PORTLAND

MECA art auction fundraiser, school’s largest, is Saturday

Additional Photos

Sum-Win,” oil with wax, by Charles DuBack is one of the works in the Maine College of Art’s auction on Saturday. Courtesy Maine College of Art

The Maine College of Art’s annual Art Auction will take place 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. Saturday at the Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA.

It is the oldest charity art auction in Maine, and the college’s largest fundraising event. Since its inception in 1974, the auction has become popular with contemporary art buyers, especially those who favor work by Maine artists.

This year, Britta Konau, former curator at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockport, worked with MECA to compile a list of artists whose work should be included in the auction, then recruited artists to contribute work.

The auction raises nearly $100,000 through donations, sponsorships and sales for the school, and generates about $30,000 in income for artists.

For more information, visit auction.meca.edu.

Acclaimed artist to create work at Portland art museum

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Nelson Social Justice Fund at the Portland Museum of Art, the museum will present a commissioned work by internationally known artist Jenny Holzer.

Holzer is known for her words and ideas, often projected into public spaces. She will create projections on the front of the museum from 7 to 10 p.m. Dec. 7.

Holzer will also speak at Holiday Inn by the Bay at 6 p.m., and attend a reception at the museum.

Maine alliance wins PEN’s ‘Friend to Writers’ award

Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance has won PEN/New England’s Friend to Writers Award. The prize is given to one individual and one organization each year.

The MWPA will accept the award Nov. 18 at Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass., at PEN/New England’s Annual Book Party.

PEN American Center was founded in 1922, and is the largest of the 144 PEN centers in 101 countries.

PEN New England is the most active chapter of PEN American Center.

PEN stands for poets, playwrights, essayists, editors and novelists. Founding members included Joseph Conrad, George Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wells.

OGUNQUIT

Museum of American Art hosts fine art and crafts sale

The Ogunquit Museum of American Art will welcome more than two dozen regional creators of fine arts and crafts, including felters, furniture makers, glass artists, jewelry designers, painters, printmakers, ceramicists, quilters and toy makers, to its inaugural Invitational Fine Art and Craft Sale.

A preview event is from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, and the sale is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Among the featured artists and craftspeople are Lori Austill, Doug Desjardins, Sandi Donnelly, Derek Glaser, Tom Glover, Karen Gola, Blair LaBella, Karen Orsillo, Caroline Parent, Loren Pollaro, Julie Schmidt, Anna Thompson, Peter Turner and Susan Wierzba.

Proceeds benefit the educational programs at the museum.

Tickets to the Friday preview cost $10, and include food and entertainment. Visitors are encouraged to park at the Cape Neddick Country Club and take a free trolley shuttle to the museum.

Tickets for the Saturday sale cost $5. Additional Saturday parking will be available at the Riverside Motel on Shore Road.

BELFAST

Frederick featured on cover of ‘American Art Collector’

Linden Frederick of Belfast is featured on the cover of the November issue of American Art Collector.

In the magazine, John O’Hern, former director and curator of the Arnot Art Museum in Elmira N.Y., writes about the afternoon he spent with the artist at his Belfast studio this past summer.

The magazine also features three new paintings that are part of Frederick’s show, “Night Neighbors,” opening Nov. 23 and on view through Jan. 8 at Forum Gallery in New York City.

The cover can be seen at www.americanartcollector.com.