From macliterary at lists.maine.gov Fri Dec 29 14:14:59 2006 From: macliterary at lists.maine.gov (News and opportunities pertaining to literary arts) Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2006 14:14:59 -0500 Subject: [MACliterary] Literary Arts News Dec 29 Message-ID: <199FFF7DB0D4724FA7630DEA667E838A02662D66@SOM-TEAQASMAIL1.som.w2k.state.me.us> Literary Arts News and Opportunities Listserv Greetings from the Maine Arts Commission. News from our associates for the week of December 29, 2006 ***************************************** 1. Maine Artists Receive United States Artists Fellowship Grants 2. Application for Big Read is April 2007 3. The LEF Foundation and Maine Film Office host Grant information session 4. Did you Know? ************************ 1. Maine Artists Receive United States Artists Fellowship Grants Maine artists William Pope.L, performance art, and Wesley McNair, poetry, have received unrestricted grants of $50,000 awarded to support creative work as part of the inaugural round of United States Artist Fellowships. United States Artists, which provides direct support to living artists, was established last year by the Ford , Rockefeller , Prudential , and Rasmuson foundations. Seed funding from the founders will enable 100 percent of future donations to the organization to support artists over the next five years. "USA's goal is to fuel innovation in our culture by investing in creativity at its source - our nation's finest artists," said Susan V. Berresford, USA board chair and president of the Ford Foundation. "Our 2006 USA fellows represent the full spectrum of artistic excellence and the broad array of talent that abounds in all U.S. communities. This is...what USA, with its multidisciplinary scope and national reach, is designed to recognize." Both Pope.L and McNair have previously won fellowships form the National Endowment for the Arts and the Maine Arts Commission and have had long-standing careers as educators at Bates College and the University of Maine at Farmington, respectively. These awards speak not only to the quality of their extensive bodies of work but reflect well on the entire state ************************ 2. Application for Big Read is April 2007 The next application deadline for the Big Read will be in April 2007 with an RFP available in February 2007. Application information can be found at: http://www.arts.gov/national/bigread/index.html . The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to revitalize the role of literature in American popular culture and bring the transformative power of literature into the lives of its citizens. Created by the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest, the Big Read aims to bring the power of reading into the lives of Americans. The Big Read will work with multiple partners across the country to encourage citizens to read for pleasure and enlightenment. The Patton Free Library in Bath was the only New England venue that received funds in 2006. We encourage libraries and other literary non-profits to make application to this program. Maine Arts Commission staff will be happy to assist applicants to navigate through the guidelines or provide letters of support. For more information, please contact Kathy Ann Shaw, grants/arts development associate, 207/287-2750 or kathy.shaw at maine.gov. ************************ 3. The LEF Foundation and Maine Film Office host Grant information session The LEF Foundation and the Maine Film Office will host an information session on Tuesday, January 9 to explain how to apply for grants from the Moving Image Fund, dedicated to supporting New England independent video and filmmakers. Grants are offered in two categories: Pre-production, with a maximum $5,000 grant, and Production, with a maximum $25,000 grant. The grantmaking program is targeted toward the production of work, with the larger goal of strengthening the voices of media artists and improving the overall environment for the production of new work. Please join us to learn more about the Moving Image Fund, LEF's funding priorities, and how to apply for a grant. Tuesday, January 9, 6:30pm Space Gallery 538 Congress Street, Portland, ME ************************ 4. Did You Know? You can view all 16 past editions of the MaineArtsMag and read them online by visiting: http://mainearts.maine.gov/news/newsletter/index.shtml ************************ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.informe.org/pipermail/macliterary/attachments/20061229/b33bbc8b/attachment.html