In this virtual conversation for the PMA, Barbara Haskell, long-time curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art, shares her latest exhibition: Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925–1945,
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In this virtual program from October, Monson Arts' senior advisor Stuart Kestenbaum and Portland-based artists Tessa O'Brien and Celeste Roberge (both former resident artists in the program) discuss the vision for and the impact of this new arts center.
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In this virtual program from August, fly tyer and designer Selene of Maine shares a few artifacts related to historic fly tyer Carrie Stevens and demonstrates how to tie a Grey Ghost fly in her hands!
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When I joined the Portland Museum of Art earlier this year, I never imagined that 2020 would be a year of such change—one in which we would all be asked to rapidly adjust to a new world shaped by a global pandemic and calls for social justice.
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Jessica May discusses Clifford Ross’ photograph: Hurricane LXVIII and how this artwork formed the backbone for an exhibition around Ross’ practice.
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This September, Deputy Director and Robert and Elizabeth Nanovic Chief Curator Jessica May leaves the PMA after eight remarkable years. In this letter, Jessica reflects on her tenure and bids a fond “until we meet again” to PMA members and the museum community.
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Museum audiences across the country know Will Barnet for his graphic print work and his haunting canvases…For generations of artists, however, Barnet is better known as a dedicated instructor and loyal mentor. Read this article by Diana Greenwold with contributions from Will Porta and Brett Bigbee.
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Christian Adame and Shalini Le Gall discuss how Juan Genoves's prints function as works of political protest. His artwork, created during Franco's regime, is just as relevant 50 years later.
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In this video, 2020 Barnet Scholar Judith Walsh discusses the innovative changes Winslow Homer made to his artistic practice during the summer of 1878.
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"Our responsibility to the artists and community didn’t pause at all. In fact, our efforts multiplied. I suddenly found myself reliving the exhibition planning process. Carrie and Sheila were on speed dial and ready to participate at every turn...I now liken everyone’s efforts to raising a virtual barn: not one part possible without the next, each new strategy supporting and hoisting the next into position." -- Curator of Contemporary Art, Jaime DeSimone, shares her thoughts on Tabernacles for Trying Times as the exhibition comes to a close.
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"The big social occasions of the summer are all either very small or happening on a computer screen. There’s a sadness to that but I have to hope that for many artists who return to Maine annually, this is a summer with a quieter footprint, maybe a little more time to paint, read, reflect, or take walks." -- Chief Curator Jessica May, shares her thoughts on Maine's summer artist community and why it doesn't feel quite the same in 2020.
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In this video, Diana Greenwold, Curator of American Art, and Dana Byrd, Assistant Professor of Art History, Bowdoin College, come together on Zoom to discuss Winslow Homer’s vexing 1875 painting, Uncle Ned at Home.
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In this video, Alison Beyea, Executive Director of the ACLU of Maine and Zach Heiden, Chief Counsel, ACLU of Maine, and Brigitte Amiri from The Fight discuss the the organization's legacy of protecting individual rights and liberties and how issues in the film intersect with efforts in Maine.
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“All museums are putting a spotlight on their collecting practices and making sure they are being equitable across the board,” DeSimone said. “This is a concentrated effort to bring works of art by women into the collection.”
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Describing his greatest professional ambition, Gustave Le Gray wrote, “I wish that photography, instead of falling within the domain of industry, of commerce, will be included among the arts. That is its only, true place.” Read more about early photography andThe Brig by Gustave Le Gray.
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Kirk Hoffman, Lead Preparator, shares why Migration by Christopher Patch is his favorite work in the PMA Collection.
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Pope.L is renowned for using his own body to make art that expands traditional boundaries of medium and subject matter, and brings gender, class and racial stereotypes uncomfortably close to the artist and his audiences. Pope.L’s work explores the fraught connection between prosperity and what he calls “have-not-ness.”
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“Everyone was masked and happy; one group, a mother and three grade-schooler girls, were positively giddy. I later crossed paths with them inside, where they excitedly chattered about a Thomas Cole painting, and then a small Fitz Hugh Lane. “Woooowww — that’s so cool!” one of the girls crowed, looking at the luminous haze Lane cast above one of his harbor scenes. Inside of me, something bloomed. God, I missed this.”
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The PMA is proud to announce the promotion of Shalini Le Gall to Chief Curator, Susan Donnell and Harry W. Konkel Curator of European Art, and Director of Academic Engagement. Le Gall will conceive and develop exhibitions, gallery installations, and programs that will enhance community engagement, access to the PMA collection, and the range of exhibitions the museum can present.
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