CUMBERLAND — If a picture paints a thousand words, the photo gallery at Town Hall tells many stories.

“Eye on Cumberland,” an exhibit in the hallway between the lobby and Council Chambers, has been up since spring and will be refreshed with new works this fall. Some works will also be included in Cumberland’s annual report.

It’s an effort spearheaded by Kelly Greenlee, youth services librarian at Prince Memorial Library, who had a hand in developing past town reports. She was later joined by Eliza Porter, the town’s communications director and deputy town clerk.

“We were really interested in getting photos of things that happen in Cumberland that we just don’t see; just kind of the everyday goings-on,” Greenlee said in an interview with her and Porter Aug. 2.

Submissions were often images of major public events, like a community band concert, not the child sitting in the snow in front of a red barn, she noted.

The driving force had been to garner images for the last year’s town report, since “we wanted some compelling pictures that kind of told the story of the year in Cumberland,” Greenlee added. “The town hall exhibit was kind of a byproduct of that because we had so many pictures that were really, really good.”

Opening the pictures from their emails has been a pleasant experience for both women. A sunset at the Twin Brook Recreation Area, rippling waves at the Broad Cove Reserve, autumn leaves decorating the Congregational Cemetery.

“I’ve gotten a couple that have come in, and it’s a nice little surprise in the morning to see a beautiful shot that someone captured throughout town,” Porter said.

“And people are so eager to share their experiences and their pictures,” Greenlee noted.

Roughly 40 photos have been sent in. With August being the time of year when the town reports are being compiled, it’s a good time to submit those prized shots.

Photos can be sent to eye@cumberlandmaine.com, should have a sense of place and must have been taken within the past six months in Cumberland, or feature a Cumberland resident partaking in an event in town.

Photos incorporated into the gallery or town report will include a photo credit. The submissions give the town permission to use the photos in those capacities, as well as on the town website, in program brochures and on social media pages. When necessary, town staff will request signed photo release forms. 

Alex Lear can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 113 or alear@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @learics.

Kelly Greenlee, left, and Eliza Porter are curating Cumberland’s revolving photography exhibit at Town Hall.

Photos like this one by Erin Kroll Peacock are welcome for the “Eye on Cumberland” exhibit, which changes twice a year, and for Cumberland’s annual town report.