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Welcome and Farewell

The Maine Humanities Council welcomes three new members to its board: Cedric C. Bryant, of Waterville, who teaches American and African American Literature at Colby College, where he is the Lee Family Professor of English; the Honorable Judy Paradis, of Frenchville, a long-time state senator who chaired the Health and Human Services Committee and who has been a major advocate on behalf of Acadian cultural heritage in Maine; and Peter E. Walsh, of Dresden, who is Deputy Commissioner for Programs in the Maine Department of Human Services.

We bid a fond and grateful farewell to our former treasurer, Robert Tredwell of Brooksville, who retired from the board this winter after many years of much-valued service, including a term on the executive committee.

A Maine Humanities Council Continuing Education Program for Teachers

Journey into the Poem with Wesley McNair

July 9 to 13, 2001
University of Maine at Augusta

This five-day seminar is designed to make the teaching of poetry, particularly free verse, livelier and more informed. Discussions, writing, and collaborative activities will lead to a compilation of teaching ideas ready for the classroom. Wesley McNair is a highly acclaimed poet and teacher who has been awarded fellowships by the Rockefeller, Fulbright, and Guggenheim Foundations. McNair has five published collections of poetry, with his sixth volume, Fire, forthcoming from Godine in the fall. Director of the creative writing program at the University of Maine at Farmington, he is currently a visiting professor at Colby College. The group is limited to 15 teachers. Please call Charles Calhoun at 773-5051 for details.

The New Century Community Program: Maine's Model For The Nation

This spring, the Maine Legislature is considering L.D. 1433, a bill that would extend funding of a nationally recognized education and preservation collaboration known as the New Century Community Program. In its first two years, the program, sponsored by Maine's seven state-wide cultural agencies, reached 183 communities in every part of the state with nearly 620 grants and direct services. These ranged from restoration of historic buildings and library development to family literacy and a wide range of educational programming.

New Century funds have made a critical difference in communities served by the Maine Humanities Council. They allowed us nearly to double the number of grants and book programs that we have provided over the past two years, expanding the number of people reached as well as the number of organizations served. If the program is not re-authorized, the level of cultural services provided by the Council and its six partner agencies will decline precipitously.

This decline would be particularly unfortunate in light of the needs that remain unmet. In 1999, the Legislature approved $3.2 million for the program. The sponsoring agencies received grant requests from throughout the state totaling nearly $6 million - an indication of the work that still remains to be done.

Moreover, the program's relatively modest individual grants have enabled Maine community groups to leverage nearly $9.8 million in additional matching funds and in-kind assistance. The collaboration among the seven Maine cultural agencies is serving as a model for other states.

You can help the Council as it works to deepen its impact on Maine. If you support continuing this far-reaching effort to identify, preserve, protect, and promote Maine's rich cultural heritage, please let your voice be heard as soon as possible. L.D. 1433 would fund the New Century Community Program for another two years. Call Erik Jorgensen at the Council (773-5051) for more information.

CREATING A BETTER MAINE: Building Stronger Communities Through the Arts and Humanities

June 12, 2001
Samoset Resort, Rockland
This conference is sponsored by the Maine Community Foundation, Maine Arts Commission, and Maine Humanities Council.

Keynote by the Honorable Joseph P. Riley, Jr., Mayor of the City of Charleston, South Carolina, home of the Spoleto Festival Sessions on Arts, Culture and Economic Development; Civic Dialogue; Culture, Heritage and Preservation

For more information: Amy Pollien at the Maine Community Foundation at 667-9735 or (toll-free) 877-700-6800