Art group gets stimulus money

    The Southern Aroostook Cultural Arts Project is among  19 non-profit cultural organizations from Maine that will receive a share of $325,000 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.
    The Southern Aroostook Cultural Arts Project of Houlton received $10,000. The organization has been operating without an executive director, a pivotal position in the organizational chart. The executive director is the central liaison for the board of directors with the artists, the arts community locally, regionally and statewide and the immediate community as a whole. The executive director is essential to overseeing progress on the goals the board has set, continuing our vision of creating a voice for art and artists, and creating an exciting cultural environment for the greater Southern Aroostook region.
    Recovery Act funding was allocated to Maine in order to retain one of the state’s vital economic sectors, a sector that employs an estimated 68,000 people in Maine and makes the state a special place to live, as well as a unique tourist attraction for thousands of annual visitors.
    There is approximately $120,000 in Recovery Act funding still available from the Maine Arts Commission, through a September deadline. The same terms apply to this second round of grants; most notably applicants must have had a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts or Maine Arts Commission since 2005, and no applications will be accepted for development staff. As this is a second round of grants there are some important additional stipulations: applicants who were not funded in the first round can request that their original applications be considered again; those who were not funded in the first round can apply for a new position; those who were funded in the first round can reapply for a different position; or any new organization that fits the requirements can apply.
    For further assistance with the process, call Kathy Ann Shaw at 207/287-2750, 877/887-3878 TTY/NexTalk User ID: kathy.shaw or kathy.shaw@maine.gov. Full details of the Recovery Act grant can be found by visiting www.MaineArts.com.