Since 2002, SPACE has served as a place for people of all backgrounds to explore the arts, artists, and ideas that drive them. As our staff and board gear up to celebrate our 20th Anniversary in August, we continue to look for new tactics and new voices that can help us continue to provide independent art to the community. As such, we are proud to share that, as of April 2022, SPACE has distributed and administered $591,530 in project and relief grants to artists throughout the state of Maine since beginning our grantmaking program, The Kindling Fund, in 2015 as part of the Andy Warhol Foundation Regional Regranting Program. As of this week, these resources will be augmented with an additional $200,000 in National Endowment for the Arts American Rescue Plan project grants for artists; details for eligibility on how to apply are now available on SPACE’s website.
With this increase in resources comes the opportunity and the responsibility to look forward and build the foundation for the next 20 years of growth. In order to help guide our renewed vision, SPACE has undertaken an intentional process of bringing on many new talented collaborators to help move us into the future. In the past two months, we have welcomed 13 new event staffers, and we are excited to announce that SPACE studio artist and community organizer Meg Hahn will be joining our team as our new Development Coordinator!
In addition to these fantastic additions to the staff, we have also added 3 new members to our Board of Directors: artist and educator Christian Adame (Portland Museum of Art), producer for the Maine Public Radio program Maine Calling Cindy Han, and Woods Creative co-founder and designer Amy Parker. We are thrilled to gain the insight, creativity, and experience of each of these extraordinary community leaders.
SPACE Executive Director Kelsey Halliday Johnson had this to say of SPACE’s growth: “For our entire twenty-year history, SPACE has been sustained by dedicated community members and funders who recognized the importance of independent art. We’re excited to welcome Christian, Cindy, and Amy as we look towards our future of providing resources and opportunities to artists in Maine.”
SPACE Board President Emily Bruce remarked: “We couldn’t ask for better candidates to join the leadership of this organization. Christain, Cindy, and Amy are passionate arts professionals that bring a wealth of knowledge from their unique backgrounds. We’re quite lucky to have them.”
“I am thrilled to join the Board to help support the vital work SPACE is doing to center and platform artists. As a longtime arts educator, I deeply value the ways artists continue to shift our lenses, disrupt ideas, and push us towards greater connectivity. I’ve been a regular attendee to SPACE concerts, workshops, films, and exhibitions since I moved to Maine in 2018 and am thrilled to support an organization like SPACE committed to doing this work in this community.” – Christian Adame
“It’s so important to have places like SPACE Gallery that offer an accessible way to see and hear art of all different kinds that you would not get a chance to be exposed to otherwise. My family had the chance to watch documentaries, see dance performances, and hear music at SPACE that we still talk about, years later. It has directly enriched our lives.” – Cindy Han
“SPACE gives space. The organization priorities pulling audiences into new ideas, new narratives, new challenges, and opportunities to find more questions and ask “why not?” In my view, the difference between art and design is that design demonstrates opportunities to thoughtfully solve a problem and it builds systems to enable efficiency, and art gives us moments to challenge what those problems are, provokes thinking, gives us the energy to continue to shape our micro-cultures. In the next 20 years, SPACE will continue to enable imagination, adventure, and a view into what’s possible when we bring creative people together. It will continue to build the equitable community here in Southern Maine that we all deserve.” – Amy Parker