The Maine Masters Project
Film series and panel discussion

Bangor Public Library Lecture Hall
Thursday nights at 5:30PM March 11,18, 25


This free film and discussion series provides an opportunity for attendees to sit together and converse with Maine Masters filmmakers, art historians, and curators.

March 18, 2010 Painters Alan Magee and Harold Garde, and photographer Olive Pierce –- films presented by art author Carl Little and videographer/arts educator Deb Vendetti
March 25, 2010 Painters Lois Dodd and Stephen Pace, and sculptor Clark Fitz-Gerald – films presented by curator Suzette McAvoy and filmmaker Richard Kane


ABOUT THE FILM PROJECT

The Maine Masters Project (http://www.mainemasters.com) is an award-winning video series sponsored by the Union of Maine Visual Artists (http://www.UMVAonline.org), a not-for-profit educational organization established in 1975.

The Project was begun in 1999 and has created an ongoing series of profiles of some of Maine’s most important and often least known artists.  There are currently nine completed DVDs with five more in production. The series celebrates art making – it enhances our culture by encouraging people to think and feel more deeply about our world.

Through the Maine Masters curriculum guide series that’s now been launched with the first curriculum guide on painter Stephen Pace—and free Pace DVDs distributed to every high school library in Maine—the Project is now reaching a younger audience of high school and college students.

The series is broadcast on Maine Public Broadcasting Network and WPME (Portland/Auburn) and has been screened throughout the state at most of the museums, colleges, and small and large public libraries and art centers in Maine.

It is funded in part by grants from the Maine Community Foundation, the Maine Arts Commission, the Belvedere Fund, Brimstone, Robert and Mary Jo Naylor, Lolly and James Mitchell, John Payson, the Castine Arts Association, Maine Humanities Council, Marshall Dodge Memorial Fund, Stephen and Pam Pace, University of Southern Indiana Foundation, Vanguard Charitable Endowment, the Strout Family Foundation and many other generous individuals.

For Bangor Public Library information, contact Diane Smith, 207-947-8336
For information about the Maine Masters Project contact Richard Kane 207-359-2320

Details on the artists:

March 18, 2010 Screenings:
Cushing-based painter and printmaker Alan Magee (born 1946) is a modern master painter and printmaker. His paintings invite wonder at the inherent dignity and beauty of simple objects, such as letters, tools and stones. His monotypes offer haunting images of faces scarred by the world.

Harold Garde (born 1923) taught for many years before retiring to Maine in 1984. His energy and artistic vigor have had an enormous impact on the community of Maine artists. A painter and printmaker, he often works in series, focusing on figures and faces, chairs and kimonos. He lives in Belfast, ME and in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

Olive Pierce from Rockland, ME is in her early 80s. Her gritty, documentary black and white photographs have focused on community: a Maine fishing community; high school; and the children of Iraq. She is an unflinching truth teller.

March 25, 2010 Screenings:
Sculptor Clark FitzGerald (1917-2004) moved to Castine in the 1950s. Having fallen in love with Maine, he decided to see if he could survive on his art in the place he found inspirational. He became one of Maine’s most successful sculptors, a master in wood, metal, and stone. His large-scale sculptures are found around the world.

Lois Dodd (born 1927) is a nationally known painter recognized for her intimate, poetic, painterly approach to landscape motifs (including quarries), the nude and floral subjects. She first came to Maine in 1951 and now divides her time between Cushing, ME, New York City and New Jersey.

Indiana-raised, New York City-based painter Stephen Pace (born 1918) fell in love with Stonington on his first trip to Maine in 1953. His paintings of lobstermen, a lily pond and his wife, Pam, tending the garden are imbued with the energy of early Abstract Expressionist roots. Pace is represented in many major American museums.

Presenters:
RICHARD KANE – filmmaker; Richard has 25 years experience as director, editor, sound mixer and director of photography for documentaries with the PBS series Art21, National Geographic, Discovery, CBS, J.F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Natural Resources Council of Maine. His role on this project is co-producer/director, director of photography, editor and project director; http://www.kanelewis.com

CARL LITTLE – art writer, poet, curator, lecturer; Carl is the author of more than a dozen artbooks, including Paintings of Maine, The Watercolors of John Singer Sargent and Edward Hopper’s New England, and monographs on artists Beverly Hallam, Lawrence Goldsmith and Vincent Hartgen. He collaborates on the selection of artists, assists with the interviewing, and helps with public relations for the series. He interviewed Bruce Brown and Martica Sawin for the Stephen Pace video.

SUZETTE McAVOY – former chief curator of the Farnsworth Art Museum with more than twenty years of experience in the field, Suzette has organized national traveling exhibitions of the work of Louise Nevelson, Alex Katz, Kenneth Noland, Lois Dodd, Karl Schrag and Alan Magee, among other artists. Suzette collaborates on the selection of artists and the interviews. She recently interviewed Yvonne Jacquette from the 20th floor of a hotel overlooking Times Square, NYC; http://www.suzettemcavoy.com

ROBERT SHETTERLY – painter, filmmaker, writer; his recent series, “Americans Who Tell the Truth” was published by Dutton and recently won the International Reading Association Award for best non-fiction work. As producer of MAINE MASTERS, Rob collaborates on the selection of artists, conducts the interviews, and writes and co-directs the final product; http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org