LIVERMORE FALLS -“The Art of Eating Well,” a multimedia art exhibit featuring 13 Maine artists, is on display through Feb. 23 in the gallery of Androscoggin Bank. Their art poster designs convey the message of a western Maine initiative supporting local farms and promoting greater access to fresh healthy foods.

“The food we consume is first most important in supporting health. But by increasing the amount of locally produced food we consume, we do much more. We support a healthier environment, preserve open spaces and contribute to the local economy – all by putting fresh food on the table,” said Paula Day, coordinator of the Eat Smart Eat Local project.

In 2005, the Western Mountains Alliance (WMA), with financial support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and in partnership with the Maine Alternative Agriculture Association, launched the Eat Smart Eat Local initiative to promote local agriculture. Aimed at increasing the availability of, and demand for, locally produced foods, the program offers technical assistance for farmers, an educational component promoting adolescent health and nutrition and support for network development.

WMA asked artists from all over Maine to help capture this concept in a logo. Professional artists and students submitted compelling works in oil, watercolor, graphic design/photography, collage, crayon, pastel, and wool fiber. The winning image, designed by Jennifer Hartung of Farmington, became the logo for the Eat Smart Eat Local project and is now being used by coalitions across western Maine. (The winning poster can be seen online at www.westernmountainsalliance.org.)

Artists exhibiting at Androscoggin Bank are Lisa Laflin of New Vineyard, Jennifer Hartung of Farmington, Leticia Plate of Portland, John Knight of Portland, Jim and Gisele McLear of Embden, Virginia Valdes of Sumner, and Kirsten Sylvain, a Skowhegan Area Middle School student. Several posters designed by Oxford Hills graphics arts students Samuel Penney, Bryan Lackee and Tiffany Stevens were transformed into postcards with inspiring messages and can also be seen on display.

Also showing is local artist Katie Kennedy of Carthage, a graduate of Dixfield public schools who has traveled with her art and her cello to Budapest, Hungary and Germany. Other local artists are Luanne Wrenn, who teaches children to paint in her Wrenn’s Nest Studio in Wilton, and Betsy Bell, manager of Pennacook Gallery in Rumford.

The gallery where the artists’ work can be seen has been maintained by Androscoggin Bank in its Livermore Falls office since 1970. It is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays and Friday.

The work of all the artists who submitted their work has been displayed in exhibits throughout the state over the past two years.

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