LEWISTON – “The Inspired Hand III,” a juried exhibition of work in all media by members of the Maine Crafts Association, opened Sunday afternoon with a reception at the Atrium Art Gallery, USM/Lewiston-Auburn.

Maine first lady Karen Baldacci set the tone for the event in her remarks, emphasizing the power of Maine’s creative work force.

She announced the formation of a crafts organization consortium, which will work to bring world-class artisans together. The group includes the Maine Crafts Association, the Maine Highlands Artisans Guild, the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Maine Fiber Arts, the Maine Arts Commission and others.

The organizations “have joined together to address the creative climate, youth retention, job development and other issues,” she said.

The governor’s wife said artists as well as other innovators and entrepreneurs are the “human ingenuity that drives the creative economy.” She backed the statement up with statistics released in June by Maine’s Creative Economy Council that show Maine’s art and cultural sectors generated $1.5 billion in sales in 2003.

She reminded the audience that her husband, Gov. John E. Baldacci, has spearheaded creative-economy efforts in the state following a pivotal conference at the Bates Mill Complex in 2004.

She said the governor “fervently believes that the creative economy is an economic force that must be further developed.”

The first lady said the governor calls Lewiston and Auburn “the epicenter of the new creative economy.”

She also told the Sun Journal, “I think we are growing another generation of artisans.”

She said schools recognize the value of art in education.

“The Inspired Hand III” exhibition includes artists who are professional craftspeople, and Baldacci took the opportunity to remind everyone at the reception that, in keeping with art’s relationship to the economy, all the works of display are for sale.

“Art is a business,” she said. “It is an economic engine, so if something really, truly beckons you, you may wrap it up and take it home.”

The exhibition highlights work by 39 artists in clay, fiber, wood, metal, glass and paper and includes furniture, jewelry, textiles, pottery, sculptural work and more.

Robyn Holman, director of exhibitions at USM/Lewiston-Auburn, said this is the third “Inspired Hand” exhibition held at USM/Lewiston-Auburn.

Holman singled out a particular work she likes – a wall panel by Jan Owen of Bangor titled “In the Meadow.”

It measures about 40 inches square and is fashioned from hand-painted paper in tones of blue, green and gold as background for an intricate presentation of calligraphy. Small strips of paper are woven into the piece to form lines of accent, circular forms and even half-inch snippets that look like butterflies gliding across the panel.

“You don’t even have to read it to like it,” she said, “but if you start reading it, it just adds another dimension.”

Also speaking were Joseph S. Wood, USM provost and vice president for academic affairs, state Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, and Betsy Sholl, Maine’s poet laureate.

Sholl read a poem she was commissioned to write for the exhibition. The poem, displayed in large print on an Atrium Gallery wall, celebrates the process of making craft and art items from raw clay, wood, fiber or metal. It concludes with the words, “to see and praise and leave behind.”

“The Inspired Hand III” is open to the public free of charge through Oct. 21. The Atrium Art Gallery is located at USM/ Lewiston-Auburn, 51 Westminster St. in Lewiston. Gallery hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Fridays, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays.