Stories and features from the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram:

Wonders of wood
Here's why, in the world of the wood arts, the midcoast is considered a special place. "Woodworkers of Midcoast Maine," will be on display at the Messler Gallery in Rockport through March 2. See story.
[Maine Sunday Telegram, 12/11/05]

Details and briefs from GO, Greater Portland's Entertainment Weekly:

Visual PoetrySix artists/poets who find text is just not enough to convey their poetry are exhibiting visual poetry at Ubu Studio in Portland beginning Friday with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. In visual poetry, text is combined with images. At 7 p.m. readings and soundings will take place. Ubu Studio is at 316A Congress St. Call 699-2550 or go to www.ubustudio.com for more information.

RestorationHarpswell artist Alec Richardson addresses how the Maine landscape is changing over time in an exhibition of new paintings at Greenhut Galleries in Portland. His exhibit opens tonight with a reception from 5 to 7 and runs through July 1. The gallery is at 146 Middle St. and is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Call 772-2693 or go to www.greenhutgalleries.com for more information.

Center for Maine Contemporary ArtThe Center for Maine Contemporary Art opens three exhibitions on Saturday. David Driskell exhibits more than 50 paintings and works on paper, including collages. He'll present a talk at 7 p.m. on July 11 at the Rockport Opera House. Admission is $5. Skowhegan at 60: The Maine Participants 1996-2005 is an exhibit of works by 19 Maine artists who attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. The exhibit is in honor of the school's 60th anniversary. The third exhibit features the drawings and sculptures of Ron Leax. The exhibits run through July 23. The gallery is at 162 Russell Ave. in Rockport and is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Call 236-2875 or go to www.cmcanow.org for more information.

ContemplariJ. Barry Thomson exhibits fine art black-and-white landscape photographs at Radiant Light Gallery in Portland. His exhibit opens Friday with a reception from 5-8:30 p.m. and runs through July 8. The gallery is at 615 Congress St., Suite 409 and is open from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturdays. Call 252-7258 or go to www.radiantlightgallery.com for more information.

The Quiet Landscapes of William B. PostFryeburg photographer William Post was a colleague of Alfred Stieglitz and an influential member of a group that championed art photography early last century. Fifty-nine of his black-and-white prints and 10 glass plate lantern slides featuring life in rural Maine are on exhibit at the Portland Museum of Art Saturday through August 27. The museum will also exhibit some work by other Maine pictorialists. The Post exhibit, organized by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, is on tour and will go to the Columbus Museum of Art following its stay in Portland. From 3 to 5 p.m. Aug. 26, the museum is holding a pictorialist photography symposium, free to the public with museum admission. The museum is at 7 Congress Square in Portland and is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, until 9 p.m. on Fridays. Admission is $10, $8 for seniors and students with ID, $4 for youth ages 6 to 17, free for children under age 6. Admission is free for all after 5 p.m. on Fridays. Call 775-6148 for more information.

Charms, Talismans and Talking Boards: The Power of Objects ­o Anastasia Weigle exhibits mixed media works that examine the power of objects. Her exhibit opens today with a reception and lecture from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the University of Southern Maine's Glickman Family Library on Forest Avenue in Portland. The exhibit runs through July 28. The exhibit, lecture and reception are on the library's seventh floor.

The Best and the Bizarre: Saco Museum JubileeThe Saco Museum celebrates 140 years with an exhibit from its permanent collection. The exhibit includes decorative art, textiles, furniture, costumes and a variety of antiques and unique items. The Best and the Bizarre opens tonight with a reception from 6 to 8 and runs through Oct. 1. The museum is at 371 Main St. (Route 1) in Saco and is open from noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday and Friday through Sunday and from noon to 8 p.m. Thursday. Admission is $4, $3 for seniors, $2 for students and youth, free for children under age 6. Call 283-3861 or go to www.sacomuseum.org for more information.

Michael BarberieMichael Barberie, now of Connecticut but raised in Sanford, exhibits paintings at Spring & Park Art Gallery Friday through July 31. Barberie's favored subjects are landscapes, birds, gardens and cityscapes. A reception from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday opens the show. The gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and is at 132 Spring St. in Portland.

ExteriorRobert Monroe exhibits mostly black-and-white photographs of exteriors of landmarks in greater Portland. His photo exhibit opens Friday with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Gallery at Grapheteria in Portland. The exhibit of his 27 images runs through July 28. The gallery is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and is at 141 Preble St. Call 772-3709 or go to www.thegrapheteria.com for more information.

Chocolate Church show spotlights artists with links to area
Tom Crotty of Frost Gully Gallery in Freeport has curated an exhibit in opening in Bath on Friday which celebrates Maine artists with connections to the Bath/Brunswick area. "Celebrating Excellence in Maine Art" features the work of more than 20 artists including Dozier Bell, Stephen Etnier, Dahlov Ipcar, Duane Paluska, Mark Wethli and Marguerite and William Zorach. The exhibit opens Friday with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Chocolate Church Arts Center and runs through July 15. The arts center is at 798 Washington St. and is open from noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Call 442-8455 for more information.

Treasures from Olana: Landscapes by Frederic Edwin Church
Through Sept. 10
Eighteen paintings by 19th-century painter Frederick Edwin Church are on exhibit at the Portland Museum of Art Saturday through Sept. 10. The paintings of Maine, Jamaica, the Near East and Germany are ones Church kept for himself or were kept by family members. Gallery talks related to the exhibit will be held on June 3, 10 and 17 and July 28 and Aug. 25. The art museum is at Seven Congress Square in Portland and is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday and Sunday and from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday. The museum is open on Mondays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. beginning Memorial Day. Admission is $8, $6 for seniors and students with ID, $2 for youth ages 6-17, free for children under age 6. Call 775-6148 or go to www.portlandmuseum.org for more information.

Willem de Kooning
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, beginning Dec. 22, Portland Museum of Art, Seven Congress Square, Portland
A Maine collector is lending a rare sculpture by Willem de Kooning to the Portland Museum of Art for a limited time. The bronze sculpture, "Standing Figure," is one of 25 sculptures de Kooning created beginning in 1969. De Kooning, known for his paintings and drawings, was a leading artist in the abstract expressionist movement. "Standing Figure" will be on exhibit on the third floor at the museum through the end of December 2006. Call 775-6148 for more information. Tickets are $8, $6 for seniors and students with ID, $2 for youth ages 6-17, free for children under age 6 and for all after 5 p.m. on Fridays.
[GO, Greater Portland's Entertainment Weekly, 12/22/05]

Profiles of His Time: The Silhouette Portraits by Galen Jerome Brewer
Through August 2006
Fifty silhouette portraits created by Galen Jerome Brewer between 1844 and 1856 are on exhibit through August 2006 at the Maine State Museum in Augusta. Brewer's silhouette portraits are generally about 3 inches high and were hand-cut with a knife. Brewer was a farmer, carpenter, mechanic, musician and singer, teacher and world traveler as well as an artist. The city of Brewer was named for his grandfather, Col. John Brewer, a Revolutionary War hero. Admission to the museum is $2, $1 for seniors and youth 6-18, free for children under 6. The museum is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Call 287-2301 for more information.

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