July 2007
Artscape Front
Artscape Back
Driving Tour - Harpswell
Artspeak - Mildred Johnson
(AND WEBITE ARCHIVE)
Past Events
May 10 Member Meeting: “How to Succeed at Outdoor Art Shows” with Biff Higgison and Kennebec Art Club
Outdoor Art Shows and Craft Shows are to be found all summer and fall across Maine (and across the country). They attract visitors from all over and are ever-changing exhibitions of local art. On May 10, Five Rivers presented “How to Succeed at Outdoor Art Shows with presentations by Biff (Peyton) Higgison and representatives of the Kennebec Art Club.
Biff Higgison described his 30+ years of selling his work at outdoor shows, and actually got his first experience helping his mother sell her artwork at exhibits. He attended MECA (then Portland School of Art) and sold abstract prints at art shows when he was in college. He has also shown extensively at galleries, but now works primarily at outdoor shows, making art, plans and applications in the winter months.
Consuelo G. Bailey and Tory Jackson of Kennebec Art Club presented with additional insiights and tips for exhibiting and for Maine shows. Bailey also invited participants to the Saturday, May 15, 2010 Photographer's Talk & People's Choice Award winner at the Topsham Public Library "Joy of the Lens" exhibit, which she curated. The event is 11am - 12 noon and the drawing for the Topsham Public Library Friends Photo Lottery. Topsham Public Library, 25 Foreside Rd, Topsham. Details: http://www.friendstopshamlibrary.org/JoyoftheLens.php
The Kennebec Art Club is a non-profit organization representing more than 40 artists in the MidCoast region of Maine. The Club meets monthly, holds a number of exhibits, and sponsors the annual Art in the Park during Heritage Days in Bath.
Comments:
- Make your tent into a gallery-professional racks, rug, signage are all very important. Some people bring battery-powered lights.
- Weather! One must be prepared for rain, wind, sun-zip up flies are better than tie-offs (and help keep secure at night by using zip ties to secure zipper). Corkscrew stakes work very well for tie-down.
- Constantly learn and improve your technique. Connie spoke of learning paper batik and Biff commented that his style continues to evolve.
- Quality prints are an essential part of a successful sales strategy.
- Paper collateral pieces (brochures, postcards) are important for people to take home. Higgison and Bailey have each sold over phone or web after the ourdoor show.
This talk was presented by Five Rivers Arts Alliance with support of Women, Work & Community. If you are a Five Rivers member and would like a list of Maine Art shows and comments, please email us at info@fiveriversartsalliance.org.
April 12: Member Meeting featured Karen Dominguez-Brann.
Click for link to recap.
March 22: Donna McNeil begins Maine Arts Commission Listening Tour, 6pm at Five Rivers Member Meeting, Frontier, Brunswick
Donna McNeil, Director of the Maine Arts Commission, started The Maine Arts Commission Listening Tour on Monday, March 22 at 6pm in Brunswick in the first of a series of statewide meetings.
These meetings are designed to gather information and feedback and give input on the future direction of the Maine Arts Commission. Director Donna McNeil and Communication Associate Darrell Bulmer will be present to engage artists and community members in an open dialogue about the agency’s offerings. Donna and Darrell invited everyone to contact them directly with feedback about the commission programs and strategic plan.
This event was sponsored by Five Rivers Arts Alliance with support of Women Work & Community. It is free and will be held at Frontier, 14 Maine St, Brunswick. For reservations and information, contact Five Rivers Arts Commission at 798-6964, www.fiveriversartsalliance.org
Image: Donna McNeil. Courtesy of Maine College of Art.
February 22 Pecha Kucha Brunswick, Vol 3
IIt was another great night of art and inspiration at PKN at Frontier in brunswick. Thank you to all the artists who participated!
Jason Anthony, photography
Jamie Ribisi-Braley, encaustic painting
Robin Brooks, teaching art
Nikos Apollonio, luthier
Mary Alice Treworgy, painting
Catherine Worthington, All Species Puppets, a Spindleworks/Arts Are Elementary collaboration
Andrew Jawitz, Al Hawkes documentary film
Brian Mark, etched metal
Jon Brandon, furniture restoration
Pat Plourde, sculpture
Thank you to Pecha Kucha co-sponsors Women, Work & Community and Frontier Cafe Cinema + Gallery.
Five Rivers Member Meeting: Matt Zito, Founder of MaineCreates.com, presented on January 25
Matt Zito gave a comprehensive overview of MaineCreates.com-from the sellers and buyers perspectives and reported impressive results in terms of visibility and sales. Maine Creates is an online marketplace for the buying and selling of handmade Maine-made products and services. Matt spoke of his desire to create and online networking and e-commerce site that reflects the abundant creativity he discovered in Maine. MaineCreates.com the result.
MaineCreates.com currently represents two dozen Maine artisans and crafters, representing 195 handmade Maine made products. From porcupine quill baskets to "owl stools," collage to hand-crafted jewelry; the site is here to "buy & sell Maine handmade." Matt noted that MaineCreates.com averages 7000 visitors monthly. The site is created so that visitors can click through 
to your own website, blog or Etsy shop. Sellers control the whole process. Platform is open. Cost is $99 annually whether a gallery, business or artist sells one piece of 1000, with no commissions or other fees. Find out more at MaineCreates.com.With advertising and key word placement the site is ranked very high on search engines.
Image: Matt Zito.
Jeff Sneddon of Midcoast Council of Governments (MCOG) spoke about many business services and workshops available through state and local agencies, including Maine Business Works, and Wendy Rose of Women, Work & Community introduced workshops and services available through her organization. Women, Work & Community is a co-sponsor of Five Rivers Member Meetings.
Next Five Rivers Member Meeting is Pecha Kucha Night Brunswick, Feb 22 at 6pm at Frontier Cafe Cinema + Gallery, 14 Maine St, Brunswick. It is free for Five Rivers members and $5 for general public. Reservations are strongly recommended. To reserve a spot, contact Five Rivers at 798-6964 or info@fiveriversartsalliance.org.
Happy New Year
Dear Friend of the Five Rivers Arts Alliance,
One great aspect of all those wet early-summer days was that many of us enjoyed more indoor art experiences, like Five Rivers Arts Alliance's Pecha Kucha Nights and the Bath and Brunswick/Topsham ArtWalks. Clearly those have been a hit. And luckily, just in time, we also experienced glorious end-of-summer weather for the Family Arts Festival out on the mall. It was a thrill to see such plentiful and enthusiastic crowds – and so many of you – that day.
All of us at Five Rivers appreciate the generosity and support you have offered during 2009, whether through membership dues, other charitable giving, participation in an event, by volunteering your time or generously opening your studio to visitors ...
You help affirm the importance of our organization and its mission to connect regional arts, culture and heritage through advocacy, education, promotion and celebration. You help us showcase what is best locally and thus help to enliven our communities.
Rocco Landesman, former Broadway producer and the new Chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts, has said, “When you bring artists into a town, it changes the character, attracts economic development, makes it more attractive to live in and renews the economics of that town.” What a great way to paraphrase what we do: By connecting artists and communities, we strengthen both.
Others who actually know who we are sing our praises. According to Justin Holmes, of the Midcoast Economic Development District, Five Rivers is a “tireless champion” of its members. “The educational activities and resources, as well as the networking opportunities offered by the Alliance are vital to the future of [local and regional] businesses and initiatives."
You understand this, or you wouldn’t be a friend of FRAA. You also know that these have been – and continue to be – tough financial times for most of us. At Five Rivers we are always thinking about which expenses might be cut without sacrificing program quality; about how to manage activities differently; about places new and additional revenue might be raised.
This Annual Appeal, together with your Membership commitment, represents more than 25% of our budget. It is all the more crucial to FRAA’s survival this year. With your continued support we will continue to promote cultural destinations and offerings of the Five Rivers region; provide a collegial network for area artists; equip them with valuable information and skills; and spotlight on creativity in many formats, venues, mediums and styles.
Can we once again count on your help? Keep in mind that no gift is too small, for they all add up to keep us going. For your convenience, the Alliance maintains a secure donation and membership online option at www.fiveriversartsalliance.org – or call us for a convenient donation envelope. If you wish, your generosity can be acknowledged on our website and in printed materials.
In more than one sense, we couldn’t do what we do without you. Warm thanks in advance for your most welcome support!
Sincerely,
Susan Perrine, Chair
Images: Image: Woodcut by Alan Mast. Emcee Colby Perrine at Pecha Kucha Night. Photo by Keith Spiro. Brunswick student face painting at 2009 Family Arts Festival. Photo by Lee Cheever.
Annual Meeting
Five Rivers Arts Alliance held its Annual Meeting, Thurs, Dec 17, 5-7:30pm at Curtis Library. We reviewed Five Rivers projects and programs for the last year, presented annual report for July 1, 2008-June 30, 2009, and elected new board members Terry Driscoll, Andrew Jawitz and Keith Spiro. Slate of board officers: Susan Perrine, Chair; Amy E. Waterman, Treasurer and Erika Helgerson Benson, Secretary were elected.
Congrats and thank you all for your dedication and willingness to serve! Click here for PDF copy of Annual Report for 2007-2008.
Arts Downtown & All Around: December 4, 5 & 6
More than 50 studios, exhibits and performances are open for this year's Arts Downtown & All Around, held on Friday, Dec 4, 5-8pm; Saturday, December 5, 10-5 and Sunday, December 6, noon - 4pm. Make a point of taking time to visit studios, purchase work and support local artists and cultural organizations this year. Look for listings (and maps) here for Arts Downtown & All Around! 
Open studios, performances and exhibits across the Five RIvers region with shows in Arrowsic, Woolwich, Bath, West Bath, Bowdoinham, Harpswell, Brunswick and Topsham. All sites are open Saturday, Dec 5, 10 - 5. Visitors will find many opening receptions on Friday evening. And a number of studios and shows are open all three days, including Sunday, for your convenience. Look for listings here for Arts Downtown & All Around!
Image above: "Evening" by Camille Davidson, on view at her studio in Brunswick. Image below: "Among the Mist" by Linda Murray, on view at 100 Front St Studio in Bath during Arts Downtown & All Around.
Brunswick Town Council showcases work by Brunswick artists Catherine Worthington and Christine Cote.
Read Bob Keyes Maine Sunday Telegram column "Artfully Done, Brunswick" here.
No idea what Pecha Kucha is (or even how to pronounce it)? Want to find out more?
Stay tuned for information about our next Pecha Kucha Night. It has been postponed from October 5 and the new date has not been set.. Here are some clips from our Pecha Kucha event on June 15! Our eloquent and engaging artists will give you a taste of what Pecha Kucha is all about.
Nathan Broaddus is a social documentary photographer from Portland who presented on the problems of representing third-world countries in the media. Jamie Silvestri is the founder of the ArtVan Program of Bath, a mobile arts therapy program whose mission is to service children, teens and adults, providing the arts as a healing agent for safe, creative expression and self discovery. Click on the pictures to link to YouTube videos. Here at Five Rivers, we are slowly but surely getting the hang of all of this technology...sort of.
A big thank-you to Lucas Delahanty for shooting the video! Pictures: Keith Spiro
Pecha Kucha Brunswick, August 3, 6pm at Frontier 
Pecha Kucha Brunswick, Volume 2 featured 10 artists introducing their artwork, projects and inspirations.
Presenters:
Michael Branca, painting, www.mikebranca.com
Susan Drucker, painting & drawing. View one of her paintings here.
Patricia Boissevain, community art project, emeraldmoonjewelry.blogspot.com
J. Peter Monro, artist books
Jym St. Pierre, photography
Intermission
Lisa V. Blake, Siddhartha School, siddharthaschool.org
Catherine Worthington, textile art, www.earthtonesandfishbonesart.com
Blake Hendrickson, wood sculpture, mainesculptors.com/15_page_blh.htm
Kevin Rodel, furniture, www.kevinrodel.com
Christine Macchi, Maine Fiberarts, www.mainefiberarts.org
Pecha Kucha is sponsored by Five Rivers Arts All iance. For more information, check back or call 207-798-6964.
Reservations are recommended for this event which is free for Five Rivers Members, $5 for general public. 100 people attended our first Pecha Kucha night! Call or email Five Rivers to reserve your spot-207-798-6964 or info@fiveriversartsalliance.org.
Photos: Patty Olds talks about her art; Emcee Colby Perrine introduces the evening. Photos by Keith Spiro
May 4: Email Marketing for Artists
Keith Sprio emphasized relationship building and maintaining as the key to successful email marketing. In good times and in bad, friends want to do business with friends.
April 6, 6pm at Frontier Cafe Cinema & Gallery:
Copyright for Artists & Making Your Pitch: Public Relations and Online Arts Calendars
- Maine Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (http://www.mainevla.org): Maine Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts sponsored a presentation on copyright and intellectual property issues for artists by Charles P. Bacall, a partner at Verrill Dana, LLP, Attorneys at Law. Maine Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts is a newly organized entity dedicated to "helping Maine's creative economy embrace it's intellectual property."
- Darrell Bulmer, Maine Arts Commission: Making Your Pitch: PR basics
- Five Rivers Arts Alliance: Online Arts Calendars: A Free and Powerful Marketing Opportunity
Artists E-Speak: March 16, 6pm, Frontier Cafe: recap
Three local artists and web designers shared their experiences and tips on March 16th:
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Bob Santerre is co-owner of Arrowsic Island Pottery. He showed participants his website and extensive online store (template by HobbyHen: http://www.hobbyhen.net/) http://www.arrowsicislandpottery.com/
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Patty Olds is creator of Seven Scrolls and www.makeasimplewebsite.com. Take a look at this website for easy and inexpensive ways to create a template website, with e-commerce options!! Patty is an artist and has also worked as an arts administrator. She has been designing simple websites for 5 years. http://www.sevenscrolls.com/
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Alana Post is a Maine-based, freelance web/graphic designer. Alana showed participants simple ways to use social networking tools to show work online. These included Portfolio services such as Carbonmade Pages (www.carbonmade.com), picoplog (http://daubau.it/picoplog/), a simple photoblog that can be used to show paintings, orther visual art, pixelpost (http://www.pixelpost.org/). Wordpress (http://wordpress.org/)is a popularblog/publishing platform/content management system often used as a website. Alana discussed inexpensive ways to create a website and incorporate e-commerce without a large investment of money. http://portfolio.alanapost.net/, www.alanapost.net
- If you missed this panel, go to the artists websites listed above for more info.
We want to thank you for your support of Five Rivers-through your participation in our activities, personal generosity, or both. Our programs connect artists and communities and, in doing so, strengthen both.
We encourage creativity, lifelong learning, and participation in uplifting cultural practices. We help preserve and celebrate our very special region, from our rural communities to our vibrant downtowns. We demonstrate the dynamism of the creative sector and serve as engines for local economic vitality. We hope we can count on your support for our Annual Appeal.
It is now even easier to become a member of Five Rivers Arts Alliance and support your local arts by using the online donation and membership options on our website. As 2008 draws to a close, we reflect on our successes and look forward to greater accomplishments; yet we are also mindful of the economic challenges that lie ahead for all of us. With purse strings so tight, your contribution matters more than ever. Memberships and small donations add up, and we hope that you will take a moment, open your wallet, and help FRAA end 2008 in the black.
Can we count on your help? Your generosity will be acknowledged on our website and in our printed materials. More important, through a gift to the Five Rivers Arts Alliance, you can take satisfaction in sustaining culture and community. Image: Five Rivers T-Shirts at Family Arts Festival. Photo by Keith Spiro.
Five Rivers Arts Alliance announces Membership Drive and online membership
Board co-chair Kathryn Durgin-Leighton announced our new membership drive this fall, with the goal of signing up 110 new members by January 2009:
“Five Rivers Arts Alliance provides and promotes arts and cultural experiences across our region that contribute significantly to our quality of life. I want people to know that their membership makes a difference in their community and that support is important to our continued success.”
This summer, the Five Rivers board initiated plans for the campaign including new member benefits and incentives. They approved a new calendar year membership and initiated online membership payment option.
Membership is an important source of financial support year-round free arts events and programs for people of all ages.
“We just held our 12th Annual Family Arts Festival on the Brunswick Town Mall and it’s a great example of our mission in action,” says Durgin-Leighton. “We strive to strengthen our communities through the arts. Five Rivers encourages creativity, lifelong learning, and participation in the arts. We celebrate our sense of place in rural communities and vibrant downtowns and we want to help strengthen the economic health and impact of our creative sector.”
In addition to supporting the organization’s mission, membership in Five Rivers Arts Alliance includes benefits and visibility-for members who are artists, organizations, or businesses. These benefits include participation in Five Rivers' events, event listings in Artscape, free listing in Online Cultural Directory, and more. New benefits will include a “Member Profile” on the Five Rivers homepage for individuals, businesses and organizations. And the first 30 new members to sign up will receive a gift certificate ($5 value) at a local coffee shop or eatery.
Five Rivers is offering a new online payment option for membership. Details can be found at "membership" on this site. Membership information can also be requested at (207) 798-6864.
Meet board members at upcoming 2nd Friday ArtWalk Nov.14 in Brunswick & Topsham, and at the region-wide Arts Downtown & All Around, Dec 12-14. For more information, contact us at (207) 798-6964.
Crossroads for Community Arts:
Strategies for Success on the Road Ahead
Conference participants, please return your evaluations to have your input heard and included in planning for the future. Download PDF evaluation here. Word version of evaluation is also available. Download Word version of evaluation here.
Many thanks to all who contriubuted to a successful “Crossroads for Community Arts: Strategies for Success on the Road Ahead" conference on Thursday, October 18, 2007 in downtown Lewiston. Co-sponsored by Maine Arts Commission and Five Rivers Arts Alliance, it was made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to Five Rivers Arts Alliance. Conference hosts are L/A Arts, Franco American Heritage Center and Lewiston Public Library.
Anne Katz, Founder and Executive Director of Arts Wisconsin gave the keynote.
One hundred and ten Community arts leaders attended the conference and learned from 30 professionals from across Maine and the nation. From Fort Kent to Eastport to South Berwick, individuals came to the Franco-American Heritage Center and the Lewiston Puiblic Library for an engaging, thought-provoking day.
Anne Katz, Founder and Executive Director of Arts Wisconsin gave the Keynote: : “A Voice for Change: The Power of Arts on the Statewide Level.”
Here are links from Anne Katz at Arts Wisconsin:
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Additional content from Crossroads Conference:
For Powerpoint or PDF version or Reed Berkowitz's presentation " Five Essentials of Successful Community Arts Websites," go to the "Opportunities" page of this site. Look to this page of Five Rivers Arts Alliance website to report developments-next steps outgrowths of the Crossroads Conference.
Thank yous
Steering committee, Presenters, Support staff of the Franco, L/A Arts and the Library, Participants-networking and input from other conference attendees israted as a prime benefit of the conference! Restaruants: Fuel, DaVinci's, Gritty's
Thanks to sponsors
And hosts
Family Arts Festival is a success!
What a great day. Find more more photos on Family Arts Festival page.
Cultural Directory now online
Our online Cultural Directory is now live! Listings are a benefit of membership. Fill out form at http://www.fiveriversartsalliance.org/directory/directory.aspx. Each listing includes contact info, hours open, 100 word description, an image of your artwork, place of business, or organization. The directory is made possible, in part, by frants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Maine Community Foundation.
