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.

Council Information

Maine Cultural Affairs Council