Introducing Destination Portland:
Subsidized Transportation for School Field Trips in the Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Portland Ovations is now subsidizing transportation for field trips in the arts, culture, and humanities for Maine schoolchildren and educators.

Through the new initiative, called Destination Portland, school groups are invited to attend an Ovations school-time or evening performance at Merrill Auditorium or Hannaford Hall in Portland, while also combining the performance with a program, tour, or activity at another Portland cultural institution. Ovations will make available transportation subsidy grants up to $500 when a school purchases 40 or more tickets to an Ovations performance and plans a program the same day with any of these current Destination Portland partner organizations:

• Portland Museum of Art (www.portlandmuseum.org)
• Museum of African Arts and Culture (www.museumafricanculture.org)
• Portland Harbor Museum (www.portlandharbormuseum.org)
• The Telling Room (www.tellingroom.org)
• Maine Historical Society (www.mainehistory.org)
• The Children's Museum (www.kitetails.org)
• Portland Public Library (www.portlandlibrary.com)

Transportation subsidies through Destination Portland are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Preference will be given first to schools in York County and Lewiston/Auburn with large populations of English Language Learners (ELL) and free- or reduced-lunch students.

Barri Lynn Moreau, director of education and community outreach for Ovations, will work with schools and Destination Portland partners to tailor a field trip that meets the needs of teachers and students and ties into Maine's Parameters for Essential Instruction.

You can download a flyer and application for a Destination Portland subsidy here.

Interested schools and teachers can also apply for a transportation subsidy via email to Barri Lynn Moreau at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) , or by writing Director of Education and Outreach, Portland Ovations, 50 Monument Square, 2nd Floor, Portland, ME 04101 at least one month prior to the performance date.

Destination Portland is funded in part by the Sam L. Cohen Foundation. The School-Time Performances and Model School Program of Ovations Offstage are funded in part by the Travelers Foundation, the charitable arm of Travelers, and by the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation.

Destination Portland is funded in part by the Sam L. Cohen Foundation.