Hidden everywhere from homes on Mechanic Street to the Dana Warp Mill, Westbrook’s burgeoning art scene is about to make its debut.
Both longtime residents and artists who recently started renting studio space in Westbrook will have their work on display next week for the city’s first Fourth Friday Art Walk, letting both residents and visitors in on the city’s creative culture.
“I don’t think anyone has any idea what’s going on here,” said Caren-Marie Michel, a painter and Westbrook resident, about the number of artists in the city and the quality of their work.
Between support from local governments and cheaper rent for studios that are just off the beaten path, Westbrook is just one of Maine’s small cities developing its own unique cultural scene.
A downtown art walk in Biddeford, held on the last Thursday of every month, has been going strong for over a year. Though South Portland’s Second Saturday Art Stroll struggled this winter, the monthly event will be revived in June.
Not only do the events give lesser known artists exposure, but they also encourage people to get to know these cities in a new way, bringing business to local shops and restaurants and creating energy in their downtown districts.
The impetus for Westbrook’s art walk, which will be held from 5-8 p.m. Friday, May 23, came simultaneously from two separate sectors of the city’s art world.
“It was an idea that was hanging out there,” said Ellen Joyce, chairwoman of the city’s year-old Westbrook Arts and Culture Committee. However, Joyce said, it wasn’t until George Hughes, an artist in the Dana Warp Mill, compiled a list of interested artists – now 23 in total – that the committee decided to make it happen.
For Hughes, the fact that the idea for the monthly event “sort of percolated up at the same time” for both him and Joyce indicated that there’s a lot of artistic activity going on in Westbrook – something he had suspected when he left Portland and started renting a studio in the mill about a year and a half ago.
“I had a pretty good idea that Westbrook was a place that was ready to burst out front,” said Hughes, who paints and constructs three-dimensional sculptures.
Both artists and organizers say it’s no surprise these events are popping up all around Greater Portland.
“There’s so much talent, it’s unbelievable,” said Stephen Popp, organizer of South Portland’s art walk and owner of the Old Crow Gallery on Cottage Road, about artists in Maine. “I really think the Portland area’s where it’s at for the arts.”
People like Popp may be well aware of the creative currents running through southern Maine, but for those who aren’t already immersed in the local art community, he said, there’s no better way to get the word out than an art walk.
Though galleries hold openings all the time, art walks are more attractive to viewers because many galleries are open at a set time, offering food and music along with the art. According to Popp, the more casual setting makes people feel comfortable about bringing their families and walking in and out of galleries as they choose.
“Anywhere that the arts can come together and unite, it makes it easier for the artists to showcase their work and easier for the community to access it,” Popp said.
Cultivating the arts within a community also does more than support the creators and extend their networks. It’s a strategy for cities as a whole.
“Making the arts attractive is an economic venture as well as an artistic venture,” said Erik Carson, assistant city manager and economic development director in South Portland and former economic and community development director for Westbrook.
“They come, they see, they spend,” Carson said about the benefit of drawing people to communities with art.
“Artists are being recognized as a valuable economic tool,” he said.
According to Rachel Weyand, executive director of Heart of Biddeford, a committee dedicated to revitalizing the city’s downtown, consistency has been important in the success of the art walk for both the artists and the city of Biddeford. By holding the art walk on the same day of every month, making a map available on the Web and demarcating the participating galleries with red balloons, Weyand said, the walk has garnered a group of regulars and continues to grow.
Initially, about six galleries and shops in South Portland and Cape Elizabeth signed up to participate in the art walk, but unpredictable weather led to unpredictable crowds, and though some galleries stayed open every second Saturday, there wasn’t as much consistency as Popp had hoped. By keeping the Second Saturday Art Stroll to the warmer months, he thinks both artists and walkers will be more committed to coming.
What’s unique about Westbrook’s art walk is that people won’t only get a chance to see the artists’ work, but also their work places. As visitors walk through, Hughes will be working on his aluminum and wood interpretation of an airplane crash.
For the first time, Michel will be welcoming the public into her home studio on Mechanic Street, where she’ll have paintings in progress and be answering questions about her work.
“People have always loved to meet the artist and find out what’s going on their head,” she said.
Michel said she’ll have drawings for sale that she doesn’t normally show and will be offering discounts on her art – something she wouldn’t be able to do if it were displayed in a gallery.
Joyce said she hopes the Westbrook art walk will give people an incentive to check out the city’s art scene, eat at its restaurants, explore the downtown and maybe even come out with a different idea of what kind of city Westbrook is.
“For some reason there’s a reluctance. People can’t seem to like Westbrook,” she said. “We want to make it less of a place to pass through and more of a place to stop.”
A CLOSER LOOK
Artists participating in Westbrook’s Fourth Friday Art Walk, from 5-8 p.m., Friday, May 23, include, in the Dana Warp Mill, Greg Parker, Jean-Pierre Rousset Studio and Gallery, annie|catherine, inc., T. Doc Creative, Ian Anderson, Richard Garrigus, George Hughes, Ed Zelinsky, Drouin Dance Center, Bonnie Lashin, Meredith Cough, Jukado Martial Arts, Gotta Dance, Acorn Productions and The Bakery Photographic Collective.
Others include Caren-Marie and Fred Michel, 149 Mechanic St.; Mary Brooking, 59 Mechanic St.; Ian Anderson and Radasch Redware, 149 Central St.; Westbrook Picture Frame and Art Gallery, 869 Main St.; Dogstar Creations, 852 Main St., and Pick and Paint Pottery, 14 Cumberland St.
Caren-Marie Michel, of Westbrook, paints in her studio Tuesday afternoon. Caren-Marie’s home/gallery will be one of many to participate in the Westbrook Arts Walk on May 23rd from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. For more information go to www.westbrookartsandculture.com. Caren-Marie’s studio is located at 149 Mechanic Street in Westbrook.Send questions/comments to the editors.
