What are the opening hours?

Monday 8am - 5pm Tuesday 8am - 5pm Wednesday 8am - 5pm Thursday 8am - 5pm Friday 8am - 5pm

Maine Arts Commission

Home
United States
Augusta, ME
Maine Arts Commission

Visit our website at http://mainearts.maine.gov/
(1)

The Maine Arts Commission fosters and encourages public interest and participation in the cultural heritage and artistic expression in our state.

05/31/2026

We stopped by the Gardiner Poetry Festival this weekend for the creativity and community spirit that filled downtown. The event included Presidential Inaugural Poet Richard Blanco reading at the Gardiner Public Library alongside Gardiner Poet Laureate Meghan Sterling. We were also fortunate to hear from State Senator, farmer, and poet Craig Hickman, whose reading was a festival standout. The festival also offered a wonderful opportunity to connect with members of Maine’s poetry community, including current Maine Poet Laureate Julia Bouwsma, and incoming Maine State Poet Laureate Dawn Potter.

What a beautiful reminder of how poetry helps us connect, reflect, and share our stories.

📚✨ Thank you to everyone who helped make it happen.

05/29/2026

Thunderhead

See this and other works by in the Governor’s Gallery on the second floor of the Maine State House in Augusta through June 31. The exhibition is free and open to the public Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

🖼️ Thunderhead, 2020
Oil on linen
26 x 46

05/27/2026

Big news! ✨

A sculpture by Maine artist Patrick Plourde, ‘Pinecone Pair with Tassel’, has been selected for installation at the historic Blaine House in Augusta. Crafted from reclaimed hand tools, including shovels once used by Maine farmers and builders, the sculpture transforms materials tied to our state’ working landscape into two striking large-scale white pinecones, Maine’s state flower since 1895, and the seed for Maine’s state tree, the Eastern White Pine. The work is a tribute to Maine’s forests, fields, labor history, and enduring natural identity.

The project is being made possible through private fundraising efforts led by the Friends of the Blaine House.

We’re so excited to see this new artistic addition take shape in one of Maine’s most historic civic spaces and look forward to sharing updates as the project moves ahead. 🌲🛠️

05/26/2026

Things are taking shape in downtown Lewiston this week as artists Ryan and Rachel Gloria Adams continue work on their new mural on Lisbon Street.

Over the weekend, Ryan shared some behind-the-scenes progress photos from the lift.

Led by L/A Arts and shaped through collaboration with local community voices, the mural brings together themes of belonging, textiles, movement, and shared identity celebrating Lewiston’s rich history of immigration, cultural exchange, and community connection in the Lisbon Street neighborhood.

The project is supported in part through funding from the Maine Arts Commission. We’re excited to watch this project come to life!!

05/24/2026

Help bring creative community ideas to life across Maine through Make It Maine, a community crowdfunding initiative from the Maine Arts Commission in partnership with Patronicity .

One of the newest campaigns now underway is the Belfast Mural Project, a public art initiative that will transform a downtown wall into a large-scale tribute to the Jennie Flood Kreger, the only five-masted schooner built in Belfast in 1919. The mural, led by local artist Maxwell Nolan , celebrates the city’s maritime legacy while creating a lasting visual landmark.

The project is currently raising funds through Patronicity to support materials, equipment, artist fees, and project documentation. Community support at every level helps make projects like this possible while investing directly in Maine’s creative future.

Learn more about Make It Maine, explore projects, and support the Belfast Mural Project in the link below:

https://www.patronicity.com/MakeItMaine

Pictures shown here:
- Kenduskeag Stream Trail mural in Bangor featuring artists Peter Walls and Annette Sohns Dodd, supported through an Arts Jobs Grant from the Maine Arts Commission and matching funds from the Rock & Art Shop
-Proposed mural wall in downtown Belfast overlooking Belfast Harbor and Brigham Green
-Commissioned painting by Maxwell Nolan of the Jennie Flood Kreger, created specifically to represent the future mural project

05/22/2026

We were so glad to attend the opening of Celebrating Independence!, the 50th Anniversary exhibition for Spindleworks Art Center this week at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art. Wonderful to spend time with artists, supporters, and community members celebrating five decades of creativity, connection, and artistic expression in Maine.

The exhibition was co-curated by Maya Benally, Bowdoin ’26.alongside Bowdoin College Museum of Art Co-Director Ann Goodyear.

Art works shown here:
Woman by Mitch Pfefile
Saori Shawl by Earl Black
Sunflower Ceramic by Amy Madsen
Bear Pillow by Karen McGann
Turtle by Jenelle Edson

The exhibition highlights the incredible range of paintings, sculptures, poetry, weavings, dance, and new media. Congratulations to everyone at Spindleworks on this milestone anniversary!

05/20/2026

Spring, glorious spring 🌷🌿

The gardens are blooming once again at

While you’re soaking in the beauty of spring, be sure to explore the many arts exhibitions and installations woven throughout the gardens, including “Birds, Blooms, and Bugs,” on view now through July 21, featuring Maine artists inspired by the natural world.

Pictured here is White Bridge by artist Lori Lynn Hoffer, oil on canvas, 30 x 24

Experience the intersection of art and nature in full bloom. 🎨🌼

05/19/2026

Artist Tanja Kunz discusses the role of art inside Maine’s new Office of Chief Medical Examiner building in Augusta, where works selected through Maine’s Percent for Art program help create an atmosphere rooted in peace, compassion, and quiet contemplation.

Featured in the building are two of Kunz’s luminous oil paintings:
✨ Field Studies (viridian and white), oil on canvas, 36 x 36
✨ Night Foraging, oil on canvas, 36 x 36

Alongside works from fellow Maine artists, these pieces help transform the building into a space that acknowledges not only science and public service, but also the emotional realities experienced by families, staff, and visitors.

05/15/2026

We’re spending a few days in beautiful Aroostook County, where rolling hills, vast pastoral landscapes, small towns, and creative communities make this part of Maine feel truly special 🌾✨

Today, alongside our partners at , artists, creatives, and community members gathered at the Northeastland Hotel in downtown Presque Isle for the Aroostook Creative Network Artist Summit. It’s been a wonderful morning of networking, professional development breakout sessions, listening, and conversation focused on supporting and strengthening the creative culture of the County.

05/14/2026

Pull up a chair and join the conversation 🍽️✨

SHARED TABLES, SHARED STORIES is a new statewide potluck supper series bringing people together through food, storytelling, creativity, and conversation. In grange halls, community centers, libraries, and gathering spaces across the state, neighbors will sit down together to reflect on the past, present, and future of the place we now call Maine.

The first supper takes place Wednesday, June 3 from 5:30–8 p.m. at The Clubhouse at Rotary Park in Biddeford. Each gathering will take on the spirit of its host community, with space for shared meals, stories, music, reflection, and connection.

Special thanks to Heart of Biddeford for helping host and support the first gathering.

Presented in partnership with Community Plate, Maine Humanities Council, and the Maine Semiquincentennial Commission, this statewide series is part of Maine’s commemoration of the nation’s 250th anniversary.

All suppers are FREE and open to the public. Advance registration is encouraged.

Learn more and find a gathering near you!
https://mainearts.maine.gov/Pages/Programs/Shared-Tables-Shared-Stories

Address

193 State St
Augusta, ME
04333

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 5pm
Tuesday	8am - 5pm
Wednesday	8am - 5pm
Thursday	8am - 5pm
Friday	8am - 5pm

Telephone

+12072872724

Website

http://www.mainearts.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Maine Arts Commission posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Maine Arts Commission:

Shortcuts

Address
Telephone
Opening Hours
Alerts
Contact The Organization
Claim ownership or report listing

Want your organization to be the top-listed Government Service in Augusta?