A double solo show fills the UMVA Gallery inside the Portland Media Center, 516 Congress St., Portland, Maine from August 1 through August 26, 2023. An artists’ reception for this special show featuring photographer Tom Bloom and painter Jen Perry is set for First Friday, August 4 th from 5 to 8 pm.  The event is free and open to the public. Bloom shows dance and theatre photography and Perry shows abstract painting. Bloom’s photography represents three decades of work with a score of theaters and dance companies in New England and New York City, among them, Boston Ballet, American Repertory, Trinity Repertory, Celebration Mime, the Berkshire Festival, many others. This exhibit displays selections from that photography career. As an actor he has performed on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regionally in 17 states. He has appeared in many movies and TV serials over his career.   Bloom now lives in Portland, Maine and more of his work can be seen at www.tombloom.com . “Having your 'h

  “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

  In The Making is an exhibit that includes nine woman from Maine with diverse backgrounds and outlooks who work in a great variety of media. The collection of work in this exhibition creates a conversation about their different experiences and amplifies their voices.   The exhibit runs from June 2 nd to June 29 th 2023 at the UMVA Portland Gallery, inside the Portland Media Center, 516 Congress St., Portland.   An artist’s reception is set for Friday, June 2 nd from 5 to 8 pm at the gallery.   It is free and open to the public.   Artists in the show are Cynthia Ahlstrin, Kimberly Bentley, Kaela Brennan, Kimberly Crichton, Lesley MacVane, Anne Strout, Christine Sullivan, Ann Tracy and Joyce Ellen Weinstein.   An artists’ talk roundtable is scheduled for Saturday, June 10th at 2:30 pm.   Gallery hours with artist docents are scheduled for Fridays from 5 to 8 pm and Saturdays from 1 to 4 pm. Ahlstrin began to notice the amount of gratuitous violence perpetrated against female ch

 The Union of Maine Visual Artists is pleased to host the upcoming exhibition: Transformative Visions  at its Portland Chapter Gallery in the Portland Media Center, 516 Congress Street, Portland Maine, May 5 - 29, 2023.  Gallery hours Fridays 5-8 PM, Sat. 1-4 PM, and Sunday 2-5 PM.  The exhibition is free to the public and the Portland Media Center facility and gallery is ADA accessible. Artworks in the exhibitions are generally for sale through the artist(s) and a portion of each sale benefits the UMVA. Roland Salazar, Chris Morse and Dave Wade are all agents of a visual alchemy.  The three come from different directions but share a common goal to transform so-called realities into something altogether new, and to arrive at a landscape that does not exist elsewhere. Their show Transformative Visions is an adventure where the viewer is invited to explore their own imagination. Widely exhibited artist Roland Salazar has been painting most of his life, applying layers of paint and decad

  The Union of Maine Visual Artists is pleased to host the upcoming exhibition: “Bodies Of Work” by Haley Linnet, Aidan Fraser, Quinn Evans and Natalie Nelson”, at its Portland Chapter Gallery in the Portland Media Center, 516 Congress Street, Portland Maine, March 3 - 31 2023. The gallery is open Mon-Thurs during normal business hours and artist docents will be there on Fridays 4-8, Saturdays 1-4, Sundays 2-5. Bodies of Work aims to expand the canon in which femme-presenting bodies have been under or misrepresented in art. This group of women and gender nonconforming artists present work that explores the lived experiences of bodies that are femme-presenting, fat or nonbinary. The exhibition incorporates Portland, Maine artist Haley Linnet’s lifesize sculpture “Tampon Insertion”, which is accompanied by both written and recorded accounts of 19 people’s experiences with menstruation, which span generations, genders, and races. Alongside the sculpture are works by Portland, Maine cera

 Eerdmans is showing recent works by member Andrew W. Young in a show titled "Fathoming," April 12th to May 18th at their 14 East 10th Street in Greenwich Village, NYC gallery.   The  work is grounded in eighteen years researching little known artist and educator, William H. Holst (1912-1995), prompting investigation into   “push/pull” and “fathoming” a surface.   Holst studied with Hans Hofmann in Provincetown, MA five summers beginning in 1949 and taught and painted on Deer Isle, ME for nearly a half century, including nine summers at Haystack.   That project, a window into non-objective formal modernism, helped chart a course exploring Holst’s reductive process and reflecting on Jack Tworkov’s “cracks of light." Jetty/Flag acrylic, gesso, graphite on canvas, 2022, 48 x 48"

  Coastal Journal                            Posted February 3, 2023 Midcoast artists join forces to expand reach The revived Midcoast chapter of the Union of Maine Visual Artists provides artists with more venues to show their work, including a juried show this month in Belfast. By Mikayla Patel      The Forecaster   Joanne Tarlin of Harpswell is happy for the chance to show her artwork in different coastal communities.  Contributed by Joanne Tarlin. The Midcoast chapter of Union of Maine Visual Artists is active again after about 10 years of stagnation, and its Juried Winter Exhibition at Waterfall Arts in Belfast is running until Feb. 24. This is the Midcoast chapter’s second show since starting up again. A smaller show was held at the Camden library in January. Liv Kristin Robinson, a Belfast artist who helped organize the exhibition for the Midcoast chapter, said the high amount of interest in restarting the local chapter was understandable. “There’s so much talent