The Portland Public Library will open a show titled “Exchange: Art by Daniel Minter and Flavio Frietas” in the Lewis Gallery during the First Friday Art Walk on May 3 from 5:00-8:00 p.m. The show features paintings by the two artists who took part in a sister-state exchange sponsored by Maine Partners of the Americas. In conjunction with the opening, children three years and older are invited to participate in an art activity and make their own fantastical fish using many colors and sequins as scales. To finish this craft, children can put their fish on a string (as if they just caught a piranha fish in Brazil) or take the fish home and try flying it. Boas festas! There will also be short Samba dance demonstrations performed by members of the Portland Youth Dance Company in the Atrium at 6:00 p.m., 6:25 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. The demonstrations will show the dance steps, moves and vibrant energy exhibited in the carnival parades of Brazil.

For nearly 50 years, Maine has been in a sister-state relationship with the state of Rio Grande do Norte in Brazil. From the Maine side, this relationship is managed by Maine Partners of the Americas, a non-profit organization run by volunteers. Together with its sister chapter in Rio Grande do Norte, Maine Partners promotes cultural, educational, health and other exchanges for the mutual benefit of both states.  

This exhibit will showcase paintings by Maine artist Daniel Minter and Rio Grande do Norte artist Flavio Freitas, each of whom visited the other’s country as part of an exchange under the Partners of the Americas program.  Freitas and Minter have each completed eight paintings, all the same dimensions and all on canvas. They wanted to create paintings that illustrate some of the cultural aspects of life in the host state.

Those many aspects were then focused on the representation of fish that often appear in the works of both artists. Using that as a loose connecting point the artists were free to explore the similarities and differences of equatorial Rio Grande do Norte and boreal Maine with the assurance that both communities would have links to all of the work created. 

The 16 paintings that have resulted from this exchange were created from sketches, photos, impressions of color, light and temperature, conversations and food shared with new friends and partners.