Visit the museum for free all day with an ever-changing monthly party.
Free program
Join us this Third Thursday for “Sculpture in Play: A Conversation with Artists from As We Are.” From 6 to 7 p.m., we’ll have artists Jenny Ibsen, Brian Smith, and Anna Valenti in conversation, moderated by exhibition curator, Sayantan Mukhopadhyay, PhD, Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, as they discuss their work and creating art in Maine.
Complimentary event parking available at the MaineHealth parking lot on Free Street, 5–8 p.m. courtesy of MaineHealth.
About the Artists
Jenny Ibsen (born 1996) is an artist, restaurant worker, and organizer based in Portland. Born in China and raised in Connecticut, she moved to Maine in 2014 to pursue her BA at Bowdoin College and recently exhibited her first show at the Ticonic Gallery in Waterville, Maine, in 2023. She has shown works in a number of group shows across Maine, including at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, New Systems Exhibitions, Lights Out, Fort Hall Gallery, and BUOY Gallery, as well as Wing On Wo & Co. in Manhattan. She has attended residencies at Watershed Ceramics, Monson Arts, Hewnoaks, and Directangle Press, and she most recently completed the EMERGE Fellowship at Running with Scissors in Portland. Presently, Jenny is a co-organizer for Tender Table, which celebrates BIPOC community through storytelling, art, and food.
Brian Smith (born 1994) is a Portland-based artist who works in sculpture, painting, and drawing. He is inspired by queer ecological theory and what it offers in the context of climate change.
Smith holds a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and an MFA from the Maine College of Art and Design. His works have been exhibited across New England and in group exhibitions in Antwerp, Austin, and Brooklyn. He has been written about in publications including Boston Art Review, the Portland Press Herald, Maine Magazine, The Chart, Floorr, Divide, and Working Artists Magazine. Smith was recently a fellow at the Lunder Institute for American Art at Colby College and has completed artist residencies at Monson Arts and the Hewnoaks Artist Residency, where he currently serves as residency manager. Notably, Smith is the recipient of the Innovative Artist Grant, Maine Project Grant via SPACE gallery, Maine Arts Commission Springboard, and subsequent Project Grant.
Anna Valenti (born 1991) was born in Lake George, New York, and trained in ceramics. Her artistic practice brings together fiber clay, hemp, and lime and builds upon weaving structures and gathering spaces to explore connectivity.
Valenti holds an MFA in studio art from the Maine College of Art and Design and a BA in psychology with a post-baccalaureate in ceramics from the University of Colorado Boulder. She has received grants from Colorado Creative Industries and the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts. Her work has been featured in publications such as the Financial Times, Ceramics Monthly, and Basketry+, and it is included in the Betty Woodman Study Collection of the University of Colorado.
Valenti is an assistant professor of fine arts and the ceramics coordinator at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. She lives and maintains a studio practice in Longmont, Colorado.
Every third Thursday of the month the PMA is free throughout the entire day with extended hours, making Access for All last from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. with an evening party with musicians, food, artists, and more.
