Youth Arts Access Fund

Waterville Creates believes that all youth, regardless of income, ability, or background, should have access to outstanding arts programming and arts education opportunities. Established in March 2022, our Youth Arts Access Fund (YAAF) provides youth aged 18 and under with free access to Waterville Creates’ events and programs, including movies at the Maine Film Center, theatre camp, plays, concerts, and performances at the Waterville Opera House, and art and clay classes and camps at Ticonic Gallery + Studios. Since its launch, YAAF has been accessed over 2,200 times, providing over $80,000 in free arts experiences.

Please consider making a tax-deductible gift to help ensure that all youth have access to opportunities in the arts. Every gift makes a difference!

Holiday Bazaar 2023

This holiday season, Ticonic Gallery is transformed into a vibrant and festive marketplace filled with unique and distinctive gifts created by talented artists + makers. Featuring handcrafted items from dozens of Maine artisans, the Holiday Bazaar is the perfect place to find a special gift for anyone on your shopping list.

Thank you to our sponsors: Allen Insurance, Kennebec Savings Bank, Morning Sentinel + Kennebec Journal, and PRO Moving Services.

Who we are

See all that Waterville Creates has to offer! From concerts and plays, to films, and art classes. Visit the Paul J. Schupf Art Center at 93 Main Street in Waterville, or at watervillecreates.org.

MIFF26

Founded in 1998, the Maine International Film Festival (MIFF) is a project of the Maine Film Center. Most years, the 10 days of the festival showcase nearly 100 films, representing the best of American independent and international cinema, and spotlight some of Maine and New England’s most exciting and innovative filmmakers.

Waterville Creates 2022 Anthem Video

Art brings life to our city and brings our city to life.

Waterville Creates believes in the power of the arts to enrich and transform our community, one person at a time. By making arts experiences available and accessible to everyone, we are building a community that is more connected, more vibrant, and more inclusive.

Common Threads Exhibition

What does it mean to be part of a community? How can we forge meaningful connections with each other and the place we call home? Using a beautiful, screen-printed tent as a gathering place, artists Elizabeth Jabar and Colleen Kinsella brought artists and community members of all ages together to explore these questions through a series of collaborative workshops and conversations during the summer of 2022. Featuring an array of prints, written works, and portraits, this exhibition represents the individual and collective stories gathered throughout the process and provides a glimpse of the shared hopes, dreams, and ideas for Waterville. Visitors to the exhibition are invited to contribute their own thoughts through a series of interactive prompts.

Artwork by Sara Inacio, Elizabeth Jabar, and Colleen Kinsella

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Maine Arts Commission and realized in partnership with the Colby College Museum of Art and its Lunder Institute for American Art.

Paul J. Schupf Art Center: Harold Alfond Foundation Grant Announcement

Waterville Creates! is thrilled to announce a $6 million challenge grant from the Harold Alfond Foundation in support of the Paul J. Schupf Art Center. This remarkable gift includes a direct 3 to 1 match of all contributions – past and future – to our community capital campaign, and an additional $3 million when the community campaign reaches a million dollars.

On the Road with Waterville Creates: The Rogers Sisters

How does 2D Animation work? Check out this unique and talented sister team, Isabelle and Phoebe Rogers, as they show off how they create their work.

We are Waterville Creates

What is Waterville Creates and what does our organization do? We promote, support, and grow our community‘s arts and cultural assets in order to strengthen Waterville as a vibrant creative center, increase access to creative opportunities for residents and visitors, and advance community and economic development goals.

The Making of Seussical the Musical at the Waterville Opera House

In the summer of 2018 the Waterville Opera House produced Seussical the Musical, a family-friendly community production. More than 65 volunteer actors, musicians, designers, artists and technicians collaborated with Opera House staff to bring this amazing story to life. We expected to produce a highly-entertaining show. What we were able to create together became so much more than entertainment: we created family. This is our story.

Roger Deakins: On Cinematography

In 2017, MIFF honored Roger Deakins with the first Karl Struss Award for Distinguished Achievement in Cinematography. See the first interview he gave at #MIFF20, about the craft for which he’s been so celebrated, produced by MEDIALOMA.

Into the Forest: Flora, Fauna, Lichen, Moss

This exhibition explores the themes of our natural environment, preservation, conservation, and biological diversity. Central Maine is a region where residents have the potential to directly interact with the natural landscape through nature walks, birdwatching, hunting, and fishing, among other explorations—and the work of Barbara Sullivan and Juliet Karelsen offers a unique and candid artists’ perspective on our local environment.

Experience the Downtown Waterville Farmers Market

The downtown Waterville Farmers Market provides our community with wonderfully fresh, locally produced meats, veggies, fruits, dairy products and much more. The fruits and vegetables you buy at the farmers market are the freshest and tastiest available. This food is as real as it gets—fresh from the farm.

Feature Friday: Isaac Tardy

Music is the best way to start your morning on this #FeatureFriday! Isaac brings a wonderful enthusiasm to whatever project he is working on whether it’s stage managing, being a part of a costume design team, or performing. He entertained WOH audiences as Davey in Newsies and, if it weren’t for the pandemic, would have climbed a huge tree onstage in Tuck Everlasting as Jesse Tuck (fingers crossed for next year)! We’re sad to see him sing “Goodbye” to Maine for now, but excited he’s going on to study musical theatre in college.

The MIFF 2017 Dailies: Day 4

Video produced by MEDIALOMA

#Feature Friday: Katherine Boston

It’s our very first #FeatureFriday DANCE video! Katherine has been dancing almost her entire life and it shows in how at home she looks onstage. She’s been a theatre camp counselor, danced in Kennebec Dance Centre recitals, and starred in several musical theatre productions here at the Opera House. We’ll miss her while she’s away at college, but wish her all the best with her performance studies! Shout out to Holly Collins Gannet, another one of our community theatre performers, for the choreography in this beautiful piece!

Waterville Wheat Paste

The Public Art Task Group embarked upon its first Public Art Installation, Waterville Wheat Paste, on buildings throughout downtown Waterville in July 2017 in anticipation of the 20th Annual Maine International Film Festival. This is Waterville Wheat Paste!

Making Space for WE

Making Space for WE: Building Bridges through Art and Social Action, an event in downtown Waterville featuring speaker Elizabeth Jabar, who spent part of her childhood in Waterville and is now associate dean and director of public engagement at the Maine College of Art. Jabar discusses the role of the citizen, artist, designer, and the power of community partnerships in fostering social change.

PechaKucha Night Waterville

PechaKucha Night Waterville is presented by a volunteer Team PK, Waterville Creates, and the Waterville Public Library. The Colby College Center for the Arts & Humanities is the 2017-2018 season sponsor.