Awards highlight Maine's immigrant markets, art and historic preservation

A person stands with a colorfully painted bus.

Photo / Courtesy Maine Downtown Center Common Roots’s art bus brings creativity to neighborhoods, schools and events as an extension of the mission to reach people of all ages and backgrounds.

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By Laurie Schreiber

An arts nonprofit with a mobile art bus, an immigrant market project and a preservationist were recognized by a program that highlights a standout small business, project and individual having major effects in downtown communities in the past year.

“They are significant contributors to the economic engine of their community, and Maine as a whole,” said Anne Ball, senior program director of the Maine Downtown Center, which gathered nominations for the awards during a competitive process.

The center is a program of the Maine Development Foundation.

The awards recognize efforts in communities that are part of the Maine Development Foundation’s Maine Downtown Center program. An awards event is scheduled for Nov. 14 at Bath Savings Bank in Bath from 9-11:30 a.m.

Art bus

Common Roots, at 165 Main St. in Biddeford, is a “community-centered creative space” that aims to connect people to nature through art, sculpture, music and other artistic disciplines. The studio also cuts, creates and sells custom skateboards.

The studio offers local artists a place to make, display and sell their work, supporting creative entrepreneurship and helping strengthen the local creative economy, the center said.

Photo / Courtesy Maine Downtown Center

Common Roots in Biddeford offers local artists a place to make, display and sell their work.

Its art bus brings creativity to neighborhoods, schools and events as an extension of the mission to reach people of all ages and backgrounds.

“This community arts model contributes to job creation, retail activation, and increased cultural capital within the downtown area,” the center said.

The studio was established by Nick Blunier, a painter, sculptor and special needs art teacher who began the concept as an artist collective.

“Nature has driven my art since the beginning,” Blunier says in his bio. “I work in a variety of mediums such as but not limited to driftwood, watercolor, woodworking, metal art and I am always experimenting with new ventures.”

Immigrant markets

Westbrook World Markets received the downtown project award as a collaboration between Discover Downtown Westbrook and the Immigrant Welcome Center to expand the visibility, marketing reach, growth and sales of five international food markets in downtown Westbrook.

Three people pose in a line against a brick wall backdrop.

Photo / Courtesy Maine Downtown Center

Vendors from Westbrook World Markets flank Amy Grommes Pulaski of Discover Downtown Westbrook, the project’s parent organization.

The effort was made possible by a 2024 domestic trade grant from the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development. The goal is to strengthen and support New Mainer-owned markets, which offer Sudanese, Rwandan, Congolese, Caribbean, Eastern European and Arabic products and “play an essential role in the city’s economic and cultural fabric” but “face significant challenges in visibility, outreach and competition from larger chain supermarkets,” the center said.

By working with business owners, the project aims to increase visibility, expand their customer base and help secure their future.

The markets include Medeo European Food and Deli and offer a selection of foods from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, and more. Sindibad Halal Arabic Market has freshly baked pita and flatbreads, tahini, olives, rice, peas, beans, cheeses, Ayran yogurt and cultural items such as incense and henna. La Fontaine African Market offers African food staples, spices and fashion.

Preservation

The William F King Jr. Downtown Champion award went to Tara Kelly, executive director of Maine Preservation. Kelly, who joined the Yarmouth-based nonprofit in 2021, brought with her more than a decade of leadership experience in historic preservation, nonprofit management, policy and advocacy initiatives, public programming and fundraising.

Photo / Courtesy Maine Downtown Center

Tara Kelly, middle, speaks to a Maine Preservation group.

She initiated Maine Preservation’s multi-day trips to bring guidance to communities seeking support for preservation efforts. To date, the team has visited over 33 communities across Aroostook, Washington, Oxford, Lincoln, Waldo, Franklin, Piscataquis, Hancock, Androscoggin and York counties, spending 30 days on the road. She has also been a driving force behind Jane’s Walk ME, part of a global festival of free, volunteer-led walking conversations inspired by community activist Jane Jacobs.