More than lobsters,
lighthouses, and l.l. bean: Maine’s
statewide Cultural Tourism Program
The Setting
Not a wealthy state, Maine has a limited budget
to disburse among many needy and deserving
agencies. When all are clamoring for
funding, factionalism often arises. As
they discovered in Maine, there is a better way
to use both human and financial resources than
competing for them.
Lobsters, lighthouses, and L.L. Bean. Indelible images of Maine,
ones the citizens are proud of. Yet this spacious state is eminently
gifted with other natural, cultural, and historic attractions
that also deserve attention. And that requires money—something
Maine has in very limited supply. In the wake of the 1995 White
House Conference on Travel and Tourism, the Maine Arts Commission
looked at the statistics regarding cultural heritage tourism
and realized it could play a central role in boosting flagging
economies
as well as visitation to arts and cultural facilities.
As 1990s federal budget cuts for the arts trickled down to the
state level, the Maine Arts Commission watched in distress as
its pool of legislated funds continued to shrink. According to
Kimber Craine of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies,
it was time to take a new look at funding possibilities. “The
competitive grant system was no longer adequate for addressing
the issues of access, artistic excellence, and cultural development.”
The answer to the problem of too few funds for too many requests
seemed to lie in the opposite direction—with the communities,
by teaching them to help themselves through cultural heritage
tourism, and among the Maine Arts Commission’s peers, other
state agencies, who heretofore might have been viewed more as
adversaries for a limited pot of money.
So the Maine Arts Commission took the plunge and sought support
from the Maine Office of Tourism to sponsor a workshop to explain
the concept of cultural heritage tourism to more than 100 representatives
of arts organizations, museums, state agencies, chambers of commerce,
historical societies, and businesses from across the state. Following
up that successful gathering, the Maine Arts Commission appointed
a Cultural Tourism Task Force to work on strategies to develop
additional links between cultural
organizations and public and private sector groups in the state.
“We needed to raise awareness and educate the players
around the state about what cultural tourism is,” explains
Abbe Levin, special projects coordinator at the Maine Arts Commission.
To do so required funding and that came, surprisingly, from requests
to the Maine Humanities Council, the Maine Historic Preservation
Commission, and the Maine Office of Tourism. “It wasn’t
anything particularly official.
We were just testing things out by asking each agency to kick
in a small amount of money to help pay for the workshops.” What
has grown into a mutually satisfactory alliance was actually
a major first for the
State of Maine. “This was huge,” says Levin. “We
had never worked with these agencies in this way.” Maybe not, but after that there was no turning back. A partnership
had been formed, however untested.
“We will work with regional
organizations and statewide associations to
develop marketing techniques for such concepts as eco- and
cultural tourism, and to ensure resources and facilities
are in place and open and enable
tourists to travel inland and to the northern regions of
the state.” — From the 1996 Maine Office of Tourism Five-Year
Marketing and Development Strategy
What Happened Next
In response to the Maine Arts Commission- originated cultural
heritage tourism workshops that were now being held around the
state, the Maine Office of Tourism made cultural tourism a priority
by including it as an important component of its five-year plan.
The cultural community was lucky
to have an ally in tourism in the person
of Nat Bowditch, assistant director of the state tourism office.
He had previously been with the arts commission and was aware
of the importance
of the linkages that were
being forged between his
old and new organizations.
The four original partners agreed, in 1997, to form an official
multi-agency funding alliance to forward cultural heritage tourism
in Maine. Calling itself the Arts and Heritage Tourism Partnership,
the group agreed to contribute funds for planning and implementation
grants. Early results include statewide tourism workshops and
training sessions, a statewide inventory of arts and heritage
groups, the Mid-Coast Arts and Heritage Map, an
out-of-state marketing campaign, and
perhaps most significantly, a strengthened partnership with the
Office of Tourism. Tourism included an arts and heritage
calendar of events on its official web site and created a staff
position to handle
cultural tourism. This position was filled by Anne Ball, formerly
of the Freeport Historical Society.
Ball, who holds the title Arts and Heritage Tourism Consultant
for Maine, says, “
It was very telling that the tourism office hired a cultural
person rather than a marketing one. The cultural entities needed
to understand tourism and vice versa.
It was a logical marriage and one that has developed smoothly.”
In 1998, the partnership set forth goals to promote a travel
experience that supports the arts and heritage; to develop standards
that protect, preserve, and promote quality cultural resources;
and to develop strategies
that strengthen and enhance the capacity of cultural and heritage
organizations to serve their communities. In pursuit of those
goals, the partnership awarded
funding to three pilot projects—Wabanaki Cultural Guide,
St. John Valley Welcome Guide, and “Come See What’s
Cooking
in Hancock County.”
The Maine Arts Commission and the Office of Tourism also provided
technical assistance to the development of projects including
Mainemusic.org and the Maine Art Museum Trail. (See caption below.)
The Maine Archives and Museums and
the Maine Humanities Council received
a $50,000 Institute of Museum and Library Services grant to develop
a statewide
museum website, create marketing
photography of museums, and build awareness for cultural heritage
tourism.
The funding partnership continued to define and promote cultural
tourism resources, linking them and proposing marketing strategies
for them in 1999 by awarding four additional planning grants
to various entities. The movement to advance Maine through arts
and heritage tourism received official status when the Governor’s
Conference on Tourism chose as its theme, “Sharing Our
Treasures: Marketing the Richness of Maine’s Arts
and Heritage and Outdoor Recreation Experiences.”
Because cultural heritage tourism programming was becoming broader
and more varied with each new endeavor, in 2000 the Arts and
Heritage Funding Partnership expanded to include Maine Department
of Agriculture, Maine Department of Transportation, Maine Department
of Conservation, and the Maine State Planning Office. All of
these agencies worked together to assist the state’s ongoing
efforts to grant and assist cultural heritage tourism efforts,
which include more thematic trails and
the development of cultural tourism in
the western Maine mountain region.
Maine Art Museum Trail
Through thematic trails, local, low-budgeted sites and attractions
can take advantage of cooperative advertising and state—and
foundation-funded promotions to generate high-dollar returns
through increased visitation. The Maine Art Museum Trail— a collaboration between Maine Arts Commission, Maine Office of
Tourism, and seven art museums—is detailed in this clean-lined,
contemporarily styled brochure sprinkled with thumbnail illustrations
of art and illuminating quotes from the artists themselves. The
project was funded by a major grant from the Stephen and Tabitha
King Foundation as well as contributions from the Davis Family
Foundation, Maine Arts Commission, National Endowment for the
Arts, Maine Office of Tourism, and Maine Humanities Council.
Over two years, 200,000 brochures were printed and distributed
through the museums, chambers of commerce, the Portland Convention
and Visitor’s Bureau, and a mass mailing. As a result,
each of the seven museums has reaped increased visitation, some
dramatically so. The Bates College Museum of Art in Lewiston
saw an 81 percent increase from 1998 to 1999. Due to these impressive
numbers, the college has injected additional operating dollars
into the museum to help it produce more interesting exhibits
and additional marketing efforts.
Results
Results of Maine’s collaborative efforts both among its
public agencies and between them and the communities—are
multiple, and include such staggering statistics
as 80 percent increases in attendance at some museums, and free
press for programs in such esteemed publications as
The New York Times. But the most
obvious positive outcome of the
collaboration was the $3.6 million
awarded to a consortium of seven state cultural entities by the
state legislature
in 1999. Proposed as the New Century Community Program, the request
for funds was put forth by a partnership of organizations that
heretofore could not get any significant funding individually.
The program “…has brought new resources and, in many
cases, new
capacities to grass-roots cultural
organizations in towns of every size
across Maine,” states Erik Jorgensen,
program officer for the Maine Humanities Council and program
coordinator for New Century. “The program assumes
a holistic approach to community culture, supporting projects
ranging from historic preservation and museum exhibits, to school
and library based programs.” The program returned 100 percent of
the appropriated funds to community organizations across Maine
in the form
of matching grants and direct services, leveraging nearly $10
million in outside funding. The partners plan to lobby
the state regularly in pursuit of their
common goals.
Lobsters, lighthouses, and L.L. Bean. Indelible images of Maine,
ones the citizens are proud of. Yet this spacious state is eminently
gifted with other natural, cultural, and historic attractions
that also deserve attention. And that requires money—something
Maine has in very limited supply. In the wake of the 1995 White
House Conference on Travel and Tourism, the Maine Arts Commission
looked at the statistics regarding cultural heritage tourism
and realized it could play a central role in boosting flagging
economies
as well as visitation to arts and cultural facilities.
The answer to the problem of too few funds for too many requests
seemed to lie in the opposite direction—with the communities,
by teaching them to help themselves through cultural heritage
tourism, and among the Maine Arts Commission’s peers, other
state agencies, who heretofore might have been viewed more as
adversaries for a limited pot of money.
The four original partners agreed, in 1997, to form an official
multi-agency funding alliance to forward cultural heritage tourism
in Maine. Calling itself the Arts and Heritage Tourism Partnership,
the group agreed to contribute funds for planning and implementation
grants. Early results include statewide tourism workshops and
training sessions, a statewide inventory of arts and heritage
groups, the Mid-Coast Arts and Heritage Map, an
out-of-state marketing campaign, and
perhaps most significantly, a strengthened partnership with the
Office of Tourism. Tourism included an arts and heritage
calendar of events on its official web site and created a staff
position to handle
cultural tourism. This position was filled by Anne Ball, formerly
of the Freeport Historical Society. 
Through thematic trails, local, low-budgeted sites and attractions
can take advantage of cooperative advertising and state—and
foundation-funded promotions to generate high-dollar returns
through increased visitation. The Maine Art Museum Trail— a collaboration between Maine Arts Commission, Maine Office of
Tourism, and seven art museums—is detailed in this clean-lined,
contemporarily styled brochure sprinkled with thumbnail illustrations
of art and illuminating quotes from the artists themselves. The
project was funded by a major grant from the Stephen and Tabitha
King Foundation as well as contributions from the Davis Family
Foundation, Maine Arts Commission, National Endowment for the
Arts, Maine Office of Tourism, and Maine Humanities Council.
Over two years, 200,000 brochures were printed and distributed
through the museums, chambers of commerce, the Portland Convention
and Visitor’s Bureau, and a mass mailing. As a result,
each of the seven museums has reaped increased visitation, some
dramatically so. The Bates College Museum of Art in Lewiston
saw an 81 percent increase from 1998 to 1999. Due to these impressive
numbers, the college has injected additional operating dollars
into the museum to help it produce more interesting exhibits
and additional marketing efforts.
Results of Maine’s collaborative efforts both among its
public agencies and between them and the communities—are
multiple, and include such staggering statistics
as 80 percent increases in attendance at some museums, and free
press for programs in such esteemed publications as
The New York Times. But the most
obvious positive outcome of the
collaboration was the $3.6 million
awarded to a consortium of seven state cultural entities by the
state legislature
in 1999. Proposed as the New Century Community Program, the request
for funds was put forth by a partnership of organizations that
heretofore could not get any significant funding individually.
The program “…has brought new resources and, in many
cases, new
capacities to grass-roots cultural
organizations in towns of every size
across Maine,” states Erik Jorgensen,
program officer for the Maine Humanities Council and program
coordinator for New Century. “The program assumes
a holistic approach to community culture, supporting projects
ranging from historic preservation and museum exhibits, to school
and library based programs.” The program returned 100 percent of
the appropriated funds to community organizations across Maine
in the form
of matching grants and direct services, leveraging nearly $10
million in outside funding. The partners plan to lobby
the state regularly in pursuit of their
common goals.
