Myth & Magic Coming to Oak St Lofts Gallery in Portland

Magic, Myth, Machine & Matter is the title of the September 6 – 29, 2024 UMVA (Union of Maine Visual Artists) exhibition at the Oak Street Lofts Gallery, 72 Oak St., Portland, Maine featuring UMVA members Eva Rose Goetz, Gregg Harper, William Hessian and Abbeth Russell. An opening artists’ reception is First Friday, September 6 from 5 to 8 pm. This event is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Saturday and Sundays from 1 to 4 pm until September 29^th.

The exhibition themes are inspired by the main “epochs” in the development of human thinking on the nature of the cosmos, presented so beautifully by the late UMass-Amherst astrophysicist Edward Harrison in his book “Masks of the Universe” (2003/2015). The four artists will exhibit four artworks each with their own “riff” on each of the four themes of magic, myth, machine and matter – 16 artworks in all. Oak Street Lofts is an Avesta property originally built to provide live/work space for older artists and has designed a beautiful lobby gallery space.

UMVA, founded in 1975, is a non-profit organization that promotes and advocates for the visual arts, artists, and all arts supporters. It is a statewide arts network connecting Maine artists. As artist advocates, the UMVA initiated and saw enacted into state law the Maine Percent for Art Program (requiring a percentage of funds for state buildings to include art) and the Artist's Estate Tax Law (allowing art work to be used to pay artists estate taxes). Other programs and projects supported by UMVA include: The Maine Arts Journal, an online, quarterly publication The Journal features essays by and about artists, interviews, UMVA member submissions, poetry, UMVA updates about its current projects, local chapters, and more; ARRT! Artists' Rapid Response Team, a collaboration of artists & progressive groups making art to create positive change; Lumen ARRT!!, a group creating large-scale video projections in public spaces to give a visual voice to progressive non-profits; and the New England Emmy Award-nominated Maine Masters Project, a video series of 19 compelling profiles of some of Maine’s most distinguished and often less recognized artists. There are currently two chapters: Portland and Midcoast. More information is at www.TheUMVA.org.

###

Comments

Maine’s Coastal Islands Engage Midcoast UMVA Artists

The Union of Maine Visual Artists (UMVA) - Midcoast Chapter, in partnership with the Friends of the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge in Rockland, presents “REFUGE”, a dynamic exhibition of artwork inspired by the unique beauty found in and around Maine’s coastal islands . The exhibit opens with an artists’ reception on September 27th from 5 to 7 pm at the gallery at the Visitor’s Center, 9 Water St., Rockland, ME. The gallery is open during the Visitor Center’s open hours from 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday. The exhibit continues to Dec 13, 2024. "Pemiquid Parkbellhouse" by Bernadette de Cesare Contemporary realist painter Jane Dahmen juried this exhibit which features both representational and abstract works. Dahmen, whose landscapes explore the coastal regions of midcoast Maine, has shown in solo and group shows both within the U.S. and abroad. She is represented by The Portland Art Gallery. Viewers c...

More Photos from the August Gala

Hi... did not have the bandwidth to hunt down and ID all the folks... so if you want to tag yourself, I guess you could do so in the comments... But here are the photos that I shot during the event... I do know who was behind that mask Anthony Anderson from the #MaineGallery+StudioGuide UMVA Board Member Janice L. Moore Ave Melnick with Board Member Joanne Tarlin and other person Janice L. Moore with Anthony Anderson Daniel Sipe with a friend and ARRT!! Director Natasha Mayers A Saucy skirted pirate and UMVA president David Estey Bookhead Sweettooth - minus board member Al Crichton (he was sick) UMVA President David Estey and Treasurer Richard Kane (who also runs the Maine Masters project) Board member Barbara Sullivan in gray top Board member Emily Sabino The hat this fellow wears references a UMVA Broccoli Protest which Carlo Pittore helped lead in Kennebunkport, in front of the Bush mansion there. UMVA Vice President Joanne Tarlin Now, here are the...

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