September 14 - October 8, 2006
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 14, 4-7 p.m.

Full- and part-time USM art faculty will display an exciting range of work in a variety of media including ceramics, drawing, painting, printmaking, and sculpture, and installation. Visitors to the exhibit will see a variety of artwork by the following USM faculty members: Judith Allen, S. Patricia Benson, George Burk, Ray Chen, Susan Colburn-Motta, Luc Demers, James Flahaven, Rebecca Goodale, Duncan Hewitt, Richard Lethem, Robert Lieber, Lin Lisberger, Rose Marasco, Elizabeth Olbert, Alex Sax, David Schneider, Joel Seah, Michael Shaughnessy, Richard Wilson, and Trudy Wilson.

USM Art Department Chair Michael Shaughnessy says, "It is important for people to have the opportunity to see the art work of faculty in person- there is ample opportunity to see the work of faculty members on the internet - but a good attribute of this exhibition is to show the diversity of approaches a particular faulty member uses."

Shaughnessy teaches sculpture and design and has been using hay to create artwork for over 20 years. The majority of Shaughnessy's work is designed for a particular space,which lends a sense of temporalness to the experience. He often arrives on the installation site with thumbnail sketches of his ideas and either weaves the hay through a constructed frame, or shapes and trims the material into forms using binding and weaving techniques.

Jim Flahaven works in charcoal and oils and has been teaching a variety of college level fine arts courses, including painting, drawing, and design since 1986. One of the pieces Flahaven will be exhibiting is an oil on canvas, titled Self-Portrait as a Lobsterman. Flahavens says, "A great deal of my inspiration comes from the Maine coast. I am interested in examining and reimagining Maine mythology. The strong, quiet, ascetic lobsterman is firmly entrenched in our imaginations from numerous stories and from the paintings of NC Wyeth. With tongue in cheek, I insert myself into the myth."

Alex Sax has been creating animal paintings, drawing and sculptures for several years. She earned her MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and her BA in Studio Art from Hamilton. Her work is exhibited in New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Maine, and she has been awarded residencies at the MacDowell Colony and Virginia Center of the Creative Arts.

Lin Lisberger has been teaching drawing, sculpture, and three-dimensional design at USM since 1981. Her interests have been in exploring emotion and the balance between fragility and endurance in humans and nature. Lin often works in wood to sketch a moment in time and place and contemplate very serious issues such torture and slavery. Her new work included in the exhibit attempts to balance such weighty, emotional issues covered in the series Torture Preserved with another more light-hearted series she calls Unexpected Events.

The diverse range of artwork by the full- and part-time USM art faculty members will be on display until October 8th, 2006.

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For more information or access inquiries, please call Carolyn Eyler, director of exhibitions and programs at (207) 780-5008

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