Arts in the Capitol

Maine Arts Commission Office

Monday through Friday
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Capitol and Burton M. Cross Buildings

Monday through Friday
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

This exhibition celebrates five decades of posters from the Common Ground Country Fair, organized by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), in honor of the Fair’s 50th annual gathering.

Since 1977, the Common Ground Country Fair has been more than an annual event. It has been a gathering place for a movement rooted in organic agriculture, food justice, environmental stewardship, and the belief that communities can shape healthier futures together. Created year after year, the Fair’s posters have become some of the most visible and enduring expressions of that movement. Seen together, they offer a visual and cultural history of Maine’s organic movement and the shared values that have guided it.

The exhibition highlights the artists, farmers, activists, craftspeople, and community members whose work helped shape the visual identity of the Fair. Across 50 years, the posters trace moments of urgency and hope, resistance and celebration, continuity and change, while remaining grounded in cooperation, care, and a deep relationship to the land.

This exhibition is presented by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, Ancorum Credit Union, Maine Arts Commission, Waterville Creates, Maine Office of Tourism, and the Maine Semiquincentennial Commission.

For more information, visit MOFGA.org.

Phoebe Bly grew up in Maine during the 1970s and 1980s, raised by parents involved in the “back to the land” movement inspired by Helen and Scott Nearing. She spent her childhood in a small, hand-built cabin in the woods without electricity or plumbing, where her family practiced organic farming and experimented with wind power. This unconventional upbringing fostered a deep appreciation for the natural world and continues to shape her perspective and artistic sensibility.

Bly studied photography at the Portland School of Art and the Maine Photo Workshops, working extensively in a black-and-white darkroom for several years. After moving to Islesboro, she transitioned to oil painting and quickly recognized it as the medium through which she could most fully express herself.

Largely self-taught, Bly embraces an intuitive and independent approach to her practice, one that remains unconstrained by formal training or shifting artistic trends. Guided by sincerity, emotional depth, and a lifelong connection to place, her work reflects a deep love for the natural world and the landscapes that have shaped her life.

Come see Maine through an artist’s eyes and experience the familiar landscape anew.

Image: Light to My Path by Lulu

The Maine Arts Commission is pleased to partner with the Maine Department of Corrections and the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition to present, for the first time at the State Capitol Complex, an exhibition featuring artwork created from inside the walls of Maine’s correctional facilities.

This collaboration is part of the Maine Arts Commission’s commitment to support creativity in all areas of the state through its Arts and Health initiatives. The Commission recognizes the healing power of the arts, and some residents in Maine’s correctional facilities are finding their way to hope and a form of mental freedom through creativity. As one resident states, “Art makes me feel calm and at peace.”

This exhibition displays images from the outside world that exist in residents’ memories, including loved ones, nature, spiritual paths, and literal and figurative barriers to autonomy. The work reflects a commitment to, and even a need for, personal expression, a birthright for all people that too often gets lost.

The Maine Arts Commission is grateful to all the staff and volunteers who make these arts programs possible. Maine Commissioner of Corrections Randall Liberty hopes that viewers “recognize that our residents have value, can substantially contribute and that they are not forgotten.”

As Joseph Jackson, Executive Director of the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition, says, “Art, music, poetry, and film have the transformative power to promote empathy and change lives.” This happens every day in classrooms, community centers, libraries, city parks, hospitals, and veterans’ centers. And it happens in correctional facilities.