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V O L . X X V I N O. X I X A U G U S T 1 0 , 2 0 2 0 16 Minter's influence on the arts community includes service with organizations such as the Maine Arts Commission, Maine Media Workshops and College, Portland Ovations and the Portland Museum of Art. She also received an honorary doctor of fine arts last year from Maine College of Art for her commitment to community and social activism. It was presented at the commence- ment ceremony where her husband was the featured speaker. Coffee By Design co-founder Mary Allen Lindemann, a fellow Portland Ovations board member, says that Minter has been a steady voice for inclusivity, adding: "She's been changing things behind the scenes all along while keeping her own vision and dream of forming Indigo Arts Alliance." Long advertising and marketing career Minter, who grew up in Richmond, Va., guesses that she was about 8 years old when she knew she wanted to go into the creative field. While studying in Atlanta she met her future husband in a karate class, and they lived in Seattle, Brazil, New York and Chicago before coming to Maine. He's a painter, sculptor and illustrator, while she has earned her stripes as a creative director at advertising agen- cies as well as in-house for compa- nies including Essence magazine and retailer Spiegel. She also received national recognition in the form of multiple awards from the Retail Advertising Council and the Society of Publication Designers. During her 16 years at L.L.Bean, where she led creative teams in print, digital media and retail, Minter led all of the 100th anniversary branding and creative work in 2012, helped the company launch its Signature cloth- ing collection and conceptualized and developed L.L.Bean's in-house photo studio operation, according to President and CEO Stephen Smith. "She's a true visionary, a big ideas person, and she can harness creativity and business insight to execute real award-winning results driving creative output," he says. "at is a really spe- cial combination." Leeann Leahy, CEO of Portland's VIA Agency who worked with Minter on the "Be an Outsider" campaign, says, "She was always a vocal advocate for the bigness of the idea, but paid close atten- tion to the craft of the details." Leahy also knows Minter as a fel- low Portland Museum of Art trustee and adds, "Marcia sees what is pos- sible and invites others to join her in making the imagined very, very real — all the while with a smile." Bringing a dream to life An idea 25 years in the making, Indigo Arts Alliance opened in spring 2019 in a 4,500-square-foot leased space in a new building developed by Peter Bass, a self-described cultural developer whose portfolio includes Portland's first dedi- cated artist studio building he created in 1986 and still manages. Along with nearby Cove Street Arts, Indigo Arts Alliance anchors what is fast becoming a creative hub in Portland's East Bayside neighborhood. While Bass says he would have built the building that now houses Indigo Arts Alliance anyway, "I needed a tenant and they were such a great fit we worked together to build it for them." Of Minter specifically, he says, "Her attitude towards making things happen to move towards the big picture is incredible … Once we put the pedal to the metal, it all hap- pened very fast." Creative Portland, the city's non- profit arts agency led by Executive Director Dinah Minot, also helped get Indigo off the ground, as its fis- cal sponsor before it achieved official nonprofit status. A long-time friend of both Minters, she says of Marcia: "Any of our collaborations have always ended up in a 'yes' response." Cove Street Arts co-director John Danos is equally impressed with the number and variety of events at Indigo, saying, "e breadth of what they're doing there is incredible." R e n e e C o r d e s , M a i n e b i z s e n i o r w r i t e r, c a n b e r e a c h e d a t r c o r d e s @ m a i n e b i z . b i z a n d @ r s c o r d e s » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E In her own words Who is your mentor or role model? Michelle Obama, who embodies the power, dignity and grace of Black women. She is unapologetically her- self and holds others accountable for their actions while treating others with humanity and empathy. What advice would you give to your younger self? Breathe in and out more deeply, more often. Stay in touch with elders more frequently. What are you reading this summer? "The Freedom Artist," by Ben Okri; "Love," by Toni Morrison; "My Mother was a Freedom Fighter," by Aja Monet; and "Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American nature poetry," edited by Camille Dungy. What keeps you up at night? Indigo Arts Alliance, COVID-19 wor- ries for my elders, the future of our Gen Z youth. Who would play you in a movie about your life? KiKi Layne and Alfre Woodard. P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY [I]t's nice to have someone who actually listens and takes into account your vision and tries to bring the two together. That's her secret sauce. — Sean Alonzo Harris Marcia Minter, co- founder and executive director of Indigo Arts Alliance in Portland.

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