Recent Events

3rd Annual Extravaganza

November 27-December 24 2009
Reception: Friday December 4th, 5-8pm
Open daily 10am-6pm, Fridays until 8pm with Musical Entertainment. Christmas Eve only until 3pm

Friday Night Music
Live Music and Cider, Friday Nights 6-8pm

• Nov 27. Scot Cannon, Jazz and classical instrumental acoustic guitar
• Dec. 11 Tom Luther, Solo piano, from Mahler to Monk, and original compositions
• Dec. 18 Dan Beckman, Purpousefull pitter patter ocean sky accidents and elastic harmonies CDs and Tapes available during EXTRAVAGANZA

Small works & affordable quality gifts by 70+ local artisans, poets and musicians: assemblage, bronze, cards, collage, dolls, etching, handbound books, glass, hats, jewelry, music, ornaments, paintings, photography, poetry, pottery, prints, felted puppets, quilts, sculpture, scarves, trinkets, wood, and more. A new selection of images from the Glass Plate Archive will be available as well.

Obscura

October 20-November 15, 2009
Reception: Friday October 23rd, 5-8pm
Open daily 10am-6pm

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Aarhus Gallery focuses on the art of alternative and historical process photography with a show entitled ‘Obscura' featuring 22 artists from masters to experimentalists working with pinhole, cyanotype, mordoncage, platinum, plastic camera and gum arabic. On view October 20- November 15th. The public is invited to the Opening Reception Friday October 23rd from 5-8pm.

Is it stating the obvious to say that photography has evolved quite a bit since its discovery was announced in France and England in 1839? There have certainly been some amazing advancements, but the origins of photography are still with us and may prove to be as inextricable as our family tree roots.

The digital age is upon us and the days of film, darkrooms and chemistry seem to be as fleeting as the images first reflected into the ‘Camera Obscura’ so long ago. However, there are still some resourceful individuals that mix chemicals, coat paper with light sensitive emulsions and use the sun (or light box) to work light into image. Join us at Aarhus to see a diverse group of artists work their magic in various forms of alternative and historical process photography, and trip the light fantastic.

Camden Filmmaker Walter Ungerer to Show Films, Speak at Aarhus

Friday, November 13th, 2009 7pm.
Join Åarhus Gallery for an evening of experimental film with Camden filmmaker Walter Ungerer Friday November 13 at 7pm. Walter will follow up with a Q&A after the show. Admission is free.

Walter Ungerer is a longtime filmmaker and artist living in Maine with an international reputation. Beginning with the underground film scene of NYC in the early 1960s, Walter continues with his experimental short films, videos and features to this day.

With fifty years of filmmaking, video, computer, and media experience, Walter Ungerers’ works have been well received at festivals and competitions throughout the world, to name a few: the Florence International Film Festival, the Tours International Film Festival, France, the Athens International Film Festival (Best Feature Film) and the Atlantic Film and Video Festival, NS, Canada (Critics' Choice Award). He has been honored with special exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City and the Filmmuseum in Amsterdam as well as several other impressive venues. He has also received among other grants and awards, an American Film Institute Independent Filmmaker grant and a National Endowment for the Arts Media grant.

The films that will be shown at Aarhus Gallery will be a collection of five artistic experimental videos from 2007-2009. With keen camera work as well as rich and expert use of post production editing, these films take the viewer on a leisurely sublunary tour of an artists vision of their environment.

Stuntology & Notorious Trio
Saturday November 7th, 1pm
Sam Bartlett, Eden MacAdam-Somer, Larry Unger.
Awesome Music, Stupendus Stunts & Book Signing
$7 suggested donation

Notorious musicians Eden MacAdam-Somer, Larry Unger, and Sam Bartlett bring together traditional and contemporary acoustic music from around the world, creating a dynamic, swinging sound that is sure to get you on your feet. Seasoned dancers know Larry Unger not only as a performer who sparks nationally renowned bands but also the composer of countless fiddle tunes and lilting waltzes. Declared “guitar genius” by Sing Out Magazine, Unger joins with rabid mandolinist Sam Bartlett and demon fiddler Eden MacAdam-Somer to push the envelope towards swing, blues and Gypsy modes.

Absurd pranks and pointless techniques to amuse yourself, amaze your friends, and annoy everyone else.

I've always been fascinated with how people stay completely engaged using only what they have at hand. Whether it's balancing a napkin on the end of their nose or balancing potatoes over every door in a friend's house, boredom is unnecessary.

I documented stunts for about 20 years, got many of them while touring the country as a musician. Every time I got a new one I'd illustrate it and put it into my zine, The Journal of Stuntology. In my travels I distributed tens of thousands of these, and later self-published two books, both (almost) out of print.

Luckily, Workman Publishing just put out a compilation of the out of print books, which also includes many never published stunts. It's awesome!!!!! ~Sam Bartlett, Stuntologist Stuntology interview with Sam Bartlett.

Photos by Georges Nashan

Georges Nashan website

Stuntology website

Notorious on Myspace

Saturday, October 24, 2009.
Agharta Jazz with special guest Kristen Burkholder
"A Jazz Eye View"

Consider an amalgam of the 1972 introverted-oddity of Ziggy Stardust and 1901 extroverted-reality of Gustav Mahler; a winsome Gene Wilder ballad ballasted by the lounge throb of Boston's Morphine; the bass beat of a Mingus tune answered by the vibrancy of a Belfast-driven new jazz quartet.

Agharta Jazz offers a night of music as experienced through the prism of jazz.

“The idea is to focus on what is essential in music, that which transcends genre and idiom, the emotional component which moves us at our hearts” says composer and pianist Tom Luther. Agharta Jazz will be presenting a unique concert event with special guest vocalist Kristen Burkholder. Agharta Jazz will feature its core lineup, with Mike Whitehead on trumpet and flugelhorn, Tom Luther on piano, Doug Kennedy on bass, and Jeff Densmore on drums. They will be joined by vocalist Kristen Burkholder, who has delighted audiences with her group Tango.

Agharta Jazz

Kristen Burkholder

Holly Meade

September 22-October 18, 2009
Reception Friday October 2nd, 5-8pm

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Artist's statement - Woodblock Printing

A multi step process, printing with woodblocks is certainly an indirect path taken, but surprisingly, one that frequently results in images of great immediacy. Each step; the drawing, carving, inking, and printing of the block, all must come together in harmony to create a successful image. The results of this age old technique are most often energetic and insistent. The pattern and surface tension caused by the negative and positive shapes are part of the reason for this. I find it to be a challenging process, sometimes frustrating, always engaging. I am quite taken with it.

Art…its true effort is to open to us dimensions of the spirit that normally lie smothered under the weight of living.
–J. Winterson

Meade works as a printmaker and children's book illustrator.

The exploration in woodblock printing has been the focus of her work life for the last 6 years. This interest developed following a workshop with printmaker Hester Stinnett at the Haystack Mountain School on Deer Isle in 2002.

Illustrating children's books is the other part of her work life. Over 25 books been published in the last 15 years, many receiving awards, including a Caldecott Honor. These books have been illustrated primarily with collage techniques, although two recent books are done with woodblock prints.

Meade's studio and gallery are in Sedgwick, near Blue Hill. The gallery is open during the summer months.
Reach Road Gallery - www.reachroadgallery.com

Education - BFA / Painting / Rhode Island School of Design

Five-String Banjo Night featuring Bob Webb with Helen Richmond Webb
Saturday October 3, 2009 7:30 pm

For more than 30 years Bob Webb has not only explored, loved, studied and played the banjo, he’s also contributed to preserving the unique history of this most culturally embedded instrument. His museum exhibition, Ring the Banjar!: The Banjo in America from Folklore to Factory, and the exhibition monograph, catalyzed the modern golden age of the banjo.

Playing in the old-time “clawhammer” style, Bob treats the audience to music originating in Appalachia and the West, with a tip of the hat to minstrel-theatre style and conveys to our ears the sounds of African-inspired Black instruments that predate the modern banjo.

Bob will bring along the familiar banjo of today, as well as a gourd-bodied instrument, a minstrel-era replica banjo, an Appalachian fretless banjo, and perhaps more. Come hear the sounds of the happiest instrument -- and the saddest -- on Earth, and share in our national preoccupation with its distinctly American sound.

Bob Webb Online

Harold Garde
September 1-20, 2009
Reception Friday September 4, 5-8pm

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Åarhus Gallery is proud to exhibit the work of acclaimed abstract expressionist, Harold Garde, from September 1st through the 20th and invites the public to join Harold on September 4th at 4pm at the Colonial Theatre in Belfast for a debut showing of the recut and updated version of the Dale Schierholt documentary film: Harold Garde: Working Artist-The Director’s Cut, followed by an opening reception from 5-8pm at Åarhus.

Born in New York City in 1923, amid a growing interest around the country toward science within the following decades, what with the discovery of the planet Pluto and Amelia Earhart’s solo attempt to circumnavigate the earth, and some other pretty crazy stuff in the ways of science, Harold did what many other intelligent, forward thinking Americans did and enrolled as a science major in college. But then three years in the Army Air Force changed something in Harold Garde and he went on to receive a masters degree in Art at Columbia University, moving on to work in commercial interior design and later into a career as art professor and teacher, retiring in 1984 to beautiful, you guessed it, Belfast Maine. Where, as is obvious if you were to visit his studio, he continued to paint and is still painting, dividing his time between his studios in Florida and Maine, Harold paints and paints.....and paints. Much to the delight we may add, to countless individuals and the notable collections of: The Print Library of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine, the Farnsworth Museum, the Fine Arts Museum of New Mexico, the DeLand Museum in Florida, the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France, and we could go on, but you get the picture. In fact, you get to see many of them ...at Åarhus September 1st through the 20th, 2009.

“I have an abstract expressionist background.” Harold says, “It was the most exciting new development in art when I was a young painter.” Much of that training remains. What’s left behind are sophisticated techniques and equipment, choosing instead the simplest and most direct, rarely choosing to allow the non-figurative (the ‘abstract’ of ‘abstract expressionism’) to remain as the final work. Harold is interested in what the paint can do, no doubt, making marks and using colors that both express his thoughts and respond to his actions, though his subjects are ones that are readily recognized and “capable of being rendered with many variations.” Whether manifested subtly or boldly, fragile or monumental: “I want my works to be visually exciting, capable of engaging the eye, the emotions and stimulating the mind of the viewer.”

Åarhus partners had the favor and pleasure of visiting Harold Garde’s studio and chose from a multifarious portfolio of work, pieces that range from the 1950’s to 2009. We found we were drawn toward the striking colors and provocative shapes of his figures and faces, with a couple of chair and puppet images confidently placed into the mix. This is not a retrospective as much as it is a rollicking romp through a collection of outstanding paintings from what we consider one of Maine’s finest abstract expressionist painters, at the top of his game.

The work of Åarhus partners Annadeene Fowler, Kevin Johnson, Mark Kelly, Richard Mann, Wesley Reddick and Willy Reddick, will, with all humbleness, also be on view. Åarhus Gallery is located at 50 Main St. Belfast, open daily 10am-6pm, and during Friday Art Walks until 8pm.

September 4th

4pm at the Colonial Theatre

The Director's Cut, "Harold Garde Working Artist" to be shown at The Colonial Theatre, Belfast.

The Director's cut of the film, "Harold Garde:Working Artist" by the film maker, Dale Schierholt, will have a premier showing at the Colonial Theater in Belfast on September 4 at 4PM.

The original version of the film was shown at the Museum of Florida Art in DeLand, Florida earlier this year and it has been broadcast from major television stations in Florida. That version was shown at the Strand Theater in Rockland.

Schierholt recently shot additional footage in the Belfast studio of Harold Garde and has used the new material for this newly edited "Director's Cut".

Dale Schierholt is known for films made for the Farnsworth Museum. Those include "Lucy's Gift" about the origin of the museum. plus a Louise Nevelson film, "Awareness in the Fourth Dimension", a Robert Indiana film,"Star of Hope", and one on the installation of the Robert Indiana exhibition in Rockland.

A reception at Aarhus Gallery, 50 Main Street Belfast, will follow the film screening.

The Colonial Theatre is located at 163 High Street, Belfast.

Jay Gibson

Artifacts and Narrative
August 11-30, 2009
Reception was Friday August 14, 5-8pm

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J.T. Gibson – Raison D’etre

I was born in 1958. I inherited my father’s love of model airplanes and began work on numerous kits but could never finish any of them. Frustrated by having to follow directions (still a problem), I built my first successful glider from scratch and flew it off the back porch. Thus began a love affair with working with my hands and building and creating art. As a teenager, I constructed a darkroom in our basement and embarked on a journey with photography that continues today.

In 1977, I attended Pratt Institute, studying Photography and Sculpture. But after two years (couldn’t follow directions), I left and got part time gigs as an assistant to many New York photographers. With one – Neil Selkirk – I became the printer of the Diane Arbus work. I went on to assist in the printing of Richard Avedon’s portfolio for his first retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with master printer Randy Levensen. For five years I had a studio in New York, printing some of the greats of photography. I had a portrait show at the Small Walls gallery on the lower east side. One of my subjects was Andy Summers – guitarist for the rock band, the Police. I also printed the exhibition photos for his New York, London, Paris shows from his book of photographs, THROB.

During all this time, I was carving stone and building small works out of cast off parts of pianos and other detritus found in the streets of Manhattan, and participating in many group shows.

Wanting to branch out and further explore sculpture and cast bronze, I moved to Mercerville New Jersey to work at the Johnson Atelier Institute for Sculpture. There, I met many leading artists, and discovered the methods and techniques of sculptors like Joel Shapiro, Beverly Pepper, Julian Schnabel and others. I left after four years to start Gibson Design, producing architectural metal work and art furniture. Entre Libre in New York’s Soho and Agnes Bourne in San Francisco represented my bronze art furniture. I also began a long association with New York designer, Clodagh, interpreting many of her designs.

I started experimenting with short films and writing plays. One of my full-length plays, RAGMAN’S ROLL, was a Panelist’s Choice Award winner at the Edward Albee Theater conference in Valdez and went on to be a finalist for the O’Neil Playwrights Conference.

In 1998, tired of working with others’ ideas (following directions again) and needing a regular paycheck, I founded a decorative bronze tile business – Metaphor Bronze Tileworks - that is a major art tile maker in America. I am currently the head designer, art director and sculptor for Metaphor.

I vacationed in Maine for ten years, and it always provided great inspiration and regeneration of the spirit. In 2004, I decided to move to this great landscape and set up shop. I bought a small farm near the coast and built a studio where I pursue my large-scale work in wood and bronze.

My work is in numerous private collections.

Interview with Jay Gibson

Charles Duback
July 21-August 9, 2009
Reception Friday July 24, 5-8pm

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Åarhus Gallery is proud to welcome the venerable Maine painter Charles DuBack. Charles was born in 1926 in Fairfield, Connecticut and has been painting and living in Maine for over 40 years. Mr. DuBack began painting soon after WWll, having spent three years with the US Navy amphibious force in the Pacific. He has since become a respected American painter and has been featured in important shows on contemporary American painting including such prominent exhibitions as ‘Recent Paintings’ Museum of Modern Art NYC, ‘The Biennial International Exhibition’ at the Brooklyn Museum, and the ‘Whitney Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting’. Needless to say his paintings are housed in many museum collections and other public institutions throughout the country.

Mr. DuBack says this about his work: "...With every discovery my destination is always the same and I become younger and much more daring, bringing me closer to the honesty of childhood. I believe the following; feeling over formulation, the unknown over the known, the individual over society, the inner over the outer, which in turn allows me to create and to express what I have within myself."

With nature as a driving force, bold simplicity of brush stroke, sensitivity to color and abstract realist sensibilities, Charles DuBack’s eighty three years of life experience and half century of practical evolutionary facility, brings to the canvas the straightforward dignity of a painters honest vision.

William Pint & Felicia Dale

Concert: Sunday August 2, 2009 7pm

That's right, maritime music, nautical music - the music of the sea. Whether they be contemporary songs with the sea as a theme or shanties, (or chanties, if you prefer) the traditional work songs sung aboard the tall ships to organize the labor of the crew. Those crews were English, Irish, German, French, from the West Indies, The United States and other sea going nations, but the music itself was inspired by the oceans that link all these places together and cover two thirds of our planet. We take all of this as a source of inspiration for our music - giving it our own spin with guitar, hurdy-gurdy, mandolin and other exotic sounds. The result is an unusually energetic and exciting approach to folk music.

We have a tremendously good time playing this music and hope that you will enjoy listening and participating in it either at a live performance or through our recordings.

"William Pint and Felicia Dale rank among North America's most exciting interpreters of music based in the traditions of the British Isles and France... unconventional but spine-tingling... unique and mesmerizing "
Dirty Linen

Website

Kate Chapin & Lesia Sochor

June 30-July 19, 2009
Reception Friday July 3, 5-8pm

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Kate Chapin

What strikes me is the fact that in our society, art has become something which is only related to objects, and not to individuals, or to life.
-Michel Foucault

Any work dealing with possibilities must lead to new work... What education finally serves us, if at all. There is a pause, a rose, something on paper. The small green shadows make the red jump out. That is not a telescope, nor do I have stars in my belly. Such displacements alter illusions, which is all-to-the-good.
-Lyn Hejinian, My Life

My work is an attempt to create or explore imagery that wound up in attics, old trunks or garbage heaps. Lost images, found images, silent images which somehow find voice. Stories find themselves through images & re-presenting of images found, saved and collected... that evoke through a proximity (or overlap or opposition or connection or repetition) tellings of our own stories.

The beauty and simplicity of utilitarian objects such as canning jars is that they themselves come loaded with story. The story of the glass they are made of and bale wire that holds the cap. The story of the hands that held them, cleaned them filled them, stowed them. The history of a culture of sweat and labor. The passing on of knowledge of sustenance, sustainability and process. The story of the growing, harvesting and preservation of foods. The story of the hunger that the contents of this object satisfied. The story of seasons and years gone by, rains, suns, good years, poor years.

The story of the woman in a kitchen full of heat and steam.

Photographs are, of course, vastly different objects from canning jars, but in many ways the intent is similar. Snapshots are taken by everyday people to preserve a moment or a loved one. These humble proletarian photos inevitably wind up in suitcases or trunks or flea market stalls. Their importance is now only what we can imagine from the fading images. People are nameless. The moments are lost. But at some point in time, on some sunny day when the shadows fell just so, somebody took a picture. Somebody in love with their new camera or the moment or the angle of light clicked a shutter, preserving time and space, light and shadow and that mysterious intangible, feeling.

The wonder to me is that the jars and the photos come together and through glass and shadow, light and refraction, the captured past and the observable present, combine to create a tangible pause. And I find myself waiting for the red to jump out. Will one of the people move or speak? It seems almost possible. The photo-in-jar is a displacement that alters illusions. And that, I am hoping, is all to the good.

Lesia Sochor

A spool of thread, a humble form of utilitarian simplicity holds a current of meaning that crosses all borders. Exploring this iconic image in oils has connected Sochor to family but also to the thread, which sews an endless seam around the world. From one generation to the next 'thread' metaphorically as well as physically has linked her to the past and continues its weave into the present. An accomplished artist and teacher, Sochor was born in Philadelphia where she received her BFA from the Philadelphia College of Art. She moved to Brooks Maine in 1979 where she has lived and painted for 30 years. Her watercolors and oils have been widely exhibited throughout the state in galleries, universities, and museums including Mathias Fine Art, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Caldbeck Gallery, USM, the Farnsworth and Gilley Museums as well as the State House in Augusta. Sochor's artistic career includes curatorial work in Woodstock, N.Y., the Ellsworth Public Library, and the Marsh River Theatre in Brooks, involvement with the Ukrainian Art Ass. in N.Y.C., Co-founding the first gallery in Belfast, Me., and proliferating the ancient art form of the Ukrainian decorated egg throughout the state of Maine. Sochor has also taught privately and publically for twenty years.She is currently teaching the art program at the Toddy Pond School as well as chidren, teen and adult workshops in Brooks, Camden, Morrill and Belfast.

Åarhus Gallery Turns Two

June 2-28, 2009
Opening Friday June 5

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Sometimes two years can feel like ten or sometimes be like an instant... Åarhusians are thinking it feels like both as their second anniversary comes sauntering through the doors in June at DSL speed. It’s been a long, short, slow, quick, couple of years for Åarhus Gallery, having now had 24 opening receptions, shown over 235 artists, shared 30 cases of wine, sliced 130 pounds of cheese, and participated in the mastication of over 30,000 little crackers (that last one was an exaggeration but you get the point). With many thanks and warm regards to the community, friends, supporters and visitors, the six artists of Åarhus Gallery announce their Second Anniversary Show, June 2-28th, and invite the public to join them for an Opening Reception June 5th from 5-8pm with more cheese, more refreshments and more crackers.

The indefatigable company of Åarhusians; Annadeene K. Fowler, Kevin Johnson, Mark Kelly, Richard Mann, Wesley Reddick, and Willy Reddick will enthuse artistically with a smørgasbørd of work in celebration of this timely event.

Jazz Open Mic Poetry

Friday, June 12, 2009 at 7 pm

Aarhus Gallery invites poets, spoken-word performers and everyone else to an evening of live Jazz and open-mic reading on Friday, June 12. If you are a poet or spoken-word artist - come read! If you want to hear some of the mid-coast's most talented poets and musicians mix it up - come listen! The action starts at 7 pm.

Music for the event will be performed by Agharta Jazz. The quartet, founded by Union composer and pianist Tom Luther, was inspired by the late 1960s quintet of Miles Davis and VSOP. The majority of the Agharta Jazz repertoire is original and newly composed. As a composer, Luther takes his lead from such masters as Charles Mingus, Duke Ellington, and Thelonious Monk. Improvisation is a key element in the music of Agharta Jazz, and the band actively seeks to stretch beyond the basic musical forms and freely mix styles from other genres while maintaining the basic essence and spontaneity that is essential to jazz.

There will be a suggested donation of $5 for the evening. Anyone interested in participating in this event please contact Mark Kelly at bumboclot2000@yahoo.com. Aarhus Gallery is located at 50 Main St. in Belfast. For more info call 338-0001.

Download Poster (pdf)

"Creatures"

April 30-May 31

Reception Friday May 1st, 5-8 pm

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CREATURES: From dogs to dragons, goats to gargoyles. From Loch-Ness to lemmings, moths to mastadons, ants to Aunt Ethel's cockatoo. Featuring 22 Maine Artists from Portland to Belfast to Deer Isle.

"Dross, Dregs, Leftovers and Junk"

April 2-26, 2009

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44N 69W: Radius Belfast

March 5-29, 2009
Reception: Friday March 6th, 5-8pm

Aarhus Gallery to Donate to Food Banks and Celebrate Art in the Community

Please join Åarhus Gallery for an opening reception Friday March 6th, 5-8pm as the Gallery 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 an all-encompassing 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.

The show begins March 5th and runs until the 29th.

20% of all sales will be donated to local food banks.

RED

February 5th- March 1st, 2009
Opening Reception: Friday February 6th, 5-8pm

Technically Speaking, red is a light induced color made up primarily of the longest wavelengths discernible by the human eye, but red has a passionate history as well. Red spans the spectrum in its emotional and psychological evocations and has been put to work throughout the centuries for social, commercial, political and religious needs, wanton desires and traffic control. Join us to see our unabashed results as we explore the facets of the color.

Tango

Saturday, February 14th, 2009 5:30-7:30pm
Join us for an evening with the elegant, soulful, and playful piano/vocal duo

Tango is the piano/vocal duo of Kristen Burkholder, vocalist, and Martin Gottlieb, pianist. They specialize in songs from the great American songbook, that era from which jazz standards, classic showtunes and torch songs were born. On Valentine's Day evening, the theme is love -- lost and won -- with such melodies as "It Had to Be You," "Unforgettable," "Too Darn Hot," and "Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me."

♥ Suggested donation is $5. Tea, hot cider and snacks will be provided. This is the perfect prelude to the rest of your Valentine's Day evening plans.

“ Kristen Burkholder's delivery is like watching a musical unfold before your eyes. Martin Gottlieb on piano is intimate and in complete sync with Kristen's vocals as he breathes in every note she sings. Yes, it does take two to Tango, and these two incredible musicians are not to be missed.” ~ Joel T. Mann, General Manager of Stella's Jazz Nocturnal Restaurant in Castine and Program/Operations Director WERU-FM

Tango Website

Åarhus Gallery Annual Holiday Extravaganza

50+ Maine Artists and Craftsmen: 27 days
November 28 - December 24, 2008
Opening Reception, Friday December 5, 5-8pm

Åarhus EXTRAVAGANZA, runs from November 28 through December 24, 2008 and features creative small works and gifts from over 50 talented Maine Artists in a variety of exciting media including: pottery, etching, painting, collage, photography, woodblock prints, assemblage, fiber, stone, turned wood, cards, calendars, books, ornaments, music and more. A new selection of images from the Glass Plate Archive will be available as well.

Extravaganza Music Nights: Acoustic music for your browsing pleasure!

Aarhus Gallery was open until 8 on Fridays (with refreshments!) from November 28-December 19 2008 and featured live performances by:

Friday November 28th, 2008 6-8pm

Uke of Spaces Corners
Purpousefull pitter patter ocean sky accidents and elastic harmonies. CDs and Tapes available at Aarhus Gallery during EXTRAVAGANZA

CDs: “The Ghastly Grimy Orchestra”, and “Uke of Phillips”

Cassettes: “Riff Visitors”, “Uke of Phillips, Live on the Phone”, “Uke of Spaces, One of a Kind”

Uke of Spaces Corners on Myspace

December 12th 6-8pm 2008

George Fowler (fiddle) and Will Brown (guitar)
Come pick up your copies of The Montville Project Volume I, The Montville Project II (hot off the presses!), and George's solo CD- featuring many famed Belfast area musicians such as Dave and Jeffrey Lewis, Tom and Marian Fowler, and Seth and Tyler Yentes.

The Montville Project
"Over 67 minutes of lively tunes from this quartet of veteran Maine & New Hampshire musicians. A toe-tapping experience for anyone who enjoys this wonderful traditional music and dance form". ~CDSS

Montville Project Website

Never Better

Come pick up your copies of George's brand new solo CD, "Never Better", (released 12/6/08).

A memoir of George's 30 year musical journey with the fiddle, the CD features Maine and New Endland musical greats;

Nick Apollonio, Will Brown, Art Bryan, Hap Collins, Marian Fowler, Tom Fowler, Bernie Houlahan, David Lewis, Jeffrey Lewis, Hugh McGinnis, Jeremiah McLane, Surya Mitchell, Sharon Pyne, Paul Schaffner, Bill Schubeck, Fiona Schubeck, Jim Stewart, Susanne Ward, Fred White, Seth Yentes and Tyler Yentes.

December 19th 6-8pm 2008

The Kitchenhounds
Phyllis Buchanan (fiddle, cello), Tom Fowler (mandolin), Jon Kerr (guitar, banjo) Rollicking mix of New England's finest fiddle and dance tunes with an Appalachian twang.

Maine Book Arts Invitational Show

October 21-November 16 2008
Opening Reception: Friday Oct 24th 5-8pm

Aarhus Gallery invites the public to the opening reception for their latest group invitational show Friday October 24th from 5-8pm. Artist Books will be featured from 20 Maine and Maine related artist who specialize in the 'book' form. The show runs from October 21- November 16.

This form of creative book arts comes in many articulations and is bound only by the artists' imagination and skill. From the intricate book brooches of Anne-Claude Cotty (Stonington) to the solid cast books of Cat Schwenk (Freeport) or, from the inventive bindings in wood, metal and found objects of Peter Madden (Westbrook) contrasting the delicate traditionally flavoured, scripted pages of amazing calligraphy by Jan Owen (Belfast) and much more, this show is sure to be a page turner.

Mike Silverton, Sept 23-Oct 19 2008

Opening October 3rd

"Un ballo in maschera"
The show's title, Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball), refers to two small works, and in a broader, metaphorical sense, to a taste for frivolity tempered by occasion and, of course, enigma.

Also showing the work of Kevin Johnson, Mark Kelly, Annadeene K. Fowler, Richard Mann, Wesley Reddick, Willy Reddick, and Maine artisans.

When Lee and I moved from Brooklyn to Belfast six years ago, the urge to make art graduated from marginal to obsessive. An abundance of materials and the space in which to play with them, perhaps even my age –– if not now, never –– contribute to an explanation. Be that as it may, it’s mostly what I’m doing these days.

I was drawn years ago to Dada and Surrealism, especially to Marcel Duchamp’s insouciant aesthetic. I’ve written two cubic yards of poetry, some of which was published in magazines and anthologies, along with a tastefully anorexic chap-book, “Battery Park,” published by Russell Edson’s Thing Press in 1966. More recently, I narrate “Analogue Smoque” to Tom Hamilton and Al Margolis’ musical accompaniment on Pogus 21029-2, a two-CD production issued in 2003. The royalties to date are in the low teens.

In addition to having produced poetry readings for the New School for Social Research, New York’s municipal radio station, and the stations of Pacifica Radio, I’ve written reviews for the most part of modernist classical music on recording for print and Internet publications, including LaFolia.com, of which I am proprietor-editor. I also write about high-end audio.

As to what of mine occupies this fine little gallery, the art must speak for itself.

The 4th Annual Belfast Poetry Festival

Saturday Oct. 18, 2008

1 pm at Aarhus - Wesley Reddick & Valerie Lawson, Mark Kelly & Mandi Locke, Dina Petrillo & Barbara Maria

Click Here to Download Flyer

Stew Henderson, July 1-20, 2008

Opening Reception, July 4th

Stew Henderson gave a talk about his work, Tuesday July 8th at 7pm.

Statement for Graphica

The Graphica series started as a material driven idea. I had found several roles of commercially printed paper at the local transfer station. This paper with images is the by-product of the stretched fabric industry of Moss Inc. in Belfast. I rolled this paper out on the studio floor and began to cut sections and strips from huge images of corporate logos, car advertisements, abstract designs and other pictures. These fragments served as a background for my painting and linoleum block print designs. The resulting work in Graphica displays a tangible middle space between the my crude hand work and the highly polished imagery produced by a computer driven press.

Bennett Konesni and Jeffrey Lewis

Music Performance: Saturday July 5th, 2008 from 7:30-9:30pm

Bennett Konesni, Jeffrey Lewis

Scandinachian or Appalnavian is what fresh duo Bennett Konesni and Jeffrey Lewis call their unique blend of acoustic music, informed by Appalachian, Scandinavian, Work Songs, Bluegrass, Old-Time, Farming, Dancing, and exuberance for life.

Bennett and Jeff have been playing together for half a decade, in combinations such as The Free Seedlings, and Fireside. Both have picked up the ability to play almost any string instrument- and regularly carry a fiddle, a mandolin, two guitars, and two banjos wherever they go. Saturday's performance included a special musical guest.

They gave a concert at Aarhus Gallery, Saturday July 5th, 2008 from 7:30-9:30pm. A $7 suggested donation was collected at the door, and refreshments were served.

Happy Anniversary Aarhus!

Opening Reception, June 6th 2008 from 5-8pm

Some have come to say "Our House", some say 'Are Huss", the Danes say 'Oar hoose" and they mention oh so diplomatically, that it's spelled wrong. The Aarhusians are saying, Wow, it's been a year already, let's celebrate! With glee and many thanks to the community, friends and supporters, the six artists of Aarhus Gallery announce their First Anniversary Show, on the walls June 1-29th, and invite the public to join them for an Opening Reception, June 6th from 5-8pm with more crackers, more cheese, more refreshments and tasty treats.

The merry band of Aarhusians Kevin Johnson, Mark Kelly, Annadeene Konesni, Richard Mann, Wesley Reddick and Willy Reddick will wax poetic with selected works from the engaging previous 12 months and will tinker with new work in the spirit of the traditional and contemporary first anniversary motif; paper and clocks.

"She Rows The Atlantic", sculpture by Wesley Reddick

May 2008

Chaos

May 1-25
Opening reception Friday May 2nd 5-8

"Chaos and War" by Samuel Gelber

Chaos, from the Greek khaos, originally referred to the formless primordial space, the chasm of the great mystery, Einstein may have used the term, ’elsewhere’. For the past few hundred years ‘chaos’ has been scaled down somewhat and has come to mean disorder, or even just a big mess, ‘The dog got hold of a case of prune danish ...CHAOS.’ In mathematics, Chaos Theory focuses on how some systems have sensitive dependence on their initial conditions, and may attempt to plot how a butterfly wing flap in central Mexico can ultimately cause a monsoon in India, difficult to understand but the graphics are cool. The artist Sam Gelber says of his 27 foot painting ”Chaos and War” , ‘It is about violence, patriotism, confrontation, antagonism, blood and politics.’ Ten other artists join Sam at Aarhus to grab hold of this worldly word and come up with some chaos of their own; Edward Anthonis, Kenny Cole, Norman Tinker, Seth Whited as well as Åarhus artists Kevin Johnson, Mark Kelly, Annadeene Konesni, Richard Mann, Wesley Reddick, and Willy Reddick.

April 2008

Funny Lookin': A Photography Show

April 3-27

Photographer Richard Benson once said that "funny pictures aren't quite serious" and with this in mind, Aarhus Gallery invites the public to join them for an opening reception on Friday April 4 from 5-8pm as they explore the humorous side of photography. The show will run from April 3-27 and coincides with and is inspired by the Belfast Comic Arts Laugh Festival April 9-13, 2008.

With the long winter, high heating costs and gas prices, 8 years of the Bush Administration, and a recession, we all could use a little levity. Be it odd, ironic, strange, wry or cute, views of a not so serious world can help cure the blues. Funny Lookin' artists include Jason Crain, Derek DeJoy, Sally Dennison, Betsey Feeley, Greg Morley, Alex Morrow, Georges Nashan, Eben Ostby, Jan Rosenbaum and Mat Thorne, as well as Åarhus artists Kevin Johnson, Mark Kelly, Annadeene Konesni, Richard Mann, Wesley Reddick, and Willy Reddick.

"Lost Person Area" by Kevin Johnson

Hope Hoffman and Kittlish

Saturday April 19th, 2008 7-9pm
Hope Hoffman and Kittlish
"Original & traditional fiddle tunes and songs"
Their new CD, Infinite Winter Squash: New Maine Fiddle Music will be available
$7 suggested donation at the door

Hope Hoffman and her band, Kittlish, present her original fiddle and viola tunes, often-comic storytelling about the farming, winterizing and neighborly adventures which inspire them, and a rhythmic and lyrical repertoire of traditional Irish, Scottish, French Canadian, English and Scandinavian music.

Hope's musical style on fiddle, viola and voice is noted for its evocative beauty & rough-and-tumble playfulness, with influences including Maine dance fiddlers and early music. With a lifetime of experience as a writer, actress and dancer, Hope has been a professional musician in New England for several years, and is known for her warm and personable performances from Presque Isle to Manhattan.

Hugh McGinness is a regular performer on cittern, guitar, banjo, jaw harp, etc. He is also one third of the Irish trio Feckless, with George Fowler on fiddle and Susanne Ward on pipes.

Larry Burkett accompanies traditional fiddle players on guitar, including Fiddle-iscious and occasionally the Don Roy Trio.

Website

Listen

March 2008

Åarhus Gallery views "Architectura"

Åarhus Gallery held an opening reception on Friday March 7th, 2008 from 5-8pm as the gallery took a broad look at architecture with their show Architectura March 6th-30th 2008.

Architectura draws from Maine artists working in forms from collage and painting, to constructions, models, drawing and photography. Artists include Daniel Anselmi, Mary Baldwin Collins, Thomas Michael Corcoran, Jason Crain, Larason Guthrie, Blake Hendrickson, Greg Morley, Alison Rector, James Strickland, and David Wright, as well as Åarhus artists Kevin Johnson, Mark Kelly, Annadeene Konesni, Richard Mann, Wesley Reddick, and Willy Reddick.

Theater by Alison Rector

The Academy(detail) by Daniel Anselmi

The Yentes Brothers Duo, in concert, March 2008

Friday March 21, 7-9pm.
$5 suggested donation at the door.

The Yentes Brothers Duo brought the house down while providing celebratory music for our Extravaganza in December. We are thrilled to have the eclectic duo back for a full concert!

With Seth on Cello, and Tyler on violin, these gents expertly sample classical, original, traditional, and old time tunes- and together create a clear and hearty sound.

February 2008

LOVE

February 1-March 2, 2008

Plato described love as the desire for the perpetual possession of the good, a few years later, J Giles said love stinks. Who's to say for sure what love is, or what color it is for that matter. Aarhus hopes to shed some light on the subject.

An opening reception was held Friday February 1st, from 5-8pm.

Artists include

Rural Electric, February 16th, 2008

On Saturday February 16th, Belfast-based Rural Electric, performed at Aarhus gallery from 7:30-9:30. This hard working, local, guitar-wielding fuzz-folk, original independent rock band deals with everything from love and politics to nature. The band is a virtual vernal pool of four talented musicians, Andy Vietze (guitar, vocals, park ranger), Alan Gibson (guitar, keyboard, vocals, green builder), Andrew Carpenter (baritone, bass, guitar, soil scientist), and Eric Sanders (drums, assistant VP Bank of America). Their second album 'The Road to Hell is Paved' was released last year to much acclaim.

Website
Myspace page

December 2007

Saturday December 8th, 2007: Children's book signing 1-3pm

Mid-Coast Maine Children's Book Authors, Stephen Costanza, Belfast, (Mozart Finds a Melody) and Rebekah Raye, of E. Blue Hill, (The Very Best Bed, and Thanks to the Animals) read from their books, tell us about being authors and illustrators, and signed books made available by Fertile Mind Bookshop .

November 2007

Special Screening: "Everything Will Be OK"

Wednesday November 14 2007 at 6:30pm

In continuation of its on-going film series, Aarhus Gallery was proud to present filmmaker Patrick O'Brien's "Everything Will Be Okay", a series of excerpts from his upcoming documentary film "October 5, 1974".

On May 24th, 2005, Patrick was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), a terminal disease that results in the progressive degeneration of the nerves and muscles responsible for voluntary movement. It is a fatal and incurable disease. He was 30 years old. This devastating news did not put a halt to this artist's incredible spirit or productivity. He states, "Over the course of 2006 and 2007 I will document my journey with ALS on 35mm motion picture film. This challenge has given me a focal point to channel my energies, and will hopefully inspire others to keep moving throughtheir own adversities. At this point in my life my intention is to be at peace with myself, and to pursue my life's work of making a feature film about something which reaches for the truth. All of my adult life, I have been making films - films about unconventional characters, stories about vulnerable souls. Now, in the last years of my life, the film I am making, the character I tried so hard to write all these years, the story which eluded me on paper, is unfolding across my body, inside my nervous system, and in front of my eyes. I have become the character in the film which I have been striving to bring to the screen all these years".

The film was shown on Wednesday, November 14, at 6:30 pm.

There was a byob fund-raising party after the film. 100% of the proceeds from this event will go to the Patrick O'Brien Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to funding ALS research and artists working creatively to raise awareness.

For more information about the foundation, go to www.patrickobrienfoundation.org.

October 2007

Rebecca Rivers
Showing October 2nd - 28th, 2007
Opening Reception: Friday October 5th 5-8pm

The surprisingly twisted path that I am on, led me to Searsport, Maine 30 years ago. This path has included the Dayton Art Institute in Dayton, Ohio, living near Madrid, Spain for 4 years, having three sons who are my delight, painting classes at UMO with Mike Lewis, a week on Monhegan Island with 12 of my art buddies every year, visiting both islands of New Zealand and skydiving as often as I can. My home has become my sanctuary. I find solace in the quiet peace that living off the beaten path offers. It has been a gift to have the opportunity to wander the Maine shorelines. I am drawn to water, salt or fresh, and my paintings are a joyful answer to that call.

The most recent mixed media and watercolor paintings represent a departure in attitude from what is most comfortable for me. Realistic watercolor has been my medium and style of choice, but within me becoming more insistent, is the urge to let go. My artistic path has led me to the edge. I have fearfully peered over the rim and have longed to step off that edge into the vast unknown. These most recent paintings are a part of the continuing effort of adventure and discovery to artistically step off the edge.

September 2007

David Estey
Showing September 13th-30th, 2007
Opening Reception: Friday September 14th 5-8pm

David Estey is an award-winning painter/printmaker in Belfast, Maine. He has lived, taught, and exhibited around Baltimore, MD; Philadelphia, PA; Charlotte, NC; and mid-coast Maine. His work includes paintings and prints in a wide variety of styles and media, as well as an abundance of strong, expressive figure drawings in charcoal.

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August 2007

Ben Potter

Åarhus Gallery presented a selection of work by local artist Ben Potter including paintings, drawings and collage from August 13th-August 26th, 2007. A reception was held August 17th from 5-8 pm as part of Belfast's Friday Art Walks.

Potter , originally from Tennessee, majored in Art and Biology at Williams College, where he was awarded a Mellon Grant for experimental work in the arts, and a Hutchinson fellowship. He received his M.F.A. from the California College of Arts in 1998, and has since exhibited widely in the United States and Europe. Ben taught classes in sculpture, design, photography, drawing and painting in Vermont and Wisconsin before becoming associate professor of art at Unity College in Maine. Ben's art practice stems from his interdisciplinary background, and uses subjects drawn primarily from the sciences as the basis for his formal and conceptual investigations. These 'investigations' may include plastic shopping bags, tin foil or motorcycle helmets.

September 2007

Dianne S Hire

Renowned Colorist Quilter, Dianne S. Hire showed at Aarhus Gallery

A collection of new and fabulous small quilts by Dianne S. Hire was on view at Aarhus Gallery August 28th-September 11th, 2007. To kick off Labor Day Weekend, Aarhus Gallery hosted an Opening Reception Friday August 31st from 5-8pm.

One of the quintessential artists of the art quilt genre lives right here in our own back yard. The nationally recognized, award winning quiltmaker Dianne S. Hire of Northport, will dazzle us with vibrant colors, bold exciting shapes and her outstanding design sense. "I am a colorist who intuitively responds to the joyful way colors intermingle. I require vibrancy to speak but never shout--yet boldly sing" She is at the top of her game with her virtuosity of the medium and the facility to challenge concepts and think outside the square.

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August 2007

Kris Engman , as a guest artist at Aarhus Gallery July 31st-August 12th 2007, was showing paintings, drawings and bronze sculptures. A reception was held August 3rd from 5-8 pm as part of Belfast's Friday Art Walks.

Kris Engman, a dedicated and talented sculptor, and painter, is an assistant professor of art at the University of Maine in Orono and is also the founder and director of a Belfast based school and community service cultural exchange.

Ms. Engman's figurative sculptures are the basis for her exploration of social and psychological issues. Her work suggests the "... roles and circumstances that define the female place within her culture, community, home... Each is about internal balance common to everyone despite of the fact that the perspective is female". In painting, Ms. Engman places her focus on the relationships of color. This work is the result of a study of light conditions and its effects on color within specific natural environments.

July 2007

Boat Show July 17 through the 29th 2007

In response to the national boat building challenge and the classic small boat show that was held in Belfast July 28, Åarhus Gallery featured area artists working with boat imagery, both literal and interpretive. Works shown by Guest Artists included; photographs of boats in and out of their element at The Carpenter's Boatshop by Paul McEvoy, the uncompromising sculpture of James Strickland, mixed media on paper by Vincent Abaldo, and an actual 17' Hereshoff row boat hull by the nimble hands of boat builder Steven Florimbi was hung from the ceiling.

Free Seedlings Band CD Release Performance-Party 2007

The Free Seedlings, a new and energizing acoustic band playing a buoyant mix of bluegrass, old-time and original songs, announce their new CD Uncommon Kinship with a performance-party Thursday July 26, 2007 at 7:30pm.

The Free Seedlings Band; Bennett Konesni, guitar, fiddle, banjo, David Lewis, guitar and bass, and Jeff Lewis, mandolin, will perform selections from the CD, some new jewels they are working on, and will enjoy celebrating the new release with friends old and new. For a preview visit the band's website: freeseedlingsband.googlepages.com

Norman Tinker

Norman Tinker is a sculptor's sculptor. His expressive work is marveled at daily by Miller St. travelers, but it should by all rights be in the Museum of Modern Art. It is that good. Mr Tinker is the real deal; "It is rare I set out to create beauty," he says " but sometimes that happens." Yes , sometimes that happens with work that can be as dogmatic as a dumpster but with a subtle sense of eloquence that creeps in and won't let you go.

Mr. Tinker was a guest artist at Aarhus Gallery from July 3rd-15th 2007, showing a selection of his collage, assemblage and sculptural work. An Opening Reception was held July 6th from 5-8pm as part of Belfast’s Friday Art Walk Series.

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