LEWISTON — The Atrium Art Gallery will begin its fall season with “Waypoints: Happenstance and Longed-for Arrivings,” a solo exhibition by James Strickland, an artist, theologian and heliocentric and kinetic sculptor.

A resident of Belfast, Strickland is originally from Oklahoma. He holds degrees from Arizona State University and California Divinity School of the Pacific. His work has been shown in more than 100 exhibitions around the country and abroad.

Strickland’s studies of architecture, Japanese temples, martial arts, ocean navigating, mountaineering and technology illuminate his work.

A reception will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26, at the gallery at the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College. The free event will include appetizers and a cash bar.

The reception coincides with the Google Geo Teachers Institute to be held at the college on Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 26-27, presented by Google and hosted by the Maine International Center for Digital Learning. Strickland’s work often begins with a conceptual model using Google’s SketchUp program, a widely recognized learning tool for visualizing and communicating information.

While studying for the ministry, Strickland spent summers as a skipper delivering boats to several Pacific Islands and Hong Kong. Besides a doctorate in theology, he studied architecture and apprenticed with Paolo Soleri and Charles Eames, later studying Japanese temple architecture with Hiroshi Hasanawa.

With side roads into kendo martial arts, mountaineering and ballooning, his artistic journey brought him — via sailboat in 1999 with his partner artist-designer, Patricia Shea — to Belfast. He creates large- and small-scale sculpture in an 1888 studio barn for municipal, corporate, and private commissions.

The exhibition’s title, “Waypoints,” refers to a two-part permanent sculpture of the same title installed at the college in 2008. In nautical terms, a waypoint is a set of coordinates that marks a physical point. In metaphorical terms, a waypoint marks a culmination of thought and process. For the artist, it represents a milestone along a creative path.

Strickland’s latest work embraces technology in not only the process, but also in the final work. Noted arts writer Carl Little notes in the exhibition essay: “Strickland has ‘crossed over’ in another intriguing way: his sculptures often produce energy, via built-in solar panels and/or wind vane elements. These heliocentric pieces represent an attempt to not only make the work green, but also to blend mechanics and art.”

“Sculptures that can enrich our visual world and at the same time heat our buildings, light our parks and gardens, and teach our children about sustainable energy resources have become more than just a dream,” Strickland said.

“Waypoints: Happenstance and Longed-for Arrivings” will be on view through Nov. 30.

Little’s essay may be read and installation views of the exhibit may be seen online at usm.maine.edu/atriumgallery. The Atrium Art Gallery is at 51 Westminster St. Gallery hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday; closed holidays. Admission is free. For more information, call 753-6500.