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Maine Cultural Affairs Council

Maine’s Cultural Affairs Council is an alliance, authorized by the state Legislature, of Maine’s seven statewide cultural agencies.

Five of these agencies are public:

The other two are private 501 (c) (3) organizations:

The Council membership includes the chairman and vice-chairman of the governing body of each agency, and a chairman who is appointed by the Governor. Ex-officio members include the agency directors and a liaison representative from the Office of the Governor.

The Cultural Affairs Council serves as a primary forum for interagency cooperation and planning. This structure improves communications, enhances coordination of work, and facilitates planning and administration for each of the participating agencies.

The Cultural Affairs Council administers the New Century Community Program of matching grants. Funded by the Legislature since 1999, the New Century program has delivered, without reductions for administrative costs or overhead, more than $5.7 million dollars in matching money for a wide range of cultural projects, from building restorations and library development to family literacy programming. The grants have leveraged more than three times the number of State dollars in private and federal funds.

Public Forums Upcoming

The Maine State Cultural Affairs Council, under the direction of the 123rd Legislature, is seeking public input at three meetings throughout Maine in the coming weeks to identify the needs of Maine's cultural community and to identify ways to increase the Council's visibility in State Government.

  • Wednesday, October 29, from 7-9 pm, Shettleworth Lecture Hall, Maine Historical Society, 489 Congress Street, Portland
  • Thursday, November 6 from 6-8 pm, Board Room, Bangor Public Library, 145 Harlow Street, Bangor
  • Thursday, November 13 from 7-9 pm, Room 103A, Cross Office Building, Capitol Street, Augusta
  • Note: The meeting on November 13th will include video-conferencing connections to the Machias Memorial High School, 109 Court Street, Machias, and the Presque Isle High School.

The meetings will begin with an introduction to the Maine State Cultural Affairs Council and will also provide a brief insight to the member agencies of the council. The meeting will then break into discussion forums where small groups of participants will be asked to provide information and ideas that address the Legislature's interest in Maine's cultural community. Representatives of the Council's member agencies and organizations will be in attendance at the forums, which will be led by a professional facilitator.