Additional Funding for Downeast Artists Announced

The Maine Arts Commission is pleased to announce that $12,500 in additional funds will be available to artists in Hancock and Washington Counties over the next 12 months thanks to a partnership with the Maine Community Foundation.

Funding through the Maine Community Foundation is provided by the Belvedere Fund, which was established in 2000 by the late Deborah Pulliam. Deborah had a fondness for functional crafts and her legacy will support additional Traditional Arts Apprenticeships and Good Idea Grants in the region of Maine where she lived.

“Deborah Pulliam had a passion for traditional handcrafts," said Meredith Jones, Maine Community Foundation president and CEO. "We are pleased that the Maine Arts Commission will help further the legacy of that passion in Downeast Maine."

The Maine Arts Commission will use the funding to administer five additional artist grants. These will be offered as two Traditional Arts Apprenticeships and three Good Idea Grants. The Traditional Arts Apprenticeships will help communities in Washington and Hancock Counties preserve their cultural heritage by supporting master traditional artists as they pass on their skills to qualified apprentices. The Good Idea Grants will support the growth of regional artists through the creation of new work or professional development.

The application deadlines for these grants are June 16 and June 24 respectively. Complete information about both of these programs can be found in the grants section of www.MaineArts.com.

A Good Idea Grant Success Story

In 2010, Philip Brou was awarded a Good Idea Grant from the Maine Arts Commission in order to move forward on a project relating to a hotel room in Portland. In Philip’s own words:

“On September 10, 2001, Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz al-Omari drove a rented car from Boston, Massachusetts, to South Portland, Maine. The next morning they flew out of the Portland International Jetport and launched a series of devastating attacks that shook our world.

I located the hotel and room, room 233, where Atta and al-Omari stayed in South Portland. The hotel is near my home. I pass it every time I drive to the grocery store. I contacted the hotel’s manager and reserved the room.

The project funded by a Good Idea Grant and included in the Portland Museum of Art’s (PMA) Biennial is a culmination of my research into room 233, the room where Atta and al-Omari spent their final night. I view this project as a record of facts, similar to the flight data recorder –the black box- that is always running while a plane is in flight.”
Philip’s project received the "Purchase Award," (meaning that the museum is purchasing the project for its permanent collection) at PMA’s Biennial.

Furthermore, the project was recently selected to be shown at MECA's Institute of Contemporary Art in the fall. In addition to the pieces included in the biennial, Philip will be showing several paintings related to room 233. His work will be exhibited alongside that of Johan Grimonprez's internationally acclaimed film essay "Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y."

Apply Now for Maine Arts Commission Funding

The New Year will bring with it new opportunities and new challenges for Maine’s artists and organizations. If you are seeking funding then now is the time to take a look at our grant programs; there is a lot on offer in January.

If you need help with marketing then January 7 is the date you need to get your application in for the Arts Visibility grant. There are many ways that this grant can be used. Successful applicants have updated Websites, created iPhone apps, created promotional videos, posters, postcards, or even paid for various forms of advertising. Whatever your marketing needs are, this is the grant for you. It provides up to $1,500 and offers a relatively simple application process.
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The Innovative Production grant supports artistic innovation in the production and presentation of media and/or performance work of artists and organizations; the deadline is January 13.
Innovation can be in the form of materials used, production methods, project concepts, technology integration, and/or location use. Innovation can also come in the form of timing, placement of work, means of distribution or the manner that it is presented. This grant offers funding up to $2,000.

The Jane Morrison Film Scholarship provides funds to support educational opportunities for filmmakers in the early stages of their career development; the grant offers support of up to $2,000 and the deadline is January 13.

There are grant programs within the Maine Arts Commission that operate on revolving deadlines: the Good Idea grant, the Community Arts and Humanities grant, and the Celebrating Traditional Arts grant.

The Good Idea grant fosters the growth of Maine’s artists. It supports the creation of new work or professional development. Awards of up to $1,500 are available.

The Community Arts and Humanities grant offers support of up to $1,000 to assist organizations in Maine as they investigate and present stories and cultural expressions of the state.

The Celebrating Traditional Arts grant offers up to $1,500 to fund traditional artists’ fees for presentations in a range of community settings including festivals, gatherings, fairs, museums or tours and other community events.

Applications for these revolving deadline grants should be submitted before February 25 in order to ensure early receipt of funds in the New Year.

The Maine Arts Commission offers many other grants to Maine artists and organizations. Be sure to visit our grant pages on MaineArts.com.

Grant Deadlines Approach for Many Programs

The Maine Arts Commission has several grant deadlines approaching in the coming weeks.

The Innovative Production Grant has a deadline of January 8, 2010. It has been created to support artistic innovation in the production and presentation of media and/or performance. Both individual artists and arts organizations may apply.

The Jane Morrison Film Fund Scholarship Grant has a January 14 Deadline. The grant supports educational opportunities for filmmakers in the early stages of their career development.

The Good Idea Grant now has a rolling deadline. The grant fosters the growth of Maine’s artists by supporting the creation of new work or professional development.

The American Masterpieces Grant deadline is February 26. The funds assist professional, Maine arts organizations with annual operating budgets of $500,000 or greater to present major projects such as an exhibitions, performances, residencies or educational programs that feature American master works, movements or artists.

The Arts Visibility Grant has a deadline of March 11. The grant supports Maine’s artists and arts organizations by providing the means with which to increase the visibility of specific artistic projects. The Arts Visibility Grant is no longer tied to the GIG format and therefore applicants may now apply to both.

Three Agency Grant Deadlines Approach

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

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

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

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

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

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