Maine Expansion Arts

2024 Grants

Boreal Theater, to continue development of the community theater that improves quality of life and economic conditions in the Katahdin Region: $10,000
Boys and Girls Club of Maliseets, to start an art program for youth, enabling them to express themselves creatively: $5,000
Create and Collaborate, to provide art and science classes while continuing to grow and serve the community: $8,500
Documentary Songwriters, to partner with year-round residents of Maine's island communities to write and perform songs that preserve and celebrate island life: $7,872
Empowered Immigrant Women Unite, to teach women to create handmade bracelets and accesssories, fostering creativity, cultural expression and economic empowerment: $4,230
Friends of Bear Mountain Music Hall, to keep the venue free for all: $10,000
Gateway Milbridge, to increase programming and outreach, further expanding access and opportunities: $7,500
Halcyon Music, to expand educational and performance programming in rural Maine, including unbridged island communities: $8,500
Indigo Arts Alliance, to build a sustainable, community-oriented future that integrates community engageent and artistic practice: $10,000
Intercultural Community Center, to foster the artistic and creative development of immigrant, refugee and first-generation students in Westbrook: $5,000
Lamoine Community Arts, to expand the August Dance Residency and fund free play performances: $4,500
Machias Arts Council, to secure a building lease that support arts and culture-based experiences for rural communities: $10,000
Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition, for the Inside Vision project to provide education to BIPOC incarcerated artists: $10,000
Merrymeeting Arts Center, to fund reduced and no-cost open pottery studio and hands-on educational workshops: $5,000
Nevaeh Dance Circus, to offer youth a week-long immersion in diverse circus and dance skills: $7,000
Penobscot Bay Orchestra, to broaden the orchestra's outreach to youth and welcome all ages: $6,000
Portland Ovations, to present Wabanaki Stories in partnership with Akomawt Educatoinal Initiative: $10,000
Rangeley Friends of the Performing Arts, to improve sound quality in theater productions: $3,000
Salt Bay Chamberfest, for free community music engagement events during its 2025 festival: $10,000
Tear Cap Workshops, to engage rural residents in hands-on crafts education taught by local artisans: $10,000
Torchlight Media, for a community-based mentorship program that provides underserved high school artists storytelling education: $2,918
Winter Harbor Music Festival, to pay local musicians to play in the Downeast Chamber Orchestra: $10,000
Women United Around the World, for the Maine Stitching Academy, a vocational training program to prepare immigrant women to succeed in the fashion and textile arts industries: $10,000

From donor-advised funds:

Boys and Girls Club of Maliseets, to start an art program for youth, enabling them to express themselves creatively: $5,000
Intercultural Community Center, to foster the artistic and creative development of immigrant, refugee and first-generation students in Westbrook: $5,000
Torchlight Media, for a community-based mentorship program that provides underserved high school artists storytelling education: $7,000
United Youth Empowerment Services, to use visual arts to celebrate the stories of refugees and asylum seekers in the Lewiston area: $7,000

2023 Grants

207 Film Works, to produce and premiere “Down East Hardcore,” a documentary about the influential music venue The Kave in Bucksport: $5,000
ArtVan, to provide valuable mental health and artistic resources to under-resourced youth who may otherwise not have access: $10,000
Barn Arts Collective, to extend the Village Classroom program to Lincoln County: $8,600
Bayside Arts, to acquire a sound system for music performances: $4,500
Belfast Flying Shoes, for a dance and instrumental music lesson program with incarcerated men at the Maine Coastal Regional Reentry Center: $5,000
Bethel Area Arts & Music, to expand existing programs and plan future programs: $7,500
Boreal Theater, to plan new programs to ensure sustainability: $10,000
Create and Collaborate, for material to provide art/science classes: $8,200
Cultural Resources, to support the Working in Wood Apprenticeship Program that will support traditional forest-based culture of Maine's Northern Forest region: $9,000
Djiboutian American Community Empowerment Project, to support Sewing Project, a free, weekly program to prevent and reduce social isolation among women: $6,000
Eastport Arts Center, to help subsidize free and low-cost arts programming for the community: $10,000
Fourth Friday, to provide safe spaces for the Black Diaspora to engage in fellowship, networking and community building and to document oral histories: $10,000
Gateway Community Services, for a three-part project that tells a story of art creation, art awareness, and art celebration for the BIPOC and immigrant community: $10,000
Gateway Milbridge, to expand Milbridge Theatre and Community Arts Center programming: $5,000
Halcyon Music, to support public performances of "Make Way for Ducklings" on three of Maine’s unbridged islands in summer 2024: $4,500
Khmer Maine, to build capacity for its arts and culture programming, including Khmer social dance classes and the Khmer New Year Festival: $8,675
Lights Out Gallery, to continue building creative community and connecting artists across the state: $7,500
Tear Cap Workshops, to expand hands-on learning opportunities across woodworking, traditional arts, and new media: $10,000
The Arts Institute of Western Maine, to bring affordable, local and world-class live performances to the Farmington area: $5,000
United Youth Empowerment Services, to use the visual arts as a medium to unfold, honor and celebrate the stories by refugees and asylum seekers in the Lewiston area: $10,000
Veterans Writing Project, to provide creative and performing arts education and performance opportunities for veterans, family members, and the community: $2,500
Wabanaki Cultural Preservation Coalition, to support traditional arts workshops for members of Wabanaki communities: $10,000
Wintergreen Arts, to grow Wintergreen Kids News Network into a monthly broadcast: $10,000

From donor-advised funds:

207 Film Works, to produce and premiere “Down East Hardcore,” a documentary about the influential music venue The Kave in Bucksport: $5,000

2022 Grants

Aroostook Arts and Education Center, to educate staff on engaging the arts to support mental health of students: $10,000
Barn Arts Collective, to expand its Vintage Classroom program: $6,500
Belfast Flying Shoes, to provide social dance and music programs for grades K-2 in RSU 71: $10,000
Creative Norway, to increase access to free or reduced-cost arts/movement programming for youth in western Maine: $10,000
Eastport ArtWalk, to support inclusive, interactive art activities, music, performance, dance, storytelling, and more: $5,000
Halcyon Music, to perform “Wonderful World” on Maine’s outer islands: $4,000
Hudson Museum, for workshops led by and for members of the Penobscot Nation and Wabanaki guests: $5,000
Indigo Arts Alliance, to continue to grow as an incubator for professional development and amplification of BIPOC thought leadership, artistic vision, and practice: $10,000
Intercultural Community Center, to foster the artistic and creative development of immigrant, refugee, and first-generation Westbrook students grades 3-8: $10,000
Maine Highlands Senior Center, to continue developing a regional arts center to connect people to the arts: $10,000
Maine Inside Out, for its arts and advocacy-based leadership development programs for youth of color: $10,000
New England Arab American Organization, to engage an artist from the Arab community to lead workshops and projects that explore Arab and Muslim art and calligraphy: $9,500
Portland Ovations, to feature artist Chris Newell in its Wabanaki Stories: $6,000
Speedwell Projects, to feature Indigenous artists in an upcoming exhibition featuring an animated film of Donna Loring's play, “Mary & Molly”: $7,500
Threadbare Theatre Workshop, to strengthen communities through participatory theater: $10,000
Veterans Writing Project, to provide creative and performing arts education, and performance opportunities for veterans, family members, and the community: $10,000
Wabanaki Cultural Preservation Coalition, to fund four traditional Wabanaki art workshops to further support Wabanaki artists and arts: $5,000
Waldo Theater, to support its youth theater education program, InterACT: $10,000

From donor-advised funds:

ArtWaves, to expand programming for middle schoolers interested in art/handcrafts and to match artist mentors with rural high school students: $7,800
Ellsworth Community Music Institute, to increase teaching artist salaries to align with regional norms: $5,000
Gateway Community Services Maine, to teach BIPOC youth how to use art for community building and self-healing: $10,000
Heart of Ellsworth, to host a free downtown summer concert series by local and other Maine artists: $5,000
Mayo Street Arts, to convene a traditional arts network gathering for immigrant artists living in Southern Maine: $10,000
Rangeley Friends of the Performing Arts, to retool and rebuild the Rangeley Community Chorus: $3,000
Stage East, to expand access to the theater in Washington County: $10,000
Tree Street Youth, for emerging local BIPOC artists to provide arts programs for young people: $10,000
United Youth Empowerment Services, for its youth Creator Space and to bring awareness to environmental health challenges among the immigrant and newcomer refugee communities: $10,000