Maine Farmland Trust’s Joseph A. Fiore Art Center is anticipating its fourth year of summer residences at Rolling Acres Farm in Jefferson. This year, the art center will welcome visual, literary, performing and for the first time, academic writing residents. A resident gardener also will live on the grounds for the summer.

The 2019 residents were selected from a pool of 75 applicants with the help of jurors Sarah Workneh and Carl Little. The academic writing resident was selected by Andrew Marshall and Ellen Griswold, according to a news release from the land trust.

The following visual artists will be in residence at the art center this summer: three from Maine, two from out of state, and one international artist.

Aubrey Chali, The Custodian, acrylic 2. Photo courtesy of the Maine Farmland Trust

Mildred Bachrach describes herself as an artistic pluralist who uses a variety of techniques and materials to explore the concepts of personal and environmental trauma. She has lived on a farm in Detroit for more than 40 years and is a member of the Cherokee Nation, according to the release.

J.E. Paterak is an artist with childhood ties to Jefferson, whose parents built a cabin on a nearby lake. Paterak will continue to build a body of work called Intimate Universe, wherein she is striving to draw attention to the “awesomeness and delicacy of what emerges from the soil beneath our feet,” according to the release.

Tessa G. O’Brien, from Portland, makes paintings that reference light, revel in color and play with architectural space — specifically traditional timber frame structures. While at the art center, she will explore the property and surrounding area, recording found compositions and painting them, according to the release.

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Genevieve Cohn is a painter and educator living in Boston. Originally from a small town in rural Vermont, her work considers the relationship between women and nature. according to the release.

Jeanne Paterak, Seaweed, copper and embossed paper. Photo courtesy of the Maine Farmland Trust

Eleanor Conover is a painter whose work responds to site-specificity and the human relationship to environmental space. She was raised in New England and  resides in Tennessee, where she teaches at the School of Art, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, according to the release.

Aubrey Chali, from Zambia, explores the realms of human culture and nature with its lavish hues and rich textures, resulting in the creation of mixed media paintings inspired by our natural world, according to the release.

The literary arts residency, which focuses on poetry this year, was awarded to Maine poet Michelle Menting. Menting’s current project explores the relationship between humans, our built environments, and the natural world and all its beings. During her residency, she plans to focus on themes of migration, interconnectedness, and adaptation, and how these ideas pertain to wildlife, farming, permaculture and climate change, according to the release.

Sara Trunzo is the recipient of the performing arts residency this year. A former organizer, farmer and nonprofit professional, Trunzo is now a singer-songwriter illuminating rural stories. She calls Unity home, but lives and works seasonally in Nashville, Tennessee, and on tour. Her songs are informed by the landscape, community and transformation, according to the release.

Genevieve Cohn, Toil and Treasure, acrylic on canvas. Photo courtesy of the Maine Farmland Trust

Dr. Sonja Birthisel will be the first academic writing resident at the art center. She recently finished graduate school at the University of Maine, where she is employed. This summer, she will work on several papers about climate change and its impacts on Maine agriculture.

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This season’s resident gardener will be Laurie McDonnell. From tending urban landscapes to nurturing her own small farm, she has relished the opportunities she has had to partner with the land.

In addition to hosting the residents, the art center will be opening a new Fiore Wing to the public this spring. Co-directors Dewey and Witholt Abaldo are excited about the renovated garage turned art display space that will, for the first time, be able to house the entire collection of Joseph Fiore’s work on site.

The art center also will work with Kerry Altiero from Cafe Miranda to host a summer evening fundraiser, where guests can expect artful pop-ups and food. This dinner will take place at 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 10.

For more information, visit mainefarmlandtrust.org.


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