Do you have amazing photographs in your collection?  Do you want to share them with your community as well as new audiences? Consider becoming a participant in the Maine Photo Project, a statewide collaboration among museums, art galleries, historical societies, and other arts organizations across Maine.

Throughout 2015, numerous participating organizations will offer exhibitions and public programs exploring the state’s role as a destination for photographers, both as subject matter and as a unique place for discourse, and innovation. A major publication planned to coincide with the project--authored by eminent Maine historians Libby Bischof, Susan Danly, and Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr.--will illustrate many of these works as a lasting record of this initiative and of Maine’s rich and varied photographic history.

The Maine Photo Project is organized by the Maine Curators’ Forum, a collaborative of curators representing Maine’s leading arts and cultural institutions. Previous projects of the Maine Curators’ Forum include the Maine Print Project (2006) and the Maine Drawing Project (2011), both of which drew strong audiences to participating institutions and received national and regional press coverage in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Art New England, the Maine Sunday Telegram, and other sources. (The Maine Print Project also featured an associated book, The Imprint of Place: Maine Printmaking 1800-2005 by David Becker, published by Down East Books.) The Maine Photo Project will build upon the success of these and other recent statewide exhibition collaborations such as the Maine Folk Art Trail (2008) and the Maine Civil War Trail (2013). Fiscal management for the project with be provided by the Maine Historical Society.

Institutions participating in The Maine Photo Project will present exhibitions related to photography in Maine sometime between March and December of 2015. Participants are encouraged to develop themed programming at their site in conjunction with their exhibition and with the broader project (collaborative Maine Photo Project programming will also be developed by a committee.) Participants are expected to waive use fees for reproducing objects from their collections for all Maine Photo Project products, including mailers, the brochure, and the book. Participants are also expected to contribute critical project financial support according to a scale to be determined, in order to support collective project activities such as (but not limited to) the following:

• Stipend for the Project Coordinator for general project management, including budget development and management; strategic planning; scheduling and leading meetings and taking minutes; acting as liaison for project participants; coordinating design and printing of brochure and/or other mailers; public relations and miscellaneous communications; website management; social media setup and management; collaborative program development and implementation; managing phone and e-mail inquiries.
• Design, printing, and distribution of MPP brochure through Visitor Information Centers and other venues
• Design and development of website that will feature all participants’ projects plus a calendar of events (through EventBrite) for all exhibitions and related programming, including exhibition openings
• Subsidy for Maine Photo Project book
• Collaborative programming, including possibly a public symposium, an open portfolio day for photographers, and a professional development workshop for museum professionals

As of June 2014, participant financial contributions have been articulated as such:

Sponsor level: $2,500 (includes special recognition and other opportunities)
If you represent a leading arts or cultural organization in the state, consider becoming a sponsor and taking a leadership role in the Maine Photo Project.

Participant level: $800 average contribution; $200 minimum.
All-volunteer organizations and organizations with extremely small or nonexistent annual budgets are invited to participate at the minimum; all others are encouraged to participate at a self-identified level that is both meaningful and feasible for their institution. We hope that as many as possible will participate at the $800 level or above.

If your institution is interested in becoming a participant and would like to find out more, please contact the Maine Photo Project at MainePhotoProject@gmail.com.