(Portland, ME) Judith Greene-Janse, Joanne Tarlin, and Ann Tracy, three artists who have lived across the US and now are relocated to coastal towns in Maine, will exhibit paintings and mixed media artwork in “Alight on the Rocky Shores: This is not an exhibition of lighthouses”. The exhibit opens Friday, October 6 with an artists’ reception from 5:00 to 8 pm at the UMVA Gallery. The exhibit will be on view Fridays (4:00 to 8:00 pm) and Saturdays (1:00 to 4:00 pm) through October 28, 2023. There will be an artists’ talk on Saturday, October 21 at 2:00 pm.
About the Artists & Exhibit
Greene-Janse, Tarlin and Tracy have lived along both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans prior to alighting on the Maine’s rocky shores. These artists find sublime qualities in its elements that speak to them personally and universally. Like a lighthouse providing a safe beacon in the fog, the coast of Maine attracted their attention and guided their creativity to create “landscapes” that encapsulate moments of their lives.
“Stormy Seas” by Ann Tracy
When writing about his painting, The Human Condition, a painting of a painting of a landscape in front of a window of the same landscape, the Belgian artist René Magritte wrote: “… we sometimes remember a past event as being in the present. Time and space lose meaning and our daily experience becomes paramount. This is how we see the world. We see it outside ourselves, and at the same time we only have a representation of it in ourselves.”
The artists have collaborated to create a mixed media painting (24 x 52″) specifically for this exhibition that intertwines their creative styles and portrays their respective visions of the world. With this project, they hope to portray a beacon of hope and joy anchored in the reality that we have but a short amount of time on this rock. The collaborative painting will be auctioned off as a silent auction item, with bidders being encouraged to stop by the Portland Media Center all month to check on their bids. Whomever has the highest bid on October 28th will win the painting. A portion of the proceeds will benefit UMVA.
About UMVA (Union of Maine Visual Artists)
UMVA, founded in 1975, is a non-profit organization that promotes and advocates for the visual arts, artists, and all arts supporters. As artist advocates, the UMVA initiated and saw enacted into state law the Maine Percent for Art Program (requiring a percentage of funds for state buildings to include art) and the Artist’s Estate Tax Law (allowing art work to be used to pay artists estate taxes).
Other programs and projects supported by UMVA include: The Maine Arts Journal, an online, quarterly publication The Journal features essays by and about artists, interviews, UMVA member submissions, poetry, UMVA updates about its current projects, local chapters, and more; ARRT! Artists’ Rapid Response Team, a collaboration of artists & progressive groups making art to create positive change; Lumen ARRT!!, a group creating large-scale video projections in public spaces to give a visual voice to progressive non-profits; and the New England Emmy Award-nominated Maine Masters Project, a video series of 19 compelling profiles of some of Maine’s most distinguished and often less recognized artists. There are currently two chapters: Portland and Midcoast. For more information, please visit www.theumva.org.
The UMVA Gallery is located inside the Portland Media Center at 516 Congress Street in Portland.
