UMVA Portland calls on UMVA members across the state to contribute work to our curated online exhibition “Sheltered In Place: UMVA Artists and the Pandemic.” Extended Deadline: July 10, 2020 Submit One Image Only Label your single image (in the name line at the top of the image) in this format: FirstName_LastName_Title (no spaces in title and include all the underscores as shown here) Sizing: A single jpg image approximately 2800 pixels on longer side and 72 dpi (no tif files, only jpgs) Brief bio: a brief artist statement in Word doc. format, not a pdf file. Label this Word doc.: Last Name_Title (with no spaces). At the top of the artist statement document include Artist Name, Title of Work, medium, dimensions, date (optional), price. This statement is limited to 250 words. Please wait until all your material is compiled to submit. Important: Write "Shelter" in the Subject Line of the Submission Email Submit to: umvaportland @gmail.com Submit no later than July 10

Sheltered in Place: UMVA Members and the Pandemic Call for Art             In March, the U.N. called on artists to produce “concise and impactful visuals to help share life-saving information on COVID-19.” Since then, artists have responded with nearly 17,000 designs from 143 nations. In one,   Mexican artist Lisa Saldivar depicts the facade of an apartment building, as a crowd of people converse. Bubble letters frame the piece: "kindness not cancelled."                                                                           Lisa Saldivar ©   2020               Of course “keeping people safe” requires that many stories be told. Depicting heartache and tragedy, as well as scenes and messages like Saldivar's painting above, contributes to our collective healing. In this spirit UMVA Portland calls on UMVA members across the state to contribute work to our curated online exhibition “Sheltered In Place: UMVA Artists and the Pandemic.”

Four Hundred Years, 8 Minutes and 46 Seconds               As artists and members of the Union of Maine Visual Artists, we vigorously condemn the murder of George Floyd. We extend our sympathies to Mr. Floyd's family and friends and to all those in the black community who have lost loved ones at the hands of racist officers and vigilantes. We further stand in solidarity with those protesters in the streets and elsewhere who call for an end to racism.               The unbearable weight of racism and the savagery of racists are deeply embedded in the fabric of American society. The cold-blooded murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis illustrates this. Three fellow police officers stood by as white officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee to George Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes. Racism is apparently so embedded in the culture of law enforcement in Minneapolis that police fraternity carries more weight than the life of a black man.                 As the history o