It is with a mixture of sadness and appreciation that Waterfall Arts announces the departure of our Program Director, Meg Fournier. Meg informed us that she will step down from her position, effective January 1, 2020. An unerring advocate for the organization, Meg has been with Waterfall Arts for much of the last eight years in a variety of positions.
Blog: Behind the Waterfall
AN INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS BATTAGLIA, FROM THE VILLAGE CANOE
AN INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS BATTAGLIA, FROM THE VILLAGE CANOE Chris Battaglia co-curated CONFLUENCE: Visual Stories from the Village Canoe Project, up in Waterfall Arts Corridor Gallery through November 15. Artists paddling the 31’ canoe (built by Mike Maybury) in early morning on Penobscot Bay. Photo: Brian Wasser Who are you? What a question! I am someone constantly in a search for meaning. This often leaves me curious for new knowledge, skills, and experiences—endlessly distracted by the “who” and “what” that come before and after me. I am someone born and raised in Los Angeles, schooled in Boston, lived in…
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The Artists of “GALLERY CLOSED”
THE ARTISTS OF “GALLERY CLOSED” What happens when a beloved community arts organization gets replaced, subsumed, or usurped by quasi-art entities whose goals, motivations, and methodologies are opaque, and suspect at best? Such is the question brought forth by artist/curator Kenny Cole in the four-artist exhibition, “GALLERY CLOSED”, opening July 26th, featuring Kenny Cole, Geoff Hargadon, Paula Lalala, and Brian Reeves. This blog post is part of our ongoing series interviewing the phenomenal artists who show their work in our galleries. The artists of “GALLERY CLOSED”: Geoff Hargadon, Brian Reeves, Kenny Cole, and Paula Lalalala WHO ARE YOU? Artist/Curator…
Read MorePRESS RELEASE: Waterfall Arts Announces $420,000 EPA Grant to Revitalize Governor Anderson School
Release Date: June 14, 2019 Waterfall Arts, an active and vibrant community arts organization in Belfast, Maine, moves towards a sustainable future with the announcement of selection by the Environmental Protection Agency for one of 108 Opportunity Zone grants. This funding, with $350,000 from EPA and a $70,000 match from Waterfall Arts, will help clean up and revitalize the 84-year-old former Governor Anderson School building that houses Waterfall Arts and make energy-efficient improvements that will move the building toward a net zero facility. Part of the EPA Brownfields program, this grant will allow Waterfall Arts to perform additional improvements in…
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BEYOND THE O HORIZON: HILARY IRONS AND JARID DEL DEO
BEYOND THE O HORIZON: HILARY IRONS AND JARID DEL DEO Have you checked out our O HORIZON exhibit in the Clifford Gallery? It’s on now through July 19. Curated by painter Hilary Irons, the show features work by Hilary Irons and Jarid del Deo, the two artists featured in this blog post. Who are you? Hilary: I am a painter; I am also a teacher and a curator. Jarid: I am a thing that tries to live slowly and deliberately. How did you get into art? Hilary: I studied traditional academic…
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What is good art?
Quality in art does exist, but it seems to be such a malleable thing, so based in opinion, education, experience, taste. There is representation, abstraction, eco-art, the avant-garde, illustration, outsider art, visionary art, truly hip art, snooty hip art, bad art that is hip for being bad, and bad art that is truly horrible. These, with many another quality and style, are all on the spectrum of good to bad in art. There is also the question, “What is great art?” Is good art also great art? Does famous equal great? Is every artist who is great, also famous, or…
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Open Art Room
We have many wonderful things happening within the building here at Waterfall Arts and one of them is the Open Art Room. This program is not one of Waterfall Art’s own programs, but it is one that we are happy to house. The Open Art Room or O.A.R. is led by Julie Rose and is a great addition to our arts community. We have asked Julie to say a few words about the program, which she has done so below. – Deanne Dutton, Office Manager The idea for Open Art Room originated with Belfast…
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Interview with Bridget Matros
Bridget Matros is the Youth and Family Outreach Coordinator here at Waterfall Arts and we are very lucky to have her. She was kind enough to answer a few questions about herself and her answers are listed below. Where did you get your start in art? Preschool probably. The giant easels, super long brushes, daddy’s-shirt smocks, and intoxicating powdered tempera. My dad was artistic and a creator/builder of everything, so my first memories were of toys and tools, sawdust and crayons. “We” built our first house from a chicken coop on a forgotten acre in Pennsylvania to a big ranch…
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Enter The Darkroom
In early October, Waterfall Arts will open a fully equipped photographic darkroom. For those of you wondering, a darkroom is the traditional working space for the photographic arts where film is processed in the total absence of light and the resultant prints are created under a red (orange) “safe” light. Thanks to the generosity of several local photographers the facility will provide both black and white and color capabilities. In an era where digital processes…
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Lexicon of Sustainability is a visual lesson in green design
August 25, 2015 It’s hard to articulate ecological values with a vocabulary inherited from the industrial age. The Lexicon of Sustainability, an exhibition co-curated by Dan Dixon and Still Water’s Joline Blais, aims to change that. In honor of Earth Day 2015, Still Water Co-Director Joline Blais collaborated with New Media students from her NMD 206 class and Dan Dixon of the UMaine Office of Sustainability to present a pop-up art show on the language of green design. The goal of cultivating a new generation of green designers shaped the unique format of the show. A series of striking visual images, each…
Read MoreFermentation
We’re an Art Fermentory! Fermentation: Isn’t that essentially what artmaking is? To take something you already have and transform it into something new? Charcoal and paper become a drawing. A lump of earth becomes a vessel. Organized sounds become music. The process requires yeast to transform one food item into another. And what is the art yeast? Ideas bubble and percolate. One brush stroke guides you to the next. The creative spark, the urge to doodle, the need to express oneself. It’s innate and a birthright. But the yeast alone, that creative drive, is not enough – it requires…
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Finding Community at Waterfall Arts
Volunteers Anne-Marie and Bob. In late 2013, when we decided to leave the New York metro area and move to Maine, we had never been to Belfast. Once we headed up the coast and discovered the town the following year, a brochure for Waterfall Arts got our attention. From that moment we knew that this was the place to begin our next chapter. After settling into our new home last summer, I became a volunteer. I had been serious about making art as a BFA student and beyond, but found myself in a career promoting the arts while raising our…
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