Artists Mildred Bachrach and Andre Benoit show how two artists convey their personal messages to an audience in completely different styles.  Mildred’s show   It is Not So Simple   deals with generational trauma caused by the history of the Cherokee Nation of which she is a member. Andre restores a life to wood remote from its previous use in warship construction as a backdrop for whimsical and interpretative paintings and assemblages.  His part of the show is  Sandblast, Distressed Wooden Assemblage. Please join us Saturday Jan 1 2022 from 1 to 4pm and on each Friday, Saturday and Sunday in January from 1 to 4pm , except on Jan 7th for our formal opening during the First Friday Art Here is a peak at Bachrach's work in the show.  Be sure to see it in person as well at the UMVA Gallery inside the Portland Media Center (PMA), 516 Congress St., Portland ME. For more timely details, please visit the UMVA website:   www.theumva.org Trail of Tears , 30 x 40", mixed media on wood

The gallery will not be open tomorrow - Saturday, Dec 18, 2021 because of the impending snow storm tomorrow afternoon.  It's not known at this point if the gallery will be open on Sunday afternoon or not.   I suspect that it will depend upon the amount of snow and what the roads look like.  So happy holidays and be kind to each other.

 While we hope that you will stop by the members show when UMVA docents are there on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through December from 1 to 4 pm at the Portland Media Center, 516 Congress St in Portland, we have a snapshot of the upcoming season at the Gallery:   UMVA 2022 Portland  Gallery Exhibitions January Two Solo Shows: Sandblast, Distressed Wooden Assemblage   Andre Benoit    and It is Not So Simple Milly Bachrach February Two Solo Shows: Matrilineal Becky Jane Rosen and Nest Dani Robbins, Poorva Singh, Zachary Taibi March Reflections Brooke Lambert April Unmonetized  Ruthanne Harrison May Experiments in Watercolor:  Diversity and Luminosity Greg Mason Burns, Rabee Kiwan, Liz Prescott, Arthur Nichols,  John Silverio, Alan Crichton, Ed Nedeau June UMVA Open Members Show  July Being Human Rabee Kiwan, Greg Burns, Arthur Nichols, Jen Joachin, John Ripton August Sea Changes Joanne Tarlin September PRESSTO Kris Onus, Jo Ann Bianchi, Monotype Guild of New England Octobe

  Sculpture by Clara Cohen The Union of Maine Visual Artists is presenting its semi-annual Members Exhibit opening at the gallery, this November 1, 2021.  It is an Open Theme exhibit that showcases current Members’ talents and expressions through photography, mixed-media collage, sculpture and painting. This year’s exhibit was hung by UMVA Members, Jim Kelley, Dave Wade, Milly Bachrach and Andrew Chulyk.   Member artists showing are: Adeline Goldmic-Tronzo, Amy Bellezza, Andre Benoit, Andrew Abbott, Andrew Chulyk, Anita Loomis, Ann Tracy, Anne Schutz, Anne Strout, Brooke Lambert, Catherine Gibson, Christine Sullivan, Clara Cohen, Dave Wade, Diane Dahlke, Diane Hudson, Jane Page Conway, Janice L. Moore, Jean Noon, Jim Kelly,  Joyce Ellen Weinstein, Karen Bushold, Kimberly Bentley, Laura Waller, Leslie Woods, Lesley MacVane, Loretta Turner, Mary Barnes, Mary Brooking, Maryellen McCone, Merrill Aharonian, Michael Corden, Norma Johnsen, Pat Gerkin, Pete Gorski, Rabee Kiwan, Robert Gibson

The Kneeling Art Photography Project ( thekneelingartphotography.com ), under the direction of Portland artist Titi de Baccarat, opens their final Portland exhibit at the UMVA Gallery inside the Portland Media Center (PMC), 516 Congress St.   This community social justice/art project explores the meaning and evolution of the Take-A-Knee gesture by having Maine photographers turn their cameras on diverse Mainers who are fighting for social justice in the state.  There are eleven photographers taking part in the exhibit from seasoned professionals to people new to the craft.   Gallery hours are from 3 to 6 pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays until August 27th.  A special panel discussion, "The role of Art in the resolution of social conflicts", will be taped at the PMC studio and will be broadcast beginning the week of August 21st on Channel 5 and continuing for four weeks.  Donations are still being requested to fund the project and can be made at https://www.thekneelingar

Rage/Love: Goddess Rage/Love: Goddess, co-curated by Christine Sullivan & Ann Tracy for May 2020, originally focused on environmental themes and the power of the female to redeem our planet, was cancelled by the pandemic at the 11 th hour.   With all submissions were in, the world went haywire.     The show was re-scheduled for May 2021, and the curators moderated the theme to invite consideration about the disproportionate influence the pandemic had on women’s, BIPOC, and LGBTQ lives.   The calls attracted an excellent range of media, subject matter, and deeply personal statements about the world and the work presented.   It explores many of life’s highs and lows emphasized by pandemic times.   The Portland Press Herald covered the event in Thursday’s Entertainment (formerly “Go”) section in an appreciation by Aimsel Ponti, featuring a compelling image from the show by Diane Dahlke.   The blog had more than 700 views, mostly from the US, with a couple of readers in Germany

The Mid-Coast Salon, a monthly discussion group of about two dozen artists with diverse disciplines and styles present: Art Matters , an exhibit at the UMVA Gallery at 516 Congress Street, Portland, Maine for July 2021. For more than 30,000 years, humankind has used visual imagery to narrate, to translate, and give clear interpretation to the worlds within and around us, with artists often at the forefront of awareness. This exhibit represents what the artists of the Salon interpret to mean as Art Matters . The show will open with the Portland-area First Friday ArtWalk on July 2, 2021 from 5pm to 8pm. Salon members will sit at the gallery thereafter on Fridays and Saturdays from 1-4pm. Guests may also visit when the Portland Media Center is open. Click here for more info on our website . African Zebras by Russell Kahn