Framing Maine: Conversations with Storytellers and Imagemakers from the Pine Tree State
Welcome to Framing Maine: Conversations with Storytellers and Imagemakers from the Pine Tree State. This series brings notable Mainers from many creative fields, including literature, art, music, and media, to the UMaine campus to talk about their life and careers. In each case, their work has helped create the popular image of Maine as a place of natural beauty and wildness, deep history, and local culture. The format of the series combines lecture, performance and conversation, with each event unique to the speaker(s) and topic.
Framing Maine 4: Artists’ Perspectives on Place
Framing Maine 4 to Feature Contemporary Visual Artists
The fourth Framing Maine event took place on October 4, 2019 and featured an opening reception for a new exhibition of contemporary Maine art, along with a panel discussion featuring several artists speaking about their work and its role in creating an image of modern Maine.
• Opening Reception – Friday, Oct. 4, 5:30-7:30 pm, Lord Hall Atrium
• Artist Discussion moderated by Carl Little – Friday, Oct. 4, 6:30-7:30 pm, 100 Lord Hall
The panel discussion featured several of the artists represented in the exhibition, including Alan Bray, Ed Nadeau, Larinda Meade, and Antonia Small. Well-known critic and historian of Maine art Carl Little (author of Art of Acadia, Art of Katahdin, and some 20 other books) moderated the discussion and explored some of the broader themes of the exhibition, such as the strong sense of place represented in many of the works.
Lord Hall Gallery Exhibition of Contemporary Maine Art
The parallel exhibition Framing Maine: Artists’ Perspectives on Place was at the Lord Hall Gallery from October 4th until November 15th. It was co-curated by Carl Little along with UMaine art professor and curator of the Lord Hall Gallery Laurie Hicks, and Maine Studies director and associate professor of anthropology Kreg Ettenger. The exhibition featured nearly three dozen Maine artists whose work is strongly influenced by, and often visually represents, various sites in the State of Maine. The 50 or so works included paintings, prints, photographs, drawings, textiles, baskets, and carvings.
Artists included Jane Banquer, Siri Beckman, Jeffrey Becton, Kevin Beers, Louise Bourne, Alan Bray, Elizabeth Busch, Barry Dana, Claud Dennis, Marsha Donahue, Evelyn Dunphy, Sarah Faragher, Stephanie Francis, Gabriel Frye, Deborah Heyden, Nina Jerome, MaJo Keleshian, Rosemary Levin, Michael Lewis, James Linehan, Larinda Meade, Daniel Minter, Johanna Moore, Ed Nadeau, Stan Neptune, Heath Paley, Molly Neptune Parker, Mark Picard, Robert Pollien, Barbara Putnam, Sarah Sockbeson, Antonia Small, Susan Smith and John Whalley.
Lord Hall Gallery hours and other information can be found on their website HERE, or by calling the Department of Art at 207-581-3245.
Previous Framing Maine Events
Framing Maine 3
The third event in our Framing Maine series featured readings by husband-and-wife authors Paul Doiron and Kristen Lindquist, followed by a conversation with fellow author Monica Wood. The event was held on Thursday, November 8th, 2018, at the Collins Center for the Arts and Minsky Recital Hall at the University of Maine in Orono.
Their readings featured live music by Millinocket musicians Susan Ramsey and Ruth Fogg, who performed a selection of works for guitar, cello and violin as interludes between the readings. The music was at various times haunting, lyrical and uplifting, but always set the right mood for Kristen’s powerful poems and Paul’s gripping passages.
Framing Maine 2 on April 7th, 2018, featured Maine singer-songwriter David Mallett, a Maine native and UMaine alumnus who has earned an international reputation as a folk musician and crafter of songs, many about his home state. His most famous composition, “The Garden Song,” has been covered by everyone from John Denver and Pete Seeger to the Muppets!
David opened the evening by performing a full set of Maine-inspired songs with his quartet, including Mike Burd on bass, Roy Clark on piano, and Susan Ramsey on viola and violin. His haunting melodies, powerful lyrics and rough-hewn voice painted a musical picture of Maine as a place of natural beauty, hard life, tough characters, and not-quite-forgotten dreams.
Both the concert and interview portions of the evening can be viewed on YouTube and by clicking on the Framing Maine 2 header.
Framing Maine 1
Framing Maine 1, held on November 9, 2017, featured NewsCenter Maine’s television host and reporter Bill Green, who has told hundreds of Maine stories through his features on WCSH/WLBZ news and his popular show Bill Green’s Maine. Bill is a Maine native and UMaine alumnus, having grown up “a poor kid from Bangor” who worked his way through high school and college.
Bill was interviewed by NPR Washington correspondent Brian Naylor, with whom Bill attended the University of Maine as an undergraduate. Brian probed Bill’s memory of the people and places he has featured over the years in his reporting, as well as sharing some of his own recollections of life at UMaine as a fledgling radio reporter.
Thanks to Our Supporters!
Framing Maine is made possible by support from several UMaine partners, including the Maine Folklife Center, the Clement and Linda McGillicuddy Humanities Center, the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, and the Cultural Affairs/Distinguished Lecture Series. It is also supported by our primary corporate sponsor, Bangor Savings Bank. We thank these friends of Framing Maine for their generous support.
Those wishing to support future Framing Maine events are invited to contact the Director of the Maine Studies program, Dr. Kreg Ettenger, at kreg.ettenger@maine.edu or 207-581-1840. Gifts may also be made to the Maine Studies Program through the University of Maine Foundation website. Please note that many companies offer matching gifts to educational institutions such as the University of Maine; be sure to check with your HR representative or donor liaison.
