Nine Maine arts organizations have received nearly $1 million in grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The organizations received a total of $886,900, the bulk of which — $746,900 – will go to the Maine Arts Commission to support its partnership agreement activities, according to a press release from the endowment. Other awardees:
- American Folk Festival in Bangor, $35,000, to support the 2012 festival
- Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance in Old Town, $30,000, to support an apprenticeship program for master Native American basketmakers to teach ash and sweetgrass basketry traditions
- Cultural Resources Inc. in Rockport, $15,000, to support a series of training workshops for health care and social service professionals to explore the role of traditional arts for senior citizens
- Portland Opera Repertory Theatre in Portland, $15,000, to support performances of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.
- Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Newcastle, $15,000, to support INVITE + IGNITE: 25 Years of Innovative Residencies.
- Figures of Speech Theatre in Freeport, $10,000, to support the Rural Maine Initiative, a program that brings performances, workshops and extended artist residencies to schools and underserved communities.
- Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport, $10,000, to support a series of exhibitions throughout the state of Maine featuring historic photographs taken between 1909 and the 1940s.
- Telling Room in Portland, $10,000, to support Young Writers and Leaders, a free, weekly after-school literary arts program for teenage refugee and immigrant students