PORTLAND

Biennial to include 66 works at Portland Museum of Art

The Portland Museum of Art Biennial exhibition, scheduled to open on April 7, 2011, will include 66 works by 47 artists. A panel of three jurors — Jim Kempner, owner and director of Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York; David Row, a painter based in New York and Maine; and Joanna Marsh, the James Dicke Curator of Contemporary Art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. — considered more than 3,600 works.

The biennial exhibitions create a visual record of Maine’s evolving contemporary art scene. The majority of biennial artists are full-time Maine residents, and a number are part-time or have spent significant time exhibiting, making work, and studying in Maine.

Of the 47 artists, six have participated in previous biennials. Their work is created in media ranging from painting, drawing, printmaking, and photography to sculpture, installation, and video. Artists in the show include:

Mary Aro, Carol Aronson-Shore, Jeremy Barnard, Kim Bernard, Natasha Bowdoin, Philip Brou, David Caras, Avy Claire, Thomas Connolly, William Cox, Jon Edwards, Alicia Eggert, Sarah Faragher, Clint Fulkerson, Kathleen Galligan, Marissa Girard , Carly Glovinski, Alisha Gould, James Groleau, Tyson Jacques, Michael Kahn, Rachel Katz, Siri Kaur, John Kelley, Mark Ketzler, Selena Kimball, Colleen Kinsella, Sarah Knock, Lesley MacVane, Robert Monroe, Lauren O’Neal, Heath Paley, Michael Penney, Beverly Rippel, Rebecca Rivers, Liv Kristin Robinson, Gavin Rouille, Michael Shaughnessy, Andrew Thompson, Robert Shillady, Suzannah Sinclair, Richard Veit, August Ventimiglia, Don Voisine, Mark Wethli, Ellen Wieske, and Deborah Wing-Sproul.

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Portland Ovations kicks off series with Doktor Kaboom!

Portland Ovations kicks off its School-Time Performance Series at Merrill Auditorium with a presentation of Doktor Kaboom! at 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 19. The performance is geared for school groups from grades three, four and five.

Actor and educator David Epley uses his improvisational skills to get kids excited about math and science by portraying a crazy scientist with a penchant for bangs and blasts, aka. Doktor Kaboom. He leads students on a journey of science experiments designed to educate and entertain. The hour-long performance enhances Maine curriculum standards for science, math, and the visual and performing arts.

Additional educational workshops are available to complement the students’ experience at the performance. Portland Ovations and the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine are partnering to present Simple Machines, a workshop that explores the mechanics and physics of simple machines and discusses their practicality in daily use; as well as Smart Art, a workshop that examines the relationship between the left and right brain.

School groups interested in reserving space at the performance or wanting more information about the workshops should call community outreach coordinator Gretchen Berg at 773-3150 or by e-mail at gberg@portlandovations.org. The performance is also open to home-schooled children.

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Maine College of Art hires Daniel Fuller as director

Daniel Fuller has been hired as the new director of the Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art. He previously worked as the senior program specialist for the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative, a Pew Charitable Trusts program, and was the assistant curator and curator of new media at the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in Peekskill, N.Y. He earned a bachelor’s degree in painting from Towson University and a master’s degree in museum studies from Syracuse University.

 

New website encourages use of fine art photographs

Gallery owner Heather Frederick and photographer Jim Nickelson have launched a new website, focusinmaine.com, to encourage young and new art collectors to include fine art photographs in the mix as they build art collections.

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Each Friday, one of Maine’s fine art photographers will be introduced through the site, including one image available for purchase starting at $50. Rose Marasco was the first artist, featured on Oct. 1, along with her photograph “Ironing Board.” Melonie Bennett and her new image “I Knocked him Loony” also has been featured.

To help new collectors, the site includes information and links about each artist.

“There’s a need to develop a collector base from the ground up for fine art photographs as they are relatively new to the art market. At focusinmaine.com, we want to focus collectors’ attention on Maine’s large and hugely talented community,” Frederick said.

 

Author Strout will read from Pulitzer Prize-winning novel

The Portland Stage Company Affiliate Artists present another in their series of Longfellow’s Shorts events at 7 p.m. on Oct. 18 on the mainstage at Portland Stage. The Affiliate Artists and author Elizabeth Strout will read from her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “Olive Kitteridge,” as well as other works by Strout and the authors who inspired her. An open discussion and book-signing will follow.

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Portland Stage is at 25A Forest Ave. Admission is a suggested donation of $5.

 

‘Beyond the Craft’ session offers advice for creatives

Jim and Steve Jermanok are bringing “Beyond the Craft” to Portland. Geared toward actors, authors, screenwriters, journalists, directors, filmmakers, producers, singers, comedians, musicians, dancers, artists, composers, designers and other creatives, Beyond the Craft offers a guide to doing what one needs to do to make a living creatively. The workshop starts at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Maine Studios, 235 Presumpscot St. Tickets cost $75 and are available at beyondthecraft.org.

Beyond the Craft offers advice for aspiring and working creatives.

Jim Jermanok is a former ICM Agent and award-winning writer, director, and producer of feature films. Steve Jermanok is a prolific travel writer. For the past five years, they have been speaking around the country about how to take charge of a creative career.

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Author Sarah Braunstein named to ‘5 Under 35’ list

The National Book Foundation named Portland resident Sarah Braunstein to its “5 Under 35” list, honoring young fiction writers.

Braunstein is the author of “The Sweet Relief of Missing Children,” which is due out in 2011 from W.W. Norton & Co.

She was selected by author Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, who is a National Book Award Fiction Finalist for her work “Madeleine Is Sleeping.” The other “5 Under 35” authors are Grace Krilanovich, Tea Obreht, Tiphanie Yanique and Paul Yoon.

Braunstein earned her MFA from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and is the recipient of the Rona Jaffe Writers’ Award.

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YARMOUTH

Art festival will showcase 150 works by Maine artists

The second annual Yarmouth Art Festival will be Oct. 20-23 at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church at 396 Gilman Road.

The juried show, created in 2009 as a showcase for Maine artists, will feature painting, outdoor sculpture, photography, etching and digital media. At least 150 pieces by more than 50 artists will be available for sale, with proceeds helping support St. Bart’s community service programs.

The show will be open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. An artists’ reception, including music and refreshments, will be from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday. Admission will be free for both the festival and the reception, with donations accepted.

This year’s jurors are Chris Thompson, an associate professor at the Maine College of Art in Portland; Elizabeth Moss, owner of Elizabeth Moss Gallery in Falmouth; and Anne Haas, art librarian at Bowdoin College in Brunswick.

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For more information, visit online at www.yarmouthartfestival.com.

BOOTHBAY HARBOR

Boothbay Region Art Gallery to open exhibition Saturday

ArtinMe., a statewide juried art exhibition, will open Saturday and run through Nov. 16 at the Boothbay Region Art Foundation Gallery, 1 Townsend Ave., Boothbay Harbor. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free.

Philip Isaacson, art critic and writer for the Maine Sunday Telegram, and Dennis Gleason of the Gleason Galleries in Portland and Boothbay Harbor, served as jurors for the show.

For information, visit www.boothbayartists.org.

 

— Compiled by Bob Keyes, Staff Writer

 


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