NORWAY – Lively music. Dance performances. Puppetry along Main Street. Every type of visual art imaginable. Poets on the Porch. Portraits done by a professional silhouette artist. Fun for the children.
This and more will be offered July 9-11 at the 2009 Norway Arts Festival, home for the 42nd annual Norway Sidewalk Art Show, a juried fine arts show of paintings, photography, wood and metal sculpture, glass, jewelry and fiber art. More than 100 artists from Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts will exhibit along Main Street. They will vie for more than $6,000 in cash awards and prizes. New this year to the prize offerings: a Best of Show jewelry award and second place in the photography category.
Local talent is scheduled to perform along Main Street and there will be a teen music park behind Fare Share Coop where Skosh, Days Nocturnal, Limited Time Only and Myth will perform. Creative Media will host an array of native talent in a spirited street musicians outdoor extravaganza, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at its new location on Main Street.
The Sisters in Rhythm will join Norway’s Art Moves Dance Company in a performance put on by the Art Moves Dance Project at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 9, at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Paris. Tickets, $10, are on sale at Books N Things in Norway and will be available at the door for $12. Seating is general admission. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and there will be plenty of room for dancing. For more information, call 743-5569.
The Norway Town Square will house the food court, nonprofit mall and performances by Katey Branch, Act V, Analog Salad, Brian Patricks and many more. Mary Hargreaves will perform her children’s songs and original lyrics as a kickoff for the seventh annual Poets on the Porch scheduled from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 11.
Dancers on the Green will take place next-door, from 9 to 11 a.m., featuring Rocky Coast Belly Dance, Earth Dance, Navaeh and new this year Resistdance and Passionate Creations, who will team up with Navaeh to bring a spirited fusion of Middle Eastern, West African and hip-hop dance.
Poets on the Porch offers local poets a chance to read original work in front of the public library porch. To sign up for the event, which runs from 1 to 3 p.m., poets should contact organizer Lisa Moore at 743-9808. This year, the event will feature Martin Steingesser, poet laureate of Portland, whose collection “Brothers of Morning” (Deerbrook Press, 2002) has won critical acclaim. He has performed poetry and taught workshops at schools and museums, been part of the Stonecoast MFA program and has won several poetry slams.
Poets on the Porch began on the Weary Club porch in 2003, but moved to the library in 2004 to accommodate larger audiences and provide seating and shade. In the past, poets ranging in age from 10 to 85 have come from more than 20 towns. So far, this year’s roster includes Rijah Newell of Norway, Ann Day of Vermont, John Governale of Norway, Lisa Moore of Harrison, Eric Dibner of Casco, Mary Hargreaves of Sumner and Siiri Cressey of Lewiston.
Children’s activities will be abundant, courtesy of Boxberry School and Celebration Barn Theater. There will be face-painting, sidewalk art and Healthy Kids Healthy Choices with Brownie Macintire. This program, presented by Western Maine Health, uses music, comedy, movement and audience participation to teach children the importance of making healthy choices.
A first-time offering at the 42nd annual Norway Sidewalk Arts Show on Saturday, July 11, will be freehand cut silhouettes of children and adults done by Ruth Monsell, a professional silhouette artist with 30 years experience. She will do silhouettes from five-minute sittings, beginning at 9 a.m. The artist is also able to cut silhouettes of pets and loved loves not present, using clear, profile photographs.
Monsell also enjoys creating decorative silhouettes of fairies, animals, lighthouses and children and adults at work or play. In January and February of 2009, about 72 of her works in cut paper were displayed at a New York City gallery.
Silhouette samples may be seen on line at Artful Heirlooms.com. Individual silhouettes are $20 with matting and tax included; duplicate copies, $10 each. Advance appointments for sittings may be made by calling 866-212-7288.
For more information, visit www.NorwayArtsFestival.org. For Art Show information, contact co-director Aranka Matolcsy at 739-6161 or westernmaineartgroup@gmail.com. For performances, community booth or food vendor information, contact co-director Rijah Newell at 890-0540 or rainbowgrl@roadrunner.com.