Resources
The Maine Arts Commission
The Maine Arts Commission supports all efforts to promote arts learning. Arts education is a major focus of the Maine Arts Commission and a nationwide movement aiming to provide all students with opportunities to learn in and through the arts (dance, music, theater, visual arts and creative writing). Methods for reaching this goal include providing discipline-specific, sequential learning opportunities; integrating the arts into all curricular content areas; programs in institutions and detention centers; programs in child care centers; and after-school programs.
The Maine Department of Education
The mission of the Maine DOE is to promote the best learning opportunities for all Maine students by providing information, guidance, and support to our schools, educators, and leaders and by providing adequate and equitable school funding and resources.
The Arts Education Partnership
The Arts Education Partnership is a national network of more than 200 organizations dedicated to advancing arts education. AEP is the nation’s hub for arts and education leaders, building their leadership capacity to support students, educators and learning environments.
Americans for the Arts
Americans for the Arts serves, advances, and leads the network of organizations and individuals who cultivate, promote, sustain, and support the arts in America. Founded in 1960, Americans for the Arts is the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education.
Teaching Artists Guild
Teaching Artists Guild (TAG), is a practitioner-led community which raises the visibility and development of artists who teach. We are the voice of the teaching artist, communicating the depth and breadth of work that teaching artists provide our educational systems and communities.
Creative Generation
Creative Generation is a values-forward, global collective that believes youth create change. As artists, educators, administrators, researchers, storytellers, and activists, we collaborate with young creatives and those who cultivate their creativity to take local actions towards global change. In alignment with our organizational values and commitments, we co-create projects that build capacity within individuals and organizations and support field-wide learning in pursuit of a more just world.
The Center for Arts Education and Social Emotional Learning
Arts Education & Social Emotional Learning Framework is designed to illuminate the intersection between arts education and social-emotional learning to allow for the intentional application of appropriate teaching and learning strategies, with the overarching goal of enhancing art education.
Side x Side
Side x Sideis a Portland, Maine–based nonprofit organization that is driven to help students and teachers connect to what they are learning and to themselves, helping them to feel engaged, confident, and an integral part of their community. We provide creative, dynamic, arts-integrated classroom programming and professional development.
The Maine Music Educator’s Association
The Maine Music Educator’s Association main mission is to advance, advocate for, and expand access to music education in Maine.
The Maine Art Education Association
The Maine Art Education Association is a statewide professional organization whose members are committed to excellence in visual arts education.
The Educational Theatre Association
EdTA is devoted to building the very community it serves by giving back through our philanthropic arm, the Educational Theatre Foundation, which provides financial support to expand access to K-12 theatre programs to every child and enhance excellence in theatre education globally.
EdTA is also home to the International Thespian Society, the only honor society of its kind for middle and high school theatre students. Founded in 1929, ITS and its Thespian troupes have affirmed the quality of educational theatre programs, bringing credibility and distinction to students, teachers, and schools.
Maine Inside Out
MIO collaborates with student artists to create original theater. MIO is currently partnering with Lewiston Public Schools and Portland Public Schools in Maine. Also, MIO collaborates with incarcerated artists to create original theater. MIO currently has a project at Mountain View Correctional Center in Charleston, Maine and collaborates with other MIO incarcerated artists in facilities in Maine and nationwide. Finally, MIO collaborates with artists in the community eighteen and older who have been part of MIO projects. Artists create original art to initiate dialogue in their communities.
The Center for Maine Contemporary Art
The Center for Maine Contemporary Art has been supporting, exhibiting, and sustaining arts and artists with ties to Maine since its founding in 1952. In that time, CMCA has grown from a scrappy upstart presenting shows in barns and backrooms to become the state’s preeminent contemporary arts organization, hosting a slew of internationally-known artists along the way. With its new space in the heart of downtown Rockland, CMCA extends its reach exponentially, allowing it to continue its mission on a whole new level.
The Portland Museum of Art
The Portland Museum of Art seeks to create an inclusive space that champions open expression and makes art accessible to all. Their vision is to be a central gathering place where a strong artistic vision and the collection drive conversation, creativity, cultural vitality, and economic impact.
The Field
We want a world where artists are abundantly and holistically prosperous. And so, we’re making it happen. We’re building a community that connects, empowers, and elevates artists. Through expanding access, opportunities, resources, and new technologies, we’re facilitating prosperity for millions of artists across the country.
Springboard for the Arts
Springboard for the Arts’ mission is to support artists with the tools to make a living and a life, and to build just and equitable communities full of meaning, joy, and connection. Founded as an independent nonprofit in 1991, Springboard for the Arts has an innovative 30-year history of supporting artists making a living and a life and artist-led community development work.