TILTH ACCELERATOR PROGRAM

TILTH ACCELERATOR OVERVIEW:

The TILTH Accelerator is a year long business incubator program, that supports community leaders to hone their business concepts and explore critical audeices for their traction and co-financing models for their innovation relative to TILTH Arts and Agriculture’s mission. We support programs and concepts that link arts program with food systems, and innovators who demonstrate leadership in cultural preservation, and cross-disciplinary problem solving in their work.

Business teams or individuals can be in any stage of their development but the program is especially designed to accelerate those who are looking to make a shift from part time to full time work on their concept. It’s most useful for those requiring commercial activity planning across food systems, agriculture, technology and arts and cultural disciplines in Blue Hill or remotely across Maine’s arts and agriculture economies.

Support for the Tilth Accelerator pilot in 2023 was provided by the American Rescue Plan Maine Project Grants a sub-granting program administered by SPACE Gallery for the National Endowment for the Arts.

             

 

PROGRAM DETAILS AND BACKGROUND:

The TILTH Accelerator program was developed by one of Tilth’s founding directors Billy Giordano in collaboration with arts and community development organization Engine in Biddeford, the University of Southern Maine and UMaine Orono’s Foster Innovation Center.

There are three beneficial components to participation:

1. a 10-14 week, 1.5 hour a week intensive business development curriculum designed for food systems and arts based  career paths

2. a commercial residential and market operation option on at Tilth HQ, Fair Mount Farm, in Blue Hill

3.  up to 100 hours of commercial project financial and business planning or fundraising for key workforce, research and design or infrastructure goals of your project.

Projects from participants must be aligned with with Tilth’s mission to be eligible. All projects are reviewed by our Board of Directors and all projects must be approved by official board vote.

Participants become contractors of Tilth and are entitled to a commercial address at Tilth Arts and Agriculture HQ, host events or markets, or work meetings and have priority access to farm, market and event spaces for their activity.

For more information or to inquire about our 2024 Call for Applications please email: tilth.me@gmail.com

 

 

2023/2024 Tilth Accelerator Participants

Hannah Semler

Hannah Semler

FarmDrop L3C/ Blue Hill FarmDrop

Angelikah Fahray

Angelikah Fahray

Independent Performing Artists/ Arts Business Founder

Estelle Poole

Estelle Poole

Is She? Music/ Arts Business Founder

2023 ARTIST IN RESIDENCE PROGRAM

TILTH AIR PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:

Tilth’s AIR program supports short term project based collaborations relative to TILTH’s mission. It’s focused on farm immersion and hospitality at TILTH’s Blue Hill headquarters and across our network.

Residents typically work on a career piece, and are supported by a Scope of Work developed with TILTH’s program team that provides up to 3-7 days of room and board and either an input based or output based deliverable. Examples of input might be a strategic plan, a funding strategy or a piece of research and concept development. Examples of output typically are workshops, pop up markets, gallery shows, installations, concerts and cultural events.

FEATURED RESIDENT ARTIST:

Dan Capaldi is a musician’s musician. A life longer Mainer, he’s a well known and lauded among Maine’s developing arts and music innovators. Capaldi is a full time resident producer at Monaco Studio’s in Falmouth, a published composer and bandleader for his concept art band SeaLevel.  His songwriting intersects climate adaptation and courageous social leadership through consistent strokes excellence across his swiss army knife skill set of composition, studio production, performance and engineering excellence.

He’s also knoiw well through his affiliarions with Will Bradford and as percussionist for Bradford’s acclaimed project SeePeoples.

Capaldi is running a series of musician – focused workshops and performances in Blue HIll in Februrary 2024. Stay tuned for the official flyer and annoncement or pre-register to recieve updates here.

2023/24 TILTH ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

Haley Brandt

Haley Brandt

Visual Artist/ Muralist/Gardener

Dan Capaldi

Dan Capaldi

Producer/Composer/ Audio Engineer/ Multi-Instrumentalist

Bridgette Isabella Semler

Bridgette Isabella Semler

Vocalist/Songwriter/Applied Social Science

Jerry Edwards/ Genius Black

Jerry Edwards/ Genius Black

Audio Producer/ Art House Founder/Podcaster

Hallie Lartius

Hallie Lartius

Freelancer/Food Systems Writer and Marketing

Savanna Pettengil

Savanna Pettengil

Print Media/ Photography /Educator