"Maine's Carnegie Libraries", a Tuesday Talk at Ogunquit Museum of American Art


  • August 04, 2017

Totally Tuesday Talks at Ogunquit Museum of American Art, 6pm on Tuesday August 22, 2017

 “Maine’s Carnegie’s Libraries”

Presenters: Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr., Maine State Historian and Alison Rector, artist

 

On Tuesday August 22 at 6pm the Ogunquit Museum of American Art presents a talk titled Maine’s Carnegie Libraries. Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr., Maine State Historian, and artist Alison Rector will discuss the history of public libraries funded by Andrew Carnegie and Rector’s paintings of libraries. Maine is home to 20 Carnegie libraries most of which still serve their original purpose. Maine’s Carnegie Libraries will celebrate the beauty and history of Maine’s public library buildings.

Shettleworth will present the architectural history of Carnegie’s buildings in Maine. Rector will tell the story of her body of work, a long-term project making oil paintings inspired by those libraries.   Since 2014 Rector has visited 18 of the Carnegie libraries in Maine and many others. She’s created over 40 paintings exploring a wide variety of these shared spaces. An exhibit of Rector’s work The Value of Thought will be on view at the OMAA September 1 - October 31, 2017.

Earle Shettleworth, Jr. was drawn to history as the result of watching the destruction of Portland’s Union Station in 1961. In 1971, Governor Curtis appointed Shettleworth to serve on the first board of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. He became its architectural historian in 1973 and director in 1976. Upon his retirement in 2015 he was the longest actively serving State Historic Preservation Officer in the nation. Though he has retired from state government, he remains the State Historian.

Earle’s passion for Maine history is unbounded. A few years ago in preparation for the 150 anniversary of the Civil War, he visited and documented every Civil War monument he was aware of in Maine, 170 in all.

A Portland native, Earle graduated from Deering High School in 1966, earned a B.A. in Art History from Colby College in 1970, an M.A. in Architectural History from Boston University in 1979. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate (L.H.D.) by Bowdoin College in 2008 and by the Maine College of Art in 2012.

Alison Rector is a painter and printmaker living in Monroe and South Portland. Rector is a 1982 graduate of Brown University where her degree included coursework at the Rhode Island School of Design. Rector’s work is represented by Greenhut Galleries in Portland and Courthouse Gallery Fine Art in Ellsworth. Greenhut Galleries is a sponsor of Rector’s exhibit at the Ogunquit Museum of American Art.

Karin Wilkes, director of Courthouse Gallery writes, “Alison Rector… is best known for her luminous painting of interiors.” Wilkes continues, “Rector’s adept use of light accentuates lofty vaulted domes, lustrous oak panels, or a modest structure overlooking a spectacular ocean view. She invites the viewer to experience these community treasures with reverence—the beauty of their stacks, their striking architectural features, or the simple joy of a quiet place to read. “

For more information,  contact the Ogunquit Museum of American Art, 207-646-4909,  ogunquitmuseum.org

To learn about this Totally Tuesday talk at the museum, visit https://ogunquitmuseum.org/cal_event/totally-tuesday-talk-maines-carnegie-libraries/

 

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Alison Rector

550 Dickey Hill Road
Monroe  ME  04951 

843-441-7046
moc.liamg@rotcernosila
www.alisonrector.com