The Maine Art Gallery

Thu, 04/21/2022 - 09:15 am

Christine Hopf-Lovette

See Dianna Oliver’s “Untitled 123” mixed media in the Spindleworks show at Wiscasset’s Maine Art Gallery May 7-28. Courtesy of the venue

Mitch Pfeifle and Emilie Williams team up to create and record music in the Spindleworks studios. Courtesy of Maine Art Gallery

See Dianna Oliver’s “Untitled 123” mixed media in the Spindleworks show at Wiscasset’s Maine Art Gallery May 7-28. Courtesy of the venue

Mitch Pfeifle and Emilie Williams team up to create and record music in the Spindleworks studios. Courtesy of Maine Art Gallery

The Maine Art Gallery in Wiscasset heralds its 2022 season with “Time Shift,” an exhibit by the artists at Spindleworks, a well established non profit project for working artists. For almost 50 years, Spindleworks has provided studio space and mentors for adults with diverse abilities and an affinity to express themselves through art. The exhibit opens on Saturday, May 7, with a reception 4-7 p.m. with live music provided by The Leopard Girls. The show continues through Saturday, May 28.

The Spindleworks artists are working artists in the historic periwinkle blue house at 7 Lincoln St. in Brunswick. On any given week in the studios, one can see up to 40 artists working on unique projects that reveal personal vision and an enduring spirit in a variety of mediums including painting, fiber arts, pottery, music, printmaking, photography, multi-media, and drama. Stunning works of art are in progress in every direction.

Spindleworks is a joyful place; the energy of creativity is contagious. Ambitious, talented, hardworking artists thrive in this supportive space where they gather, work, talk, dream and make astonishing, original art to exhibit and sell.

In 1978, Spindleworks became an initiative of the Independence Association of Midcoast Maine. Since then, they have grown in partnership with many Maine art venues, becoming a vital part of the Brunswick community art scene’s 2nd Friday Night Art Walks as well as Poetry Month, and All Species Events.

The 2022 “Time Shift” exhibit is sponsored by the Maine Arts Commission, Les Fossel Restoration, and Sherri Dunbar of Tim Dunham Realty. The Maine Arts Commission funded the very first year of Spindleworks in 1976.

Spindleworks founder, Nan Ross, secured grants from the Maine State Commission on the Arts and Humanities (now Maine Arts Commission) and CETA (Citizens Employment Training Act) to teach marketable skills to community members who were released from residential institutions. Pinelands in New Gloucester, Maine was one such institution.

The gallery is located at 15 Warren St., Wiscasset, just a 2-minute drive or an 8-minute walk from downtown Wiscasset. Free on-street parking. Route 1 from the north, turn right onto Federal Street (Rt. 218) then left onto Warren Street. Route 1 from the south, turn left onto Federal Street, then left onto Warren Street.

The Maine Art Gallery is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement and preservation of the visual, fine and applied arts through exhibitions, lectures, demonstration and educational programs for children and adults since 1958. More information can be found at www.maineartgallerywiscasset.org and on Facebook at Maine Art Gallery Wiscasset.