

Amira McIntire painted the walls of their artist studio at Engine and loved working there before they had to move out at the end of September. Courtesy of Amira McIntire.
The room was maybe 100 square feet in a former bank in downtown Biddeford, and the carpet did not smell great. But the window looked out on Main Street, and the monthly rent was unbeatable. So Amira McIntire replaced the flooring and painted the walls lavender with bold stripes of brown and coral.
The result was their first artist studio, a place to create and experiment. Or it was for a few months, until the arts nonprofit Engine shut down its 18 upstairs studios this fall amid plans to vacate its downtown building.
Engine is closing its physical location at 163 Main St. at the end of October because the building’s owner is selling. The nonprofit started in 2010 as an early innovator in what is now a…