Coffee By Design names 2016 Rebel Blend Fund recipients and donates $5,700
PORTLAND, Maine – Coffee By Design held its annual Rebel Blend Fund Awards today, providing grants to three Maine non-profit organizations. Presented annually, the fund has been awarding arts grants in Maine for 19 years. This year’s total fund of $5,700 was distributed to 240 Strings, LumenARRT! and New Fruit.
The fund is supported through the purchase of the company’s Rebel Blend coffee. Rebel Blend combines beans from three major growing regions: Asia, Americas and Africa. $1 from each pound sold or brewed in CBD coffeehouses is contributed to the fund and the total amount from yearly sales is awarded to the winners. Since its start, over $75,000 has been awarded through the Rebel Blend Fund Grant.
About the 2016 Rebel Blend Winners:
240 Strings received $3600. This newly formed 501c3 organization is working to bring classical music into low income household children’s lives by providing classical music lessons and instruments for a year. The Rebel Blend Fund will pay for three Portland students, one student in each of these areas: piano, violin and cello. In addition to lessons, students will participate in workshops, work on music in groups with their peers and be able to attend free chamber music concerts. Students will perform often within the community. http://www.240strings.org
LumenARRT! is the recipient of $1100. For over three years, the Artists’ Rapid Response Team (ARRT!) has been creating banners for progressive non-profit organizations in Maine for use at demonstrations, press conferences and rallies. Collaborating with 40+ non-profit, progressive groups, their goal is to promote social change in Maine. Operating under the umbrella of the Union of Maine Visual Artists, ARRT! educates the public by providing rich visuals to present these groups’ social, economic and environmental justice messages. Now, LumenARRT! has been formed to use large scale video projections to create dynamic experiences that amplify these messages even further. The Rebel Blend funds will enable the group to purchase better software for video projection mapping and wi-fi connectivity, build new projector stand bases and upgrade their iPad so that they can create more interactive elements at events. By creating live video, and “draw” on buildings with live art tools, the group can more directly interact with the audience. http://arrteam.org
New Fruit will receive a check for $1000 to pay for workshops at this women run artist collective. They urge a discourse of ideas and risk amongst collective members, artists and audiences who identify as women, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender. Their mission includes providing support, visibility and the means to proliferate the creative process in nontraditional materials or modalities. New Fruit Collective will spark interest in the Maine scene by creating a space where unrepresented Maine artists can feel comfortable to take risks and challenge themselves and their audiences. Funding will enable New Fruit to keep creative installation, visual/sound performance and non-traditional arts alive in a low cost to no cost barrier free environment. By supporting the underrepresented artists in Portland and providing financially and geographically accessible studio space, they hope to continue to help diversify and challenge the Maine arts community. https://newfruit.net
2015 Rebel Blend Fund recipients were Cultivating A Pollinator – Friendly Yard: A Seasonal Guide for Mainers, “White Like You, Mommy,” Salvaged Crafts and Maine Burundi Drumming World Connect.
Rebel Blend winners are chosen each year by a team of CBD employees from each of the coffeehouses, the roastery and management, who review all applications and determine where the grant money will be most beneficial. To be considered for Rebel Blend funding, applicants must submit art projects within the state of Maine along with a detailed description of how their projects would benefit from the grant money.
Rebel Blend submissions are accepted annually from May 1 – August 31. Further information can be found online at coffeebydesign.com.
Androscoggin Bank proudly supports Coffee By Design’s Rebel Blend Fund by recognizing this year’s recipients in an upcoming Mainebiz ad.
About Coffee By Design:
Coffee By Design, a Maine-owned and operated coffee company since 1994, is dedicated to serving customers sustainably sourced, traceable, quality coffee. The company is B Corp Certified and recently earned the 2016 Maine MEP Manufacturing Excellence Award. Owners Mary Allen Lindemann and Alan Spear were named Maine SBA Small Business Person of the Year, 2014. Coffee By Design operates a roastery and coffee house at One Diamond St, Portland, and has locations on Portland’s India St., Congress St. and Washington Ave. and in Freeport at L.L. Bean. The company also runs a private espresso and coldbrew coffee bar in IDEXX.
In addition to serving some of the world’s finest coffee, Coffee By Design is committed to supporting the arts, the environment, and the community. Served at over 450 select restaurants, cafes and gourmet stores, their coffee is enjoyed worldwide. For more information, go to www.coffeebydesign.com.
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