UMPI Awarded $50,000 Grant to Establish Downtown Arts Center

A plan to create Northern Maine's first facility dedicated to the visual arts in downtown Presque Isle got a big boost this week with the announcement of a $50,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle has been working with the Wintergreen Arts Center, the City of Presque Isle and several other partners to transform 149 State Street into the Northern Maine Center for the Cultural Arts.

UMPI President Linda Schott said, “We couldn’t be more pleased about receiving this kind of support and recognition from the National Endowment for the Arts.”  The grant is one of 66 Our Town awards totaling over $5 million and reaching 38 states announced Wednesday by NEA Chairman Jane Chu.

The State Street building currently houses the Wintergreen Arts Center on the first floor. Plans are for the Northern Maine Center for the Cultural Arts (NMCCA) to occupy the second and third floors with space for high profile art exhibits, guest lectures and workshops, private events, small musical performances and private workspace for local artists.

“Our project is all about working together with local partners to provide arts-focused activities and opportunities in the downtown that will benefit the region in a variety of ways," Schott said. "We’re very excited to have an Our Town grant—only the third awarded in Maine and the first-ever to a Maine college or university—to help us do that.”

The NEA grant will help to launch the $250,000 project in downtown Presque Isle. The funding will also support high profile programming for the arts, help provide salaries for staffing, and engage community partners in developing a five-year cultural plan for Presque Isle. Project officials envision the facility as a cultural space that helps the city stand out as a destination for the arts.

Project director Heather Sincavage, UMPI Art Professor and Director of UMPI’s Reed Fine Art Gallery said, "the NMCCA will provide an excellent opportunity for cross pollination of ideas through collaborative efforts throughout the town, region, and state. It will empower students to not just watch a movement for change unfold, but be an active part of that change."

This information is from a press release from UMPI's Director of Community and Media Relations Rachel Rice.