Student and adult work will be displayed at the library.
RANGELEY – The artwork of Rangeley High School students has livened up the walls and charmed patrons of renowned galleries from Portland to Washington, D.C.
Now students will have a venue to showcase their work a little closer to home.
The town’s public library and the Rangeley Friends of the Arts, a local grassroots organization that works to promote arts in the community, have collaborated to bring an art gallery into the library’s lobby.
It opened earlier this year.
The gallery will feature the work of both students and adults in the community but will focus more on the lesser-known artists in the community, as opposed to those from Rangeley whose work is for sale at different galleries and shops across the state, said library director Sue Downes-Borko.
The artwork will include everything from pottery to paintings to photographs, and everything in between like quilts, writing and sculpture.
“Our goal with this is to enrich the library experience, to promote the arts and to give people a forum to both show and view local work,” said the director.
Exhibits on the display racks, which were donated by the arts group, will be changed approximately every six weeks.
The current exhibit spotlights the landscape photography of George Adams, Priscilla Bean and former Rangeley Lakes Regional School student Sarah Walker.
In March, National Youth Art Month, the gallery will hang a collection of work by a dozen or so Rangeley high school advanced art and photography students.
Rangeley students recently cleaned up at the state Scholastic Art Awards in January at the Maine College of Art in Portland. This spring, the work of several Rangeley student-artists will be in the running for some prestigious national awards.
But students haven’t had a formal venue in their hometown to show off their talents, said art teacher Sonja Johnson.
“I think it’s great. This will give a chance for the kids to share the stuff nobody usually sees. They’re pretty excited,” Johnson said of the new gallery. “It opens a lot of doors for us.”
The Rangeley Public Library and the gallery is open Tuesdays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, call 864-5529.
sdepoy@sunjournal.com
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