Common Ground Fair Seeks Artwork for 2011 Art Competition

Each year, MOFGA hosts an artwork contest to find an illustration that captures the essence of the Common Ground Country Fair. MOFGA features the winning design on the Fair poster, t-shirt, softgoods and marketing and promotional media.

The 2010 Fair features the boisterous rooster creation of Sedgwick, Maine artist, Holly Meade.

In addition to the satisfaction of seeing their artistic work on posters and t-shirts all over Maine and beyond, the winning artist receives a $1,000 cash prize and is featured in a profile in the MOFGA quaterly newspaper, the Maine Organic Farmer and Gardener.

MOGFA are now seeking entries for the 2011 contest. The contest is open only to Maine residents and MOFGA members (regardless of residence).

The deadline for entries is Friday, August 6, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. Complete details, artwork guidelines and contest rules are available online at www.commongroundcountryfair.com or by contacting the Common Ground Country Fair at cgcf@mofga.org or 207/568-4142.

International Performing Arts Presenters Conference in Maine this August

The Maine Arts Commission today announced a three day conference between New England and Canadian presenting organizations a week after Governor John Baldacci signed a Memorandum of Understanding with New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham to improve international cultural cooperation. Conference organizers are seeking to improve performing arts touring and cultural exchanges between the two regions to enrich the Northeast culturally, economically and socially.

From August 4 to 6, the Collins Center for the Arts in Orono will be the venue for a gathering of performing arts presenters from at least six Canadian provinces and the New England states. The conference aims to improve the cultural landscape in three ways: it will create time and space for directors of presenting organizations to meet, build partnerships, and share information about booking practices; it will encourage conversations about bringing arts and culture into business and trade practices; and it will provide a platform to inform the national conversation around problems involving artist work visas and artist travel.

The conference, aptly named “Over the Edge,” will feature challenging and topical panel discussions that will produce the “next steps” for tackling the important issues that this convention will raise. The conference will also include several live performance showcases that feature artists from Maine, Canada and New England.

Thanks to the generosity of the Collins Center and local sponsors, the Over the Edge conference is free to attend. It begins August 4 and continues until August 6; those wishing to attend must reserve their place by calling the Collins Center for the Arts at 207/581-1804. Full details of the conference can be obtained from the website of the Maine Arts Commission at MaineArts.com, or by calling Kerstin Gilg at 207/287-6719.

Maine Arts Commission Approves $92,000 in Arts Education Funding

The Maine Arts Commission recently approved 11 SMART (Schools Make Art Relevant Today) grants for a total of $92, 550 in funding. The grant provides funding for arts education projects and has a maximum award of $10,000. There is one deadline each year.

SMART grants have been traditionally awarded to projects serving elementary school populations but this year a unique project was presented by the University of Maine at Augusta to provide funds to create a Youth Orientated program of the University of Maine, Augusta, or YoUMA for short.

YoUMA is a summer interdisciplinary arts immersion program with a focus on visual and performing arts for up to 100 rising sophomore, junior and senior high school students, and also recent graduates and GED recipients.
YoUMA will:
• raise awareness of the availability of local, high quality post secondary arts education,
• encourage prospective students to consider going to college majoring in visual/performing arts by exposing them to an innovative introduction to what college can be like, thereby encouraging participants to realize higher education is indeed within their capabilities and
• develop stronger partnerships and collaborations with arts programs in Maine high schools, communities, and educational programs to recruit participants.

Students will receive college credit for each week completed in the course and will have a glimpse into the life of a college art student, and the subsequent positive college experience. YoUMA will orient students to higher education and promote attendance using artistic modes of problem solving, which, in turn, bring an array of expressive, analytical, and development tools for each student.

The review committee applauded the University for recognizing that arts education is one way to keep students in school until they graduate and working to make connections between high school and college is a gap that needs to be bridged.

Other grants awarded under the SMART grant were:
• The Auburn School Department for an arts-based afterschool program, $9,915
• Biddeford School Department, for an in school dance residency, $2,635
• Figures of Speech Theatre, for Figures of Speech Student Ensemble, $10,000
• Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, or a community-based artist residency with and student mentor program, $5,000
• Maine Alliance for Arts Education, for the LINC program, $10,000
• John F. Murphy Homes, Inc., for a creative movement program, $10,000
• Portland Museum of Art, for a two-year art immersion program for high school students, $5,000
• Sanford School Department, for a project utilizing professional artists to instruct students and staff, $10,000
• The Telling Room, to allow students to work with writers and a comic book artist to tell their stories, $10,000
• Tides Institute and Museum of Art, for artist residencies, workshop and visiting artist program, $10,000

For more information on the Maine Arts Commission's SMART grant visit MaineArts.com.

Listening Tour Heads to the County

The Maine Arts Commission continues its series of statewide meetings in Presque Isle and Eastport this week in an effort to gather information and feedback that will shape the agency’s future services to the field.

Agency Director Donna McNeil, and Assistant Director Alison Ferris, will be at the Wintergreen Arts Center at 4:00 pm on Wednesday, July 21. They will then be at the Peavey Library in Eastport at 3:00 pm on Friday, July 23.

The meetings are open for all interested parties to attend and will concentrate on two main aspects of information gathering; namely, gathering feedback on the services and programs that the Maine Arts Commission currently provides, and gathering input on what the agency may not currently offer but could do so in the future.

Maine Arts Commission Welcomes New Arts in Education Associate

The Maine Arts Commission today announced the appointment of John Holdridge as Arts in Education associate. John will oversee the agency’s arts in education programs while seeking to bring the arts closer to the center of the ongoing discussions about education in Maine.

John has been involved in the field of arts and education for the past fifteen years. After five seasons as a professional actor with Perishable Theatre's Shows for Young Audiences in Providence, RI, John became the Resident Teaching Artist with the ArtsLiteracy Project in the Education Department at Brown University.

While at the Artsliteracy Project John worked as a teaching artist partner in K-12 classrooms of all levels and content areas, mentored teacher and artist partnerships learning to integrate their fields as a way to deepen and demonstrate student comprehension, and created and facilitated professional development opportunities for several districts in Rhode Island, Boston, MA, St. Paul, MN, Inhumas, Brazil and the summer lab school at Brown University. In addition to these duties John taught in the teacher education program at Brown, served as the curriculum specialist for the NEA sponsored teacher training institute, and presented at local and national conferences including the annual meeting of the Arts Education Partnership at Lincoln Center.

“I am hoping that in my position I will be able to contribute to the education conversations that are taking place here in Maine and nationally,” said Holdridge. “There is currently a huge emphasis being placed on creativity, imagination, and innovation in our learning environments. I want to make sure that teaching and learning in and through the arts remain at the center of that conversation. I’d like to solidify the role of the teaching artist in and around schools, support teachers and students as artists, develop effective models for arts integration and help Maine become a regional and national leader in the field."

You can read the full press release within the press release section of MaineArts.com
Full details can be found on the Maine.gov website.

The Artwork of Colin Page Exhibited in Maine’s State Capitol

The Maine Arts Commission is proud to announce that the artwork of Colin Page is now on display in Maine’s Capitol complex as part of the agency’s Arts in the Capitol program. The exhibit, titled Colin Page: Recent Paintings, has been generously loaned by the Dowling Walsh Gallery in Rockland, and will remain on display until the end of September.

Colin Page paints the poetry he sees in life around him. A disciplined and hard worker, Page paints outside every day, weather permitting, in order to capture the light and atmosphere of his chosen scenes. Landscapes are his mainstay, however, within that genre, he also focuses on somewhat unexpected subjects such as abandoned, rusting gears; gasoline pumps; bait barrels, and telephone poles and wires. These scenes, like his more traditional subjects depicting the land and sea, are rich in color, mood, and nuance. For instance, Tractor (2009), shown above, is a lyrical painting depicting an old tractor resting in fields evoking the calm of the end of the day. The painting achieves an overall sense of tranquility and suggests that it is dusk because the red used to paint the tractor quietly mingles (rather than contrasts as it would if it were high noon) with the greens of the field and forest.

Perhaps the most remarkable characteristics about Page’s paintings are his elegant brushstrokes that evidence not only skill but an astounding ability to sensitively record what he observes. Secret Rock (2009) depicts the interior of a forest darkened by a canopy of tall trees. Bright green moss on top of a rock cave almost glows in the otherwise dark browns of the rocks and trees. It is easy to imagine the pungent smell of the damp earth in the cool air. As one moves closer to investigate the mysterious place, the painting’s realism disperses into a series of expertly rendered brush strokes thereby forever protecting the site’s secret.

Colin Page was raised in Baltimore, MD and attended the Rhode Island School of Design. He transferred to Cooper Union with a concentration on painting. Upon graduation he lived in New York City for three years where he was an active member in the art world. In search of a more diverse landscape, Page moved to Maine where he also found more time to devote to his art. One of Page’s paintings, held in the corporate collection of L. L. Bean, was chosen as the cover of the summer 2010 L.L. Bean catalog.

The Stream, Colin Page

See the Burnurwurbskek Singers on Friday, July 16 from 10am - Noon

Enjoy traditional Wabanaki music in the third performance of the Abbe Museum's Music-by-the Sea concert series. On Friday, July 16 from 10:00 to noon the Burnurwurbskek Singers will perform beside the historic site of the original Abbe Museum at Sieur de Monts, within Acadia National Park.

The Burnurwurbskek Singers are a traditional Wabanaki men's drumming and singing group. The audience will have the opportunity to experience this group's lively performance in the great outdoors, and watch and learn some traditional Wabanaki dances performed by members of the Penobscot Boys and Girls Club. Between sets, there will be time to talk with the talented Native musicians that comprise the Burnurwurbskek Singers. Samples of their music can be heard at the Burnurwurbskek Singers official MySpace page at, http://www.myspace.com/penobscotdrum/a>.

In the event of foul weather, the Burnurwurbskek Singers will perform inside the Circle of the Four Directions at the Abbe Museum's downtown location at 26 Mount Desert Street in Bar Harbor.

This performance is sponsored by the Maine Arts Commission.

Admissions:
Abbe Sieur de Monts, Acadia National Park:
Adults, $3 and Children, (6-15) $1
(Sieur de Monts Only)
*Admission FREE to Native Americans and Abbe Museum Members

Abbe Downtown:
Adults, $6 and Children, (6-16) $2
(Ticket includes free admission to our Sieur de Monts location)
*Admission FREE to Native Americans and Abbe Museum Members

Colby Set for Museum Expansion After Capital Campaign Exceeds Expectations

In 2007, the Colby Museum of Art announced that it would receive one of the most important collections of American art ever given to a liberal arts college from Peter and Paula Lunder, who felt strongly that the art should be accessible to the people of Maine. To accomplish that goal, Colby needed a new exhibition space, and the campaign’s capstone gift, $5 million from the Portland, Maine-based Harold Alfond Foundation, will fund a major portion of a museum expansion to house the Lunder Collection.

The new gallery space is part of a $15-million, 26,000-square-foot expansion scheduled to break ground in mid-2011 for completion in 2013, Colby’s bicentennial year. It will allow many important pieces in the Lunder Collection to be exhibited, including works by James McNeill Whistler, Georgia O’Keeffe, Edward Hopper, Mary Cassatt, Winslow Homer, and many other American masters.

Colby College exceeded its $370-million capital campaign goal June 30, raising a total of $376-million in the largest fundraising campaign in Maine’s history. The Reaching the World Campaign, begun in 2005 under Colby President William D. Adams, was mounted to support financial aid, facilities, and the academic experience.

The full press release can be found within the press section of the Colby website.

Governor Signs Memorandum of Understanding on Cultural Initiatives with New Brunswick Premier

Governor John E. Baldacci today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham to establish a Maine-New Brunswick Cultural Initiative.

Specifically, the MOU recognizes the strong and deep historical, cultural and artistic ties between Maine and New Brunswick. The agreement calls for further exploration of collaborative cross-border cultural projects, as well as business and cultural trade opportunities. Among the specific projects that the Cultural Initiative will provide support to is the upcoming 2014 World Acadian Congress. That event will be held in an area encompassing northern Maine, T�miscouata, Quebec and northwestern New Brunswick.

“Maine’s ties with our friends in New Brunswick are strong. I am pleased that in the past few years we have expanded our partnerships, especially in the areas of education, energy and the economy,” said Governor Baldacci. “The agreement we sign today builds on these ties and will enhance our creative economies.”

“This initiative builds on the long tradition of friendship New Brunswickers have enjoyed with the people of Maine,” said Premier Graham. “We look forward to sharing the rich culture of our communities and artists with our neighbors and identifying new opportunities for cooperation in the promotion of arts and culture.”

The MOU was signed by the two leaders during the 34th Conference of the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers being held in Lenox, Massachusetts.

As part of the agreement, Maine and New Brunswick will each appoint one person to serve as the point of contact for the tasks outlined in the MOU. Governor Baldacci has appointed Donna McNeil, the Director of the Maine Arts Commission, to fill this role for the State. The points of contact will report back to both governments by Dec. 1, 2010, to provide initial assessment of priorities after collecting input from cultural industry stakeholders.

Full details can be found on the Maine.gov website.

Bates Dance Festival hostes Doug Varone

Earlier this year the Bates Dance Festival received an American Masterpieces grant from the Maine Arts Commission to support Doug Varone’s project, CHAPTERS FROM A BROKEN NOVEL, a full company piece for eight dancers set to a commissioned score by David Van Tieghem.

The Bates Dance Festival began July 5 and will be in full swing through August 7. Doug Varone will be presenting a lecture and demonstration tonight at 7:30 in the Schaeffer Theatre. This event is free and open to the public. On July 15 and 17 Varone will perform at the Schaeffer Theatre, tickets can be purchased from the Bates Dance Festival site.

Lewiston's Public Theatre Hosts Listening Tour July 13

The Maine Arts Commission continues its series of statewide meetings in Lewiston on July 13 to gather information and feedback that will shape the agency’s future services to the field.

The latest of these meetings will take place at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, July 13, at the Public Theatre, Maple Street in Lewiston, and is being coordinated by L/A Arts.

Maine Arts Commission Director Donna McNeil and Communication Associate Darrell Bulmer are attending numerous meetings around Maine to engage artists and community members in an open dialogue about the agency’s offerings.

The meetings are open for all interested parties to attend and will concentrate on two main aspects of information gathering; namely, gathering feedback on the services and programs that the Maine Arts Commission currently provides, and gathering input on what the agency may not currently offer but could do so in the future.

Those wishing to attend are asked to please contact L/A Arts Office at 207-782-7228 so that they may get an idea of numbers, for refreshment purposes. Please provide your name, numbers attending and which organization you represent if applicable. All are most welcome

Those who have questions about the listening tour should contact Darrell Bulmer at 207/287-6746 or e-mail darrell.bulmer@maine.gov.

For more details visit the website of L/A Arts.

MPBN Makes Arts in Crisis Talk Available Online

On July 1 at the Portland Museum of Art, Michael Kaiser, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, gave attendees encouragement and support for the future during a rousing talk aimed at guiding arts organizations through the current economic climate.

MPBN's Speaking in Maine series has now made this discussion available to all online through their website. Please use the following link to listen to this talk at your convenience: http://www.mpbn.net/OnDemand/AudioOnDemand/SpeakingInMaine/tabid/294/Default.aspx

Kaiser addressed the key challenges facing arts organizations through such areas as fundraising, building more effective boards of trustees, budgeting and marketing.

This talk was sponsored by the Maine Arts Commission, and we'd like to again thank the Portland Museum of Art for their hospitality on the day, and of course Frank Ferrel and MPBN for providing this coverage for the people of Maine.
Please share this content with all that you think would be interested.

Announcing the 2010 Morrison Film Fellowships

Sally Levi, of Bristol, and Dean Merrill, of Portland, are the 2010 recipients of the Jane Morrison Film Fellowship, awarded by the Maine Community Foundation.

A graduate of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, Levi has taught at Maine Media Workshops in Rockport, Maine, since 2008. She has served as writer, director and/or producer on a number of documentary films, including Killer Subs in Pearl Harbor for PBS/Nova and Design Revolution sponsored by MIT, both 2009. Levi will use the Morrison fellowship to attend the Film and Media Producing program at Lund University in Sweden.

Merrill graduated from Maine College of Art (MECA) and now runs Apogee Creative Studio. He has worked as a multi-media designer for several companies, most recently L.L. Bean, Amayzing By Design and MECA. He will be taking classes at either the Maine Media College or the New York Film Academy with support from the Morrison fund.

The Maine Arts Commission (MAC) manages the review process for the Morrison Memorial Film Fund, which was established in 1988 in memory of filmmaker Jane Morrison. Previous winners include Amy Brown, Joseph Brunette, Lance Edmands, Nikolai Fox and Cecily Pingree.

Applications for next year’s fellowship(s) must be postmarked by January 14, 2011. Go to www.mainearts.maine.gov for guidelines. Each applicant must speak with Kerstin Gilg, media arts and performing arts associate at MAC, at 207/287-2726 before applying. Preference is given, but not restricted, to Maine residents.

A statewide organization with offices in Ellsworth and Portland, the Maine Community Foundation partners with donors and nonprofits to strengthen Maine communities. For more information, visit www.mainecf.org or call 1-877-700-6800.
Carl Little

Maine International Film Festival Returns to Waterville July 9-18

There is so much to see and do at this year’s Maine International Film Festival (MIFF). Over 10 amazing days audiences can view 100 films, attend award ceremonies and receptions, meet and talk with some of the people behind the movies - directors, producers, writers, musicians who host panel discussions as well as informal Q&A sessions, giving the audiences an incredible chance to hear about the art of film from those on the front lines.

Attendees can also network with representatives from MPBN, the Maine Film Office, Maine Film & Video Association, and Maine Arts Commission.

MIFF 2010 will include nearly 100 films from around the world, including a special series presented in partnership with the American Film Institute’s Project: 20/20, an initiative to bridge cultural boundaries through cinema. Project: 20/20 films screening in Waterville include Sita Sings the Blues (USA), Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo (USA/Japan), and Room and a Half (Russia).

On Saturday, July 17, the Maine Arts Commission is once again sponsoring the Made in Maine day at the film festival which includes the 33rd Maine Student Film & Video Festival (12:30pm, Waterville Opera House, Admission is free), the Student Filmmakers’ Reception (2:30pm, Jorgensen’s Café, 103 Main Street) and the Making it in Maine Reception (5:00-6:30pm, The REM Forum, The Center, 93 Main Street, Waterville).

There will also be screenings of Maine-themed and Maine-made films such as
Finding Belgrade, 3:30pm, Railroad Square Cinema, Welcome to My World, 3:30pm, Waterville Opera House, and Al Hawkes and Maine Shorts, 6:15pm, Railroad Square Cinema; Followed by Al Hawkes Live in Concert at Mainely Brews Restaurant & Brewhouse, 1 Post Office Square.

Passes and tickets for events throughout the 10-day festival are now on sale. Specific screening at MIFF can be found at http://www.miff.org/program/2010/grid2010.php. Festival passes, starting at just $85, are available now on the MIFF website. Tickets for individual films are also available now.

Check out this year's schedule or program overview now, and join us at the festival!

Oxford Hills and Washington County Demonstrate Their Innovation

Oxford Hills School District and Narraguagus High School in Washington Country are the 2010 winners of the CI2 Awards, a statewide video contest that highlights Maine’s most innovative, creative, and imaginative school projects. The winners were chosen by the Maine Design Team, a group of educators and thinkers from local schools, the Maine Department of Education, the arts community, and the Maine Learning Technology Institute (MLTI), who have come together to help kickstart Maine’s learning environments and build on all the ways that we can teach our students to imagine, innovate, and create.



The Oxford Hills School District's video documents the M’iMovie Film Festival, an annual, district-wide film festival that promotes creativity, learning, and student engagement. This year’s festival, the 9th annual, was attended by more than 700 people and featured its usual paparazzi, red carpet and Hollywood-themed awards night. To make it to the festival, teams of students had to collaborate, create, and edit their 5-minute films to perfection.

“We now have students in our middle school and high school interested in making a movie every year to the point of ‘bringing the teacher along’ who has not yet been involved…. Many teachers have reported how there are few discipline issues when the class is working on a movie project, on how the subject area incorporated into the movie has "stuck" with them, and how well they tested on the
subject.” –Richard McIntosh, Technology Support Specialist

Narraguagus High School's video is a great example of how—using students’ ideas—one school creatively re-thought its annual college night to generate enthusiasm and engage high school juniors and seniors in thinking about their futures. With the help of prizes donated from the local community, delicious pies baked by NHS teachers, and a variety of workshops for students and parents, they transformed college and financial aid information sessions into a vibrant community event that has a powerful effect on how students think about their prospects for college.


“Many of our students at Narraguagus High School are first generation college students. Having an event which fosters such family involvement truly helps pave the way for navigating the often daunting journey of applying to college. This night makes parents ultra aware of what is needed for the FAFSA. It makes parents feel more comfortable having those college discussions with their kids even if they did not attend college. Our students see the advantage of developing positive mentoring relationships…, and they become better skilled at advocating for their needs when it comes to college.” –Brittany Ray, Guidance Counselor

The CI2 Awards take their name from Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, E=mc2. In Maine, we have a new theory of prosperity for the 21st century, which is that prosperity is tied to education and education is only as good as our students’ creativity, imagination, and innovation. In other words, E=CI2.

The winning schools will each receive a $250 award from the Maine Arts Commission to help fund their future creative projects.

For more information about the M’ iMovie Festival, contact Richard McIntosh, Technology Support Specialist, Oxford Hills School District, rmcintosh@sad17.k12.me.us.

For more information about PIE Night, contact Brittany Ray, Guidance Counselor, Narraguagus High School, 483-2747 or bray@msad37.org.

The Maine Design Team includes the following members:

Angela Faherty, Interim Commissioner, Department of Education
Carol Trimble, Executive Director, Maine Alliance for Arts Education
Argy Nestor, Visual and Performing Arts Specialist, Maine Department of Education
Gretchen J. Berg, Performing Artist, Lecturer in Theater Performance
Gibson Fay-LeBlanc, Executive Director, The Telling Room
Ann Marie Quirion Hutton, Professional Development, Apple Inc
Linda Nelson, Executive Director Opera House Arts, Stonington
Diana Hansen, Music Teacher, Lunt School, Falmouth
Trudy Wilson, Former Coordinator of the Art Education Program at USM
Patrick Phillips, Superintendant of Schools MSAD #61
John Holdridge, Center for Creative Literacy

Advisory Board:

Susan Gendron, Former Commissioner of Education
Donna McNeil, Director, Maine Arts Commission
Jim Moulton, Apple Inc
Jen Oxman Ryan, Education Researcher, Project Zero, Harvard

Michael Kaiser in Maine

Michael M. Kaiser, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, visited Portland today as part of “Arts in Crisis: A Kennedy Center Initiative,” an arts management symposium. Kaiser addressed the challenges facing nonprofit arts organizations in such areas as fundraising, building more effective boards of trustees, budgeting and marketing.

The event was well attended and questions from the audience were well received and expertly answered by Mr. Kaiser.

The event was also well attended by Maine's press. Frank Ferrel from MPBN was there to record the event which will feature on tonight's Maine Things Considered. Channel 6 news was there and Rob Caldwell from 207 interviewed Michael Kaiser for what we believe will be this evening's show.

We will make excerpts from today's meeting available as soon as we can.

We'd like to thank the Portland Museum of Art for allowing us to have this event within their wonderful space.