UMVA presents a Dual Exhibition

Portland Works by Tom Bloom

and

A Wicked Tiny History of Playing & Tarot Cards

by Amy Bellezza

The Union of Maine Visual Artists is presenting a Dual Exhibit opening at the gallery, this October 2 through to October 29, 2022. With an Opening Reception Friday, October 7 from 5:00pm to 8:00pm, during First Friday Art Walk, at the UMVA Gallery, 516 Congress Street; located in the Portland Media Center’s offices. This exhibit presents two photographers; Tom Bloom and Amy Bellezza.

Portland Works, by Tom Bloom, is an exhibit of portraits of residents of Portland, celebrating the nobility of hard work. All of the personalities in the show work at jobs which most of us pass by without noticing but which are essential to the special character of Portland. Each portrait is shot in Tom Bloom’s studio in Portland, often directly from work.

Tom Bloom is a professional photographer and actor, New York, Boston, Portland. His photography work over 50 years has specialized in theatre and dance performance, theatre portraits, and fine art documentation. His acting career has been on Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional, television and film.

Amy Bellezza exhibits her photograph exhibit titled, A Wicked Tiny History of Playing & Tarot Cards, that explores aspects of the history and design of Playing and Tarot cards. Utilizing her own personal decks, she has come up with a series of still lives that illustrate different times in their evolutions. They interpret magical spells, literature, movies and historical events, all the while explaining their relevance to their time in history. And some are just Art for Art’s sake.

Amy Bellezza is a photographer based in Portland. She is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York. Her work has been shown in New York, Maine, Washington and Italy. She has been primarily exhibiting with and is the Gallery Manager for UMVA.

The UMVA Gallery presents monthly member group, thematic and solo exhibitions and is open during regular operating hours of the Portland Media Center (www.ctn5.org). Monday thru Thursday 10am - 5pm and Friday 5pm - 8pm plus Saturday and Sunday 1pm - 4pm. Tom or Amy will be at the UMVA Gallery every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 1pm – 4pm during October.

The exhibition is free to the public and the Portland Media Center facility and Gallery is ADA accessible. Artworks in UMVA exhibitions are generally for sale through the artist(s) and a portion of each sale benefits the UMVA.

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