisans 11am Thursday, touring Portland before performing at One Longfellow Square as part of the Portland Performing Arts Festival.

 

Contact East Deadline Extended for Maine Artists!

The deadline for Contact East has been extended to March 31 for Maine artists wishing to audition!

Organizers of Contact East 2012 are interested in having a larger New England presence at the upcoming conference in Fredericton New Brunswick. The conference will be from September 19 to 23, and artists in theatre, music and dance will come together to showcase their talents to regional, national and international buyers. In addition to live showcases, participants can attend an industry conference comprised of panels and educational workshops, and a Contact Room where managers, presenters and artists meet to do business.

Maine artists interested in auditioning should go to the I Want To Showcase webpage and apply to the Fredericton event. There is a $50 application fee, but the event is well worth the money.

Full information about the event can be found online at: http://www.contacteast.ca/

Sculpture Symposium in New Brunswick Seeks Artists

The Board of Directors of the New Brunswick International Sculpture Symposium is putting forth an international call to artists to create sculptures for public art. Six sculptors will be creating works of art from ten ton pieces of New Brunswick granite on the Saint John Waterfront. “Sculpture Saint John” will take place in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada from August 2nd to September 15th, 2012. The deadline for entry in “Sculpture Saint John” is January 10th, 2012.

This international sculpture symposium will be the first for New Brunswick and for Atlantic Canada. It promises to be an exciting event. Diana Alexander, Chair of Sculpture Saint John, said, “The Sculpture Saint John team; the City of Saint John; towns of Rothesay, Quispamsis, St. George, Grand Bay-Westfield; and UNBSJ are pleased to offer this opportunity for artists from around the world to experience our city, our culture and our hospitality. Their finished work then becomes a new and permanent part of the landscape of those communities”.

If you are interested in participating or if you know someone else who may be interested, the application and all details are available on our website at www.sculpturesaintjohn.com.

If you have questions you can contact Diana Alexander, Chair of Sculpture Saint John (506)647-8773, Diana.Alexander@SculptureSaintJohn.com

Bon à Tirer, ME-NB printmaking/ film project

Bon à Tirer is a documentary about an artist exchange of printmakers and master printers from the U.S. and Canada. The gathering aligns with the Maine/New Brunswick Cultural Initiative and included artists: Hermenegilde Chiasson (New Brunswick); Charlie Hewitt (Maine); Christian Le Poul (Quebec); David Umholtz (New Brunswick); David Wolfe (Maine). A second exchange is being planned for 2011.

Bon à Tirer from Hemmings House Pictures on Vimeo.

New International Support from NEFA

Center StageSM is an international exchange program that will allow international performing artists to tour throughout the U.S. in 2012. The program will:

* build cultural awareness,
* develop long-lasting relationships between people,
* enhance mutual understanding.

Center StageSM will bring ten ensembles from several countries for month-long tours of the U.S. in 2012, connecting artists with diverse communities in primarily small and mid-sized cities and towns across the U.S. Artist ensembles will be selected from three to four of the following seven countries: Haiti, Mali, Pakistan, Indonesia, Senegal, Syria, and Turkey.

Center StageSM will provide each ensemble with an honorarium and arrange and pay for travel and direct on-tour expenses. U.S.-based staff will accompany each ensemble on tour.

More information about this opportunity can be found on the NEFA website.
http://www.nefa.org/grants_services/nomination_and_selection

Contact East Conference Creates Opportunities for Maine Presenters

The Contact East Conference is an annual event that takes place in the provinces of Atlantic Canada. This year it is taking place in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. The event allows artists to showcase and presenting organizations to book artists for tours. There are also professional development workshops, networking opportunities, and peripheral arts event during the gathering.The 2010 Contact East conference also brought together participants from across Canada, Britain, and America for an international summit on the exchange of culture. The invited delegates discussed solutions for improving arts touring networks, communication structures and funding resources to support touring performances and other forms of cultural exchange. The Maine Arts Commission was represented by its performing arts associate Kerstin Gilg at the day-long meeting.

Delegates in 2010 summit on international exchange of culture

Full details of the summit will be made available when the meeting minutes are finalized. However, an agreement was reached between the Atlantic Presenters Association and New England Presenters and Arts Presenters of Northern New England in creating improved partnerships for block booking throughout the region. The Atlantic Presenters Association also extended the invitation to Maine artists to apply for next years Contact East showcases and encouraged Maine presenters to continue to attend.

Petunia & The Vipers open the 2010 Contact East showcases

The Contact East conference runs from September 23 - 26. More information about the outcomes will come soon and be made available through the Maine Arts Commission. So far, it has proven to be a very productive gathering.

There will be a meeting of Arts Presenters of Northern New England in Bethel Maine on November 10. The meeting will be hosted by the Mahoosuc Arts Council and is free and open to presenting organizations. Outcomes of the Contact East Conference will be presented at this meeting. Call 207/824.3575 for more information.