Three Maine cultural institutions will share $659K in federal grants

Rendering / Courtesy of 2A Architects A rendering of the design for the First Amendment Museum in Augusta. An addition will double its size.

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By Peter Van Allen

The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens and two other cultural institutions will split $659,441 in federal funding.

The others are the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath and Augusta's First Amendment Museum, which plans an expansion.

U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, said Thursday the funding comes through the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ “Museums for America” program. Museums for America is the institution’s largest discretionary grant program for museums.

“Through my role on the House Appropriations Committee, I am proud to advocate for this vital arts funding to come back to Maine. Every federal dollar we invest in strengthening our cultural institutions yields economic growth for the surrounding communities,” Pingree said in the news release.

The grants will go to:

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, in Boothbay, for $249,422, for its project “A Garden That Builds Community, a Community That Gardens.”
First Amendment Museum in Augusta, for $249,500, to complete a design for permanent exhibition space.
Maine Maritime Museum, Bath, for $160,519, to pay for a comprehensive inventory, cataloging and digitization project in its principal collection storage space, which holds more than 9,000 objects.

Pingree is chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, where she oversees funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She is also co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Arts Caucus.

In addition to the $659,441, the recipients will receive matching funds totaling $415,175, though a breakdown was not provided.