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Eastport is On the Creative Edge. Located on the eastermost edge of the United States with dramatic and sweeping views of nearby Canadian islands, Eastport has emerged as an innovative and creative hub. With a thriving arts scene – galleries, restaurants, and an array of cultural offerings, a burgeoning shipping port, a revitalized historic downtown, and new energy development including tidal, wind and biomass – Eastport is indeed On the Creative Edge. Taking its cue from this branding theme, the On the Creative Edge program represents an initiative begun in 2011 that was funded, at first, by a $50,000 grant (one of only two inaugural such grants given in the state) from the Maine Arts Commission under its Creative Communities = Economic Development or CCED program. This initial grant was matched with an equal amount in private funds. On the Creative Edge has sought to advance the creative synergy that is leading Eastport’s resurgence following a lengthy period of steep decline.
Since 2011, other initiatives have propelled the On the Creative Edge program forward including two national ArtPlace awards (in 2012 and 2014 and the only such awards ever awarded to a Maine institution); significant funding from the state’s Communities for Maine’s Future program (the only such award in eastern and northern Maine) and other private sources in support of establishing a regional downtown StudioWorks facility combined with an artist residency program; a partnership membership for Eastport in the Maine Downtown Network; the Washington County Quality of Place initiative; and a Eastport downtown historic building facade restoration program supported by two CDBG funding awards. For more specific information about components of the On the Creative Edge initiative, and the progress that has been made, click on the menu bar above. We want to hear your questions and suggestions. You can contact us here: Contact Us.
More information about Eastport businesses and visiting Eastport can be found at the Eastport Chamber of Commerce’s website. For information about cultural events going on in Eastport see the Artsipelago website or The Quoddy Tides newspaper.
The initial collaborating organizations and institutions with On the Creative Edge included the City of Eastport, the City’s Downtown Committee and Historic Review Committee, Eastport Port Authority, Eastport Chamber of Commerce, Sunrise County Economic Council, Shead High School, Tides Institute & Museum of Art, Peavey Memorial Library, Eastport Arts Center, Waponahki Museum, and Border Historical Society.