Summer at Peaks Island’s GEM Gallery means small rotating shows by member artists, throughout the season.  July 17 – 30 Jane Banquer, Claudia Whitman and guest Norm Proulx show paintings and solar plate etching prints, mixed media collage and photos on the theme “Walking the Dog, Through the Seasons.”  The exhibition represents new work all completed since the fall of 2013.

Visit the GEM Gallery at 62 Island Avenue, Peaks Island, 207/766-5600 to view Peaks Island art and to “walk the dog” with a picnic day on foot or bike on village roads or the rocky Back Shore.  Stay for the opening reception on Friday, July 18, 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.  or stop during daily gallery hours 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  For additional information contact Jane Banquer at 207/766-2246 or banquerj@myfairpoint.net.  To view a gallery of Banquer’s work, go to Addison Woolley Gallery, www.addisonwoolley.com or Archipelago at the Island Institute, Rockland, Maine http://www.islandinstitute.org/multimedia/Fine-Arts-Gallery/798/.

Jane Banquer studied at the DeCordova Museum, the Boston Museum School and at Smith College with Leonard Baskin and Amy Namowitz Worthen.  She was a state juried member of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, where she served to set fine art print and photography standards and to review the work of new artist applicants for exhibition and sales throughout the state.  She is represented by Addison Woolley Gallery, Portland, Maine and formerly by Wenniger Graphics, Boston, Rockport, and Cape Cod, MA, among others.  Her work has been seen in juried exhibitions throughout the region and was included in the 2006 Maine Print Project. 

Claudia Whitman trained at Boston university and the Boston Museum School, the Art Students League, New York University and Portland School of Art, now Maine College of Art.  She has exhibited extensively throughout the Portland area, including Greenhut and Barridoff Galleries and Midcoast Maine as well as Colorado, California and New York.   

The GEM Gallery is a cooperative of over 20 artists living and working on Peaks Island in the varied media of painting, drawing, sculpture, pottery, jewelry, photography, printmaking, assemblage, fiber arts and writing.  The gallery mission is to “share and sell fine art and contemporary crafts and to reach out and create an inviting, professional, friendly space that shares, educates, and celebrates art.”  Solo and small group exhibitions change weekly from June through October with larger themed member shows off-season and a holiday sale each year. 

Photos are available upon request.