(Image: Detail of the "Hellfire Story" by Kenny Cole)

(Belfast, ME) Belfast Welcomes Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODE PINK with art display and community theater. The gathering will begin at 4:00 pm on Saturday, July 14th at the Shrine Hall across from the Belfast City Park. All are welcome to this free event. Ms. Benjamin’s book, Drone Warfare, will be on sale and she will be signing copies of it following her talk and a short question and answer period. The book provides a comprehensive look at the growing menace of robotic warfare, an analysis of who is producing the drones, where they are being used, who "pilots" them, the victims, and the legal and moral implications of their use.

“In reality,” writes Benjamin, “the assassinations we are carrying out via drones will come back to haunt us when others start doing the same thing to us.” Paintings, drawings, and sculpture with a peace or anti-war theme will be on display throughout the evening, beginning at 4:00 pm with appetizers by chef Eric Goodale and wine. Artist Kenny Cole will be giving away a limited edition, signed screen print, "Bread Bunny" to event attendees, on a first come basis, while they last. At 6:00 pm, a potluck supper with an emphasis on local food will be shared by all. An original theater presentation directed by Larraine Brown at 7:00 pm will feature community performers. Following the performance, the Tri-Peace Trio of Jud Esty-Kendall, Leslie Latour, and Larry Latour will lead the group in celebrating Woody Guthrie's 100th birthday with a sing-a-long. If the weather is cooperative, the evening will end with a stroll through Belfast’s City Park.

Sponsors for this event include Outspoken Women, Peace & Justice Group of Waldo County, WERU-FM Community Radio, Old Professor’s Bookshop, Jim Harney Chapter of Veterans for Peace, Unitarian Universalist Church of Belfast Social Action Committee, the Belfast Co-op Store, Whitman Graphics, Monroe Progressives, Larraine Brown, and the Maine Green Independent Party of Monroe.

To see ongoing details about this memorable event, please visit benjamininbelfast.weebly.com.

(Belfast, ME) In conjunction with the highly regarded David McLaughlin & the Art of Salvage exhibition currently on display at Waterfall Arts' Clifford Gallery, two hours of films and videos featuring David McLaughlin will be shown on Friday evening, July 20th beginning at 7:00 pm.

McLaughlin, who passed away in 2010, was a sculptor, metalworker, designer, historian, actor and local phenomenon. He purchased the old Liberty Corn Cannery in 1971 and, over the next forty years in his own particular aesthetic, he saved the old buildings and within them, built a comprehensive environment much like a gigantic Joseph Cornell box of art, which housed his many collections of rusty iron and steel, building materials, volumes of books, birds' nests, tools and his own sculpture. The exhibit features many of his sculptural and functional objects as well as reconstructed parts of the Cannery itself. Gallery hours through August 24th are Tuesday through Thursday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, Fridays from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm and by appointment. To arrange a time to see the exhibit outside of regular hours, please call 207-338-2222.

McLaughlin was the subject of two video interviews about his work and acted in one fictional film, "Who Will Say Kaddish for Shapiro", along with local realtor, Blair Einstein. McLaughlin also had a cameo, non-speaking role in the Mel Gibson film, "Man Without a Face", in which he appeared as Gibson's misty, flashback father.

The two video interviews and "Who will say Kaddish for Shapiro" will be shown at Waterfall Arts, located at 256 High Street in Belfast on Friday July 20th, beginning at 7:00 pm. Admission is free, but donations are gratefully accepted. The exhibit and related events are sponsored by Harvest Energy and Rockport Mechanical, the Maine Community Foundation, Cold Mountain Builders, the Davistown Museum and Liberty Tool, Liberty Graphics, Darby’s Restaurant, Bittersweet Landing Boatyard and the Lookner Family Foundation.

For more information on upcoming events related to the Art of Salvage exhibit and Waterfall Arts classes and events, please visit www.waterfallarts.org or call 207-338-2222.

(Image: Richard and Kate Russo)

(Belfast, ME) Four celebrated authors, including Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Russo, Maine Warden Service chaplain Kate Braestrup, novelist Monica Wood, and garden writer Lisa Colburn, will be featured at four events at Left Bank Books this weekend as part of the second annual Belfast Bound Book Festival.

On Friday night, July 27th at 7:00 pm., Monica Wood will talk about her newest book, When We Were the Kennedys: A Memoir from Mexico, Maine. Just published by Houghton Mifflin, it is Wood's own story, set in 1963, in a town dominated by its paper mill, when three unexpected and almost unimaginable tragedies strike: the sudden death of her adored father who worked at the mill; the assassination of President Kennedy, leaving a young widow and children who look like Wood's grieving family; and a first strike at the mill, a foreshadowing of death for a once-proud way of life there. Wood's wonderful novels will also be available for signing, including Any Bitter Thing and Ernie's Ark, both set in Maine and published to great acclaim.

(Image: Monica Wood)

On Saturday morning, July 28th at 10:30 am, garden writer Lisa Colburn will talk about and sign copies of The Maine Garden Journal, inside secrets from "Maine people who love to get their hands in the dirt." Colburn was raised in extreme northern Maine, where it seemed everyone gardened, and now lives in Orono, which she says feels like the tropics by comparison to Aroostook County! She is active in gardening education programs statewide and speaks frequently on a wide range of garden topics. The Maine Garden Journal is brand new this season, full of knowledge, inspiration and glorious photographs—a must-read for gardeners and those who think about gardening when they can't actually be outside!

(Image: Lisa Colburn)

On Saturday, July 28th at 2:00 pm, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Russo will sign his newest work, Interventions, a novella and three long stories published by Down East Books this spring. The new collection is a tribute to the printed word: four paperbacks in a beautiful slip-case, with accompanying art prints by Russo's daughter Kate. Each one of the stories is a gem of wit and compassion, with characters who could easily have stepped out of such Russo favorites as Empire Falls, Straight Man, or Nobody's Fool. Plenty of Russo's earlier novels will be available at the signing, and Russo's daughter Kate is expected to join him.

On Sunday afternoon, July 29th at 2:00 pm, Kate Braestrup, author and chaplain to the Maine Warden Service, will talk about new writing projects, an overture from HBO, and her three New York Times best-sellers: Here If You Need Me, Marriage and Other Acts of Charity, and Beginner's Grace: Bringing Prayer into Your Life. Braestrup is a fabulous speaker: funny, warm, and utterly down-to-earth. Her books are modern classics—great to read, give away, and buy all over again, and perfect for Mainers and vacationers alike.

(Image: Kate Braestrup)

All four events will be held at Left Bank Books, which moved to Belfast from Searsport last month and is now located at 109 Church Street, in the historic brick Opera House Block just across from the Belfast Post Office and police station. All events are free and open to the public. For more information or to reserve signed copies from any of the events, please call the shop at 207-338-9009. For more information about the Belfast Bound Book Festival, please see the festival website at www.belfastboundbookfestival.com.

(Port Clyde, ME) Greg Mort and Jon Mort will welcome the community to their annual Port Clyde open studio at the Fieldstone Castle to present Greg’s “The Spirit of Maine” and Jon’s “Constellations” collections on August 4th and 5th. Both series ask age-old questions about one’s sense of place: Can the essence of your longitude and latitude define a person, influence thoughts, cultivate passions and ignite and temper perceptions of beauty? Father and son, who often share the same studio space have discussed, refined and continue to explore this dialogue through their art. On both Saturday and Sunday at 1:00 pm, Greg will give artist presentations entitled “Art & Science” from his recent National Endowment ART TALK interview.

In celebration of The Spirit of Maine theme, Mort will formally present The George’s River Land Trust with The Art of Stewardship Award (TAOS) for 2012 at 1:00 pm on Saturday, August 4th. The TAOS Award includes an unrestricted grant and a framed one of a kind certificate. The Land Trust is celebrating it's 25th anniversary with special events throughout the entire year including an Art for Stewardship show. Mort's relationship with GRLT started over twenty-five years ago when he donated the funds from a painting sold to Port Clyde resident Dr. Robert Schweizer to pay for GRLT's initial legal fees to gain non-profit status.

In 2008, Mort started The Art of Stewardship foundation to support collaborative projects between environmental organizations and artists. Throughout the year, he organizes and facilitates workshops and exhibitions encouraging artists to form long lasting partnerships and commitments with environmental groups.

Mort was in the national news this week in an Art Imitates Life scenario. On July 21st, he presented his iconic Maine image “The Tranquil Sea” to Neil Armstrong marking the Lowell Observatory’s Discovery Channel Telescope First Light ceremonies. Mort painted the original large-scale oil of The Tranquil Sea in Maine in the summer of 2009. An astronomer as well as artist he has served on the Executive Board of the Lowell Observatory for over twenty years. Mort was also recognized this week by the Bates College Museum for his inspiration and leadership of their current STARSTRUCK Astrophotography exhibition.

Mort considered canceling his annual summer open studio as he arrived in June without a single new work of art, each piece from his most recent body, “The Space Between”, having been purchased for a New York collector’s private museum at the Jimi Hendrix Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village. However, soon after his arrival in Maine, Mort was seen out and about painting. He explains: "Honestly, since first coming to Maine over thirty years ago, I’ve imagined a series of paintings honoring the spirit, the feeling that captivates me and all of us about Maine. Coupled with my passion for model making, inspired by Maxfield Parris' handcrafted sets and models, I created the two figures used in the painting 'Moon Men' and several other works. Perhaps they are Maine fisherman in the magical early hours of a star filled sky lifting our eyes toward the stunning beauty of the universe. I call them Payton and Eli Mannequin but more than likely they could be inspired by two of Port Clyde's lobstermen Cushman brothers."

Mort’s art can currently be seen in six museum exhibitions including The American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore and the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum in Washington, DC. In addition, his paintings can be found in the permanent collections of many fine museums including the Smithsonian, Corcoran, Farnsworth, Portland and Academy Art Museum.

For further information, please visit www.gregmort.com or find Greg on Facebook.

>link to video of Greg on Bill Green's Maine