Fall 2017 MAJ


Emilie Stark-Menneg, Add Gulls, 2017, 48”x36”, acrylic and oil on canvas

From the Editors: Regionalism: Maine Art and Artists

We are pleased to present the Fall 2017 issue “Regionalism: Maine Art and Artist”. A variety of artists and writers respond to the question: Is regionalism possible in a globally- connected environment?


Sarah Hewitt, Speaking Dragon,weaving, mixed media, 2017

Provincialism (n.) by Dan Kany

Provincialism (n.) “narrowness of mind or outlook; lack of sophistication”  (Collins English Dictionary)


Bruises and Boundaries, Oil on Panel, 31"X23" 1994-5

Mary Armstrong , Near-Here

I first came to Maine to go to Skowhegan (then a school of Painting and Sculpture) in the summer of 1977.


Emilie Stark-Menneg, American Popsicle, 2017, 48”x36”, acrylic and oil on canvas

Emilie Stark-Meneg

Deep underwater, I scramble to find the cave opening.


Stoney Conley, Vernal Equinox, 2017, acrylic and collage on canvas, 31 x 48 in., photo Chris Soldt

Stoney Conley

I have a personal history with Maine, in 1977 my wife Mary and I met in Maine at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture,


"Girl With A Boat", oil on board, 12X16 inches

William Irvine

Maine has its own character, soul if you wish. I felt it the first morning I woke up in Maine,


David Driskell, Accent of Autumn, Acrylic and Mixed Media on handmade paper, 42.25” x 30”

David C. Driskell

Traditionally, Maine has served as a special place where artists, beginning in the 19th century, found solace in an attempt to get away from a busy city life.


10. Marsha Donahue, Intersection, oil on board

Marsha Donahue on Regionalism

In some skewed kind of logic, regional art of Maine could be argued around to where art is sometimes defined as Maine.


F17 lucy cover

Lucy Lippard on Regionalism

Place is most often examined from the subjective viewpoint of individual or community, while “region” has traditionally been more of an objective geographic term,


Marsden Hartley, Blueberry Highway Dogtown, 1931

 Made In Maine? by Jeffrey Ackerman

The term Maine artist and the concept of regionalism are political in the sense that the lines on paper defining these terms are drawn on political maps.


Marguerite Lawler, “Mossy”, 24"x24", oil, 2017

Moving Stone 

Poetry submitted by Gary Lawless, introduction by Betsy Sholl


Snowy Woods. Karie.Friedman.

Remembering A Poet Through Her Words

On Poet Karie Friedman by Kathy Weinberg: I was more interested in daily life, less melodramatic human interactions, poems of place, and glimpses of transcendence through ordinary things,


Leo Rabkin, Untitled, c. 1965, plexiglass and copper wire, photo by Danielle Frye

All Art is Local by Edgar Allen Beem

What does it mean to be a Maine artist in the 21st century? Would anyone bother to ask what it means to be a Texas artist? Or a Chicago artist?


F17_Kramer_Approach and Retreat2

UMVA Member Submissions: Amy Peters Wood, Berri Kramer, Paul Bonneau, Linda Murray, Salazar, Kris Onuf


Shelah Horvitz, "Firs", acrylic on panel, 12"x16", 2017

UMVA Members Jo Ann Bianchi, Janice L. Moore, Stephanie Berry and Shelah Horvitz on Regionalism


Judy O'Donnell, "Orbs 2", Oil, collage, 12" x 12"

UMVA Members John Ripton, Judy O’Donnell, Suzanna Lasker, Marguerite Lawler-Rohner and Ann Tracy on Regionalism

 


David Wade, “Octopus’ Garden", archival pigment print, 15 x20”, 2014

 UMVA Members David Wade, Renuka O’Connell, Lee Chisholm, Anne Strout, David Allen and Sandra Beck on Regionalism

 


John Ripton, “Hand Becomes Violin”, Photograph Inkjet on Archival Paper, 12”X16”

UMVA Member Essay 

The Politics of Art by John Ripton


K.Weinberg, Night Road, photo

Word Salad Wars

Editorial by Kathy Weinberg

Report from the Front Line.


F17_ARRT_natasha_mayers_01,4th of july 2017 030

 ARRT! Update

The Artists Rapid Response Team! is a project of the Union of Maine Visual Artists.


Julia Muzyka Public Art, Gary Stallsworth photo

 UMVA L/A Chapter Report

Update on what’s happening with UMVA members in Lewiston and Auburn…


UMVA Gallery at CTN. sign at 516 Congress St.

UMVA Portland Chapter Fall Update

Update on UMVA members in the Portland area chapter…


William Blake - John Bunyan - The Man Sweeping the Interprener's Parlor, engraving Date: 1794 (refurbished c. 1822, 1824)

Theme for Winter 2018 MAJ
Innervisions

The romantic trope of the melancholic, or even crazy, artist distorts the very real tensions the artist experiences when engaging in content