Seven artists and their mentor show at Wiscasset’s Maine Art Gallery

“Collective Imagination,” an exhibit that includes abstract paintings by the SEVEN collective, opened last month at the Maine Art Gallery in Wiscasset. Pictured are (back row, from left) Michel Droge, Emily Blaschke, Don Peterson, Celeste June Henriquez, Alicia Etheridge, (middle row) Doreen Nardone, Brenda Overstrom, (front center) Jenny Campbell Courtesy of Maine Art Gallery

The latest show at the Maine Art Gallery in Wiscasset opened last month, with seven talented artists who bonded during abstract painting classes at the Maine College of Art and Design (MECA).

They developed a strong connection with their teacher, Michel Droge, and chose to repeat their class several times. During this period, they also became such close colleagues that when the class was discontinued, the artists searched for a way to continue to meet with Droge. The result was SEVEN, an artists collective.“I suggested that they form a collective and write a manifesto describing their mission. We all would meet once a month to critique each other’s work. I maintained a mentor role and led the discussions. there has been great value in their serious, rigorous practice of painting and critique,” Droge said.These seven strangers, who came together in a community to support each other, created a manifesto that changes periodically, but each artist is primarily an abstract painter who meets with the group in a spirit of generosity.The collective named this show “Collective Imagination.” The show continues during normal gallery hours from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday until Sept. 17The Maine Art Gallery is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement and preservation of the visual, fine and applied arts through exhibitions, lectures, demonstrations and educational programs for children and adults since 1958. More information can be found on our website at maineartgallerywiscasset.org on Facebook at The Maine Art Gallery Inc., and Instagram@maineartgallerywiscasset.The gallery is located at 15 Warren St., Wiscasset, just a 2-minute drive or an 8-minute walk from downtown Wiscasset.