NORWAY – The Western Maine Art Group will revive another long-standing tradition when a members’ art exhibit opens today at Stephens Memorial Hospital on Main Street.

The show, which will run through Jan. 14, will represent the diverse composition of the group’s members, who hail from all part of Western Maine. The exhibit will also represent many different styles of art from contemporary to classic and different media from photography and lithography to oil and water color paintings.

“We are thrilled to be exhibiting at the hospital again. The hospital’s support of the arts community in Oxford Hills is absolutely exemplary. This is a fabulous forum to bring art in front of the eyes of the entire community.

Art is everywhere and art is for everyone. This is the perfect place to demonstrate that,” said WMAG Executive Director Aranka Matolcsy.

Members who will be exhibiting include Emmy Andersson of East Poland, Joan Bellucci of Poland, Joanna Reese of Sumner, Heather Westleigh and Ellen O’Neill of Bridgton, Janis Hutchins, Lee Bean and Aranka Matolcsy of South Paris, Barbara Traficonte, Ben Tucker and Nancy Engdahl of Waterford and Duncan Slade, Sue West and Frost Farm Gallery of Norway.

It has been at least two years since the last WMAG member show at Stephens Memorial Hospital, when the group decided to take a hiatus to address building renovation issues with its gallery, the Lajos Matolcsy Arts Center, Main Street, and to revitalize the membership and focus of the group.

Over the past year the group has made progress in its revitalization mission, including generating more than $8,000 in grant awards and sponsorships, reviving a summer exhibit schedule and bringing back the annual favorite holiday fundraiser.

The WMAG’s relationship with SMH goes almost as far back as the founding of the art group in the mid-1960s, when WMAG founder Lajos Matolcsy painted watercolor renditions of the first major hospital expansion design.

For more information, contact the Western Maine Art Group at 739-6161 or e-mail [email protected].