LEWISTON – Even L/A Arts’ boss knows the organization can be tough to figure.
After all, the group sends storytellers, painters and mimes into local schools. It also runs movie nights at the community college, hosts concerts at St. Mary’s and puts on summertime shows in public parks.
“Not everybody knows everything we do,” said Andrew Harris, L/A Arts’ executive director. “As we don’t have a single focus, that’s understandable.”
It’s a problem which Harris, who took over nine months ago, hopes to cure.
And it’s important because the group must constantly ask for money: from the cities of Lewiston and Auburn, from business and from individuals.
“Finding a sponsor is like winning the lottery,” Harris said. The money is what allows the group to bring new artists to the area or, as he hopes, start new programs.
In the coming year, L/A Arts wants to create a program specifically for senior citizens, perhaps as a theater class.
“We were looking at what we do and realized we do nothing specifically for them,” Harris said.
Most of L/A Arts’ events, particularly its movies and public concerts, are serving a niche audience and working with other agencies.
“We’ve got enough auditoriums,” Harris said. “We’ve got to fill those auditoriums.”
Several upcoming events hope to draw big audiences:
l The Quebec-based Le Vent du Nord has already sold out the Franco-American Heritage Center at St. Mary’s for its Jan. 19 concert. The band, which features a fiddler, a singer-guitarist, a pianist-hurdy gurdy player, and a dancer-accordionist, was among the hits of the 2005 American Folk Festival in Bangor, said Cheri Donahue, L/A Arts’ marketing and development director.
l On Feb. 1 and 2, the Senegalese film, “Moolaade,” will be shown at the Central Maine Community College. The film tells the story of four women as they escape the African tradition of female circumcision.
l On Feb. 9, The Persuasions singers plan to perform a show at the Franco-American Heritage Center. “They are a classic a cappella band,” Harris said. “And they may not be performing together that much longer.”
l Three days later, on Feb. 12, L/A Arts is moving from an auditorium to a bed and breakfast, hosting an “Evening of Wine and Roses” at Auburn’s Munroe Inn. The $100-per-person event includes a multi-course meal, a wine tasting and poetry readings.
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