UMVA Gallery at PMC Plans Postcard Visions for 2021

When the New Year rolls around the UMVA Portland Gallery, inside the Portland Media Center, 516 Congress St., Portland ME, will not have a physical show up, but they are asking artists to create postcard-sized mail art and photograph them for the on-line show on the blog - https://umvaportlandgallery.blogspot.com/ from January 1st to the 29th. The physical exhibition for this show will be held in December of next year as a fundraiser for UMVA with each piece of mail art being sold for $5 each. The theme of the January show is "Your Vision of the Year 2021".

It was decided to go with a mail art show since the January 2021 show couldn't go forward at the last moment and because one of the founders of the Union of Maine Visual Artists was also a renowned Mail Artist - Carlo Pittore. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Pittore) The show on-line and in the later this year physical exhibition will also feature some language from the artists about their hopes for the coming year.

In February, another on-line show on Abstract Photography is being planned. The show will feature work by Mark Barnett, Greg Mason Burns, Jim Kelly, Lesley MacVane, CE Morse, John Ripton, Ann Tracy and Jan Pieter van Voorst van Beest.

The Union of Maine Visual Artists is an artist-run, non-profit organization, dedicated to upholding the dignity of artists and creating positive social change through the arts. The UMVA represents visual artists statewide in all fields of endeavor and welcomes those who support contemporary artists in Maine. For more information, please go to the UMVA website: http://www.theumva.org.

Here's some wacky mail art that UMVA member Ann Tracy sent to Steven Colbert... you'll see why:

Comments

In Balance/Imbalance

“In Balance/Imbalance” July 3rd to July 29th Reception Friday July 7th 4-8 ‘In Balance/Imbalance at the UMVA Portland Gallery inside the Portland Media Center at 516 Congress Street is a collaboration between the Maine Arts Journal and the Union of Maine Visual Artists Portland Gallery. Over thirty UMVA artists works will be displayed. The artists have interpreted the theme in multiple mediums. All the works are accompanied by text explaining their interpretation. All of the works displayed will be in the Summer edition of the Maine Arts Journal where the concept of how we see our world as “In Balance and “Imbalanced” is furthered explored. Hours The Portland Media Center 10-5 Monday-Thursday Gallery hours with artist docents are scheduled: Friday 4-8 Saturday 1-4 Sunday 2-5* these hours are by chance due to PMC filming schedule

Love/Rage: Goddess

A virtual show at the UMVA Gallery Co-curated by Ann Tracy and Christine Sullivan This show, originally scheduled for May of 2020, was cancelled on the brink of the pandemic. All of the submissions were in, and we were making plans for the First Friday Reception, always a treat but even more so in warm spring weather! Social upheaval was front and center in 2020. In many circumstances, the clashes already inherent in our culture were amped up to devastation. We were forcibly reminded that the economic fallout of the pandemic is disproportionately endured by women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ . BUT, the Goddess always rises, and we looked at the 2021 vision of the show with new eyes. In response, we modified our original call for submissions, and invited artists to show us the Goddess “however you perceive her.” We are beyond thrilled by the response – this show displays an amazing range of gifts and perspectives from artists in many media. For a glimpse of their thoughts, I i

Sheltered in Place - a Pandemic Art Show

The Covid pandemic reshapes our lives. It continues to strip down our existence, separating us from loved ones and exposing weaknesses in our system of governance and our political leadership. It demonstrates the devastating impact of the nation's grave social injustices. Systemic racism and socioeconomic disparity put oppressed peoples at greater risk for Covid-19. Then, on May 25, as many of us bunkered inside our homes, we witnessed the cold-blooded murder of George Floyd. This videotaped tragedy and the eruption of Black Lives Matter protests across the nation revealed the depth and breadth of racism in America. It is a contagion every bit as present and virulent as the coronavirus. In the face of both existential challenges – pandemic and racism – we can only recover through radical social change. The images and words of UMVA artists in this online exhibition surface from the isolation and compression of life in the pandemic. The works express personal and universa

Search This Blog