Over 100 artists responded to the request for work for the Union of Maine Visual Artists (UMVA)’s latest juried show, Washed Away, at the Portland Public Library, which closed on 21 June. The work represents a variety of media, including painting, photography, mixed media, video, digital, and 3-D works. Of the artists chosen, notable names included Kimberly Callas, Kenny Cole, Rebecca Goodale, Nina Jerome, Lin Lisberger, Lesia Sochor, Barbara Sullivan, Anita Clearfield, and Nora Tryon. Judith Greene-Janse was the chairperson for the exhibition. Noted art curator, critic, and author Carl Little, recipient of the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award in art writing by the Rabkin Foundation, juried the show.
Joanne Tarlin, UMVA President, and Judith Greene Janse, show organizer, opening of Washed Away, Portland Public Library (photo: David Wade).
Since the theme of the Washed Away exhibition at the Portland Public Library, 5 Monument Square, dealt with the current climate emergency, the Union of Maine Visual Artists (UMVA) asked professionals from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute to speak to that issue. This also included a photographic event during the king tides of 27 May and how they impact Portland’s piers. Gayle Bowness, who leads GMRI’s Community Climate Action work, co-presented with Evan Paris, “Coastal Flooding: Understanding Local Impacts Through Science and Art” on 12 June in the Library. The show was sponsored by Green Clean Maine.
Portland Public Library opening of Washed Away (photo: David Wade).
Portland Public Library opening of Washed Away (photo: David Wade).
“With over 5,000 miles of tidally influenced coastline, Maine’s coastal communities face unique challenges in addressing the impacts of climate change,” said Bowness, “especially flooding from sea level rise and storms. Building understanding of local flood impacts today is essential to help us plan and take action against future flooding. Documenting water levels, sharing observations, telling stories, and creating art are some of the ways that we can build that collective knowledge.” Bowness and Paris shared the science of sea level rise, local projections for Maine, and the impacts of coastal flooding from high tides and storms.
The UMVA exhibit featured art inspired by not just coastal flooding, but the ways in which communities are responding.
Carl Little (photo: Erin Little).
Note: A Highly Edited Long Generous Talk by Carl Little
Washed Away Gallery Tour, Portland Public Library, 6 June 2025.
I salute the Union of Maine Visual Artists, and its fearless leader Joanne Tarlin, for all the work they do to support us all. To borrow from Bruce Springsteen, “The last check on power, after the checks and balances of government have failed, are the people . . . you and me. It’s in the union of people around a common set of values.” The ongoing attacks on culture and art—and libraries—by the current misadministration are vile and heartless.
Most of all, I’m grateful to the artists who shared their work.
A few notes about the jurying process: we had just over 100 submissions. I did not have an official cap for the number of selections for the show, but I knew this space. I ended up with sixty pieces that I thought reflected the theme in diverse ways, using diverse means. It gives me no end of delight and wonder at the range of art being made in all corners of Maine on any given day.
Reviewing the submissions for the show I found a range of emotions—anger, fear, despair, hope—expressed in the artwork. The titles provided the gist of the angst circulating in the world today: When I Can’t Sleep, Apocalyptic, Roar, Gimme Shelter, You Will Lose Everything, etc.
I found the presentations vital and often moving, the materials optimized to underscore the messages. While a number of artists turned to images of flooding and, more generally, climate change in responding to the theme, others addressed societal issues such as the relentless washing away of personal rights . . . We are all in a tenuous situation these days, holding on to terra that is a lot less firma.
Speaking of which, we are no doubt in for more wild weather and fewer resources to deal with it. I draw your attention to an article in the Maine Monitor a while back about how the current misadministration’s cuts to FEMA will affect our state. The headline of reporter Emmett Gartner’s article reads, “A total of eighteen resilience projects in Maine had their BRIC applications terminated with the cancellation of the program and are now seeking alternate funding.” BRIC stands for “Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities.”
One of the artists wrote that the purpose of these works is to stimulate personal transformations that will ripple out into community, environment, and planet. That might be the mission of all the works in this show, to compel dialogue, to raise awareness, to stimulate those personal transformations. We are all that voyager in their canoe, paddling into a challenging world.
Image at top: Opening of Washed Away, Portland Public Library (photo: David Wade).