PORTLAND

PORTopera’s Riddle receives national recognition award

John (Jack) Riddle, founder of PORTopera, has received a 2011 National Opera Trustee Recognition Award from OPERA America, the national service organization for opera. Riddle is among four recipients of the award, which honors trustees of U.S. opera companies for leadership, generosity and audience-building efforts.

Other recipients are Lynn Wyatt of Houston Grand Opera, Eleanor Caulkins of Opera Colorado and Jackie Lockwood of Dayton Opera.

In giving the award, OPERA America acknowledges the role that trustees play in the success of opera companies and the vitality of the communities they serve. celebrating the dedication of board members at the national level, the National Opera Trustee Recognition Program seeks to inspire as well as celebrate exemplary service to opera companies and to strengthen the relationships between opera companies and their trustees across the U.S.

The honorees represent a range of accomplishments, generosity and a commitment to promoting opera in their communities.

Riddle, former president of Portland Symphony Orchestra, was instrumental in creating PORTopera and has remained active in its operation. He was the first to contribute money when the company was founded, and has been the principal fundraiser over the last 10 years and he has worked on the corporate support campaigns, efforts at securing funding from foundations and wooing contributors. OPERA America will celebrate with a February dinner and reception in New York City.

Greater Portland Landmarks receives $8,300 in grants

Greater Portland Landmarks has received a $4,000 grant from the Rines-Thompson Fund of the Maine Community Foundation for strategic planning and a $4,300 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for a preservation assessment of its Frances W. Peabody Research Library.

These grants are timely because Greater Portland Landmarks recently established the Center for Architecture and Preservation at the historic Safford House. The purpose of the center is to address increasing demand for education, advocacy and library and research services related to the built environment of greater Portland. This new center advances the group’s mission by providing access to information and ideas, and a venue where people of all ages and backgrounds can participate in educational activities and community discussions.

Greater Portland Landmarks is undertaking a comprehensive strategic planning to achieve the greatest community benefit and outreach from its Center for Architecture and Preservation and its Peabody Research Library. Additional funding for the strategic plan has been granted from the Charles Evans Hughes Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and other gifts.

OGUNQUIT

Playhouse recognized as important cultural landmark

The Ogunquit Playhouse received the Award for Outstanding Achievement in American Theatre from the New England Theatre Conference at the 59th Annual Convention, held this fall in New Haven, Conn. Jeff Watts, NETC President, presented Ogunquit’s Executive Artistic Director Bradford Kenney an award recognizing the playhouse as one of the most important cultural landmarks in New England.

SEARSPORT

Donor promises to match first-time gifts to museum

An anonymous donor has offered to match the gifts of donors who have not given previously to Penobscot Marine Museum’s annual appeal, and to match the difference for donors who give more to the current campaign than they gave in prior years.

“This generous anonymous benefactor lets his or her money do the talking,” said Marie Underwood, the museum’s president. “The ability to double new and increased gifts provides extra encouragement to support our educational programs, historic preservation efforts and research.” Underwood noted that the museum is about to enter its 75th anniversary year in 2011, and has plans for a number of new exhibits and education initiatives.

For information or to make a donation, visit www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org or call 548-2529.

WEST BATH

Dunphy to lead watercolor workshops July to October

Watercolor painter Evelyn Dunphy is leading workshops at two beautiful locations this year. From July 5-9 and July 9-14 she will lead a workshop at Milford House Wilderness Retreat, one of Nova Scotia’s most historic lakeside retreats, and nearby Kejimkujik National Park.

In August, she will lead with the program “In the Footsteps of Frederic Church,” with plein air painting workshops at “Rhodora,” Church’s camp on Millinocket Lake. The workshops will be Aug. 11-14, Aug. 25-28 and Sept. 29-Oct. 2.

Call 443-5045, e-mail: artist@evelyndunphy or visit www.evelyndunphy.com for details.

WESTBROOK

Drouin Dance students give to Westbrook Food Pantry

Drouin Dance Center recently collected and donated non-perishable food items from its 350 students and families and donated all to the Westbrook Food Pantry. The donations were brought to the Food Pantry recently by dancers from the Drouin Dance Center Dance Company. Jeanne Rielly, director of the Westbrook Food Pantry, gave the dancers a tour of the Food Pantry and explained what clients experience when they visit the Food Pantry.

Drouin Dance Center Dance Company is the competitive dance troupe of intensive-level dancers ages 6 through 16 from Westbrook, Portland, Windham and Scarborough. The dancers compete and perform throughout New England and attend master classes and workshops throughout New England and in New York City. The dancers also perform community service and volunteer.

YORK

York Art Association names recipient of Moore scholarship

The York Art Association’s scholarship committee announced that York resident Isabella Rotman will receive the 2010 Letitia Moore Charitable Trust Scholarship in the amount of $7,500. Rotman is a sophomore at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Letitia Moore died in 2007, and named the association as her primary beneficiary. The scholarship, established in 2009, honors Moore’s wish to provide aid to deserving art, and/or art history students. Moore was an artist herself and a member of YAA.

Recipients must have completed one year at an accredited college or university, be enrolled in a studio art or art history program, and have a GPA of at least 3.0. Rotman is a graduate of York High School, and was the recipient of the association’s scholarship for high school graduates in 2009.

Copy the Story Link