Connecting People, Place and Culture
In Baldwin, Bridgton, Casco, Cornish, Hiram, Naples, Parsonsfield, Porter, Raymond and Sebago

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Paint? Dance? Clog? Tootle? Write? Sing? Make baskets or jewelry or quilts?

You simply have to be in the directory.

The Bridgton Recreation Advancement Group’s $10,000 discovery grant from the Maine Arts Commission will allow area artists to be listed in a directory and a searchable website. But first, those artists and craftsmen, and graphic designers and cartoonists and storytellers and playwrights and boat builders and photographers have to get themselves on the list.

The form is simple to fill out. The forms are available at www.westernmainearts.org or by mail from Nancy Smoak, who is coordinating the project.

Forms are also available at Gallery 302 on Main Street in Bridgton, Hole in the Wall Gallery in Raymond, town offices in Casco and Sebago and the Cornish Public Library.

"The Western Maine area is chock-full of artist and artisans, crafters and woodworkers, talented folks in every nook and cranny,’ says Nancy Smoak, who is excited about the discovery grant and what it can do for networking and identifying unique resources of talent.

"A searchable website and a printed directory would help tremendously, for instance," Smoak Says, "if a teacher would like an artist to come into the classroom."

The project will also produce a searchable CD in Both PC and Mac versions.

"We also hope to produce a television program through LRTV that will highlight area artisans and be distributed to local access cable stations throughout Maine," the coordinator said last week.

Once the Discovery Research Grant has been completed and the work all done, local arts organizations can be strengthened. One goal is to build a Cultural Heritage Center where traditional artists and artisans can come together to network, workshop, create, display and build markets for their work.

Those working on the project also include Cheryl Hevey of SAD 55, Joyce Mastro of Raymond and Jenni Null, SAD 61 PAL coordinator.

Others are Scott Findlayson of Bridgton, Greg Marston of South Bridgton, Duffy Carabia, Chad Cummings and Nelle Ely of Bridgton, George Worthley of Hiram, Karen Bogdan of Naples and webmaster Bill Severance of Stoneham and LRTV.

It’s a cultural search – not just an artistic search.

Cultural resources include not only individual artists and artisans, but also groups, organizations and institutions that relate to any of the cultural categories. The search also seeks to identify every area group concerned with history or historical research, performance related groups, places important to cultural heritage, and even traditional business important to cultural makeup.

The Western Maine Lakes Region Discovery Search includes the towns of Bridgton, Casco, Naples, Sebago, Raymond, Baldwin, Cornish, Hiram, Parsonsfield and Porter.

The general areas explored will be Local Knowledge, Traditional Craftsmen, Community Organizations, Art-related Events, Literary Arts, Designers, Performing Arts, Media Arts, Theatre Arts, Businesses Related to Arts and Culture and Potential Sites for Displaying Art.

The project will run for a year, with the data base and directory the final results. Get in there, and network!

The Bridgton News, Thursday, October 23, 2003

Documenting Cultural Resources

Art, Artisans and traditional cultural resources seem to be all over the news for Western Maine. New galleries have opened, groups and clubs gather to create, and individuals continue to supply the creative economy. And in July, the Maine Arts Commission gave a grant for $10,000 to the Bridgton Recreational Advancement Group (BRAG) to document these valuable resources in a searchable web site and a printed directory. Project Coordinator, Nancy Smoak, says “These are exciting times for those involved in the creative economy of western Maine. With documentation of our many resources, we will be better able to expand on our assets and meet the needs of our artists and artisans.”

Many of you may have been interviewed by Millie Rahn, Folklorist and Cultural Consultant in the past three weeks. Rahn, whose ongoing projects include curating “A Taste of Maine: All About Beans” at the National Folk Festival in Bangor, has been retained by the Maine Arts Commission and the Western Maine Lakes Region Discovery Research Project to provide in depth information on the living cultural traditions of our area. Robin and Alan Aaskov, local historians and owners of Alyssa’s Motel in Casco, keep a scrapbook of local heritage and cultural resources. “Many of our guests are very interested in the local history,” says Robin.

Before coming to the Western Maine Lakes Region Discovery Research project, Rahn has undertaken fieldwork and cultural inventories throughout Maine, particularly in the St. John Valley, coastal Hancock County, and the Sebasticook Valley under aegis, respectively, of the Maine Acadian Heritage Council, the Hancock County Planning Commission, and the Maine Arts Commission. She has also worked with the Maine Office of Tourism and the Maine Arts Commission on their arts and heritage tourism initiative. Following five days of interviews, library and Historical Society visits, cultural resource tours of such places as Hackers Hill in Casco, Narramissic Farm in Bridgton and the Parsonsfield Covered Bridge, and a visit with the local Cornish Quilters group, to mention a few, Rahn says that this area is the richest yet of all the areas she has done folklore fieldwork in Maine.

The towns of Baldwin, Bridgton, Casco, Cornish, Hiram, Naples, Parsonsfield, Porter, Raymond and Sebago are included in this project. Cultural resources include individual artists, artisans, crafters, groups, organizations and institutions that relate to any cultural category; groups concerned with history and/or historical preservation; performance and/or presentation related cultural groups; businesses that either use a traditional method of production and/or reflect a traditional or unique occupation; and places that are important to our cultural heritage.

An informational web site, www.westernmainearts.org, has been established and contains not only additional information about this exciting and valuable project but printable (PDF) forms. Completing the cultural inventory form is the way to be included. “Our area is rich in cultural resources, recording who, what and where is the goal of this project”, says Smoak.

The Bridgton News, Thursday, November 5, 2003

Regional Arts, Culture & Heritage Workshops Announced

The first of two Regional Arts, Culture & Heritage Workshop will be held on Saturday, November 8^th at the Naples Community Center (Grange Hall) from 9:00 AM to 12 noon.  Sponsored by the Western Maine Lakes Region Discovery Research Project and the Maine Arts Commission, this public workshop will bring together artists, artisans, and those involved with our cultural resources.  Keith Ludden of the Maine Arts Commission will present information on the over 28 Discovery Research Projects currently active in Maine.  Nancy Smoak, local Project Director will acquaint attendees with the project mission and goals and open discussions on networking and collaboration to benefit all involved.

The second workshop will be held on Saturday, November 15^th at Dancemore (Route 113, West Baldwin) from 9:00 AM to 12 noon.  The public is invited to attend one or both of these important workshops. 

The Western Maine Lakes Region Discovery Research Project serves the towns of Baldwin, Bridgton, Casco, Cornish, Hiram, Naples, Parsonsfield, Porter, Raymond and Sebago.  The project is funded in part by a grant from the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.