First lady Karen Baldacci’s favorite food is goat cheese. Her favorite indulgence is white chocolate. She never has soda and she’s not much of a cocktail drinker, but she loves a good glass of wine with a meal. She’s firmly committed to locally grown food. And she loves the arts. Recently, at the Blaine House in Augusta, she hung a painting of a chrysanthemum by a Maine art student. She enjoys live theater, but she has to drag her husband and son along to performances.

“John wants to golf. Jack is a teenager. He wants to hang out with his friends,” said Baldacci the other day over a plate of vegetarian lasagna at her husband’s family restaurant in Bangor. “But an artist does our Christmas card every year.”

On Sunday, Karen Baldacci will combine her culinary passions with her interest in locally made food and her appreciation of the arts at the second annual Maine Wine, Cheese and Chocolate Extravaganza at Momma Baldacci’s Restaurant in Bangor. The event is a benefit for the Maine Alliance for Arts Education, a nonprofit statewide organization devoted to strengthening and encouraging the arts in schools. The suggested donation for the event is $25 per person.

“Arts and creativity are the core of education, the core of Mainers,” said Baldacci, an educator, dietitian and honorary chair of the Alliance. “We know that kids who excel in arts, whether it’s band or art itself, do better on standardized tests. For me, the arts are a celebration of the human spirit. They also stem on John’s ideas about the creative economy. This is a piece of that.”

Another piece of the economy is food production in the state. While helping to support arts education, guests at the tasting will have the chance to sample wine from Bartlett Estate Winery in Gouldsboro, Blacksmiths Winery in South Casco, and Winterport Winery; cheese from Hahn’s End in Phippsburg, Sunset Acres in Brooksville, and Seal Cove Farm in Lamoine; as well as chocolates from Monica’s Chocolates in Lubec, Dean’s Sweets in Portland, and B. Potter Wine Chocolates in Yarmouth.

Over the last few decades, budget cuts have decimated school arts programs throughout the country, but Baldacci is confident that a change is under way in Maine. Tomorrow in Augusta, a team of arts leaders will interview applicants for the full-time government position of visual and performing arts consultant, a job that has been vacant for the last 10 years, according to Carol Trimble, executive director of the Alliance. The exact focus of the staff consultant’s work is still being shaped.

“Nationally, everybody is struggling with No Child Left Behind,” said Trimble, referring to President Bush’s 2002 education act intended to achieve high standards and accountability for every child in the classroom. “Districts are really feeling the pressure to focus on language arts and math, and that is going to expand to science and social studies in the coming years. An unintended consequence of that pressure is less time and fewer resources for arts education. By having a visual and performing arts consultant in Maine, schools will have a person to call for information and direction.”

Raising the visibility of arts education has been the mission of the Alliance since it was founded as a grass-roots organization 30 years ago. Combining the arts with local foods and wine, as well as student artists who will present their work, is also a fun way to remind residents about their investment in the preservation and proliferation of culture, said Trimble.

“It’s a celebration,” she said of the wine, cheese and chocolate event.

“I like to call it ‘arts every day,'” said Baldacci. “For some, it’s escapism. For others, it’s a release. For others, it’s about learning and mentoring. But it’s such an important part of the human experience, of who we are, where we’re here and what’s left behind.”

The Maine Wine, Cheese and Chocolate Extravaganza will take place 5-7 p.m. Sunday, May 7 at Momma Baldacci’s Restaurant, 12 Alden St. in Bangor. The suggested donation is $25. For tickets, call 725-9175 or e-mail maaemidcoast@suscom-maine.net. For information about Maine Alliance for Arts Education, visit www.maineallforartsed.org.