Åarhus Gallery News

March 4th, 2010

Mark Kelly Exhibition

The Leonard R. Craig Gallery at Unity College Presents
Mark Kelly Exhibition March 3 – April 9

The Leonard R. Craig Gallery at Unity College will present an exhibition of two-dimensional work by Mark Kelly from March 3 – April 9. The images are experimental drawings, some of which involve scorching the paper with matches.

Gallery Hours are Mondays through Fridays, 10am to 6pm, and Saturdays, 1-5pm. The gallery will be open by appointment only March 8-19th. For more information contact Associate Professor Ben Potter at 748-3131x239 or e-mail bpotter@unity.edu.

Unity College is located at 90 Quaker Hill Road, Unity, Maine. The Leonard R. Craig Gallery is located in the South Coop building.

February 23, 2010

A New Vaudeville Revue Returns

Prepare Your Laugh: A New Vaudeville Revue Returns

Tickets available at Åarhus Gallery

Come see, hear, and experience home grown comedy, music and dance at its finest in the upcoming production of A New Vaudeville Revue.

The season's only production will be at The American Legion Hall, 143 Church Street, Belfast. Saturday Feb. 27, at 7 pm.

Usual suspects Peter Conant, Jenny Tibbetts, Kristen Burkholder and Ando Anderson provide original comedy and general hijinks. Expect an appearance by Professor Scientist, Tarzan and Jane (and Boy), a yoga class and a poetry writing workshop.

Special guests include Singer /songwriter Travis Lloyd, Dancer Shana Bloomstein and poetry reading by Ivy Lobato. The house band includes Phil Clement, Jeff Densmore, and Mike McFarland.

Admission is $10 with tickets available at Åarhus Gallery (50 Main Street, Belfast: Thursday, Friday & Saturday 12-6) or at the door. Fun for all!

February 23, 2010

Åarhus artist, Ingrid Ellison, interview on the Maine Art Scene

Maine Arts Scene

February 1, 2010

CALL FOR ART, 2nd Annual "44N 69W: Radius Belfast" to Benefit Local Food Pantries

Åarhus Gallery once again, toasts our vast creative community by opening its walls to Maine residents of any age or training, living within a thirty mile radius of Belfast, to show their stuff - artwork, that is - in our all-encompassing 2nd Annual show entitled "44N 69W: Radius Belfast". From potters, painters, and welders to musicians, knitters and mobile makers, all work falling within the gallery's fairly liberal view of 'decency' will be presented on the walls, floor, or ceiling, as the case may be.

• Works in all media or size are eligible and preferably for sale.
• Please have work ready to hang; picture wires or sawtooth hangers properly affixed to work, sculpture pedestals can be made available.
• Work must have been made in the last year by any resident living within 30 miles of Belfast (as the crow flies).
• Deliver work to Åarhus Gallery, February 26-28, 12-6pm.
• Sorry, no mail entries can be accepted.
• Unsold work must be picked up April 1st through April 4th One entry per person, all works will be shown (within our discretion)
• There is a $5 entry fee, which will be donated entirely to local food banks.
• Sales: Artists will receive 50% and Aarhus Gallery will donate 20% of total sales from the show to Food Banks within a 30 mile radius of Belfast.

An Opening Reception will be held Friday March 5th, 5-8pm. The show runs from March 4th through March 28th 2010.

Åarhus Gallery is located at 50 Main Street, Belfast and open Thursday-Sundays 12-6pm. Call 207-338-0001 for more information.

February 1, 2010

as if

Åarhus Gallery seeks literary short fiction by Maine writers for as if, an evening of readings by Maine actors.

Submit one or two stories
of up to 5,000 words (double spaced/12 font/numbered pages) via snail mail or email (Word attachment) to the address below. Include your name, street address, phone number and email address on the first page of the manuscript.

Complete, polished stories only, please; no drafts, exercises or excerpts! If your story is suitable for our program and actors, we will contact you for permission to perform it. This is an OPEN CALL for an ongoing series, but writers who want their stories considered for the inaugural evening (spring '10) should submit their stories by March 1.

Note: Manuscripts will not be returned -- they will be recycled or deleted - so please retain your original.

Snail mail:

Åarhus Gallery
attn: as if
50 Main Street
Belfast, ME 04915

Or, Email:

asifstories@gmail.com
Subject line: submission

January, 2010

New Partners at Aarhus Gallery

Aarhus Gallery is pleased to announce the rare addition of gallery partners, Ingrid Ellison and Abbie Read.

Abbie(work on right) is a multi-faceted mixed media artist from Appleton and Ingrid (work on left) is an abstract painter and printmaker living in Camden. They both bring with them unique qualities and experiences that the six founding partners are confident will integrate well into the Aarhus tradition of organizing unusual and stimulating exhibits, events and concerts.

HARVEST at Maine Farmland Trust

As part of their tenth anniversary celebration, Maine Farmland Trust (MFT) is hosting a gallery show honoring the yearly time of harvest through art and poetry. “We will not only be celebrating this year’s farm harvest, but symbolically we are also celebrating MFT’s rich harvest of over 16,000 acres of farmland preserved over the past ten years,” says Anna Witholt Abaldo, gallery coordinator for MFT.

Over a dozen of Maine artists and poets are participating in the HARVEST show: Laurie Lofman Bellmore, Anna Boll, Carol Ginandes, Beth Henderson, Lynn Karlin, Jean Kigel, Jude Nickerson, Michelle Olson, Kathy Perelka, Dina Petrillo, Willy Reddick, Karin Spitfire, Martin Steingesser and Barbara Sullivan. HARVEST will open with a festive reception on Friday October 23rd from 5-7pm at Maine Farmland Trust Gallery, 97 Main St, Belfast.

The gallery show simultaneously functions as a preview for a silent auction of the art works, to be held November 16th at Maine Farmland Trust’s tenth anniversary celebration. Purchase of any of the pieces, whether at the gallery or auction, will benefit MFT in their ongoing effort to preserve farmland forever.

Maine Farmland Trust is a membership-based organization dedicated to preserving Maine's working farmland and providing services to help farms stay in production.

For more information about the gallery show or auction, please contact Anna Witholt Abaldo at anna@mainefarmlandtrust.org, (207) 338-6575.

http://mainefarmlandtrust.org/

CMCA's Work of the Hand celebrating its 20th Anniversary

Willy Reddick has been invited back to exhibit her jewelry in the CMCA Work of the Hand Crafts Show and Sale. She will be showing sterling silver earrings, beaded baskets and miniature painting brooches.

The Show opens Friday, October 9 with a Collectors’ Preview Evening from 5 to 8 pm. Guests can meet the artists and will have an opportunity to purchase exceptional work or commission a custom piece as they enjoy the reception. Admission is $15. Artists will be present on certain days as the show continues, October 10 through 18, 10 am to 5 pm daily, admission $5.

Thursday, September 24 2009

CMCA's Monthly Marketing Series for Artists

Aarhus has been asked to participate in a panel at The Center for Maine Contemporary Art's (CMCA's) Monthly Marketing Series for Artists.

This month's topic

Making Connections: Marketing Series for Artists

Main Gallery

CMCA's Monthly Marketing Series for Artists takes place on the fourth thursday of each month through October.

Attend one or more sessions.
PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.

Thursday, Sept 24, 7 - 8:30 PM: Connecting with Galleries and Other Opportunities for Exhibiting

To print a PDF Registration form, click HERE.

This series features curators, artists, gallery owners, web designers, marketing professionals, and others sharing information, expertise, and advice in areas many artists find difficult, unpleasant, or simply avoid altogether. Requests from artists resulted in CMCA offering this series, which will take place on the fourth thursday of each month, May through October.

Marketing is about connecting; connecting with the public, with galleries, with museums, with the media, with other artists, and more. Marketing is not only about selling your work, it's about completing the artistic equation of having viewers experience the art you create rather than letting your work gather dust in your studio. Many artists find it difficult to speak or write about their work. With this series, CMCA hopes to delineate the components of marketing and provide concrete steps for getting your work out there in the world.

$20 each session.

10% additional discount for CMCA members.
Registration or questions call CMCA 207-236-2875 x303

September 2009

Pets Gone Green

Willy Reddick's white-line woodblock prints are featured as illustrations for the new release of the book Pets Gone Green: Live a More Eco-Conscious Life with Your Pets by Eve Adamson. Books and woodcuts are available for purchase at Åarhus.

Also available at Amazon

September 2009

48 Hours in Belfast

Aarhus is mentioned in the inagural issue of Maine. Magazine's article "48 Hours in Belfast" by Kristen Andresen Lainsbury

"Belfast is know for its vibrant arts scene, and you could spend an entire morning browsing the city's galleries. Check out the contemporary art at Aarhus Gallery, a gorgeous collective space owned by six artists..."

Maine Magazine

September 2009

We need this land, this land need us

Poetry and assemblages at Maine Farmland Trust Gallery

Maine Farmland Trust welcomes the public to attend the opening reception for the exhibit “We need this land, this land needs us” on Friday September 4th, from 5-8pm at MFT Gallery in downtown Belfast (97 Main Street).

The show is an on-site, interactive collaboration between Belfast artist Mark Kelly, and poet-artist Vincent Abaldo from Lincolnville. Visitors to MFT Gallery will find the space transformed into a mosaic of assemblages made from found farm objects and poetry inspired by a small handful of Maine farms. The artists and some farmers will attend, and of course farm-fresh hors d’oeuvres will be served; for more information please contact our Gallery Coordinator at anna@mainefarmlandtrust.org.

The show will be on display through October 20th; opening times of the gallery are Mo-Fri 9am-4pm.

August 2009

Aarhus is mentioned as a "stand out" in Belfast in the August/September issue of Art New England's "Art Safari" column.

A working waterfront similar to Rockland’s is found in Belfast to its north, where the downtown is a short detour from Route 1. From Belfast’s port full of fishing boats stretches a nineteenth-century Main Street with a handful of galleries. Of the latter, the stand-out is the Åarhus Gallery established near the waterfont in 2007 with the express intent of appealing to “lovers of community, form, and design, as well as admirers of contemporary and unique art.” Featured are many young Maine artists who migrated northward after art school in Boston.

Read Modern Art Destinations in Downeast Maine.

July 2009

Aarhus is excited to be the Belfast pickup for Fail Better Farm's 2009 CSA!

If you've got a hankering for fresh, healthy, local vegetables grown by a fresh, healthly, local family, Clayton of FBF tells us there are shares available. Details can be found on their website: www.failbetterfarm.com

May 2009

Aarhus Gallery was mentioned in an article in the May issue of Maine Home+Design, "Art Imitating Life," which featured potters of Maine, including Simon van der Ven who's work is one of the highlights in our Fine Craft Section.

Download PDF

April 30, 2009

CREATURES reviewed in ArtScope Magaine's eBlast

"Animal inspired exhibits: The DeCordova Museum had one a few years back, as has ArtSpace, New Haven. Yet I don't think I have ever seen such a varied interpretation on the theme than in Creatures at Belfast, Maine's Åarhus Gallery, which is made even more impressive by the relatively focused radius of the artists included; all hail from New England's northernmost state. Extolation of the animal kingdom has been going on for thousands of years, as cited in Betsy Levine's Iranian-inspired stoneware vessels, each shaped, as ancient vessels were, like a different real or mythological creature. Folklore, rhymes, local fauna, and prehistoric cultures inspire Levine and 21 others who work in a variety of mediums. Mike Libby, owner of Insect Lab, creates creepy crawlies from old watch parts and other miniature gears and gadgets. Mia Kanazawa's fiber sculptures and puppets have been used in theatres, operas, parades, and even on PBS. Megan Cafferata's more surprising work includes the use of found butterfly wings, feathers, and small skeletal remains reassembled and embedded in handmade paper for pieces that resemble layers of an archaeological dig. Muses for millennia, it's no wonder birds and beasts keep popping up in gallery manifests today. Creatures remains on view through May 31st. "
Sarah E. Fagan, ArtScope Magazine

April, 2009

Aarhus Gallery would like to thank the artists, viewers, and patrons of 44N 69W: Radius Belfast

This past March in an effort to beat the winter doldrums, open our doors to a wider cross section of our community as well as celebrate the amazing people in this extraordinary area, we put together a show called 'Radius Belfast' with 20% of sales to go to local food banks. It was open to anyone making art or craft within a thirty-mile radius of Belfast, any age, any experience, any medium, one piece per person. The show was non-juried so if it walked in the door, it went on the walls... or floor or ceiling as the case may be.

As one might expect, the community rose to the occasion and came out in full bloom. We hung over one hundred and fifty pieces of art to the delight of hundreds of visitors, friends and loved ones and we're happy to say we sold over $2000 worth of art and took in a $50 donation. As a result we sent a check, to Good Shepherd Food Bank in Auburn, for $511.20 with a request that it be distributed to the food pantries and food banks that have the greatest need within a 30-mile radius of Belfast.

Because of the success of this show, we're considering making this an annual endeavor with hopes of bringing in more people, more art, more smiles and more money for the food banks. Thank you to all who participated!

April 5th, 2009

Aarhus Gallery gets mentioned in a Boston Sunday Globe article by David Lyon about Belfast- with a quote from Aarhusian Richard Mann.

“It would be hard to imagine Aarhus Gallery, which opened in June 2007 in a former gravestone carver's shop on lower Main Street, as a Camden-style gallery. Raised near Portland in Falmouth, Richard Mann, one of six artists who founded the gallery, left Maine but returned when he found a critical mass of artists in Belfast. "It's surprising," he says, "to find out how many people have been working in their homes and have something to show us."

The artists who exhibit at Aarhus are an individualistic bunch, but they embody an evolving regional style that owes as much to Yankee know-how as to any MFA program. I found myself admiring a Wes Reddick kinetic sculpture set in motion by an old hand drill. I was reminded of a scallop dragger I sometimes worked that consisted of a demasted sailing ship powered by a marine conversion of the straight-eight engine from the skipper's rusted-out Pontiac. There has always been a Belfast ethos of salvaging parts that still function, and putting them to work. Reuse, recycle, reimagine - it's a mantra that keeps bringing Belfast back to life.”

April 21-24, 2009

Mark Kelly selected as Waterfall Arts Earth Week Artist in Residency '09

Waterfall Arts holds its third consecutive Earth Week Residency this April. Artists Abby Sadauckas ('07) and Blake Hendrickson ('08) worked with high school students to make art out of recycled and unusual materials. This year mixed media artist Mark Kelly will work with students selected from the Waldo County Technical Center. Mark says that "What I want the students to experience and come away with is a great awareness of the things, natural and man-made, that surround them. Working with the materials they choose, and studying those materials on their own terms, for use in a different context will, hopefully, open doors to how they view the world. My ultimate goal is to foster a profound respect for the environment and for everything and everyone the students come in contact with." Each participant will make several sculptural pieces of their own; other activities include meeting and talking with local artists; researching and looking at artwork that utilizes found natural and man-made materials. The students' work will be exhibited at Waterfall Arts at the completion of the residency.

March 23, 2009

Mark Kelly was part of Second Lives, a show featuring recycled materials, at Waterfall Arts. The show was written up in the Bangor Daily News.

Second Lives' prompts second look
Artistic creations in Belfast show grow from 'repurposed' materials
By Lynn Ascrizzi
Special to the News

One humorous piece created in this vein is the 4-foot-by-5-foot wall hanging titled "900," so named because it was crafted from 900 used tea bags by artist and unquenchable tea-drinker Mark Kelly of Belfast.

"It's like a quilt; it just happened. I stapled them here, onto the wall. When I take them down, the piece will be destroyed," he said.

Kelly is co-founder of Aarhus Gallery, located at 50 Main St., Belfast. The piece grew out of his habit of hanging used tea bags on his art studio wall, he said. He also crafted a long chain of tea bags for the show, called "Teabag Stack."

Jane Phillips, a retired art writer from Key West, Fla., who now lives in Northport, thought the tea bag assemblages had all the right stuff.

"It's very inventive. He's taking something so ordinary and turning it into something quite different," she said. Phillips also was impressed by the lively art scene in Maine and at the gallery.

Read the full story in the Bangor Daily News

January/February, 2009

Aarhus Gallery Partners Wesley Reddick and Mark Kelly were two of nine featured Assemblage Artists in the Jan/Feb. Maine Home and Design article "The Art of Assemblage"