September 17, 2009 – The Portland Arts and Cultural Alliance (PACA) announced today awards of $26,000 in grants for the last fiscal year, as well as the appointment of four new board members.

In the 2008-09 fiscal year, PACA received $10,000 from the Maine Arts Commission for building capacity in Maine’s cultural communities and $4,000 for the Public Art Lecture Series. The Davis Family Foundation granted PACA $7,500 for the First Friday Art Walk, and the City of Portland contributed $5,000 for general operating support.

Board president Alice Kornhauser commented, “We are deeply gratified to have such substantial support from public, private and non-profit sectors for programs like First Friday Art Walk that contribute so much to the quality of life in Portland, not to mention over $250,000 a year to the local economy.”

PACA’s four newly-appointed board members include: Peter Bass (President of Random Orbit, Inc. a progressive real estate development company and member of the Developers Collaborative), Ezekiel Callanan (co-founder and Executive Director of Maine Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts), Amanda Flanagan (Account Executive, gBritt PR), and Marty Pottenger (Director, Arts & Equity Initiative, City of Portland and Executive Director, Terra Moto Inc.).

About Portland Arts and Cultural Alliance (PACA):
Founded in 1985 and designated as the City of Portland, Maine’s local arts agency in 1997, PACA’s core programs include First Friday Art Walk and Creative Conversations. PACA also provides support to the City of Portland’s Public Art Committee as well as the newly established Maine Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. PACA was the facilitating agency for Portland’s participation in the Maine Arts Commission’s Discovery Research and “Arts and Economic Prosperity” national survey through Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America.

Celebrating Public Art in Maine: 30 Years of the Percent for Art Program

The Public Art Event Series

As the Maine Arts Commission’s Percent for Art program enters its 30th year, the agency is celebrating the program’s transformative power by sponsoring a series of public art events that take place throughout the state in 2009.

The Public Art Event Series is designed to foster discussions about public art in Maine. National and international experts and public artists will spark conversation by challenging preconceived notions about what public art is today as they share their artistic methods and practices.

Through a juried selection process, five Maine arts organizations were funded by the Maine Arts Commission to present dynamic speakers who will make significant contributions to our notions of public art. The local arts organizations are: Tides Institute and Museum of Art in Eastport, Portland Arts and Cultural Alliance, Waterville Arts Council, SPACE Gallery in Portland and Maine College of Art.

Schedule:

May 29, 7pm
Amy Hausmann
Discusses Arts for Transit (AFT) Program
SPACE Gallery, Portland

June 5 – Oct. 31
Eighth Annual Sculpture Garden Invitational
(Conversation with the artists on August 26)
Art Gallery – University of New England, Westbrook College Campus, Portland

June 6, 6pm
Jean Shin
Discusses Celadon Remnants
SPACE Gallery, Portland

June 19, 5 – 8pm
Eco-Motion
A multi-site installation of interactive sculpture
Downtown Belfast

July 25 – Sept. 12
Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium
Watch the creation of public sculptures
SERC, Schoodic Point

Aug. 9 – 15
Sue Clifford
Parish Maps: Building a Sense of Place through the Work of Common Ground
Tides Institute and Museum of Art, Eastport

October 9, 6pm
Amy Franceschini
Discusses Futurefarmers and Free Soil
Maine College of Art, Portland

October 17, 2pm
Swoon
Discusses public installations and interventions
SPACE Gallery, Portland

November 13-14
Liz Lerman and Juice 2.0
Art, Innovation and the Built Environment, Camden

St. Lawrence Arts Center

Saturday, May 30th
11:00am – 1:00pm
$5

We are having an Arts & Crafts event for all ages! Activities will include: Cartooning lessons by Ed King, painting slates from our roof, making beaded jewelry, making magnets and collages, and more! All materials included (but bring your own if you’d like!) Kids should wear clothes they can get messy.

St. Lawrence Arts Center
76 Congress St. Portland, Me.
775-5568

The gallery at Running With Scissors will open a group show of new works of art during the First Friday Art Walk on June 5.

Join the artists for a reception including live music performed by the local group, under a cardboard sea from 5:00 to 10:00 pm. “Looking Inside” will present art in a variety of mediums from the fifteen artists who make up this unique art collective. Friday’s celebration will also be an open studio event, offering the public a unique opportunity to meet the artists and visit their studios.

The upcoming show also celebrates running with scissors’ one-year anniversary at its new location, 54 Cove Street, home of the Cove Street Art Center.  The show continues through July 31. For more information or directions, call 699-4242.

The relocation of running with scissors artist studio space to Cove Street has resulted both in an expansion of it’s fully-equipped studio concept and a revival of it’s vibrant and re-known gallery.  The 7 year old studio’s presence has also inspired owner, Jeff Ritter, to transform the entire building into the Cove Street Art Center, which, as well as being home to running with scissors and J.S. Ritter Supply for jewelers, will soon house a second gallery and artist studio space. Construction is virtually completed on the 3500 square feet Open Concepts Studios which includes studio space for most art disciplines, a gallery, and a metals and glass workshop/classroom space. Although appropriate for a variety of art disciplines, all of the studios will have natural gas feeds and ventilation and are approved for the use of soldering equipment making these studios ideally unique in Portland for both jewelers and glassmakers.

The City of Portland has moved one step closer to becoming the first City in the United States to create a Tax Increment Financing District for the sole purpose of promoting and investing in the arts and Creative Economy in Portland.

A recent Portland Press Herald article shares some information about the initiative.

Read the Full Article Here

“This is a new frontier on how to use TIF money,” said City Councilor David Marshall. “The intent is to use it for the public good, and I really believe that using TIFs for arts and cultural purposes gets to the heart of the public good.” (Portland Press Herald)