A lively look at 200 years of artwork that defined Maine

BRUNSWICK, Maine — In 2020, Maine was prepared to start a massive, yr-extensive get together to rejoice its 200th birthday as a point out. Then COVID-19 arrived together and crashed the social gathering — the festivities ended in advance of they even experienced a probability to get rolling.

1 of the functions that experienced been planned for the bicentennial celebration was an exhibition at the Bowdoin University Museum of Art named “At 1st Gentle: Two Generations of Artists in Maine.” 

It is now, far better late than hardly ever, on exhibit. 

The exhibition includes paintings, shots, baskets, and far more, and while it is not a comprehensive study, it offers a deep search at the artwork and artists that have outlined the condition since 1820.

“We are very conscious of the truth that we are scarcely even skimming the surface in this exhibition,” museum Co-Director Anne Collins Goodyear said. “We have about 1 hundred functions on check out, but in a lot of methods, this is a sampling and, we hope, a launching pad for the long term tasks to actually dig into the visual arts in Maine.”

The hope is that the exhibition and the book that accompanies it, also called “At Initially Gentle,” will get individuals to glimpse at Maine artwork with refreshing eyes and then talk, argue, debate. 

“Museums are not intended to be quiet spots,” said museum Co-Director Frank Goodyear. “We want to provoke responses. We want to inspire dialogue.”

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