{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://pingree.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pingree-announces-five-national-endowment-arts-awards-maine-s-first", "Pingree Announces Five National Endowment for the Arts Awards in Maines First Congressional District", "2018-05-09", "2018", "2018-05", "Democrat", "House", "ME", "Chellie Pingree", "P000597", "pingree.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today announced five National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grant awards totaling more than $900,000 for organizations in Maines first district congressional district.  \n\t  \n\tI am pleased to announce that the NEA has once again made a significant investment in Maines creative economy, said Pingree, co-chair of the bipartisan congressional Arts Caucus. From the performing arts to youth writing programs, these NEA grants will go a long way to supporting Maine artists and the communities that benefit from their work.  \n\t  Maine Arts Commission -- $749,400  \n\tTo support arts programs, services, and activities associated with carrying out your agencys NEA-approved strategic plan.  \n\t  Maine College of Art (aka MECA) -- $40,000  \n\tTo support the exhibition Traces, Tracks, & Pathways: Making Migration Visible.  \n\tThe exhibition, developed in collaboration with Colby College and the Institute for Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art, will examine ways to understand displacement, exile, and mobility, by presenting artwork and stories that interpret loss of home and the pursuit of a new one. The exhibition will include works by artists exploring issues of migration such as Jason De Leon, Mohamad Hafez, Patricia Tinajero, Edwige Charlot, Emily Jacir, and Daniel Quintanilla. The exhibition will expose a regional audience to the complexities of displacement and migration and will be accompanied by talks and dialogues with local community members at a variety of venues, as well as an online compendium of pertinent readings and a printed exhibition catalogue.  \n\t  Portland Ovations -- $25,000  \n\tTo support a series of multidisciplinary performing arts presentations.  \n\tImmersive and interactive performances will include presentations by artists and ensembles including theater company 600 Highwaymen, American Contemporary Music Ensemble, and dance company Keigwin & Company, among others. Many of the presentations will take place in site-specific locations throughout Portland, and may include local artists and community members in performances.  \n\t  Telling Room -- $15,000  \n\tTo support the Young Writers and Leaders Program.  \n\tThe nine-month writing and literary arts program offers training in creative writing, public speaking, and visual arts to high school students who are English Language Learners. Working with a mentor, each student explores a variety of forms of writing, crafts a personal narrative, creates rich multimedia projects, and participates in public performances. The program also offers one-week seasonal intensives.  \n\t  Waterville Regional Arts and Community Center (aka Waterville Creates!) -- $75,000  \n\tTo support community engagement and design for historic Castonguay Square.  \n\tLocated in the center of town, the square will be the focus of a community design process that will include an introductory placemaking workshop, community design charrettes, and meetings with key stakeholders, all led by a professional design firm. The project will be a partnership of Waterville Creates!, the City of Waterville, and Colby College. The square's renovation, conceived as a reinvigorated public gathering space and focus of community pride, is being driven by recent private investment in downtown Waterville, which has a population of 16,000.  \n\t  \n\tThese awards are part of a second major round of NEA grants for fiscal year 2018. Todays announcement includes more than $80.5 million in grants across all artistic disciplines that were awarded to nonprofit organizations in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. These grants are for specific projects and range from performances and exhibitions, to healing arts and arts education programs, to festivals and artist residencies.\nMore information is available here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://pingree.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pingree-announces-five-national-endowment-arts-awards-maine-s-first"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3859132304787636, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}