LEWISTON — The public is invited to meet noted Maine artist William Manning at a reception Sunday, Dec. 6, at the Lewiston Public Library. A Lewiston native who now resides in Falmouth, Manning recently donated his painting titled “Tocsin” to the library.

Manning has over the last five decades created a body of work that “has been hailed as completely
original and evocative of his Maine roots,” said LPL Director Rick Speer. His works are in many
collections, including Bates and Colby colleges, the Farnsworth Museum
and the Portland Museum of Art.

Before he left Lewiston in 1954, at age 18, Manning frequently visited
the Lewiston library. Decades later, he drove from Portland to
Lewiston every two weeks to pick up books for his elderly mother. “Each
time I made a point of looking at the painting by Marsden Hartley that
the library owned. I always thought that if I became a painter of some
worth that I would like to emulate Marsden Hartley’s generous donation
of a painting,” Manning said.

 The reception, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in Callahan Hall, will include remarks from Bates College Museum of Art curator William Low and LPL board member and art critic Philip Isaacson, as well as comments from the artist himself. Light refreshments will be served.

Admission is free. The library is at 200 Lisbon St. For more information, call 513-3119.