Keynote Speakers
Oxford Federal Credit Union
Main Stage
with Eli Cabanas, Gibson Fay-LeBlanc & Mollie Cashwell, moderated by Daniel Sipe
12:30pm - 1:00 pm
Community Stage
with Barbara Peacock
11:15am - 11:45am
Join arts leaders from across Maine for a discussion about the creative future of our state. From funding to accessibility to new ways of connecting artists and audiences, this panel explores the opportunities and challenges shaping Maine’s arts community.
Gibson Fay-LeBlanc is a poet and nonprofit arts leader. His first collection of poems, Death of a Ventriloquist won the Vassar Miller Prize, and his second, Deke Dangle Dive, was published by CavanKerry Press in 2021. His poems have appeared recently in magazines including Narrative Magazine, Poetry Northwest, and Orion, and a poem was awarded the 2025 Marvin Bell Memorial Poetry Prize by December Magazine and Maggie Smith. He has served as Executive Director of the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance since 2019 and has previously helped lead community arts organizations including The Telling Room, SPACE, and Hewnoaks.
Mollie Cashwell is the Director of the Cultural Alliance of Maine, a statewide organization working to strengthen and amplify cultural organizations and communities through collective action, research, and advocacy. Mollie was born in Calais, raised in the Bangor area, and lives in Lamoine. She is a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen with roots in Washington County and St. Stephen, New Brunswick. She holds a masters degree in Arts Administration & Cultural Policy from the Institute for Creative & Cultural Entrepreneurship at Goldsmiths, and spent 10 years working with cultural organizations in New York, Lisbon, London, and Berlin before returning to Maine in 2019 with her husband and two sons. Mollie serves on the board of the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, on the leadership team for the national Creative States Coalition, and as State Captain for Americans for the Arts. Mollie will also serve on the state's new Working Group on the Status of School and Public Libraries established by the Legislature in 2025, and the Advisory Council for Maine Council on Aging’s Creative Aging Program.
Eli Cabañas is the Grants and Website Manager and Accessibility Coordinator at the Maine Arts Commission. He graduated from the University of Rochester and has nearly 20 years of experience in web design and development, primarily in New York City with financial companies and news organizations. In 2016, Eli moved to Maine and began working with artists to build their digital and physical presence. "I’ve always loved the intersection of technology and storytelling, and the arts offer an incredible platform for both." At the Commission, he focuses on advancing accessibility, strengthening digital tools, and supporting artists and communities across the state.
Daniel Sipe (Moderator) is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Lights Out Gallery, a nonprofit that serves the artist communities of Maine. He grew up in Presque Isle, Maine and graduated from the University of Maine Business School with a Degree in Marketing, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship. Daniel has been a community organizer for the past 15 years working first in politics before moving into the Arts. "I always enjoyed viewing art and learning people's stories. But I fell in love with the art world after traveling and selling art with the Hidden Ladder Collective." He co-founded Lights Out and has been working to combine the arts community and economic development in Western Maine and throughout the state.
Barbara Peacock is an assignment photographer and director living in Portland, Maine. She studied fine arts at Boston University School of Fine Arts, and photography and filmmaking at The School for the Museum of Fine Arts / Tufts University. She began as a street photographer and gradually became an assignment lifestyle photographer and director.
Her commercial clients include Disney, Nickelodeon, French's, Arm & Hammer, Stride Rite, Merck Pharmaceutical, Tylenol, Wells Fargo & Toyota. Editorial clients include People, Newsweek, Family Circle, Oprah, Family Fun.
In 2016 she published Hometown –1982-2015 - A thirty-year photographic project of the small town where she grew up and continued to live as an adult. Published by BazanPhotos Publishing, Brooklyn NY. Printed in the USA by Puritan Capital.
In 2023 she published American Bedroom- reflections on the nature of life. It is a cultural and anthropological study of Americans in their private dwelling; the bedroom. It encompasses the entire United States and took seven years to complete. Published by Kehrer-Verlag & Printed in Heidelberg, Germany.
Barbara has won the Getty Editorial Grant, the Women Photograph/Getty Grant, three LensCulture Awards, four Top 50 Critical Mass Awards, and was named one of the Top 100 Photographers in America 2020. She was recently awarded the Arthur Gribin Legacy Award from The Gribin Museum.
She founded a non-profit organization ‘The Nightingale Project’ that teaches art and photography to disadvantaged children and with learning disabilities. She teaches locally as well as having traveled to Haiti, Cambodia and New York.
Changing the Game: the power of community arts in this moment
Amanda Huotari is a theater artist, facilitator, and professional coach. Her award-winning, interactive performances have toured internationally—from Montreal to Bogota, and from New York Clown-Theatre Festival to the White House. In 2022, she was named the Maine Arts Commission’s Performing Arts Fellow.
For 15 years, she served as Executive Artistic Director of Celebration Barn Theater in Maine where she co-facilitated workshops and retreats for thousands of artists from around the globe— deepening creative exploration, encouraging bold risk-taking, and amplifying the unique voice of each artist.
She facilitates theater creation with system-impacted artists and community leaders in Maine Inside Out’s Creative Ensemble. “Broken Clock” is currently touring prison and colleges.
Her specialty as an artist coach is helping mid-career women who have sidelined their creativity re-engage with their art (whether theater-making, writing, or visual arts) and ignite a deeper sense of purpose.
Mandy believes that each of us is a radical, creative force of nature. By cultivating community and courage, we have greater impact—and way more fun.
Join the Presence Project with Amanda Huotari
From September 15–20, take part in a one-minute-a-day adventure to stay connected after the Norway Maine Arts Festival. The whole experience happens on your phone via text message. It's playful, free, and designed for Oxford Hills residents and visitors. Sign up by midnight on Saturday, September 13 to join.