Art in the Capitol
The Art in the Capitol program features work throughout the Capitol Complex and offers Maine artists an additional venue for their work. It is designed to expand the audience for Maine artists or artists working in Maine on Maine-based themes.
All Art in the Capitol exhibits are free and open to the public. Exhibitions are self-guided and may be viewed during the building hours where the exhibition is on display. Building hours: Maine Arts Commission Office 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday; Capitol and Burton M. Cross Buildings 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
For more information about Art in the Capitol, contact Julie Horn, Visual Arts Director at vog.eniam@nroh.eiluj.
CURRENTLY ON DISPLAY
Ashley Bryan | July to December 2020
The Ashley Bryan virtual exhibition has been organized by the Maine Arts Commission with the cooperation of The Ashley Bryan Center.
As a celebrated teacher, author, and artist, Ashley Bryan is committed to filling the void of black representation, creating children’s books about the African and African-American experience.
Bryan’s art is as varied as his stories. His accomplished draughtsmanship is evident in his paintings that range from the family portraits to the still-lives and celebrations of the natural world on view. All these works exude vibrant celebrations of linear movement and energy. He also fashions colorful paintings from his block prints that impart a similar visual intensity. Bryan also creates puppets from found objects and returns to one of the earliest forms of visual narrative in the stained-glass windows he fashions from sea glass and papier-mâché. He has scavenged all the materials for these creations from the island.
Abstract series by Michel Droge
Presenting the color attentive work of Maine painter Michel Droge as a part of the Art in the Capitol program at State House Capitol Complex. This abstract body of work is on display on the ground floor of the Maine State House from September through December 30, 2019.
Michel Droge is a painter, printmaker, and an educator who resides in Portland, Maine. She creates works that employ the sociology of both humans and environmental ecosystems alike. When describing her works, the artists states “They embrace a layering of scientific research with inspiration from literary and poetic sources. The results are colorful atmospheric landscapes.” The current body of work in the State House draws inspiration from Mythology to the present day cultural and ecological exploitation on environmental and social ecosystems. Learn more here>
Recent Exhibitions:
The Laws of Nature watercolor series by Katharine Cartwright
The Laws of Nature exhibition is a selection of 18 watercolors inspired by Cartwright’s life as both artist and scientist. Cartwright is an internationally recognized artist whose paintings are included in over one hundred private and corporate collections.
The Laws of Nature series has earned Cartwright international acclaim, with several of the paintings touring in China for two years as well as notable arts venues around the United States. Cartwright’s works also appear in publications such as A Walk into Abstracts, Best of America Watermedia Artists, and Professional Artist Magazine. Most recently, one was featured as a full-page in the journal American Scientist. Learn more here>
Coastal Waters by Christopher O'Connor
