Several Maine arts groups received funding this week from the National Endowment for the Arts worth a total of $190,500.

They include:

Bates Dance Festival, Lewiston, $20,000: To support artists residencies as part of the 2009 festival. Bates Dance Festival Building a Global Dance Community will include the Bebe Miller Company, Battleworks, Tania Isaac Dance, Kate Weare Company and Camille Brown.

American Folk Festival on the Bangor Waterfront, $30,000: To support the 2009 festival. Successor to the National Folk Festival, the event will present more than 150 traditional musicians, dancers and craftspeople.

Alice James Books, Farmington, $35,000: To support the publication and promotion of books of poetry. The selected poets will also read from their works at venues around the country.

Maine International Film Festival, Waterville, $7,500: To support the Youth Film Program. The curated film series includes screenings for local schools, summer youth programs, and children and families; the Maine Student Film & Video Festival; and special events and workshops.

Abbe Museum, Bar Harbor, $8,000: To support education programming and community outreach activities associated with the exhibition "Twisted Path: Contemporary Native Artists Walking in Two Worlds." The series of programs addresses how artistic expressions by American Indian artists reflect the challenges American Indian face in contemporary American society.

Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, $25,000: To support the touring exhibition "Beyond Love: Robert Indiana and the Star of Hope Lodge," with accompanying catalog. The exhibition will be drawn almost exclusively from the artist's collection at the lodge on Vinalhaven.

Portland Symphony Orchestra, $10,000: To support a concert program featuring the performance of "Sabar: Concerto for Senegalese Drummers and Orchestra" by James DeMars. Directed by music director and musicologist Robert Moody, the season finale concert will be presented in the Merrill Auditorium.

PCA Great Performances, Portland, $15,000: To support the presentation of dance, music and culturally-specific works. Each of the presentations will be accompanied by public events such as discussions, lectures, workshops, master classes and open rehearsals.

Portland Stage Company, $15,000: To support the development and production of "Out of Sterno" by Deborah Zoe Laufer, with accompanying educational activities. Executive and Artistic Director Anita Stewart and Literary Manager/Education Manager Daniel Burson will participate in the final development process of the play.

Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, $15,000: To support a residency program for emerging visual artists. Artists will be provided with a private studio, full room and board, and weekly private and group critiques by a faculty of leading professional artists.

Five Rivers Arts Alliance, Brunswick, $10,000: To support the promotion of arts and cultural activities in Southern Midcoast Maine. The Five Rivers Arts Alliance will work in partnership with the Maine Office of Tourism and cultural organizations such as the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the Chocolate Church Arts Center and Maine Fiberarts to promote cultural activities in the region's 12 mid-coast communities.