BRIDGTON — Bellepoque is a cultural event in Bridgton, Maine organized and curated by Lights Out Gallery in collaboration with the Bridgton Arts and Culture Committee, All Roads Hub Community Center, and Factor Fine Art.

The show will open at the All Roads Hub community center on Thursday, May 26, and will run until June 1. There will be an opening event on May 26 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The show and all events will be open to the public at no cost and will operate among other events in Bridgton over Memorial Day weekend.

Lights Out Gallery is a non-profit based in Norway, Maine whose mission is to connect artists to a broader community, especially in rural areas of Maine, by showing art without hierarchy and by building ongoing conversations that are supportive of artists and viewers of all ages. Started during the Covid-19 pandemic, Lights Out Gallery has produced over 50 mini-documentaries featuring Maine artists over the past 18 months and hosted a pop-up show, “Debut”, in August of 2021. That show ran for three days and over 500 people attended.

The Bellepoque show will feature nine artists from Maine, all at different stages in their careers, including Gabriel Frey, a 13th generation Wabanaki basket maker; Pamala Moulton, a large scale fiber artist; Ian Factor, a figurative painter, Jocelyn Lee, a photographer and founder of Speedwell Projects, and many others.

A public talk involving artists, historians, and members of Northstar Youth will discuss the themes of the show and how they relate to our current moment. The show asks artists and viewers to use the historical period at the end of the 1800’s as a jumping off point to investigate the themes of escapism, waste, constructed realities, and the relationship between opulence and ugliness.

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