Artwork and ‘Talking Walls’ books promote an understanding of human and civil rights.

LEWISTON – Lewiston-Auburn College is exhibiting 14 pastel illustrations by Maine resident Anne Sibley O’Brien, selections from the books “Talking Walls” (1992) and “Talking Walls, the Stories Continue” (1996) by Maine author Margy Burns Knight. The exhibit continues through June 18.

There will be a reception at the college from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, May 13. It is free and open to the public.

Knight and O’Brien will be available to sign copies of their books, which will be on sale. Copies are also available in the college’s bookstore.

Two extensive teacher’s guides, which complement the Maine Learning Results, have been developed for the books and will be available for sale also.

Knight and O’Brien received a 1997 National Education Association Author-Illustrator Human and Civil Rights Award for promoting “an understanding and appreciation of human and civil rights.” The author has said, “The world is full of powerful and poignant walls, from the mighty dikes that keep the oceans and rivers from flooding the Netherlands . . . to the Peace Lines separating Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Each wall has a story to tell, of the people that built it and how it holds its community together or separates it.”

Publishers Weekly wrote, “‘Talking Walls’ shows the complexity of cultures revealed in monuments throughout the world. The stories of walls become the intriguing, sometimes cryptic, tales of nations – and the foundation for building a better world understanding.”

The exhibit, an ongoing project of The E.Y.E. Foundation, is under the direction of Michael J. Fiori. For more information, people can contact Rosemarie Fitch, service learning coordinator for the Office of Community Service at the college, 753-6547 or rfitch@usm.maine.edu.

The college’s gallery hours through May 8 are Monday to Thursday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. After May 10, there will be no Saturday hours.


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