Launch of Website and Screening Tour
Come Alive, You’re in the Pepsi Generation, 1966, J. Fred Woell, Mixed media 4″x 4 1/2″ x 5/16″
Fred Woell: An American Vision, the 17th episode in the Maine Masters series of films on Maine’s exceptional artists, has just launched a website www.jfredwoellfilms.org and is in the planning stages of a national screening tour.
This documentary by Richard Kane with Robert Shetterly premiered at the Camden International Film Festival and is slated to screen in May 2018 at the annual conference of the Society for North American Goldsmiths (SNAG), co-sponsored by Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. The film will screen theatrically throughout Maine in 2018 as well as at many museums, universities, national craft shows and conferences.
The film is about this Deer Isle, ME political artist who made satirically searing commentary often on the dark side of history. A humble and humorous artist and teacher, Woell opened the door to seeing anew.
FILM REVIEW – by Stuart Kestenbaum
Fred Woell: An American Vision captures the essence of a man who believed deeply in the power of the creative spirit. As an artist he was an innovator and a rule-breaker. As a teacher he encouraged his students to make their own discoveries. It’s appropriate to have American featured in the title of this film, for Fred’s vision was uniquely American: he had a deep belief in democratic ideals combined with common-sense ingenuity in making work or repairing the world around him. While he could see the inconsistencies and flaws of his own country, he could also evoke in us our potential to make a better world. For Fred, making that better world began with his hands in the studio. In this inspiring film we are fortunate to witness a part of that journey.
Stuart Kestenbaum is Maine’s Poet Laureate and Chair of the American Craft Council.
A limited number of DVDs are available from Kane-Lewis Productions, 207-359-2320, kanelewisproductions@gmail.com