PORTLAND, Maine — She has worked with Mike Myers, Jon Lovitz and a host of funny people. But the new head of the group in charge of promoting Portland’s arts scene is serious when it comes to increasing Maine’s artistic profile.
Creative Portland’s new executive director, Dinah Minot, stepped into the role on Oct. 5, taking over from Jennifer Hutchins, who left her position last summer.
The veteran Hollywood producer (“Wayne’s World,” “Coneheads,” “Kids in the Hall”) was co-producer and head of talent for Saturday Night Live from 1985 to 1990 and director and editor of Lorne Michaels Productions from 2006 to 2009.
Minot — a photographer and documentary filmmaker who also works in collage and printmaking — has also worked on public art installations in Santa Monica.
Minot is focused on making art more visible, and finding affordable space for artists to live and work. She believes the co-working model, demonstrated in places such as Think Tank in Portland (where BDN Portland has an office) could be applied to artists.
“There is more and more of that in every industry. People are starting to have more of a collective consciousness all over the nation,” she said.
Beyond established studios such as the old Bakery Studios in Portland and factory space in Westbrook, Minot wants to push for affordable studio space for artists in a city where rent is rising.
“I will encourage space in big buildings like The State Theatre. Portland Stage has a lot of space. We need more collectives, more pop-up galleries, more temporary galleries,” she said.
Despite the shuttering of galleries this summer, she brushes off any notion that Portland’s art scene is ebbing.
“Portland’s arts scene is bursting at the seams. I look forward to people discovering that,” she said. “The selling of the Greenhut, closing of June Fitzpatrick Gallery — it’s sad, but that’s also change taking place as people come to the end of their careers. There is room for new blood coming in.”
In conjunction with traditional galleries, Minot wants to see art everywhere, such as “multi-use gallery spaces, restaurants, home goods stores,” she said. “We intend to display art in our offices and create more sharing and less of a silo mentality.”
The First Friday Artwalk, which has morphed into a commercial festival, will change, too.
“I am looking for new, innovative, creative ways to improve it: More of a theme each month, more visits to artists studios,” she said. “The community is so important. The more people can share, get involved and be part of of dialogue, the more growth we will have.”
With the change in leadership comes a visible presence for the nonprofit organization: Creative Portland’s new offices on Free Street open in December.
