Category — Arts

Seeking unaffiliated artists to exhibit in PACA’s office (shared with the Portland Downtown District) at 549 Congress Street for First Friday Art Walk. Interested? Email info (at) portlandarts.org for details.

PACA winds up our Spring series of Creative Conversations on Wednesday May 19 with The Lightbulb Sessions.

The Lightbulb Sessions is about inspiring and being inspired by “those flashes of light when you get a really cool idea” and the hard work it takes to see those ideas come to fruition. For this event, PACA welcomes several arts community “movers and shakers” to discuss recently developed projects that have made Portland a more exciting, interesting, and creative place to be. A series of short presentations will be followed by an informal workshop to ask questions, help develop ideas, learn how to get involved… and hopefully leave participants with a light bulb of their own. Presenters for this inaugural program include Annie Larmon and Petra Simmons (Crit Club), Spencer Albee and Mark Curdo (Clash of the Titans), Lisa Pixley (Pickwick Independent Press), Michelle Souliere (The Green Hand Bookstore), Ahna Galatea (Dirty Dishes Burlesque) and others.

All PACA’s Creative Conversations take place at SPACE Gallery, 538 Congress Street in Portland, Maine www.space538.org. Doors open at 6:30 PM, and programs run from 7 to 9 PM. The events are free and open to the public. Visit www.portlandarts.org or call Cathy Valenza at (207) 772.6828 for more information.

Free trolleys for First Friday Art Walk  starting May 7!
The trolley will make the following loop every hour, beginning at 4:30, with the last run at 7:30. Each stop will be about 5 minutes.

1. Longfellow Square (start)
2. Congress Square
3. Monument Square Washington Avenue @ Congress St.
4. India Street @ Middle Street
5. Exchange Street @ Middle Street
6. Longfellow Square (return)

The free trolley service is financed by the Portland Arts & Cultural Alliance, with generous donor support. If you or
your organization would like to sponsor the trolley please contact PACA at info@portlandarts.org or at 772-6828.
Special thanks to Portland Discovery Land & Sea Tours, owners and operators of the Portland trolleys.

Portland Arts & Cultural Alliance and SPACE bring you another season of Creative Conversations, mediated discussions about the Arts from a personal, local, and regional perspective.

The Arts in our Communities program will highlight several arts projects currently engaging diverse communities in Portland. Panelists will discuss programs in Public Art, individual initiatives, and Art At Work, a national venture to improve municipal government through strategic art-making projects with city employees and elected politicians. The program will be moderated by Marty Pottenger, PACA board member and Director of Art At Work with the City of Portland, www.artatworkproject.us. The public is invited to join program participants Elizabeth Jabar (Associate Professor and Chair of the Printmaking Department, Maine College of Art), Daniel Minter (Portland-based visual artist), Donna Gaspar Jarvis (Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs & Diversity Programs, University of New England), Tessy Seward (Co-founder, ROiL theatre group; Maine Inside Out) and Jennie Hahn (Artistic Director, Open Waters Theatre Arts) for an informal Conversation about The Arts in our Communities.

Creative Conversati is hosted by SPACE Gallery, 538 Congress Street; doors open at 6:30 and the program starts at 7 pm.

PACA kicks off an all new series of Creative Conversations on March 17 with “YOUR TURN!”.

All Creative Conversations take place at SPACE Gallery, 538 Congress Street, Portland, www.space538.org.
Doors open at 6:30, program from 7 to 9 pm.

YOUR TURN! is a Creative Conversations comment box, moderated by Jessica Tomlinson.  This an open-forum discussion with members of PACA, the newly minted Creative Portland Corporation, City of Portland representatives, local press and the music and gallery communities. Come to this informal roundtable for answers to your questions or to voice your concerns about the future of the Arts in Portland. There are a few different avenues you can take to contribute to the conversation: during the discussion; submit an email anytime up until the day of the event with your question or comment to info@portlandarts.org, include the subject line “Your Turn”; or fill out a comment card anonymously and drop it in the comment box provided at the beginning of the night. Come be a part of setting the Arts agenda for years to come.

Future Creative Conversations:

April 13 – The Arts in our Communities.  This program will highlight several projects that are currently engaging diverse communities in Portland through the arts.  Panelists will discuss programs in Public Art, individual initiatives, and Art at Work, a national venture to improve municipal government through strategic art-making projects with city employees and elected politicians.  This program will be moderated by Marty Pottenger, PACA board member and Arts & Equity Director for the city of Portland, www.artatworkproject.us.

May 19 – Cool Ideas!  This evening, PACA invites several arts leaders in the community to discuss recently developed projects that have made Portland a more exciting, interesting, and creative place to be.