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Art and Culture

Nadeau of the North

Artist Ed Nadeau taps into his Franco-American heritage and a sense of Maine to create stories of life lived near the edge. In the spectrum of Maine artists, Nadeau is something of a rarity: a narrative painter who mixes fact and fiction. Many of his canvases conjure stories, some drawn from family and personal experiences, others “ripped from the headlines.”

Influenced by Nature

Charles Eliot was a noted landscape architect who helped create the land trust model that led to the formation of Acadia National Park. Sailing vacations to Maine with his family when he was young helped inspire his later work.

Joel Babb's Real World

Painter Joel Babb is a consummate realist. His landscapes of Boston, sometimes based on photographs and sketches made from the air or tall buildings, are considered among the finest achievements of their kind. In recent years, he has turned this same attention to detail onto natural settings in Maine.

The Shakers

The 2014-2015 Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland’s exhibit “The Shakers: From Mount Lebanon to the World,” featured works from the Shaker Museum Mount Lebanon, the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, and several major museums. Some 200 objects were on display, including the minimalist furniture, boxes, and other household items for which the Shakers are renowned.

I Should Have Named Her Serendipity

Who doesn’t want an exact model of their boat? A besotted Concordia owner describes how he was able to track down a miniature replica of his yawl, built by one of the country’s finest model makers, Rob Eddy.

Lettercutters

As letter carvers, the bulk of the work of the father-daughter team of Douglas M. Coffin Lettercutter is creating headstones—beautiful, hand-carved life markers with letters that flow into each other, creating words that call out to be read. They consider their work to be among the most caring of human endeavors.

Art Flotilla

Celeste Roberge, a Maine sculptor whose work can be found in major collections across the country, explores the world, looking for inspiration in the environment. When she finds it, there is no telling how it will eventually manifest itself in her art, which, while conceptual, also is tangible, engaging, and provocative. Art writer Carl Little takes a look at her work with seaweed.

FDR's Beloved Island

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was happiest on Campobello Island, which straddles the border between Maine and Canada. The 50th anniversary of Roosevelt-Campobello International Park, the centerpiece of which is the former first family’s 34-room, red-shingled summer “cottage,” was in 2014.

One World: Two Visions

Artists are turning to science as a way to enhance their personal vision and to help explain the forces affecting our world.

Eliot Porter’s Golden Isle

World-famous photographer Eliot Porter honed his eye in Maine on a Penobscot Bay island owned by his family. His book, Summer Island: Penobscot Country, was published 50 years ago, but the essays and images remain incredibly relevant today.

Grand, Wild, and Terrific

Naturalist John James Audubon’s epic trip to Labrador in search of the Great Auk began in Maine.

Spiritual Vision

Photographer Joyce Tenneson captures the soul of her subjects.

David Driskell At Home in Maine

Maine may not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking of African-American artists. Yet a number of eminent black artists have found a home and inspiration here, including David Driskell.

Hooking Better Lives

A rug-hooking project organized by the Maine Sea Coast Mission and one of its employees provided extra income for Maine fishermen’s wives in the 1920s, as well as producing some extraordinarily beautiful rugs.

American Impressionist:

The Peabody Essex Museum's Childe Hassam exhibit celebrates the artist's work from the Isles of Shoals.