Lin Lisberger, Wood Sculptor,  at 70 Merrill Street, Portland, This Afternoon.

Poppy Dishes Created by Lacey Goodrich, of Laceypots, at 70 Merrill Street. Portland.

Open Studios, Will be Open to the Public on Saturday, December 10, Between 11:00 am – 3:00 pm. Admission is Free.

“Many of my wood carvings are about walks I’ve taken around the world,” said Lin Lisberger, co-owner of Open Studios with her husband developer, Peter Bass, she said this afternoon at her studio located at  70 Merrill Street, on Munjoy Hill.  That remark caught the attention of this blogger and required further exploration!

For forty years, Lin taught in the Art Department at the University of Southern Maine. She retired in 2020. During that time, she took her students on overseas trips – all over the world – including visits to England, Japan and Florence, Italy.  Many of those places were inspirations for the numerous wood pieces in her studio and part of the current exhibit at Open Studios.

Lin also served on Portland’s Public Arts Committee for nine years.  During that time, she served as Chair of the Committee for five yeaars.  Two of her proudest accomplishments in that capacity included the installation of the “Cloud Couch” – a bench by Vivian Beer at the corner of  Baxter Boulevard and Temple Street on Winslow Park.

Another accomplishment of which she is proud, was her work that went into the selection of Sarah Sze, of New York City, for her dramatic installation at Congress Square Park, in downtown Portland.  “We got that project started,” Lin said this afternoon.  “I did get things done.”

The studio of Marjorie Moore, a multi-media artist, will be open for visitors as well tomorrow.  Moore, a resident of Great Diamond Island, works with natural materials.  For the last ten years she has been working with seaweed, she said this afternoon.  Seaweed is constantly changing because of the changes in light and tidal changes on the Island.  “The patterns are constantly changing,” she said.  Originally from Ohio, she has lived in Texas, but she enjoys living on an Island these days.

Open Studios is also the studio of Laceypots, owned by Lacey Goodrich.  Her studio will not be open to the public on Saturday, December 10.  That is because she will be participating in the “Designing Women” Fair at the Ocean Avenue School, on Ocean Avenue.  It runs from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm.

The Open Studios at 70 Merrill Street is open to the public from 11:00 am – 3:00 pm., Saturday, December 10, 2022.  Admission is free.  (This blogger took several photographs that this blog would not accept because it disrupted the format of the blog.  Apologies to Marjorie Moore for this problem)!