An Example of the Ikat Dying Method by textile artist Alice Spencer. The Tie-Dyed Weavings Were Used Primarily for Women’s Coats.
Fask Masks are Available at the Museum Pop-up Made by Karen Gerson for a Donation. This Favorite Mask of Yours Truly Has Drawings of the Women of the Supreme Court.
A New Black Lives Matter Banner Recently Hung at 267 Congress Street to Replace the one Vandalized Last Month. (Please visit post herein dated August 19, 2020 for More Information on the Incident).
The Art of Going Home by Miklos Pogany is on Exhibit Until October 18, 2020.
You are invited to attend the grand opening of two exhibits on Thursday, September 17, 2020 at the Maine Jewish Museum Pop-up, 67 Washington Avenue, at the former J. J. Nissen Building, on the east end of Portland, between 11:00 am – 5:00 pm. The two exhibits run simultaneously from September 18 until October 18, 2020.
Face coverings are required for admission and everyone is asked to maintain 6 ft. distance from each other. Face coverings are available at the Museum for a donation. Admission is free.
Textile artist Alice Spencer is no stranger to Portland area art patrons. She has been a leader in the arts community as a co-founder of TEMPO Art, which currently has an exhibit on Fish Point on Eastern Promenade by Jesse Salisbury.
Spencer’s work in the upcoming show honors the Jewish artisans in 19th century Bukhara who were the master dyers of itak textiles and the unsung collaborators in one of the world’s most vibrant textile traditions according to material provided by Nancy Davidson, Curator in Residence at the Museum. This is the first time that Spencer has exhibited at the Maine Jewish Museum.
The second exhibit, The Art of Going Home, is by Hungarian-born artist Miklos Pogany. A Maine resident, Pogany is a prolific artist with an impressive exhibition history and work in the permanent collections of many major museums. A master of multiple media, Pogany creates vivid works based on nature and the built environment, exploring and pushing the parameters of each medium. The artist describes his motivation as follows: “I react to wonder, desires, conflicts, these fragments and make some personal sense of it all.”
Pogany’s work is in the collections of museums throughout the country and internationally, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Phillips Collection, the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, the Fogg Museum and others overseas. This exhibit is his first major installation in Portland and his first at the Maine Jewish Museum.
The Museum will be participating in the First Friday Art Walk that resumes on October 2, 2020 from 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm following a break because of the pandemic.
The J.J. Nissen Building location is a temporary venue because of the fire at the Museum, 267 Congress Street, this spring. The Museum suffered extensive water damage during the dousing of the fire – requiring restoration of the historic building.
The pop-up Museum at 67 Washington Avenue is closed on Sunday and Monday. For private appointments available on those days, please call Nancy Davidson, Curator, at 207 – 239-4774. Or email her at: nancydmjm@gmail.com.
For more background information, please visit posts herein dated May 21, 2020 and June 13, 2020.