Welcome to Lord Hall Gallery
Lord Hall Gallery is a laboratory for learning and a cultural hub at UMaine Orono. Exhibitions and events at the Gallery are designed to spark curiosity and incite dialogue across campus.
The Gallery connects artists, students, faculty, staff, researchers, and the larger community through its diverse exhibitions of contemporary art. We present both group and solo shows, representing the work of local, regional, national, and international artists. UMaine student and faculty artwork is celebrated through our annual and bi-annual exhibitions.
Lord Hall Gallery is committed to diversity and inclusion in all of our programming. All exhibitions and events are free, accessible, and open to the public. Outreach at the local and state-wide level is central to our mission.
Lord Hall Gallery is located on the mall of the University of Maine in the historic Lord Hall and is open Monday-Friday from 9:00am-4:00pm. Events are free, accessible and open to the public. All are welcome.
For inquiries and proposal submissions please contact Diana Baumbach, Director of Galleries at diana.baumbach@maine.edu.
Current Exhibition
ORBITS
February 3, 2025 -March 14, 2025
The University of Maine’s Lord Hall Gallery presents ORBITS, an exhibition featuring the work of three Maine-based artists who are invested in material re-use and sustainability: Tom Jessen, Isabelle Maschal O’Donnell, and Ian Trask from February 3 – March 14, 2025. A reception will be held on February 7, 2025 from 5-7pm. During the reception, six Maine-based poets will read ekphrastic poems which they wrote about the artwork in ORBITS. The reading will take place at 6pm. Participating poets include Matt Bernier, Monique Bouchard, Sylvia Godreaux, Annaliese Jakimides, Carl Little, and Leslie Moore. All events are free and the public is warmly welcomed.
The artists in ORBITS work with the excess waste that circulates around us every day including paper, textiles, and plastics. As these materials pass through their hands, they are transformed into artwork and given new life. The playful colors and forms used by Jessen, O’Donnel, and Trask function as a surprising counterpoint to the urgency of the issues they explore such as sustainability, waste, and consumerism. ORBITS brings awareness to material culture and our relationship to the things around us.
Jessen’s work begins with collection. He gathers cast away food packaging and cuts it into small strips, which are sorted by color. The paper strips are reconfigured into kaleidoscopic surfaces reminiscent of woven fabrics. O’Donnell gathers textile waste and manipulates it into quilt-like surfaces inspired by her surrounding in Maine. Her work stretches our notions of painting and the usefulness of materials. Trask bundles and wraps an assortment of materials bound for the landfill. The orbs he creates are suspended and clustered into new forms that belie their humble origins.
Featured Work from Current Exhibition
Tom Jessen
Isabelle O’Donnell
Ian Trask
Previous Exhibitions
Mutual Threads
November 15, 2024 – January 23, 2025
