Hello Artists and Friends of the Arts,
I’m writing to you as the President of the Union of Maine Visual Artists (the UMVA) to inform you that artists throughout Maine have been uniting, not dividing. Our members are creating, not destroying. They are bringing people together with creative acts and kindness. We need your financial support to continue our efforts.
UMVA members develop projects of beauty, power, and wonder.
It is the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of UMVA, and we now have 450+ members who create enlightening experiences in an array of media: from films and photography, to printmaking, sculpture, painting, puppetry, ceramics, and more. They engage and serve the public, creating installations of posters and projections, as well as banners for worthy non-profits to support civil rights, access to medical care, fair immigration practices, and to protect the environment.
UMVA Shows Up! UMVA members regularly produce quality, community engaging exhibitions that “show up” around Maine. In Portland, members presented Washed Away, a look at how the king tide storms of 2023 and 2024 and the tidal wave of ongoing political and social changes have impacted our lives. Over one hundred artists responded to the call for art, submitting art in a variety of media. Noted art curator, critic, and author, Carl Little, juried the show. Along the Midcoast, The Craignair Gallery at the Inn in Spruce Head hosted UMVA artists in Landscapes of the Heart: Abstraction to Verismo, an exhibition of twenty-two Maine artists. This event and show touched many of our members and the public.
The Maine Arts Journal (MAJ), published quarterly, is sent out free of charge to its readers, reaching over 1500 individuals with featured artists’ essays, poetry, scholarly articles, member submissions, and reproductions of visual artwork, all related to the issue’s theme. If you’ve already donated to support MAJ, thank you! Topical articles on education, speaking truth to power, and how to move forward when you are “stuck” are just a few examples of content relevant to an audience beyond artists. Help us to reach more readers and be able to give generous stipends to our writers and art contributors for sharing their work.
ARRT!, the Artist’s Rapid Response Team, provides opportunities for people to collaborate and bring about positive change. ARRT! holds banner painting sessions for members and the public to create artwork for non-profit organizations for use in demonstrations, organizing, press conferences, tabling, etc. LumenARRT! provides video projections to create a visual voice for these organizations and electronic graffiti to bring awareness to issues of social, economic, and environmental justice.
2025 was a record year for demand. One effort, You Don’t Need to Know!, brought public awareness to the Federal Government’s removal of signs that highlighted the history of the land in Acadia National Park as it relates to the history of the Wabanaki Nations, as well as the effects of the changing climate upon the park. It reached more than half a million people on social media. To view the broad range of causes ARRT! has supported, from welcoming immigrants to Maine, access to medical services, education, and more, click here. In support of speaking truth to power, consider contributing $80 for paint, or if you are able, $8,000 toward a portable video display that can be installed in public spaces. Our website has an easy way to securely donate online.
UMVA began in Brunswick, and now artists there and in surrounding towns are forming a regional chapter to plan shows for 2026 and 2027. All of our regional chapters and members benefit from our website, for which we pay monthly fees to keep operational. Your financial support may also help to purchase portable display walls, lighting, or pay rent for gallery spaces. A gift to the UMVA for use towards future exhibitions will help ensure art is accessible throughout the state for free.
UMVA also supports documentary film makers. Truth Tellers, released in 2021, is one of several documentary films produced by Kane Lewis Productions as part of the Maine Masters project. It chronicles the lives of courageous Americans fighting for peace, racial equity, environmental justice, and indigenous rights through the eyes of painter Robert Shetterly, a longtime activist and artist. Now, we are supporting the making of a new feature length film, Away from it All: Maine’s Place in American Art History.
Away from it All: Maine’s Place in American Art History will tell the long-overdue story of how Maine has influenced American Art History. It will cover the period frin 1850 to the present. The team behind the production includes Susan Danly, Former Senior Curator at PMA; Suzette McAvoy, former Curator at the Farnsworth Museum and Director at CMCA; Carl Little, noted arts writer; and Peggy Greenhut Golden, former director of Greenhut Galleries. Maine Public will premiere the film, and our hope is to air it on PBS as well. There will be a shorter version on the film website for school children with a curriculum that can be accessed globally. View the trailer.
Thank you for reading this far and learning some of the many ways UMVA unites, creates, speaks truth to power, and shows up in person—not just virtually—to facilitate artists to help other artists grow and learn while offering the public many sources for cultural enrichment and education. On behalf of the UMVA community, I thank you for your time and consideration.
I hope you will support our efforts in 2026.
Joanne Tarlin, President of the Union of Maine Visual Artists
To donate to the UMVA, click here. To mail in your donation, make a check out to The Union of Maine Visual Artists (indicate if you wish the funds to apply to a particular project or “where most needed”) and mail it to: Ken Brill, UMVA Treasurer, 20 Webber Ave., Bath, ME 04530.