Maine arts groups get $155,000 in NEA grants

PORTLAND – Grants from the National Endowment for the Arts will fund the publication of poetry, the production of a dramatic piece about women who live on the coast, the broadcast of concerts and other projects in Maine.

Six arts organizations in the state are receiving a total of $155,000 in grants from the NEA.

The awards represent the first round of the agency’s annual grant-making process.

The initial round constitutes slightly less than one-third of the total grant money the NEA expects to make available in the current fiscal year, according to Eileen Mason, senior deputy chairman of the agency.

The grants to organizations in Maine are among 908 awarded nationally, worth nearly $26 million.

The Maine Arts Commission received a $40,000 grant for a program that provides artists with professional development opportunities and resources, according to Alden Wilson, the organization’s director.

The Center for Cultural Exchange will use its $30,000 grant to support the creation of “Orientalism.” The work by Armenian-American composer Alan Shavarsh Bardezbanian will explore the West’s relationship with Islamic and Asian cultures.

The Alice James Poetry Cooperative in Farmington will use its $25,000 grant to publish poems from two competitions.

Portland Stage Company will use its $25,000 to develop “Women and the Sea” from a staged reading into a full-fledged production, according to Anita Stewart, the company’s artistic director. The dramatic piece is based on interviews with woman who live along Maine’s coast.

Bates will use its $20,000 grant to commission and present outreach and educational activities of the Bates Dance Festival.

The Portland Symphony Orchestra’s $15,000 grant will support recording, editing and mastering of concerts for broadcast on Maine Public Radio.