HALLOWELL -- The Kennebec Valley Art Association was awarded a $6,500 grant from the Kay E. Dopp Fund, Harlow Gallery Executive Director Deborah Fahy said in a release this week.

The grant will be used to finance an updated strategic plan for the association starting next year and continuing to 2014. It will also pay for technical consultants to help the association construct an affordable artist housing project above the gallery, Fahy said.

"The KVAA board of directors came up with the organization's first-ever strategic plan in 2004, and as a result we have experienced an exciting period of growth and change," Fahy said in the release. "We need to build the capacity of the KVAA so that the organization is adequate to the challenges that come with growth."

Fahy believes the affordable housing is a win-win situation for both the KVAA and artists. "The final project will provide us with a source of income while also serving artists," she said.