USM Artist-in-Residence Gideon Bok
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Painter Gideon Bok has gallery representation in New York and Boston, and maintains studios in Rockland, Portland, and New York. Downtown Rockland and Portland are easily recognized backdrops in some work. |
If you had visited the Art Gallery on the Gorham campus this semester you would have sensed the warmth that Gideon Bok and his work added to a space. Bok was the artist-in-residence at USM this semester, and he used the gallery as not only a place to display his work, but also to create it.
“Having Gideon working here makes it a more welcoming, more accessible, more energetic place,” says Melissa Sheets, a
junior art history major. “He’s killing two birds with one stone. You’re not looking at the work, wondering, ‘Whose work is all this? Where is he?’ He’s right here creating it. It’s very cool.”
The artist-in-residence program is designed to bring together professional artists and students through a series of in-depth experiences beyond the classroom, such as lectures, and more informal settings. Bok, a Vinalhaven native, developed his interest in painting while studying briefly at USM in the 1980s. He has gained national recognition, winning a Guggenheim Fellowship, among other honors.
At the Art Gallery, visitors were welcome to sit and chat while he painted. Some even found themselves in one of his works, which will be donated to the University collection.
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