Portraits of Home' Opens Jan. 11 in North Conway

Six New England Artists Explore the Meaning of Home

NORTH CONWAY, N.H. — What does home mean to you? Is it a place you remember, a

feeling you carry, or a landscape that shaped who you've become?

"Portraits of Home," a mixed-media art exhibition featuring six New England artists, opens

Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, from 1-4 p.m. at Hurricane Mountain Design Group, North Conway,

N.H. Light refreshments will be served. The show will be open by appointment and on

select dates through February 2026.

This artist-run grassroots initiative operates independent of gallery involvement. While all

six participating artists are established and gallery-represented in their own right, for

"Portraits of Home" they have come together to ask the community for support in helping

fund this museum-worthy exhibition.

The Artists and Their Work

This work weaves together the creative voices of six artists, each offering their unique

perspective on the places and spaces that ground us.

Gay Freeborn, an oil painter from Western Maine, depicts life on her farm with animals and

the woodlands surrounding the property. Nancy Freeborn, a studio potter from Coastal

Maine, creates functional ware incorporating sgraffito, inlay, wheel-thrown and hand-

building techniques, drawing inspiration from the colors, textures and shapes of the coastal

landscape. Kelly Blake, a photographer from Western Maine, focuses on horsemanship andfarm life spanning six generations. Anne McMillan, a book artist from the Lakes region of

N.H., incorporates natural materials such as birch bark, wood and horse hair into books

that become time capsules of memory and experiences. Cheryl Kimball, an essayist from

Southern Maine, explores themes of place, belonging and the emotional landscapes of

home. Jan V. Roy, an oil painter from Coastal Massachusetts, works almost exclusively in oil,

creating paintings informed by her background as a silkscreen artist and poster designer,

with color as the most important ingredient that leads her painting forward.

From literal depictions of New England's beloved domestic spaces — weathered barns,

kitchen tables, the quiet companionship of farm animals — to abstract expressions of

memory and longing, these works celebrate home not just as a physical location, but as an

emotional landscape we all navigate.

Whether home is remembered, imagined, inherited or newly built, this show traces the

intimate paths we take in search of grounding. Each artist explores where they feel

comfort, support and connection — but also acknowledges that home isn't always peaceful

or simple. It can hold both warmth and complexity, belonging and displacement, memory

and longing.

Community Support Makes It Possible

The exhibition has been made possible through the generous sponsorship of Hurricane

Mountain Design Group, Stone Mountain Arts Center, Kimberly Clarke of Keller Williams

Coastal and Lakes & Mountains Realty, Burnt Meadow Property Maintenance, Telling Tails

Training Center, Fair Grounds Coffee, Crest Auto World, and David Cianciolo of Badger

Peabody Smith Realty.

In reaching out to the community for support, these artists discovered an enthusiastic

response and a shared recognition that art enriches and unites the community. These

artists are proud to call this community home.

In times when our world can feel divided, the concept of home remains something we all

share — though our experiences of it may differ greatly. Everyone is welcome here,

whatever your background, whatever your story.

Exhibition Details

The opening reception is free and open to the public. Following the reception, the gallery

will be open by appointment and on select dates:

January 2026: Jan. 17, 18, 19, 24, 31 (11 a.m.-4 p.m.)

February 2026: Feb. 7, 14, 15, 16, 21 (11 a.m.-4 p.m.)For more information or to schedule a viewing appointment, contact Gay Freeborn at

gayfreeborn@gmail.com.

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