UMPI plans Reed art gallery celebration
PRESQUE ISLE — The University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Reed Fine Art Gallery has received a major upgrade — a new 2,000-square-foot space — and officials are hosting an event to both “unveil” the gallery and rededicate it on Friday, Sept. 18, from 6-8 p.m. during Homecoming weekend.
This free event is open to the public. The gallery, which has been housed for many years at the Campus Center, has been relocated to the second floor of the Center for Innovative Learning (formerly the library). The relocation has provided the gallery with a much bigger, open space complete with floor-to-ceiling glass walls, the ability to host much larger exhibits, and a view that looks out over the campus.
The Sept. 18 Reed Rededication Celebration will honor the gallery’s namesake and history, while creating new memories. “We are delighted to present this new space to the campus and community during our Sept. 18 celebration, and give the Reed Fine Art Gallery a much more modern and spacious place to continue its important work of showcasing artists from the local to the national level, presenting a wide range of art forms and media, and providing a space for everyone to experience and connect with art,” UMPI President Linda Schott said.
The festivities will feature music, arts-themed refreshments and a cash bar, as well as a unique live painting activity by UMPI alumnus Ken Lund (who will paint the celebration at the new space as it happens). The rededication ceremony will pay tribute to the Reed family, who established the gallery, and a ribbon-cutting for the new space.
“Although the space was meant to host a wider variety of artists, we thought it best to begin with the successes originating right here at the University of Maine at Presque Isle,” Heather Sincavage, Reed Art Gallery director, said. “Many of our alumni have gone on to do great things and we felt it was important to feature their amazing work and achievements.”
On display in the new space is a first-of-its-kind alumni show, entitled Now and Then: Honoring the Legacy of the Arts at UMPI.” This exhibition features 18 fine art program in the very first show in the new gallery.
The alumni exhibition runs through Oct. 3. “Now and Then” features two pieces of artwork done by each artist. The “Then” piece is a work the artist completed as an UMPI student, and the “Now” piece is an item completed recently.
“Often, students, or even the general public, assume getting an art degree creates a challenging future,” Sincavage said. ”This exhibit looks to dispel that misconception and show off how our alumni are ‘making it’ as self-sustaining artists, designers, educators, business owners, and leaders.”
The exhibition features graduates from four generations of the arts program, which Professor Emeritus Clifton Boudman started in 1968. Honoring the four generations the Reed Gallery has created four-limited edition designs of the exhibition postcard. Art enthusiasts can collect all four cards, which feature the work of Mirandah Akeley, Class of 2014; Carol Ayoob, Class of 1994; Ken Lund, Class of 1999; and Carol St. Pierre, Class of 1988.
Artists featured are Mirandah Akeley, Kirsten Arndt, Carol Ayoob, Karrie Brawn, Jessica Carpenter, Brian Farley, Heather Harvell, C. Ann Kittredge, Jim Laroque, Ken Lund, Mark Lusardi, Heather Nunez Olmstead, Lulu Pelletier, Andrea Peterson, Cortney Arndt Rector, Jeff Rector, Jme Smith and Carol St. Pierre.
“It is our alumni and all that they have accomplished that make it possible for the arts on this campus to grow,” Sincavage said. “They are the inspiration for what our students can accomplish in our program.”
“We can’t wait to unveil this new space to the community, and to celebrate the gallery’s legacy and future,” she added.
For more information, 768-9452 or email umpi@maine.edu.
