About Us
Lincoln Street Center for the Arts
Founded with a mission to preserve access to vital creative space for our Midcoast arts community.
Our organization was founded in 2023 with the critical mission to ensure a future for Rockland’s only artist building, the largest artist building in our region, and to transform it into a centerpiece for creativity, performance, and community life here in the Midcoast.
The Lincoln Street Center for the Arts is a Maine non-profit, on the path to secure our 501c3 status upon purchase of the building. Currently we are partnered with Waterfall Arts in Belfast who has generously offered their support s our fiscal sponsor. Under their financial umbrella, we are able to accept tax-deductible gifts and pledges.
Our most critical and immediate need is to secure ownership of our Lincoln Street Center building to protect the 30+ affordable art spaces and ensure that we do not lose the 300 seat historic theater it is home to. We are actively seeking individuals and organizations who may have the capacity to invest in this exciting venture. If you are interested in learning more, please email our Board Chair, Amy Files at info@lincolnstreetcenter.com. To read more about our efforts or make a donation to our campaign today, click here.
Our Team
Meet our Board
Amy Files, Board Chair
An artist and professional brand consultant, Amy is also a community organizer and committed local volunteer, having served on Rockland’s Comprehensive Planning Commission for many years, a co-founder of the community non-profit Renew Rockland, and a regular participant in city policy discussions. Along with her vision and passion for the Lincoln Street Center, Amy has expertise in marketing, event planning, and experience executing projects from concept to completion. Her diverse background and entrepreneurial spirit make her an ideal leader for this project.
Whitney Files, Board Treasurer
Whitney is a nonprofit executive with over 15 years of experience building sustainable organizations. With an MBA in non-profit management and as the CEO of our local Rockport YMCA, Whitney has experience and background guiding organizations large and small. Whitney has an impressive track record of leading projects to financial success and building capacity within the communities she works for and she has an impeccable reputation for financial planning, record keeping and reporting.
Kathleen Florance, Board Secretary
A fine artist for over 30 years, Kathleen is serious about ensuring there is affordable working artist space not only for herself, but for the future generations to come. Kathleen has experience serving and volunteering on numerous local boards and organizations and, in addition to the arts, is committed to cultural and historic preservation, serving on the board of her local historic preservation organization. An ambassador of the Midcoast arts community, Kathleen is an invaluable source of knowledge and exceptional guiding light for our project.
Sarah Szwajkos
Sarah is a fine artist, commercial photographer, entrepreneur and master networker. While a newer member of our board, she has been a Lincoln Street Center tenant for over 10 years. Sarah is fiercely dedicated to preserving the spirit of Lincoln Street Center as well as helping to steward it into the future. A member of our fundraising team, she brings to the board expertise in relationship building and an unparalleled knowledge of the connections and resources that exist here in our local community.
Our Network
Meet our Advisory Board
Carol Martin
Managing Director Star of Hope Foundation
As an independent consultant, Carole Martin mastered the skills needed to analyze work environments through data review, discussion and observation and using the results to create strategies to propel organizations, collaborations, and communities forward. She has time and time again successfully overseen the forming, revitalizing, and ending of complex collaborations and partnerships, including mergers and acquisitions, with special emphasis on strengthening connections while accomplishing important outcomes.
Adam Lachman
Rockland City Councilor & Advisor to Senator Angus King
Adam Lachman has lived in the Midcoast most of his life, the past several years on Main Street in Rockland. Lachman is an entrepreneur, community builder, and problem solver. Lachman works in the United States Senate as a senior economic advisor to U.S Senator Angus King (I-ME), where for over a decade, he has worked directly with communities across Maine to address many of the same challenges we face here in Rockland. He served on the Governor’s 2020 Economic Recovery Committee and currently sit on the Executive Committee of the State of Maine’s 10-year Economic Plan, a non-partisan plan to grow and diversify the future of Maine’s economy.
Donna McNeil
Executive Director, Ellis-Beauregard Foundation
Donna McNeil is the Founding Executive Director of the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation. She is the former Director of the Maine Arts Commission and has spent her lifetime as an arts advocate in the for-profit, non-profit and government fields. She holds an undergraduate degree in painting from Syracuse University and a masters degree in art history from Harvard University as well as an honorary PhD from Maine College of Art where she was commencement speaker. She has curated numerous exhibitions, written two artists books, one which received the Excellence in Publishing Award from MWPA and served as juror and nominator on many panels including the NEA and MacArthur Awards.
Ken A. Stein
President and CEO of the League of Historic American Theatres
Stein has worked with several non-profits over the past 20 years. He began his career in the for-profit sector with Humana Inc. where he spent 5 years as Director of Marketing and Public Relations. Since entering the non-profit arena, Stein has raised over $100 million for local, regional, and national non-profit organizations.
His accomplishments with special events and on-line fundraising have been featured in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, The NonProfit Times, InternetWeek.com, Business Week Online and Direct Marketing News. In 2008, Stein was recognized for his use of social media platforms by Fast Company Magazinewhich listed him as one of the most influential people on the internet during the 2008 elections. His writing has been positively reviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post and Atlantic Monthly Magazine.
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