A “For Lease” sign seen on the window of Speedwell on Friday. Founders Jocelyn Lee and Brian Urquhart have decided to close Speedwell’s gallery space. In place of the gallery, they will be placing their focus on pop-up exhibitions, books, catalogues and documentaries. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald

Speedwell Projects, a Portland nonprofit that promotes the creative work of women and queer artists, will close its Forest Avenue gallery next month and go virtual.

Jocelyn Lee, who founded Speedwell in 2015 with her husband, Brian Urquhart, said they will focus on hosting pop-up exhibitions nationwide, as well as producing documentaries and books.

“It doesn’t feel like an ending,” Lee said in an interview. “It feels like a transformation. I’m actually very excited about that.”

Over the years, Speedwell honed a unique focus on mid- to late-career female and queer artists. The gallery has launched over 30 shows featuring the work of more than 50 artists. It also offered residencies to provide artists time and space to go deeper into their work.

Artists who have partnered with Speedwell over the years described the gallery as a community as much as an exhibition space. They mourned that loss but said they felt confident the mission would continue.

“Speedwell had a way of kind of discovering people that should be shown and weren’t being shown,” local artist Alison Hildreth said. “I hope they continue doing that because I met and talked to and have followed so many people that I would never have known about if it hadn’t been for Speedwell. It was a very inspiring place.”

THE ‘SPEEDWELL TREATMENT’

Lee and Urquhart started Speedwell when they moved back to Maine after a period in New York. The couple bought the building at 630 Forest Ave., which also houses the Bakery Photo Collective. Creative Portland was their fiscal sponsor until they officially became a nonprofit in 2021.

“I was in my early 50s, and I was really aware that there were so many artists who had been working really hard for decades, and they weren’t getting attention,” said Lee, a photographer.

Founders of Speedwell Jocelyn Lee and Brian Urquhart at the gallery on Friday. The couple have decided to close Speedwell’s gallery space, but said they will continue their mission in promoting overlooked artists. In place of the gallery they will be placing their focus on pop-up exhibitions, books, catalogues and documentaries. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald

But Speedwell was never solely about exhibitions. Lee wanted to make sure the artists saw an impact beyond a closing reception for a show. So the nonprofit also started producing catalogues, books and short films – materials that artists could use to promote themselves. Their announcement includes a tribute video highlighting the dozens of artists and exhibitions launched by Speedwell over the past nine years.

“Speedwell was a stage for artists to realize their vision,” she said. “Artists make remarkable things out of nothing, and all too frequently for nothing. We wanted to create space and time for artists to make remarkable things, but to try and compensate them as best we could by giving them a platform for their work with catalogs and documentaries, and ideally a stipend.”

Artist Katarina Weslien, who lives on Peaks Island, said her early residencies at Speedwell helped her reach what she described as “a huge breakthrough,” and the result is now on view in a solo exhibition at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockland. She often shares the video Speedwell made about her work in 2021.

“There is a Speedwell treatment that is absolutely extraordinary,” said Weslien, who served as the co-president with Lee for a time.

Donna Loring is an elder, activist and writer in the Penobscot Nation. She felt discouraged by years trying to produce a play she wrote, and did not have high hopes when a friend first shared her work with Speedwell.

“I was getting ready to give up,” Loring said.

But Speedwell was interested. The nonprofit worked with Loring to turn her play “Mary and Molly” into a short animated film. The story follows a modern-day Bangor woman who learns of her Penobscot heritage and then connects with her ancestor. Speedwell convened Indigenous creators to make the artwork and music for the film and has hosted screenings around the state.

“I definitely feel more energized about it,” Loring said. “I feel like there’s an audience for it.”

Smith Galtney, an artist who lives in Raymond, partnered with Speedwell on the video profiles of artists.

“I’m very, very happy for whatever the next phase is going to be,” Galtney said. “As far as potential and growth, it seems like a pretty expansive area of possibility. But I’m a little wistful. That room is pretty important for me in terms of my artistic and creative and social growth. I was really able to find my place in the Maine art world there.”

TIME FOR A CHANGE

But running a gallery is expensive and exhausting.

Lee and Urquhart decided to sell their building on Forest Avenue in 2021 but continuing renting space there. They deliberately operated as a nonprofit rather than a traditional gallery – “We aren’t commercial salespeople,” Lee said – but that choice came with its own challenges.

Speedwell relies on donations and grants, and has increased its annual revenue to $180,000. Lee said the nonprofit tried to keep artists “at the top of the food chain,” and spent nearly $60,000 on exhibits and stipends in 2023. But a brick-and-mortar space comes with utilities and rent and people. (Speedwell has typically employed a part-time managing director and a part-time gallery manager. The board members, including Lee, are volunteers. Going forward, Lee said, the nonprofit will likely only employ a part-time administrative assistant, but the board will meet in January to decide next steps.)

Lee said the nonprofit had many supporters who were generous with their time and money, but fundraising was a constant challenge.

“We just couldn’t identify one of those great, amazing, long-term patrons, and I think some nonprofits really need that,” she said. “Every year, we were facing that mountain again.”

Lee said they considered moving the gallery to downtown Portland or even Rockland to increase their foot traffic, but ultimately decided to abandon the permanent space. Now, the thousands spent on rent every month can pay for other projects: Speedwell could host a pop-up exhibition in Eastport or Chicago or Los Angeles. And there are books and documentaries in the pipeline. Galtney is working on a video about Solon artist Abby Shahn. Lee said an upcoming book will pair contemporary photography with poetry, painting and drawing; she hopes to organize a traveling exhibition upon publication.

“I love documentaries, I love books and I love how mobile they are,” Lee said. “If our mission is to magnify the attention on our artists, I think they will be better served in this way, which doesn’t mean we can’t do exhibitions. But we can now do exhibitions all over the place. We can rent a space in Brooklyn. Now I feel like the sky is the limit.”

Portland artist Charlie Hewitt designed his iconic “Hopeful” sign because Lee asked him to make a piece for the building’s roof. (He said it will stay on the building.) Now, the design has spread across the country.

“They instigated that whole process,” he said. “It started with that ask.”

And the sign is one example, he said, of how Speedwell has always worked outside its gallery walls. Speedwell is hosting its final show, titled “Life Forms: Gather,” which features 12 artists. The closing reception and discussion panel will be held at 1 p.m. on Jan. 11. Already in the window is a “For Lease” sign. But above the door is still Hewitt’s glowing message, lighting the way.

Staff Writer Gillian Graham contributed to this report.