I am not a stranger

I Am Not a Stranger: Portraits by Séan Alonzo Harris

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September 16 – October 26, 2019

Waterville, Maine —Presented by Waterville Creates! in partnership with the Colby Museum, I Am Not a Stranger: Portraits by Séan Alonzo Harris, is an innovative and participatory exhibition featuring individual photographic portraits of community members who live and/or work in Waterville. Waterville Creates! and the Colby Museum of Art will present the full suite of approximately fifty photographic portraits at Common Street Arts Gallery and the Colby Museum. In addition, selections from the series will appear throughout the city and will be on view at the Waterville Public Library, Railroad Square Cinema, Waterville Opera House, as well as other public and private institutions and local businesses throughout the city.

Like many cities in the United States, Waterville has welcomed new residents in recent years, including more people of color and new Mainers. Using a combination of individual portraits and personal narratives, I Am Not a Stranger will create channels for storytelling, capture local history, and build bridges across difference.

“I’m looking forward to learning more about Waterville and hearing from folks about their individual histories and aspirations.  It will be interesting to reveal the shared characteristics that connect and unite us as a community,” says artist Séan Alonzo Harris.

“Through his work, Séan is able to facilitate moments of visual and narrative exchange between members of our community,” says Patricia King, vice president at Waterville Creates! “This is an opportunity to challenge assumptions and make new connections, and we are thrilled to undertake this project with so many of our local partners, especially the Colby Museum.”

“This is a truly collaborative effort that invites participation and engagement across the city of Waterville. There will be a free printed map that will guide residents and visitors to the project’s multiple venues, generating new relationships throughout our community,” added Beth Finch, Lunder Curator of American Art at Colby College.

The Sterrs Gallery at Common Street Arts is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 – 5:00 p.m. and on Saturday from 12:00 – 5:00 p.m. at the Hathaway Creative Center, 10 Water Street in Waterville. The Colby Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (and until 9:00 p.m. on Thursdays during the academic year) and Sunday from 12:00– 5:00 p.m.  To learn more about the I Am Not a Stranger exhibition, please visit: http://www.commonstreetarts.org.

About Waterville Creates!
Waterville Creates! enriches lives and grows the creative economy by supporting and promoting high-quality, accessible arts and cultural programs and institutions. Learn more at www.watervillecreates.org, and learn more about our ongoing community capital campaign for the Paul J. Schupf Art Center at www.downtownartscenter.org.

About the Colby College Museum of Art

The Colby College Museum of Art is a collecting and teaching museum dedicated to the preservation, display, and interpretation of the visual arts. We manage these resources for the benefit of the Colby College community, the region, and the nation, and we aspire to display works that embody the highest standards of achievement. For more information, visit www.colby.edu/museum.

Waterville Rocks! Returns for 4th Year in Castonguay Square with Free Summer Concerts

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Free, family-friendly concerts to be held on June 28th, July 5th, July 26th, and August 2nd  

Featured Acts include Enter the Haggis, The Mallett Brothers Band, Kat Wright and more!

Waterville, Maine — Waterville Creates!, one of Maine’s leading arts and cultural organizations with a mission to promote Waterville as a vibrant destination in central Maine, is delighted to announce the fourth consecutive year of Waterville Rocks! The series of free and family-friendly outdoor concerts will feature regional acts, including Enter the Haggis, The Mallett Brothers Band, and Kat Wright in downtown Waterville’s Castonguay Square on Friday evenings from 5:30 to 8:30 PM. Along with fabulous music, the concert series will offer a beer garden by The Proper Pig selling adult beverages and food for adults of age to enjoy, and will also host the Stone Fox Farm Creamery Food Truck for kids of all ages. Waterville Rocks! is hosted by the Waterville Opera House and sponsored by local businesses, organizations and patrons of the arts. The series is designed to provide free cultural programming for the community and offer a new way to animate downtown Waterville.

The 2019 Waterville Rocks! free summer concert dates are set for June 28, July 5, July 26, and August 2 and will once again feature a variety of funk, rock, pop and Americana music for attendees. A website to help promote this free concert series is located at www.operahouse.org/watervillerocks/.

The first Waterville Rocks! concert is scheduled for Friday, June 28th and features performances by The Mallett Brothers Band and Hymn for Her. Bring a blanket or chairs to enjoy in Castonguay Square, stop by The Stone Fox Farm Creamery ice cream truck, or The Proper Pig Beer Garden (open at 5:30pm for adults of age).

The second concert in the Waterville Rocks! series is scheduled for Friday, July 5th and is our first all-female concert, including performances by Kat Wright and Katie Matzell. Come enjoy these ladies of rock in Castonguay Square! Yes, The Proper Pig Beer Garden and The Stone Fox Farm Creamery will be back!

The third concert in the Waterville Rocks! series is scheduled for Friday, July 26th and will include performances by Tinsley Ellis and Cold Engines. Come enjoy these fan-favorites in Castonguay Square along with ice cream from The Stone Fox Farm Creamery and delicious refreshments from The Proper Pig Beer Garden.

Enter the Haggis and Tricky Britches will perform on August 2nd for the final concert. Enter the Haggis performed at our largest Waterville Rocks! concert last season, so we just had to ask them back to play for us again for anyone who missed that incredible evening downtown. We thought Tricky Britches would pair nicely!

Waterville Rocks! is hosted by the Waterville Opera House and made possible by the generosity of the following businesses, organizations and arts patron sponsors: Colby College, GHM Insurance Agency, Waterville Creates!, Kennebec Savings Bank, Inland Hospital, Central Maine Motors, Thomas College, and John and Jackie Dalton. Waterville Rocks! is also supported by Waterville Creates! Partners: the City of Waterville, Common Street Arts, the Maine Film Center, the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce and the Waterville Public Library.

In the event of rain, all Waterville Rocks! concerts will be performed inside the Waterville Opera House. Scheduled to perform as part of the Waterville Rocks! Summer Concert Series:

June 28
The Mallett Brothers Band – An independent, nationally touring sextet with albums chock-full of crackling Americana, a foot-stomping patchwork of country, folk, and rock.
Hymn for Her – An incredible duo that injects juiced-up backwoods country blues with desert rock psychedelia.

July 5
Kat Wright – There’s soul flowing in and out of her rock ‘n’ roll with a serpentine seduction. She has been described as “a young Bonnie Raitt meets Amy Winehouse.”
Katie Matzell – Upcoming Portland, Maine native with a voice that is “fierce and dazzling.”

July 26
Tinsley Ellis – “Non-stop gigging has sharpened his six-string to a razor’s edge… his eloquence dazzles… he achieves pyrotechnics that rival Beck and Clapton.”
Cold Engines – An all-star cast of artists that brings together a mix of soul, new wave, rock, and dance.

August 2
Enter the Haggis – Toronto-based Indie Celtic Folk Rock band with appearances on “Live with Regis and Kelly”, and a PBS concert special that aired across multiple stations!
Tricky Britches – A country, contra-dance, bluegrass, rock string-band consisting of four friends from Maine who shape their music around experiences from places in the U.S. to Europe!

About Waterville Rocks!
Waterville Rocks! is a free, family-friendly concert series held in downtown Waterville’s Castonguay Square. Established in 2016 by local business leaders and arts-focused organizations, Waterville Rocks! has become an annual community celebration of all-things-music held in the great outdoors. Keep up to date on all the latest and greatest news and event updates at operahouse.org/waterville-rocks or on Facebook at facebook.com/WatervilleRocks.

Lost + Found: Photographs by Susan Metzger — a new photography exhibition at Common Street Arts

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April 15 – June 29, 2019
Opening reception: April 18, 2019 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Waterville, Maine —Waterville Creates! is delighted to present Lost + Found: Photographs by Susan Metzger, a new exhibition featuring the bucolic Maine landscape, opening at Common Street Arts on Monday, April 15, with a reception scheduled on Thursday, April 18 from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Susan Metzger is an artist who has a keen interest in historic preservation, open space, rural tradition, architecture, and the humble and mundane. In the exhibition Lost + Found, Metzger turns her lens to the landscape and communities geographically adjacent to Waterville. Metzger invites the viewer to pause and consider these simple and beautiful subjects – from the classic Maine farmhouse to the open fields, farmland, and outbuildings that comprise the Central Maine countryside. These images harken to a shared past and encourage imaginations to flood with questions about the who, what, and when in these photographs.

Associated Programming

Wednesday, May 29 at 7:00 p.m.
Common Street Arts will host John Bunker, “the apple guy,” as he discusses the history and distinct features of the unique apple varieties often found in our state. John Bunker is a self-taught fruit explorer, and has pioneered work in locating, identifying, and preserving heritage apple tree varieties discovered while exploring the fields, farms, woods, and towns in Maine.

Thursday, June 13 at 5:30 p.m.
Join Common Street Arts for a conversation entitled Past + Present: The Rural Maine Landscape between artist Susan Metzger and Robert Sanford, Professor of Environmental Science & Policy at the University of Southern Maine and author of the recently published Reading Rural Landscapes, A Field Guide to New England’s Past. Together, Susan and Rob will discuss their artistic and archeological approaches to the historical and present-day rural Maine landscape. Audience participation is encouraged. For more information, visit www.commonstreetarts.org/events.

“This exhibition is about exploring our natural and built environments and closely examining the features that define our Central Maine landscape. From fruit trees to farmhouses, what elements do we continue to see today that we might have seen one hundred years ago—this exhibition helps us rediscover some of the natural features in our landscape” says Patricia King, vice president at Waterville Creates!

The Sterrs Gallery at Common Street Arts is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 – 5:00 p.m. and on Saturday from 12:00 – 5:00 p.m. at the Hathaway Creative Center, 10 Water Street in Waterville. To learn more about the Lost + Found exhibition, please visit: http://www.commonstreetarts.org.

About Waterville Creates!
Waterville Creates! is a non-profit on a mission to promote, support, and grow greater Waterville’s arts and cultural scene. Collaborating with regional arts and culture institutions and their supporters, together we are strengthening our community as a vibrant creative center, increasing access to creative opportunities. Learn more at www.watervillecreates.org and learn more about our ongoing community capital campaign for the Downtown Arts Center at www.downtownartscenter.org.

Waterville Creates! Issues Call for Art for 29th Annual Maine Open Juried Art Show (MOJAS) Exhibition

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Submission Deadline: June 3, 2019

Waterville, Maine — Waterville Creates!, Common Street Arts, and Waterville Area Art Society (WAAS) invite artists to submit works for the 29th Annual Maine Open Juried Art Show (MOJAS). The MOJAS exhibition attracts artists from across the state, representing a wide range of Maine communities and presents a diverse array of media. Artists may submit up to two entries. Submissions are due Monday, June 3, 2019. The Maine Open Juried Art Show (MOJAS) exhibition will be hosted at the Sterrs Gallery in Common Street Arts from August 12 through September 7. An opening reception and awards ceremony will be held on Thursday, August 15 from 5:00 – 7:00 pm.

This year’s jurors are: Donna McNeil, Executive Director of the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation, Tim Christensen, Artist, and Olivia Fountain, Anne Lunder Leland Fellow, Colby College Museum of Art.

To learn more about MOJAS and submissions for 2019, please visit: http://commonstreetarts.com

About Waterville Creates!
Waterville Creates! is a non-profit on a mission to promote, support, and grow greater Waterville’s arts and cultural scene. Collaborating with regional arts and cultural institutions and their supporters, together we are strengthening our community as a vibrant creative center, increasing access to creative opportunities. Learn more at http://www.watervillecreates.org and for more information about the ongoing community capital campaign for the Downtown Arts Center visit http://www.downtownartscenter.org.

Jim LaLiberty Named President of Waterville Creates! Board of Directors; Don Cragen, Deb Susi Appointed New Board Members

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Waterville, Maine — Waterville Creates!, one of Maine’s leading arts and cultural organizations and a key driver in making the city a vibrant destination in central Maine, has elected Jim LaLiberty to the role of chair of the Waterville Creates! board of directors as of January 2019. As chair, Jim will lead the board’s efforts to support Waterville Creates!’ goals to strengthen and promote Waterville’s arts and cultural organizations and offerings and advance plans to develop a new Downtown Arts Center. The organization has also recently added two new board members, each bringing a unique skill and experience set to the board: Don Cragen from Thomas College, and Debra Susi from Maine Central Institute.

Jim is currently an attorney at Jabar, LaLiberty & Dubord LLC and has practiced law in Waterville for 39 years. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University and the University of Maine School of Law. His practice is concentrated in the areas of business and commercial law. In addition to his role as president of the Waterville Creates! board, Jim is also a member of the board of directors of MaineGeneral Health. He lives in Waterville with his wife, Julie, a seventh-grade teacher at Waterville Junior High School.

“Jim brings an invaluable amount of experience to the Waterville Creates! board, and we are incredibly grateful he’s willing to take on this expanded role,” says Waterville Creates! president and CEO, Shannon Haines. “We look forward to working with Jim and our entire board to bring sustainable, positive growth to Waterville’s collaborative arts community.”

Don Cragen is professor and chair of the H. Allen Ryan School of Business at Thomas College, where his current research focus is in business strategy incorporating innovation adoption along with the use of a systems approach for business education. Don holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration-Accountancy and Finance from Salem State University, a Master of Science in Athletic Training from Illinois State University, an M.B.A. from Thomas College, a Master of Science in Project Management from Purdue University, and a Global Doctorate in Sport Management from the United States Sports Academy.  In addition, he holds a Graduate certification in Innovation Engineering from the University of Maine at Orono, and a Graduate certification in Design Thinking from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Prior to joining Thomas College, Professor Cragen held the positions of Collegiate Athletic Director, Certified Athletic Trainer, and Union President. Dr. Cragen was a member of the editorial board for the national magazine Exercise for Men from 1999 – 2014.

Debra Susi is a teacher and arts educator with over 38 years of teaching students and actors from grades five through adults. In addition to directing over 200 productions on a variety of school and community stages, Debra has served on a number of arts organization boards including New England Theatre Council Board of Directors (2005-2009), Waterville Opera House Board of Directors (2016-2018), and Maine Drama Council (2005 – present). In 2009, Debra received a Maine Arts Teacher Fellowship to attend the La Mama Umbria International Symposium for Directors in Italy. In addition to teaching and directing, Debra has worked as BBT Adjunct Faculty and Stage Manager, Antioch NE Graduate School Adjunct Faculty and Chicago Director’s Lab Attendee (2007 & 2008).

About Waterville Creates!
Waterville Creates! is a non-profit on a mission to promote, support, and grow greater Waterville’s arts and cultural scene. Collaborating with regional arts and culture institutions and their supporters, together we are strengthening our community as a vibrant creative center, increasing access to creative opportunities. Learn more at http://www.watervillecreates.org and learn more about our ongoing community capital campaign for the Downtown Arts Center at http://www.downtownartscenter.org.

March is Youth Art Month (YAM) at Common Street Arts

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YAM exhibition features local K-12 artwork on display and FREE activities March 4 – March 30, 2019

Waterville, Maine— Waterville Creates! is pleased to present the 5th annual YAM exhibition at Common Street Arts, celebrating our community’s youngest painters, illustrators and sculptors. The 2019 YAM  theme is “Your Art, Your Story” and is an opportunity to showcase the creative endeavors of area youth while highlighting the importance of arts education. Each week, special programs and activities designed to encourage creative expression and exploration will take place in the Larry Sterrs Gallery. For a complete list of the scheduled projects and programs, please visit http://www.commonstreetarts.org/.

YAM at Common Street Arts celebrates visual art created by K-12 youth in the greater Waterville community. This month-long exhibition celebrates the positive effects of art education and the unique relationship between local art teachers and young artists. An opening reception will be held on Wednesday, March 6, 2019 from 4:30 – 6:30pm at Common Street Arts.

Featured free events during Youth Art Month at Common Street Arts:

Family Paint Event

Families will create a family portrait in a silhouette style using multiple colors.

Saturday, March 9 @ 2:00 – 3:30pm

Grandparent and Grandchild Day

Create art and tell your story! Bring an old photo or object from the past and share its story with your family and friends.

Saturday, March 16 @ 1:00 – 2:30pm

Art Yoga for Kids

Bend, stretch, and move, inspired by the art on the gallery walls.

Saturday, March 30 @ 10:00 – 11:00am

The Larry Sterrs Gallery at Waterville Creates! is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 – 5:00pm, and Saturday from 12:00 – 5:00pm. To learn more about the YAM exhibition as well as upcoming classes and events at Common Street Arts, visit: http://www.commonstreetarts.org.

About Waterville Creates!
Waterville Creates! is a non-profit on a mission to promote, support, and grow greater Waterville’s arts and cultural scene. Collaborating with regional arts and cultural institutions and their supporters, together we are strengthening our community as a vibrant creative center, increasing access to creative opportunities. Learn more at http://www.watervillecreates.organd for more information about the ongoing community capital campaign for the Downtown Arts Center visit http://www.downtownartscenter.org.

Waterville Creates! Hires New Development Director, Marketing Coordinator and Administrative Assistant in 2019

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Waterville, Maine —Waterville Creates!, one of Maine’s leading arts and cultural organizations and a key driver in making the city a vibrant destination in central Maine, is pleased to announce it has expanded its staff by three, hiring Bethany Savage as development director, Phoebe Sanborn as administrative assistant, and Tamara Casoria as marketing coordinator.

“We are thrilled to be adding these incredibly talented individuals to the Waterville Creates! team,” says Shannon Haines, president + CEO of Waterville Creates!. “These three positions exemplify the kind of shared staffing and resources that we sought to achieve through our recent merger with the Waterville Opera House and the Maine Film Center.” Waterville Creates! now employees over 30 people working to deliver, expand, and promote arts programming in Waterville.

Prior to joining Waterville Creates!, Bethany Savage worked as a major gifts officer and events coordinator for Island Institute, and continues her work as an artist and jeweler for her business, Bethany Savage Fine Art. As former president of her own fundraising consulting business, Bethany assisted the fundraising efforts of numerous organizations including the Beth C. Wright Cancer Resource Center and the SPCA of Hancock County. Bethany earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. “Bethany’s vast experience in development in combination with her arts background will be invaluable to Waterville Creates! as we work to advance the community capital campaign for the Downtown Arts Center and expand the base of support for arts and cultural programs in our community,” says Haines.

Phoebe Sanborn has been a part of the Waterville community from a very young age and is returning to Maine in her new capacity as administrative assistant. Most recently employed by Metropolitan Valuation Services in New York City, Phoebe is an experienced office manager and HR coordinator. Phoebe holds a Bachelors of the Arts in history from Syracuse University, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude.

Tamara Casoria is currently enrolled as a marketing management major at Thomas College and has previously interned for three semesters at Waterville Creates! assisting with marketing initiatives and promotional efforts. Tamara enjoys the great outdoors and spending time with family in the countryside of central Maine.

About Waterville Creates!
Waterville Creates! is a non-profit on a mission to promote, support, and grow greater Waterville’s arts and cultural scene. Collaborating with regional arts and culture cultural institutions and their supporters, together we are strengthening our community as a vibrant center, increasing access to creative opportunities. Learn more at http://www.watervillecreates.org and learn more about our ongoing community capital campaign for the Downtown Arts Center at http://www.downtownartscenter.org.

Reimagining Castonguay Square at Common Street Arts

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January 14 – February 16, 2019

Waterville, Maine —Waterville Creates! is pleased to present Reimagining Castonguay Square, a new exhibition featuring the past, present and future of one of Waterville’s oldest public gathering spaces, opening at Common Street Arts on Monday, January 14, 2019.

Located in the heart of the historic downtown district, Castonguay Square is one of Waterville’s oldest public gathering spaces. Gifted to the city by land deed in 1840, “the commons” was renamed Castonguay Square in 1921 for Arthur L. Castonguay, the first soldier from Waterville to be killed in action in World War I. During this time of significant new investment and transformative change in downtown Waterville, Waterville Creates! is leading a public redesign process for Castonguay Square. Funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) with additional support from the City of Waterville and Colby College, the design project involves diverse voices and perspectives in reimagining this important civic space and its role in our community.

This exhibition integrates three-dimensional design concepts created by teams of citizens during a public design charrette held in November 2018.  Historic images of Castonguay Square from the Waterville Historical Society will also be included in this exhibition.

Castonguay Square Redesign – Charrette #3
Wednesday, January 16 from 5:30 – 7:00pm
Bill + Joan Alfond Main Street Commons at the Chace Community Forum

FREE and Open to the Public
The design team from Beyer Blinder Belle and Mitchell & Associates will present three design options for Castonguay Square. These designs will be based on input provided by community members at the first two charrettes and earlier stakeholder meetings. The goal of this presentation will be to prioritize concepts and design elements within the three options to be combined in a single conceptual design direction. Refreshments will be available beginning at 5:00 pm.

“One of the primary goals of Waterville Creates! is to provide a diverse array of accessible and relevant programming for our community and the Reimagining Castonguay Squareexhibition fits squarely with this mission,” says Patricia King, vice president at Waterville Creates! “This exhibition speaks to the thoughtful collaboration that is taking place within our community during this wonderful moment in Waterville’s history. It’s lovely to see such active participation when thinking about public spaces that we all share.”

The Sterrs Gallery at Common Street Arts is open Monday through Friday from 9:00am – 5:00pm and on Saturday from 12:00 – 5:00pm at the Hathaway Creative Center, 10 Water Street in Waterville. To learn more about the Reimagining Castonguay Square exhibition, visit: http://www.commonstreetarts.org.

About Waterville Creates!
Waterville Creates! is a non-profit on a mission to promote, support, and grow greater Waterville’s arts and cultural scene. Collaborating with regional arts and culture institutions and their supporters, together we are strengthening our community as a vibrant creative center, increasing access to creative opportunities. Learn more athttp://www.watervillecreates.org and learn more about our ongoing community capital campaign for the Downtown Arts Center at http://www.downtownartscenter.org.

Waterville Rocks! Named a Semi-Finalist for $25,000 Grant for 10-Week Live Concert Series in 2019

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Online votes cast Nov 1-20 are a key factor when the Levitt Foundation selects up to 15 winners

Waterville, Maine — Waterville Rocks!, the free, family-friendly summer concert series hosted by the Waterville Opera House and Waterville Creates!, is now in the running for a $25,000 grant to expand to a 10-week live music series at Head of Falls in downtown Waterville next summer. Created in 2016 to provide free live music programming for the community and animate downtown Waterville, the series has grown in popularity each year and now needs to rock the vote as the Top 25 grant finalists will be selected through online public votes cast November 1st – 20th. The Levitt Foundation will then review the proposals of these 25 finalists and will select up to 15 Levitt AMP winners, who will be announced on December 18, 2018.

Sponsored by the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation, a national foundation dedicated to strengthening the social fabric of America through free live music, the Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Awards are an exciting matching grant opportunity designed to serve small to mid-sized towns and cities with populations up to 400,000. Up to 15 nonprofits will receive $25,000 each in matching funds to produce their own Levitt AMP Music Series—an outdoor, free concert series featuring a diverse lineup of professional musicians.

Waterville Creates! submitted the proposal to expand the existing Waterville Rocks! concert series to a weekly, 10-week series in 2019 and relocate the events to Head of Falls next to the new RiverWalk in downtown Waterville. The past three summers, the concert series has consisted of four evening concerts in Castonguay Square. Waterville’s proposal is now posted on the Levitt AMP website for public voting.

A successful campaign for Waterville Rocks! depends on community participation to get as many online votes as possible to bring the concert series to town. Community support, as measured by the number of online votes received, will be one of the key factors when the Levitt Foundation selects up to 15 winners.

Supporters are asked to visit https://grant.levittamp.org/voter-registration-page/ to register and vote. Online public voting opens on November 1 and ends November 20 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time. The top 25 finalists will be selected through online public voting. The Levitt Foundation will then review the proposals of these 25 finalists and will select up to 15 Levitt AMP winners, which will be announced on December 18, 2018.

“This is an incredible opportunity for this growing community event as we head into the planning phase for year four of Waterville Rocks!,” says Shannon Haines, President and CEO of Waterville Creates! “Strong attendance during this past summer’s Waterville Rocks! proves that our community wants more free and accessible arts programming, and is especially interested in live music. This funding would allow us to continue to provide a high-caliber concert series while utilizing the amazing new greenspace adjacent to the RiverWalk at Head of Falls.” Waterville Creates! provides funding and marketing support for Waterville Rocks!, which is supported by a variety of community sponsors.

Waterville Creates! asks supporters to start spreading the word to family, friends, colleagues and neighbors and rally the community to sign up and vote for the Waterville Rocks! proposal.

Learn more about this grant opportunity at http://levittamp.org

About Waterville Rocks!
Waterville Rocks! is a free, family-friendly concert series held in downtown Waterville’s Castonguay Square. Established in 2016 by local business leaders and arts-focused organizations, Waterville Rocks! has become an annual community celebration of all-things-music held in the great outdoors. Keep up to date on all the latest and greatest news and event updates at operahouse.org/watervillerocks/ or on Facebook at facebook.com/WatervilleRocks.

About Waterville Creates!
Waterville Creates! is a non-profit on a mission to promote, support, and grow greater Waterville’s arts and cultural scene. Collaborating with regional arts and culture cultural institutions and their supporters, together we are strengthening our community as a vibrant center, increasing access to creative opportunities. Learn more at http://www.watervillecreates.org and learn more about our ongoing community capital campaign for the Downtown Arts Center at http://www.downtownartscenter.org.

Serena Sanborn Selected to Participate in “Citizen Science” School in Austria

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Waterville, Maine — Waterville Creates!, a Maine non-profit corporation that supports the arts in central Maine, is pleased to announce Serena Sanborn, education and outreach coordinator at Waterville Creates!, has been invited to participate in the “Citizen Science in Theory and Practice Summer School” program organized by PhD fellows of the Vienna Doctoral School CoBeNe. While attending the school, Serena will have direct experience associated with Citizen Science and will share ideas and best practices with expert speakers and other participants. Only twenty-four individuals are selected each year to participate; Sanborn is the only participant from the United States to be accepted this year.

Citizen Science (CS) is becoming increasingly important within the research community and these workshops will focus on cultural diversity and international collaboration. The Citizen Science School will organize a citizen science project, provide applications for tracking, and advise attendees how to best present their findings. While in school, participants will work in teams on a number of active projects focusing on animal species, the collection, and the importance of data. Sanborn plans to incorporate her knowledge from Citizen Science to develop a project in collaboration with students from Thomas College and Colby College that will research Waterville’s species, including an urban species count—resulting in an illustrated guide to the common species of Waterville.

“They usually choose Ph.D. students and active biologists,” said Sanborn. “I think they liked my proposal which brings art and science together in a community setting. While in Austria, I will collaborate with innovative scientists who integrate art in their research process. I’m looking forward to these discussions and to bring ideas back to Waterville. It’s incredibly exciting!”

About Waterville Creates!
Waterville Creates! is a non-profit on a mission to promote, support, and grow greater Waterville’s arts and cultural scene. Collaborating with regional arts and culture institutions and their supporters, together we are strengthening our community as a vibrant creative center, increasing access to creative opportunities. Learn more at http://www.watervillecreates.org and learn more about our ongoing community capital campaign for the Downtown Arts Center at http://www.downtownartscenter.org.