The Bangor Arts Commission voted to recommend $10,500 in grant awards to local arts groups and will forward the recommendations to the City Council for final approval.

The grants committee recommended the following awards: $3,000 to the Bangor Symphony Orchestra (requested $5,000), $1,500 to the Bangor Authors Collaborative (requested $1,500), $2,000 to Some Theatre Company (requested $2,000), $2,500 to Penobscot Theatre Company (requested $5,000) and $1,500 to Robinson Ballet (requested $5,000). Commission members said the packet of recommended awards will be sent to City Council for final approval.

Why it matters: The commission oversees a small municipal grants program used to support free or low-cost arts programming in Bangor. Commissioners said they aimed to distribute limited funds to support a mix of small and larger requests while reserving a modest carryover balance for the spring grant cycle.

Presentations and committee questions: Rania Sternberg, executive director of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, told the commission the orchestra is expanding a chamber music series into a four-concert season and has new outside support, including a $2,500 gift from Bangor Savings Bank and a $5,000 contribution from Versant Power for the broader music-and-wellness program. Sternberg said travel and hotel costs listed in the orchestra’s budget are primarily to bring musicians who live outside the Greater Bangor area: "We over 85% of our musicians come from away," she said, explaining the travel expenses and scheduling efforts to reduce per-artist cost.

Penobscot Theatre Company artistic director Jen Shepherd described plans to present two plays in repertory, including a developmental production that playwright John Cariani would attend to work on the new play. Robinson Ballet’s representative said their request supports a children’s spring production and stated the organization is seeking ways to provide discounted tickets for elementary school students.

Budget and allocation rationale: Grants committee members said they favored fully funding smaller requests and partially funding larger requests to broaden impact across applicants. Staff and commissioners reviewed carryover and prior expenses, agreed to reserve a small leftover ($14.48) from October and approved funding above the committee’s $10,000 target to reach the $10,500 recommended total.

Next steps: Commissioners voted to accept the grants committee’s recommendation and directed staff to forward the award amounts to City Council for formal approval. Commissioners discussed pursuing additional grant opportunities, improving follow-up reporting from grantees on attendance and participant numbers, and using economic-impact data to support larger budget requests in future cycles.

Quote: "We will and whatever we decide here still has to go to city council for approval anyway," a commission member said when the committee paused to collect missing budget materials.

Ending: The commission asked staff to transmit the recommended awards to City Hall and to work on stronger post-grant reporting and fundraising strategies in advance of the next budget cycle.