NORWAY — Lights Out Gallery will curate and host an art show in partnership with Woodhull at Safford House in Portland, from May 29 through October 29.
Rising across the horizon of Casco Bay is Atlantic Morning, a group exhibition presented at the newly restored Safford House in Portland, Maine. This historic high-style Italianate mansion, originally built in 1858, has been lovingly revitalized by Portland-based architecture and construction firm Woodhull, which has preserved its grandeur while integrating elegant, modern details. The exhibition produced by Lights Out will run from May 29 to October 26, with special events and programs scheduled throughout the season.
Main exhibition spaces span four floors, including gallery rooms, ballroom studios, and a cupola—each offering a unique encounter with art and architecture. The show features artists with deep ties to the Maine arts community, working across media including installation, painting, tapestry, and ceramics.
Artists in Atlantic Morning are unified by their fastidious natures and respect for materials, qualities that resonate with the Safford House’s own careful restoration. The attention and respect given to this house are mirrored in the artwork within, unifying the old and the new. Whether abstract or figurative, material or illusory, against the careful proportions of the house, all forms are dedicated to thoughtful style and attention to detail.
The exhibition features works by:
Ben Babcock, Steve Bartlett, Will Barnet, John Bisbee, Brett Bigbee, Sondra Bogdonoff, Jenny Brillhart, Lois Dodd, Morris David Dorenfeld, Lynn Duryea, Melanie Essex, Richard Keen, Munira Naqui, Warren Seelig, Ian Trask, Jonathan White, and Kevin Xiques.
“First, the night blues and reveals dark, ambiguous forms. Is that a bush or a man? Out across the quiet Casco Bay, the sky and ocean separate into two distinct planes. A subtle prism appears beneath the horizon, the sun rising from within the earth, its first rays piercing up through the water. Whiteness rises and bleeds into the world slowly. In the clear new day, a house is a house, a bush a bush. As the high windows of the Safford house receive the pure Atlantic morning, the warm wood of the mansion drinks the first light. The stalwart curves of the historic building, the clean architectural elements integrated with them all, stand clearly. It is as if some architect makes the day, steadily drawing out the lines of each morning.” – Reed McLean, Curator, Lights Out
For more information about the show, please email [email protected]
Dates and times:
Opening – May 29, 2025 | 4-8 p.m.
First Fridays | 5-8 p.m.
First Saturdays | Noon- 4 p.m.
During the week, by appointment, through October 29.