Resources

Ebay
www.ebay.com
Online auction site and marketplace for buying and selling.

Etsy
www.etsy.com
A marketplace for handmade products. Buy and sell housewares, clothing, accessories, artwork, needlecraft and more.

LEF Foundation
www.lef-foundation.org
LEF is a private foundation that supports the creation and presentation of contemporary work in the fields of visual art, performing art, new media, literary art, film, architecture and design. Through its activities and programming, LEF funds projects of creative merit, cultural resonance and timeliness. LEF’s efforts reflect a belief in the value of experimentation and in the important role that art and its practice holds in society.

LiveWorkPortland
www.liveworkportland.org
Everything you need to know about the creative community in Portland, including resources on how to start or relocate a creative business and testimonials from local creative entrepreneurs.

Maine Alliance for Arts Education
www.maineallforartsed.org
The mission of the Maine Alliance for Arts Education is to encourage and strengthen educational excellence in visual art, music, theater, dance, and writing in all Maine schools and communities. Through a creative network of teachers, parents, artists, organizations, and community supporters, the Alliance works at the state level and in local communities to strengthen educational excellence in visual art, music, dance, drama, and creative writing.

Maine Arts Commission
mainearts.maine.gov
The Maine Arts Commission shall encourage and stimulate public interest and participation in the cultural heritage and cultural programs of our state; shall expand the state’s cultural resources; and shall encourage and assist freedom of artistic expression for the well being of the arts, to meet the needs and aspirations of persons in all parts of the state. Provides grants to artists including Good Idea Grants, designed to assist in supporting and fostering the growth of Maine’s artists. The parameters of the grant are purposefully broad. They include any “good idea” that furthers an individual artist’s creative endeavor(s).

Maine Women’s Fund
www.mainewomensfund.org
The Maine Women’s Fund is a public foundation, creating lasting change by investing in the power of women and the dreams of girls. We are passionate in our belief that all Maine women and girls can reach their full potential. Our programs engage and enrich women at every stage of life, encouraging confident strides, supporting emerging leaders, and creating lasting change that improves our communities and the world for generations to come.

SPACE
www.space538.org
An alternative arts venue in located in Portland, Maine, SPACE presents contemporary, emerging and unconventional arts, artists, and ideas. Space presents music, theater, film, video and visual art. Artists are invited to submit their proposals to Space – see specific guidelines on their web site.

The Pollock-Krasner Foundation
www.pkf.org
The Foundation welcomes, throughout the year, applications from visual artists who are painters, sculptors and artists who work on paper, including printmakers. There are no deadlines. The Foundation encourages applications from artists who have genuine financial needs that are not necessarily catastrophic. Grants are intended for a one-year period of time. The Foundation will consider need on the part of an applicant for all legitimate expenditures relating to his or her professional work and personal living, including medical expenses. The size of the grant is determined by the individual circumstances of the artist.

The Puffin Foundation
www.puffinfoundation.org
The Puffin Foundation Ltd. has sought to open the doors of artistic expression by providing grants to artists and art organizations who are often excluded from mainstream opportunities due to their race, gender, or social philosophy.

White Columns
www.whitecolumns.org
White Columns Curated Artist Registry is an online database of artists’ work. The artists in the Registry are without commercial gallery representation in New York City and were accepted by White Columns’ curatorial staff. The video component of the Registry is viewable by appointment only at White Columns. We do not accept proposals from individual artists for exhibitions of their own work. Individual artists should submit their work for consideration via White Columns’ Curated Artist Registry.

Community Television Network
www.ctn4maine.org
CTN seeks to support, strengthen, and enrich community in Portland, Maine and to assist its citizens and institutions in realizing their greatest potential through public access to electronic communications media. Towards this end, they provide all citizens with content-neutral access to electronic media, thereby ensuring the continuation of free speech as protected under the first amendment to the US Constitution; foster free speech and public dialog by making easy, low-cost access to the electronic media available to all citizens who reside within the city of Portland; support the production and distribution of noncommercial community-based media programs by providing the necessary resources to individuals, organizations, and institutions on a non-discriminatory basis; encourage the broadest possible community involvement in electronic communications media, including use of access channels, among a wide range of individuals, organizations and institutions within the service area of the corporation; and facilitate the use of the public access channels as a public forum that promotes a free exchange of ideas and information.

FaceBook
www.facebook.com
An online directory that connects people through social networks at colleges and universities, high schools, or workplace.

LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com
LinkedIn is a networking tool that helps you discover inside connections while strengthening and extending your existing network of trusted contacts.

MySpace
www.myspace.com
MySpace virtual community site allows users to network, meet people, browse their profiles, and make friends from all around the world.

YouTube
www.youtube.com
Broadcast yourself. Upload, tag, and share your videos worldwide and watch other user-submitted videos.

Americans for the Arts
www.artsusa.org
Americans for the Arts is the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. With 45 years of service, we are dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts.

Artists Foundation
www.artistsfoundation.org
The mission of the Artists Foundation: is to nourish excellence in the arts by enhancing the public role and economic position of artists; to build community among practicing artists and new communication between this vital community and the public; to support access to essential resources for artists in all disciplines, particularly low income and under served artists’ access to health care and other social services; and to sponsor exhibitions of art for art’s sake as well as innovative uses of art to promote public consideration of issues vital to diverse social, political, and economic groups.

City of Portland
www.portlandmaine.gov
City of Portland Maine: Recreation, entertainment, scenery, culture – we’ve got the market cornered. Just ask the 3.6 million tourists who visit each year. And, the same things that attract vacationers make Portland a wonderful place to live, to work and to do business.

City of Portland Economic Development
www.portlandedc.com
The City of Portland has developed a new loan program. These loans are intended for artists and other individuals starting or expanding creative economy businesses in Portland. The Creative Economy Loan Fund offers loans up to $5,000, filling a need for small financing that can be hard to come by through conventional bank financing. While the City’s loan programs offer gap financing up to as much as $200,000, this new fund will directly benefit those small creative economy businesses whose financing needs are modest but for whom that amount could make a real difference in the growth and success of their businesses. Uses for these loans include capital improvements, equipment purchases, leasehold improvements and permanent working capital. www.portlandmaine.gov/planning/ecodev.asp or contact the City’s loan officer at 756-8181. Also see booklet “Doing Business in Portland.”

Creative Capital
www.creative-capital.org
Creative Capital, a nonprofit organization, acts as a catalyst for the development of adventurous and imaginative ideas by supporting artists who pursue innovation in form and/or content in the performing and visual arts, film and video, and in emerging fields. We are committed to working in partnership with the artists whom we fund, providing advisory services and professional development assistance along with multi-faceted financial aid and promotional support throughout the life of each Creative Capital project.

Creative Commons
www.creativecommons.org
Creative Commons provides free tools that let authors, scientists, artists, and educators easily mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry. You can use CC to change your copyright terms from “All Rights Reserved” to “Some Rights Reserved.” We’re a nonprofit organization. Everything we do — including the software we create — is free.

David Allen Company
www.davidco.com
A smarter way to work and live. Get greater results, faster and easier. The David Allen Company is a professional training, coaching, and management consulting organization, based in Ojai, California, USA. Its purpose is to improve the quality of life by providing the world’s best information, education, and products that enhance personal and interactive productivity. Founded in 1996 by veteran management consultant, trainer, and best-selling author, David Allen (Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity), the company provides seminars, coaching, and products that facilitate the implementation of the best practices of productive work.

Freelancers Union
www.freelancersunion.org
Freelancers Union is a nonprofit organization that represents the needs of America’s independent workforce though advocacy, information, and service. Independent workers make up 30% of the nation’s workforce. We are freelancers, consultants, independent contractors, temps, part-timers, contingent employees, and the self-employed. Despite our contribution to America’s economy, we’re often left out of the social safety net. Most freelancers can’t access affordable insurance, are taxed more than traditional employees, and have limited access to protections such as unemployment insurance, retirement plans, and unpaid wage claims. That’s why Freelancers Union is writing new rules for the new workforce.

Maine Center for Creativity
www.mainecenterforcreativity.org
The organizations charter is to support the growth of creative industries in Maine and promote the arts. The projects that we undertake focus on creating high impact, building and supporting the growth of the creative economy in Maine and fostering Maine’s reputation as a place where creative people and innovative businesses can thrive. Our goal is to build Maine’s reputation as a place where creativity and innovation are embraced.

Maine Crafts Association
www.mainecrafts.org
The new Maine Crafts Association promotes education, understanding, and appreciation of the work of Maine craft artists and their importance in Maine’s rich and varied economies and distinctive communities. MCA increases communication between artisans and sponsors programs that will assist them.

Maine Centers for Women Work and Community
www.womenworkandcommunity.org
We are committed to improving the economic lives of Maine women and their families. We meet women “where they are” and provide them with support, guidance, and the tools they need to take the next steps toward a more promising future. We provide training, advocacy and assistance in four program areas: building your career, starting a business, managing your money, becoming a leader.

Maine Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
www.mainevla.org
Maine VLA was founded to serve Maine’s underserved arts community. As intellectual property has become the cornerstone in today’s business model, there has developed a heightened need to protect artists’ legal interests. Fulfilling this need is vital to Maine’s Creative Economy. By incorporating Maine’s strong legal community, Maine VLA enables Maine’s creative people by educating them of their rights and duties, so as to effectively plan their successful businesses. Maine VLA further enables the legal and business communities to embrace the state’s intellectual property in its ventures. The result is an economy where businesses will strive to live, and artists will strive to work. The Maine VLA offers artists a bridge to like-minded Mainers in the legal community. It is our mission to help artists find and afford the legal services they need to turn their cultural contributions into a self-sustaining economic endeavor.

MENSK
www.mensk.cc
The mission of MENSK is to inspire and support personal, local, and regional action for the development of creative and sustainable communities. We do this through event orchestration, providing community resources, and by acting as an umbrella organization.

National Endowment for the Arts
www.arts.endow.gov
The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Endowment is the nation’s largest annual funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases. The NEA awards grants to arts organizations and artists.

New England Foundation for the Arts
www.nefa.org
We creatively support the movement of people, ideas, and resources in the arts within New England and beyond, make vital connections between artists and audiences, and build the strength, knowledge, and leadership of the region’s creative sector.

Portland Time Bank
www.portlandtimebank.org
The Portland Time Bank is a membership organization where services are exchanged for Time Dollars, the currency of equality. Members utilize their personal assets (the skills and talents they wish to share) in exchange for services they want or need. These service exchanges enhance their lives, save cash dollars and build relationships with neighbors. Every hour of service is valued equally, hour for hour. The Portland Time Bank was founded in 1997 (formerly Maine Time Dollar Network) by local activist and physician Dr. Richard Rockefeller after he met and was inspired by the movement’s founder, Dr. Edgar Cahn. Currently there are over 600 active members providing over 1500 services in 243 categories. In 2007, members exchanged over 17,000 hours of services in over 4,000 transactions!

Society of East End Artists
www.seaportland.org
Society of East End Arts: SEA is a Munjoy Hill based organization of artists that seeks to promote awareness of East End Arts in Portland through networking & community. If you are an artist that resides on the East End or has studio space on the East End, we’d love to have you join SEA.
Super Viva
www.superviva.com
Make a life list and live a full life. Life management skills and ideas.

The Foundation Center
www.foundationcenter.org
The Foundation Center’s mission is to strengthen the nonprofit sector by advancing knowledge about U.S. philanthropy. Established in 1956, and today supported by more than 600 foundations, the Foundation Center is the nation’s leading authority on philanthropy, connecting nonprofits and the grantmakers supporting them to tools they can use and information they can trust. The Center maintains the most comprehensive database on U.S. grantmakers and their grants — a robust, accessible knowledge bank for the sector. It also operates research, education, and training programs designed to advance philanthropy at every level. The Center’s web site receives more than 47,000 visits each day, and thousands of people gain access to free resources in its five regional library/learning centers and its national network of more than 340 Cooperating Collections.

The Maine Philanthropy Center
www.mainephilanthropy.org
The Maine Philanthropy Center (MPC) is a statewide association of grantmakers working together to promote philanthropy and to increase its impact in Maine. We invite you to learn more about the Maine Philanthropy Center’s membership benefits, programs and events, as well as resources for grantmakers and nonprofits.

Coastal Enterprises Incorporated
www.ceimaine.org
CEI’s mission is to help create economically and environmentally healthy communities in which all people, especially those with low incomes, can reach their full potential. CEI is a private, nonprofit Community Development Corporation (CDC) and Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) with roots in the civil rights movement. Founded in 1977, the organization provides financing and support in the development of job-creating small businesses, natural resources industries, community facilities, and affordable housing. CEI’s primary market is Maine, but, in recent years, has expanded several of its financing programs to northern New England, upstate New York and beyond. CEI offers: Financing to Small, Medium and Micro Business, Natural Resource Industries, Community Facilities, Affordable Housing, and Mixed Use Commercial Real Estate; New Market Tax Credits; Venture Capital; Affordable homeownership and rental housing, homeownership education and counseling, and helps first-time homebuyers; One-on-one Counseling and Workshops to a range of small businesses, including women in business, farmers, fisheries, and refugee and immigrant-owned businesses; Employment and training resources to jobs seekers and businesses; Policy, Research and Development. CEI has always been interested in the role of arts and culture in Maine’s community and economic development. We believe that the arts have intrinsic value to humans, and also enrich community life and provide meaningful livelihoods. We look for opportunities to invest in arts businesses and nonprofits and to use the arts as a community development strategy.

Department of Economic and Community Development
www.econdevmaine.com
DECD serves as the umbrella organization to the offices of Tourism, Business Development, the International Trade Center, Community Development, Film and Innovation and Science. In addition, we are proud of our Made in Maine program, which is recognized worldwide for its quality and integrity. Most applicable program: The Maine Microenterprise Initiative, with funding of up to $250,000 for self-employed entrepreneurs or “microenterprises” (defined as Maine businesses with ten or fewer employees) that lack access to business training and technical assistance resources.

Maine Center for Enterprise Development
www.mced.biz
Initiated in the mid 1990′s by the Greater Portland business community, the Maine Center for Enterprise Development (MCED) has become one of the most successful business incubators in northern New England for start-up technology companies. In the last five years our clients have raised more than $6 million in early stage capital. Overall, clients have won more than 20 awards from the Maine Technology Institute and the federal Small Business Innovation Research program. Clients also own approximately 30 patents and have research and development partnerships with eight universities, 2 federal agencies and one federal laboratory. Our entrepreneur workshop series, sponsored by Norway Savings Bank and the Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Southern Maine School of Business, attracts over 100 companies annually. Our technology business counseling capabilities are certified through our partnership with the Maine Small Business & Technology Development Centers, a pioneering technology business counseling service created by the Maine Technology Institute and the Maine Small Business Development Centers. The Maine Center for Enterprise Development runs several programs aimed at supporting business development in the state by providing business incubation services for start-up technology companies. For example, it runs a series of seminars for business owners and managers during the academic year. It also operates the Center for Environmental Enterprise (CEE), which is the oldest business incubator in Maine.

Maine Small Business Technology Development Centers
www.mainesbdc.org
Maine Small Business Development Centers (Maine SBDC) and its technology-focused group, the Maine Small Business & Technology Development Centers (Maine SBTDC), provide comprehensive business management assistance, training, resource and information services to Maine’s micro, small, and technology-based business communities. The focus of the Maine SBDC/SBTDC is to assist in the creation and maintenance of viable micro, small and technology-based businesses and the jobs these businesses provide. For over 30 years, the Maine SBDC has been recognized as a leader in the small business improvement and expansion arenas. The SBDC concept is a simple but effective one: assist small business operators and nascent entrepreneurs through business counseling, training services, information transfer, and resource linkages. Our objective is clear: create and save jobs throughout Maine.

Maine Technology Institute
www.mainetechnology.org
The Maine Technology Institute “shall encourage, promote, stimulate and support research and development activity leading to the commercialization of new products and services in the State’s technology intensive industrial sectors to enhance the competitive position of those sectors and increase the likelihood that one or more of the sectors will support clusters of industrial activity and to create jobs for Maine people.” The Maine Technology Institute (MTI) offers early-stage capital and commercialization assistance for the research and development of innovative technology-based projects that create new products and services, generating jobs in Maine.

SCORE
www.scoremaine.com
The SCORE Association (Service Corps of Retired Executives) is a nonprofit association dedicated to entrepreneur education and the formation, growth, and success of small business nationwide. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration. SCORE Chapter 53 in Portland, Maine, offers counseling services and workshops and was founded in 1965 by a group of local businessmen who recognized the need to foster entrepreneurship and small business development in Maine. We have counseled and provided business training for thousands of Maine individuals who had a business idea, wanted to start a business, or had a business problem to solve. Our 50 volunteers are committed to your success.

University of Maine, Office of Research and Economic Development
www.umaine.edu/dic
The Office of Research and Economic Development is advancing Maine’s economy by facilitating the creation of new ideas and products through research and development, the growth of new companies, and support for existing companies. We accomplish this mission by: helping faculty and staff find and obtain sources of research funding; connecting businesses, research organizations, economic developers and individuals with the expertise and resources of the University of Maine; supporting the commercialization of University of Maine research through intellectual property protection, technology transfer, entrepreneurship training, new venture formation, business incubation, and economic development activities. Through its service unit, the Maine Patent Program, the Center offers technology transfer and patent assistance to scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs throughout Maine. We are meeting the state’s growing demand for technology transfer infrastructure, providing counseling and services in biotechnology and information technology transfer. Our program also prepares law students to serve as the state’s next generation of high-technology lawyers by working with our on-staff patent attorneys, technology transfer experts and clients.
ORED Programs and Departments:
Department of Industrial Cooperation (DIC)
Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research (CCAR)
Advanced Computing Research Lab
Target Technology Incubator

Artist Studio Building
www.studiobuilding.com
The Artist Studio Building, located at 536 Congress Street in Portland, Maine. We have a waiting list for studios but things open up all the time. When studios become available we draw from the wait list to find the best match for the space and the building. Applications are available at Space Gallery (538 Congress) and at Mainely Frames and Gallery (534 Congress).

Dana Warp Mill
www.flanneryproperties.com
The Historic Dana Warp Mill is located at 90 Bridge Street in Westbrook in the heart of the downtown area. Opened in 1881, this former mill building was an under utilized asset that represented a lost time in Westbrook when industry dominated the city. In 1997, Flannery Properties acquired the property and began the long process of renovating the building into a multi-use, modern office building. Careful attention was paid to honor the long history of the building, while at the same time modernizing the interior to accommodate the needs of today’s business world. The Dana Warp Mill resides along the Presumpscot River, overlooking scenic Saccarappa Falls. At over 90% occupancy, it offers a diverse business culture with a wide variety of businesses entities and artist studios. The building has 5 floors and offers over 250,000 square feet under roof.

Heart of Biddeford
www.heartofbiddeford.org
We make sure to update this website with the latest in downtown happenings, properties for rent or sale, links to great articles, resources, downtown Biddeford profiles…anything to help you become a part of our exciting downtown revitalization in progress.

Middle Street Center for the Arts
Located on Middle Street in Portland, the Middle Street Center for the Arts is a new arts center offering artist studio space for rent. Call 207-232-8134.

North Dam Mill
www.northdammill.com
North Dam, LLC acquired the complex from Sunbeam in 2004 and immediately set out to create a vision for a vibrant, mixed-use community that would serve as the engine of the creative economy of Southern Maine. Since opening its doors to retail, office and manufacturing tenants in early 2006, North Dam Mill has begun to fulfill this vision. Today more than 40 businesses call North Dam Mill home and the first residential units in the mills will be ready for occupancy by the Fall of 2008. North Dam Mill is part of the historic Pepperell Company mill complex, which once employed thousands of workers in a 40 building complex along the Saco River.

One Forest
Offering artist studios for rent located on Forest Avenue in the heart of Portland’s Art’s District. Contact PACA at 207-772-6828.

Random Orbit, Inc.
www.randomorbitinc.com
Random Orbit, INC was formed by Peter Bass in 2000 to further pursue cutting edge, smart growth development. We are looking at high-density infill projects in both adaptive re-use and new construction contexts. We are currently focusing on creating live/work units, a housing type that is new to Maine. Live/work offers open, flexible space and an economic advantage, combining expenses in one mortgage or rent. Our goal is to create inspiring, unique, and affordable properties that will foster community and produce a positive impact on the region. Bass created Portland’s first dedicated artist studio building in 1986. This six studio building is still managed by Peter and offers long-term affordable rents to artists. Parkside Studios – the former Sacred Heart School developed in partnership with the City of Portland provides 8 artist live/work limited equity condominiums for qualified artists.

Running with Scissors
Running with Scissors is a multi-disciplinary artist studio space and art gallery. They have recently relocated and have one studio space available.

Stonecoast Properties: The Congress Building
www.stonecoastproperties.com
The Congress Building is conveniently located in the heart of Portland’s Arts District and is home to a myriad of artists and craftsmen as well as galleries, therapists, non profit organizations, web and graphic designers, lawyers, salons, writers, and health and wellness businesses.
We pride ourselves on not being another “cookie cutter” office building. No two suites are the same allowing each artist or business to have its own individuality. The “eclectic blend” of the building adds to its charm. The building actively participates in Portland’s First Friday Art Walk each month giving all businesses the opportunity to promote themselves. It is a definite destination for those to seeking the artistic talent here in Portland.

Anderson Ranch
www.andersonranch.org
Anderson Ranch is a learning community on five scenic acres in Snowmass Village, near Aspen, Colorado. We are dedicated to creativity and growth through the making and understanding of the visual arts. Anderson Ranch promotes artistic experimentation and growth through workshops offered year around in ceramics, sculpture, photography, painting and drawing, furniture design and more. Our artist residencies and internships for emerging and established artists, community outreach, and public art events offer a full spectrum of opportunities to creative people of all kinds. The facility features fully-equipped art studios and galleries. Summer art workshops, art auctions, and artist slide lectures attract over 5,000 artists, patrons, art students and faculty annually to this historic Rocky Mountain ranch dedicated to the fine arts. In addition, we host visiting artists, critics, and art scholars year-round for a variety of functions.

Fine Arts Work Center
www.fawc.org
The founders envisioned a place in Provincetown, the country’s oldest continuous arts colony, where young artists and writers could live and work together in the early phase of their careers. They believed that the freedom to pursue creative work within a community of peers was the best catalyst for artistic growth. Today the Work Center is the leading long-term residency program in the country for emerging artists and writers. Each year the Visual Arts and Writing Committees, comprised of internationally recognized artists and writers, select twenty Fellows (ten visual artists and ten writers) from some 1,000 applications from around the world. The selection process is rigorous, and the Fellows are accepted entirely on the basis of work submitted.

Haystack
www.haystack-mtn.org
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts is an international craft school located on the Atlantic Ocean in Deer Isle, Maine. The school offers intensive studio-based workshops in a variety of craft media including clay, glass, metals, paper, blacksmithing, weaving, woodworking and more. Programs range from short workshops to two-week sessions and anyone may participate, from beginners to advanced professionals.

Islip Art Museum
www.islipartmuseum.org
The Islip Art Museum is the leading exhibition space for contemporary art on Long Island. Exhibitions are organized to reflect issues and concerns in the current art world. Our exhibitions attract a wide range of the New York and international art world to Long Island. In addition to an ambitious exhibition program featuring contemporary art by new and emerging artists, we also present lectures, fine art classes for adults and children, and workshops and tours for all age groups. Our landmark structure next to the Islip Art Museum, the Carriage House, is Long Island’s center for experimental art. We present three exhibitions a year at this site, including one based on an open call for proposals. The Carriage House as a project space where contemporary artists can create and exhibit new and experimental work. Artists are invited to submit proposals in a variety of artistic media for presentation in this building.

Maine Art Glass Studio
www.mainartglass.com
We are a full service art glass studio in a renovated brick church building on the National Register of Historic Places in Lisbon Falls. Offering classes, art glass and supplies.

Maine College of Art (MECA)
www.meca.edu
Maine College of Art is a dynamic college of art and design where nationally recognized faculty, interdisciplinary programs, and state-of-the-art facilities create an educational experience that gives fresh vision to Maine’s extraordinary legacy in the visual arts. Founded in 1882 and fully accredited, MECA educates artists at all stages of their creative careers, offering both the Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts degrees as well as a wide range of professional institutes and continuing studies classes for individuals of all ages. The College gallery, the Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA, has been hailed as one of the finest art spaces in the Northeast for the exhibition of leading edge contemporary art.

Millay Colony for the Arts
www.millaycolony.org
The Millay Colony for the Arts seeks to promote the vitality of the arts and the development of writers, visual artists, and composers by providing a retreat for creative work. The Millay Colony for the Arts offers comprehensive residencies to visual artists, writers and composers at Steepletop, the hilltop property in Austerlitz, NY where the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) lived and wrote for 25 years. A not-for-profit organization, the Millay Colony was founded in 1973 by the poet’s sister Norma Millay Ellis, whose goal was to honor Millay’s life and work and to enable other artists to be inspired by Steepletop’s natural beauty.

Monhegan Artists’ Residency
www.monheganartistsresidency.org
For well over 150 years, Monhegan Island has inspired countless artists. While Monhegan continues to attract artists from across the country and around the world, it is increasingly difficult for Maine artists to find affordable housing for an extended visit on the island. The Monhegan Artists’ Residency is designed to give back to Maine artists part of their heritage and tradition. Each year the residency program offers one or two emerging Maine artists the opportunity to work without constraints on Monhegan Island. In 2008, the program will consist of one five-week-long residency from May 31 through July 5. Loosely modeled on the MacDowell Colony and Vermont Studio programs, the Monhegan Artists’ Residency does not require that the artist produce a body of work, although the residency should be viewed as an excellent opportunity for professional development.

Salt Institute for Documentary Studies
www.salt.edu
Our purpose is to teach responsible storytelling. Our approach is intense, experiential, collaborative. Our focus is on people, their stories, and telling them well. Our students
are driven, passionate individuals who seek to immerse themselves in the documentary process. They struggle to find their own voice, to sit comfortably with discomfort, and to ask hard questions not only of their subjects, but also of themselves. Our Program: Graduate and undergraduate students attend the Salt Institute to study documentary radio, writing, or photography. The program entails fifteen weeks of intensive, extensive field research coupled with workshops and seminars. Throughout the semester, students gather cultural materials and develop their craft in order to create documentaries of professional caliber. While the immediate focus and location is Maine, approaches and skills learned at the Salt Institute travel well to any regional study or to comparative studies.

Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture
www.skowheganart.org
Skowhegan, an intensive nine-week summer residency program for emerging visual artists established in 1946, seeks each year to bring together a gifted and diverse group of individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to art-making and inquiry to create the most stimulating and rigorous environment possible for a concentrated period of artistic creation, interaction and growth. Neither a school in the traditional sense nor a retreat, Skowhegan draws its vitality from the community created through the talent and energy of the Participants and the distinguished Faculty of Resident and Visiting Artists who provide support and critical assistance for them. Founded by artists, and still governed by artists for artists, the program provides an atmosphere in which Participants are encouraged to work and explore free of the expectations of the marketplace and academia.

Smith Metalworks and Studios
www.nsmetalworks.com
Smith Metalworks and Studios is the gallery, classroom and private studios now owned and operated by Shannon Smith of Designs by SES and Artistic Construct. We design commercial and residential interiors, as well as produce custom jewelry, metalwork and furniture. Class rooms provide safe and healthy learning and working environment, fully outfitted with all of the metalsmithing equipment every artist wants but doesn’t want to buy or store. We offer nightly art classes taught by local and visiting artists, and our studio space on Anderson Street is home to a small gallery and a shop for our artists to sell their work. We are proud to support the local arts by featuring exhibits in our gallery and enjoy the privilege of sharing studio space with silversmiths as well as glass workers.

The Bakery Photographic Collective
www.bakeryphoto.com
The Bakery Photographic Collective is currently offering on-going artist residencies at our shared darkroom in Portland, Maine. The goal of the residency is to provide visiting artists with 24 hour access to darkroom facilities for a period of one week to one month. Residents will have the opportunity to engage with other local photographer’s, Collective members, and Portland’s arts community. There are no fees associated with the program, however participants are responsible for their own housing and transportation. We can assist artists with finding low cost housing and transportation, and past residents have been able to coordinate housing shares with Collective members. The darkroom will provide chemicals, compressed air, neg carriers, grain focusers, and lenses. Visiting artists provide their own paper and are invited to join in group discount paper orders with other Collective members.

The Luce Foundation
www.hluce.org
The Luce Foundation awards fellowships to doctoral candidates working on dissertations in American art. Currently, ten fellowships of $25,000 each are made through an annual, national competition. This program is administered by the American Council of Learned Societies on behalf of the Luce Foundation.

The MacDowell Colony
www.macdowellcolony.org
The MacDowell Colony was founded in Peterborough, New Hampshire, in 1907. The Colony’s mission today, as it was then, is to nurture the arts by offering creative individuals of the highest talent an inspiring environment in which to produce enduring works of the imagination. More than 250 writers, composers, visual artists, photographers, printmakers, filmmakers, architects, interdisciplinary artists, and those collaborating on creative works come to the Colony each year from all parts of the United States and abroad. Colonists receive room, board, and the exclusive use of a studio. In addition to ideal working conditions, artists-in-residence benefit from the experience of living in a community of exceptional artists.

The Steel Yard
www.thesteelyard.org
The Steel Yard offers arts and technical training programs designed to increase opportunities for cultural and artistic expression, career-oriented training, and small business incubation. The Steel Yard is located at the historic Providence Steel and Iron site, along the Woonasquatucket River in the heart of Providence’s industrial Valley neighborhood. With a 5612 square foot industrial shop featuring a foundry, ceramics studio, blacksmithing shop, and welding shop, as well as studio space and outdoor work and exhibition space, the Steel Yard is a multi-use venue. The Steel Yard’s program areas, focusing on arts education, the incubation of new business and arts initiatives, and the establishment of a lasting community arts resource, cater to working artists, students and community members, tradespeople, arts educators and entrepreneurs. For the working artist, the Steel Yard provides centrally located workspace and a range of material and human resources.

The Vermont Studio Center
www.vermontstudiocenter.org
Founded by artists in 1984, the Vermont Studio Center is the largest artists’ and writers’ Residency Program in the United States, hosting 50 visual artists and writers each month from across the country and around the world. The Studio Center provides 4-12 week studio residencies on an historic 30-building campus along the Gihon River in Johnson, Vermont, a village in the heart of the northern Green Mountains.

Urban Glass
www.urbanglass.org
Urban Glass is a leading resource for both aspiring and established artists wishing to create with glass. We foster innovative art and advance the use and appreciation of glass as a creative medium.