The Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville plans to host a virtual panel discussion at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 12, about a broad spectrum of Maine visual culture in the mid-century era.

“Visual Culture: Issues and Institutions” is to expose audiences to some of the rich visual creations produced in, by, and for the state during the mid-century era, and ask them to consider how the state was represented in the images, the larger impacts, and the many ways Maine became the host of many artists during this period.

This discussion is part of the University of Maine at Augusta’s Maine’s Mid-Century Moment, a series of humanities discussions at multiple locations around the state, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Lisa Botshon, professor of English at the University of Maine at Augusta and project director of Maine’s Mid-Century Moment, is to moderate the 90-minute discussion with four art scholars and critics, each speaking for 15 minutes followed by a Q&A.

The panel includes:

• Carl Little, communications director at the Maine Community Foundation and author of 25 art books, is to provide a general perspective of the art scene of 1930s Maine, ranging from the advent of art schools in Ogunquit and Goose Rocks Beach, to the summer artists’ colony on Monhegan Island.

• Daniel Kany, art critic of the Portland Press Herald, is to provide an overview of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, focusing on Ashley Bryan and mid-century Maine.

• Natasha Goldman, research associate in art history at Bowdoin College, is to speak about William Zorach’s sculpture in Bath, Spirit of the Sea, in terms of other works of public art, including his submission to the 1949 New York commission for the city’s Holocaust memorial.

• Libby Bischof, history professor and executive director of the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education at the University of Southern Maine, is to discuss the emergence and flowering of the Maine postcard in the mid-century era.

To join this free virtual program, register online at colby.edu. A Zoom link is to be provided.