Kindling Fund Grants for Visual Artists Working in the State of Maine

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SPACE Gallery in Portland, Maine has announced its third round of Kindling Fund grants for visual artists working in the state of Maine.

Initiated in 2014, theKindling Fund provides grants to artist­organized projects that have a strong public component. The most competitive projects are ones which don’t fit in established venues, but rather occur in unconventional spaces or as site­specific presentations.

The Kindling Fund is a part of the Regional Regranting Program of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. This program matches Warhol Foundation support with localized partner organizations who value artist­driven contemporary and independent practices.

SPACE is one of ten other regranting projects around the United States, bringing a new kind of support to the state of Maine. Artists may request between $1,500 and $5,000 for their projects.

This is the third year SPACE has offered the Kindling Fund to Maine artists. Over the past two years, a total of 20 Kindling Fund grants has been awarded. Past projects supported by The Kindling Fund have included The Chart, an online arts journal for artists, writers and cultural producers to write and create traditional and experimental art criticism (2015); The Institute for American Art, an educational organization designed as a museum and located within a domestic home (2015); and New Fruit, a women­run alternative arts space located in Portland’s Bayside neighborhood (2016).

The Kindling Fund feeds the energy of Maine’s visual arts community by funding artist­organized projects that engage the public in ways that are both inventive and meaningful. The Kindling Fund values risk, experimentation, unconventional engagement, critical dialogue, and collaboration. Successful projects reach new audiences and create new models for presenting artists’ work. The mission of SPACE Gallery is to present contemporary, emerging and unconventional arts, artists and

ideas. The Kindling Fund extends this mission around Maine, beyond the reach and capacities of SPACE as an organization.

A series of informational sessions will be held around the state which will provide opportunities for potential applicants to learn more and ask questions:

  • SPACE Gallery (Portland) will host a session at its location at 538 Congress Street on Tuesday, September 13 from 6-­7 pm
  • Engine Gallery (Biddeford) will host a session on Wednesday, September 14 from 6-­7 pm
  • Launchpad (Bangor) will host a session on Thursday, September 15 from 6-­7 pm
  • The Center for Maine Contemporary Art (Rockland) will host a session on Monday, September 19 from 6­-7 pm
  • The Abbe Museum (Bar Harbor) will host a session on Tuesday, September 20 from 5­-6 pm
  • SPACE will hold an information session and budget workshop on Saturday, October 1 from 11 am - 12 pm

All information sessions are free and open to the public. Applications are to be submitted online (www.kindlingfund.org/apply).

The deadline to submit grant applications is October 22 at 11:59 PM. 

For more information, visit www.kindlingfund.org or reach out to SPACE at the contact details noted below:

SPACE Gallery
538 Congress St.
Portland, ME 04101
207-828-5600
www.space538.orgContact: Elizabeth Spavento, Visual Arts Programmer / elizabeth@space538.org

About SPACE Gallery
Established in 2002, SPACE Gallery is a nonprofit contemporary art space that presents visual arts exhibitions, live music and performance, film screenings, artists talks, literary events, and more, for a sum of approximately 200 events and 15 exhibitions each year.

About The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts was established in 1987 for the advancement of the visual arts. The Foundation’s objective is to foster innovative artistic expression and the creative process by encouraging and supporting cultural organizations that in turn, directly or indirectly, support artists and their work. The Foundation values the contribution these organizations make to artists and audiences and to society as a whole by supporting, exhibiting, and interpreting a broad spectrum of contemporary artistic practice.