After a winter’s worth of frosty art walking, we celebrate spring with an eclectic and interactive stroll in the Arts District.

We begin at the always packed WHITNEY ART WORKS (492 Congress St.), where the “Distant Places/Northern Lives” show features Maine’s rugged good looks as captured by Debra Yoo and Catherine Lo. The pair tease out the state’s beauty, while leaving room for Maine’s less-celebrated but equally intriguing moodiness.

Additional Photos

Drive By Press printmaker Greg Nanney creates one-of-a-kind shirts in front of the Maine College of Art. Courtesy photo

Alex Minewski’s watercolor “Monhegan Dock,” circa 1960, at Gleason Fine Art. Courtesy photo

Next, we head up the sidewalk to the MAINE COLLEGE OF ART (522 Congress St.) and dive into a creative wonderland. Outside the school, the Drive Press guerilla artists create one-of-a-kind T-shirts using a 14th century-style press. Each shirt costs $20 ($10 if you bring your own T-shirt).

Inside the college’s INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART gallery, we find a series of installations and performances called “Exchange,” which are linked by the concept of idea transfer. The brave among us can opt to take part in Deb Todd Wheeler’s “participatory project that promotes the common good of joined labor.” (Here’s hoping it isn’t similar to Caitlin Berrigan’s performance piece where two artists transfer milk from one pitcher to another using their mouths.)

Without leaving the building, we head into the college’s main lobby, where we try our hand at constructing masks and wearable art suitable for the April 11 Ebune parade.

Next we head from the lobby into the JUNE FITZPATRICK GALLERY. Here we check out the show of work by master printmakers created at the renowned Vinalhaven Press during its run from 1984 to 2002.

Back on the street, we walk a few steps to SPACE GALLERY (538 Congress St.) and find ourselves transformed from viewer into the subject at the “Shoot Your Face Off” event. Three pairs of well-known artists and photographers construct mini-sets and offer on-the-spot portraits for $20 each or $50 for portraits from all three.

Finally, we finish our evening of art immersion across the street at GLEASON FINE ART (545 Congress St.). Its show is “Monhegan: 20/21,” and it explores the famed art colony’s artistic output from the 20th and 21st centuries.

Artists include Alex Minewski, Andrew Winter, Hayley Lever, Paul Daugherty, James Fitzgerald, Joseph Solman, Murray Hantman, Kevin Beers, Stephen Pace and Lynne Drexler.

Staff Writer Avery Yale Kamila can be contacted at 791-6297 or at:

akamila@pressherald.com

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