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: | Capitol and Burton M. Cross Buildings: |
| 8:30am - 4:30pm, Mon - Fri | 8:00am - 5:00pm, Mon - Fri |
For more information about Art in the Capitol, contact Danielle Moriarty, Program Director at vog.eniam@ytrairom.elleinad
CURRENTLY ON DISPLAY:
There really isn't any other non-profit organization in the world like Illustration Institute. They are an arts group that focuses solely on the art and business of illustration. Their mission is to “increase appreciation and awareness of the art of Illustration” and “to provide people of all ages the opportunity to learn directly from master artists and working professionals through exhibitions and workshops.”
Every summer, the Illustration Institute invites distinguished illustrators and other narrative artists from around the world to recharge, be inspired, and create at our Faison Residency on Peaks Island. In turn, each artist presents a lecture or workshop at public venues that are open to all. This latest exhibit at the State House Gallery is curated from their collection.
Visitors are provided with a view into the world of illustration and the wide range of creative expression in this art form.
Maine’s best-known artists were illustrators. N.C. Wyeth, Dahlov Ipcar, Ashley Bryan, Barbara Cooney, and Winslow Homer called this state their home. Many people from around the world identify Illustration with Maine. Last summer, Illustration Institute’s ROBERT McCLOSKEY: THE ART OF WONDER exhibition at Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick attracted a record-setting 80,000 visitors from all 50 states and 22 counties.
Illustration is an art form with an ancestral home in Maine and this legacy continues today. The Illustration Institute believes that there may be more illustrators living in our state, either year-round or seasonally, than maybe during any other time in history. Are you one of them?
For more information or to get involved, please visit our website at www.illustrationinstitute.org.
Art in the Capitol:
This exhibition is organized through the Maine Arts Commission, a state agency responsible for strengthening the arts in Maine. 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 business hours.
Historias de esperanza y resiliencia showcases the immigration experiences of Spanish Heritage students from Colby College. In the fall of 2020, the Spanish Department at Colby established the Hispanic Heritage Track to accommodate the needs of a growing, diverse student population. A Spanish heritage speaker has a personal, familial, or community connection to Spanish but has received most of their formal education in English. It is not uncommon for second and third-generation immigrants to have partial or no knowledge of their families' migration journeys, as these experiences are sometimes silenced or taboo to avoid triggering traumatic memories from the past. The act of migration often involves the carrying of deep-seated insecurities, abuses, loss, and voids that can inadvertently affect new generations, resulting in the manifestation of intergenerational trauma.
As part of this initiative, students delved into their bilingual and bicultural backgrounds by interviewing their family members about their immigration experiences. Using the Pixton platform, they transformed these memories into text and images, taking on the role of historians to synthesize past knowledge expressed orally and represent it in comics. Students envisioned characters' physical and aesthetic characteristics and determined the relevance of moments portrayed, rephrasing dialogues to convey meaning in short text bubbles. Emotional impact was also considered in their visual choices.
Comics can be a powerful tool to reflect on and convey emotions, memories, and even trauma. By depicting migration experiences through this medium, we can get them out of the shadows of the private sphere to visibility in the public eye. This is an important step towards a healing process.
Art in the Capitol:
This exhibition is organized through the Maine Arts Commission, a state agency responsible for strengthening the arts in Maine. 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 business hours.
