Aroostook Creative Network to host reception for Aroostook County artists

3 weeks ago

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The Aroostook Creative Network will host a reception for County artists on October 4 from 5-7 p.m. at the Wintergreen Arts Center during Presque Isle’s First Friday Art Walk.

The reception is open to the public. Live music to be performed by Betrand Laurence, an artist, musician, and composer who resides in Houlton. Refreshments will be served.

In 2023, the Aroostook Creative Network Micro-Grant Program was established to provide micro-grants up to $1,000 maximum to artists who live and work in Aroostook County, Maine. Since the inception of the micro-grant program, 58 County artists have received funding through the Aroostook Creative Network.

“This reception is an event to not only recognize 2023 and 2024 grant recipients, but to welcome all Aroostook County artists for an evening of networking and friendship,” said Sheila Jans of Madawaska, regional development director for the Maine Arts Commission. “This micro-grant program has been such a great success. Applicants included a wide range of diverse artists, such as ceramicists, photographers, potters, jewelers, musicians, painters and Indigenous artists.”

Funding for the Aroostook Creative Network Micro-Grant Program is made possible from the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment of the Arts.

The micro-grant program is administered by Wintergreen Arts Center. Applications were reviewed by a review panel of community-based artists and arts/cultural advocates from southern, central, and northern Aroostook County.

Jans added, “We are truly excited for artists in Aroostook County. We look forward to celebrating them on October 4, and we hope many will come to learn more about the Aroostook Creative Network.”

The Aroostook Creative Network provides micro-grants up to $1,000 maximum to individual artists who live and work in Aroostook County, Maine. Artists may use micro-grant funding to help create new or existing work, enhance their artistic skills or abilities, participate in opportunities that will benefit their career, and improve their ability to share their art with the public. Funding is made possible by the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment of the Arts. The program is administered by the Wintergreen Arts Center.