8 Maine arts groups win NEA funding

WASHINGTON – Eight arts organizations in Maine will receive $762,000 in grants this year to support theater, folk arts, literature, education and the visual arts, the National Endowment for the Arts announced Thursday. The awards are part of a second round of major NEA funding this year, with more than $63 million going to hundreds of arts organizations nationwide.

The Maine beneficiaries include in the $10,000 category: Cultural Resources Inc. in Rockport to support a creative community workbook, Figures of Speech Theatre in Freeport to tour plays to underserved young audiences and families, and Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Newcastle for a symposium series to expand public knowledge of contemporary ceramics. The Maine Arts Commission received $20,000 for folk and traditional arts residencies, apprenticeships and programs, and an additional $627,000 to support partnership agreement activities.

Closer to Bangor, Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance was given $25,000 to support traditional arts apprenticeship programs in the ancient traditions of ash and sweetgrass basketry among the Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Micmac and Penobscot tribes in Maine.

“To us, this is an acknowledgement on the part of the National Endowment for the great artistry and tradition of the basket makers among the tribal people here in Maine,” said Theresa Secord, a Penobscot basket maker and executive director at MIBA. “It’s substantial financially, and it supports the mission of the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance.”

Other state awardees include the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance in Bath ($15,000) and the Portland Museum of Art ($45,000).

This year, the NEA has provided $21,509,500 to 970 arts organizations through its categories of Access to Artistic Excellence, Learning in the Arts, Arts on Radio and Television, and Folk Arts Infrastructure. In addition, the endowment will distribute $42,230,200 to state and jurisdictional arts agencies, including the Maine Arts Commission, and regional arts agencies in keeping with its mandate to allocate 40 percent of its grant-making budget to these partners.

“The Arts Endowment is happy to announce these grants which will help make the best of the arts and arts education accessible to communities across the country,” said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia. “What better way to celebrate the NEA’s 40th anniversary than to continue our legacy of supporting excellence in the arts for all Americans.”