2020 is a pivotal and exciting year for Engine! We turn TEN in January! Ten years of helping downtown Biddeford find itself, ten years of advancing the arts, and ten years of bringing arts education to area youth. In honor of this tremendous milestone, I bring you TEN exciting recent accomplishments:
Invigorating new board membership and skilled leadership with Karin Gregory as Chair and a new Compass Project Program Manager, Drew Chambers!
Ongoing and ever-growing youth programs including a plethora of School Vacation Camps, a rolling production calendar of theatrical and performing arts shows, and new offerings designed to meet community needs such as our HUD-sponsored New Mainer Cultural Exchange.
From Fringe Fest to Maker Faire to PechaKucha nights, Engine’s events gather thousands of attendees, artists, makers, and vendors – continuing to strengthen and connect our community.
We’re entering 2020 with a refreshed and inspiring strategic plan that will help us focus our efforts – both within our programming and to ensure ongoing organizational stability.
The end of the year finds us in a temporary space until we can move into our “forever home” at Marble Block. Thanks to Engine’s friend Richard Levy, we’ve landed at 163 Main Street (the former Pepperell Trust/Bangor Savings building) for a year while we make progress on the complex restoration of the Marble Block.
Early 2020 will see the soft-launch of a design-based small business incubator called IGNITE, helping to fulfill Engine’s mission of “propelling the creative community” from all sectors, entrepreneurs to inventors to artists.
Two prestigious National Endowment for the Arts grants will be implemented in 2020!
We brought three new large-scale, gorgeous murals to Biddeford this past year.
Engine pioneered the first-ever Cultural Coalition, and is proud to now partner with the City of Biddeford to foster collaboration on funding and supporting the network of creativity in Biddeford.
We have a fresh look! You’re on our new website, designed by Larry Burningham, a community member–and another example of the incredible skills and generosity of the Engine family!
CAN WE COUNT ON YOU? By making a contribution, you’re helping Engine capitalize on a year of creative programs and institutional growth while honoring our tenth year of service. Thank you for being a committed partner in our work; helping to preserve our city’s history, celebrate its present, and create its future.
Tammy Ackerman, Executive Director for TEN YEARS! 🙂
P.S. SAVE THE DATE: To celebrate our TEN years, on June 20, 2020, we’ll be hosting an anniversary party. Details to come but it will be fun–guaranteed! Thank you again for being a part of what makes Engine run!
Partnering with UNE, Engine has offered professional level gallery and classroom experiences for undergraduate and local students enrolled in arts classes as well as a venue to see art by both regionally and nationally recognized artists.
Stephen Burt
University of New England
Engine is and has been a focal point of downtown Biddeford for many years for so many artists and creative spirits. It is a go-to for me: a retreat, a destination, a source for connection and ideas and community.
Laura Dunn
Artist
Engine is a wonderful place to work surrounded by wonderful people who have infused so much love and light into the downtown of Biddeford. I cannot imagine a bright future in the town without this wonderful organization.
Savanna Pettengill
Artist & Arts Teacher
Engine fuels the creativity of our city, making it the hub for youth and adults alike to feed their spirits, expand their skills, and create a better future for all of us.
