With 21 local businesses sharing their space with artists, the feeling of community is strong. Involvement ranges from River City Cinema presenting the feature film “Soul Kitchen” at the Union St. Brick Church to sculptor-photographer Randy Colbath appearing courtesy of architectural firm WBRC.

The University of Maine Museum of Art is on the list as well with its current exhibitions: “String Too Short to Use,” recent works by Todd Watts; “A Pointed View,” photographs by Ilya Askinazi; and “The Passionate Print,” refurbished Pablo Picasso prints from the museum’s permanent collection.

This time around, the arts collaborative has concentrated on cross-promotional and artistic efforts with local restaurateurs and chefs. As a result, “Art Of Food” specials have been whipped up by downtown Bangor’s culinary creative minds and are a sort of exhibition themselves. In addition to their artistic merit, the specials will encourage artwalk attendees to enjoy more than meets the eye.

The symbiotic relationship between local businesses and the arts will be fully displayed during the collaborative’s artwalks. Four take place each year, according to DBAC Chair Liz Grandmaison, who said it’s the artwalk’s second anniversary this month.

Grandmaison described how two years ago a grassroots effort planted the seed for both the collaborative and its artwalks. In November 2008, local arts members coordinated an open studio event at 9 Central St. and approximately 400 visitors showed up.

“We thought, ‘Oh, hey, maybe we’re on to something,’” Grandmaison said with a laugh.

The following winter, she and other board of director members established DBAC, a nonprofit arts group. Currently, the group is working to apply for federal 501(c)(3) status.

“We’re really excited to immerse ourselves in the renaissance that’s downtown Bangor,” said Zeth Lundy, a new retailer in town. He and his wife, Betsy, own Central Street Farmhouse, a D.I.Y.-inspired shop that has a baby boutique and local dairy products, as well as home brewing and cheesemaking resources and supplies.

The Lundys are Orono natives who moved back to the Greater Bangor area from Boston in order to raise their now 18-month-old baby, Zoe. Sparked by an interest in artisanal products, local economies and D.I.Y. projects, the couple officially opened Central Street Farmhouse’s doors to the community at a Nov. 6 party. Prior to the celebration, the Lundys had been experimenting, successfully, with a weeklong soft opening. Publicity from the Bangor Daily News and WABI, along with plenty of foot traffic, have made the Farmhouse’s first month busy.

“You can really feel it,” Zeth said of Bangor’s current downtown vibe, as opposed to the “ghost town” he knew as a local postsecondary student. “[It’s] a strong feeling of community.”

Zeth said Grandmaison approached him and his wife about hopping on board and joining forces with the collaborative’s efforts this summer while they were renovating their 30 Central St. building.

“We jumped at the chance,” he said, adding that it’s nice to be able to provide artists who may have limited access to galleries an alternative venue in which their works can be viewed and appreciated. Local artist and writer Annie Kuhn’s paintings will be on display at the Farmhouse during the artwalk, in addition to photographs by her daughter, Hannah.

“I’d just like to encourage people to make plans, and meet up with friends,” Grandmaison said. According to her, the weather is supposed to clear up by Friday, making for an enjoyable night with art, food and fun.

Other highlighted artwalk events include exhibitions by students from Bangor, Brewer and Orono high schools. The Bangor and Brewer student exhibition will be located at the Maine Discovery Museum and will also be available for viewing the week following the artwalk. The Orono student exhibition will be featured at 170 Park St., while Main Street Music Studios will host a literary event with short story and poetry readings.

For more information, log on to downtownartscollaborative.org for a complete listing of participating venues, artists and restaurants, or check out the Downtown Bangor Arts Collaborative Facebook group.



Don’t get me wrong, I am highly discriminating and only purchase what truly works and fits. It may be this association of the perfect find with the low price that keeps me going back for more, but I do have my haunts – and my loyalties. I like shopping local, and I like befriending shopkeepers and salesclerks. I’ve worked in retail since I was 16 years old and love the discounts, pro-deals and just getting what you want cheaply.

So you may understand my growing sense of unease. One of my favorite chains, Maine cult icon Marden’s Surplus and Salvage, has been “generally managed” by Maine Governor-Elect Paul LePage since 1996. In preparation for his new role, LePage is phasing out of the position after Christmas time. I am eager for our state to enjoy the same benefits as this family-owned business has under his leadership, but I do have misgivings.

Call me sentimental, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to patronize Marden’s Surplus and Salvage with the same gusto after Christmas time. It just won’t be the same.

As it’s been told before, LePage exemplifies the rags-to-riches American dream after a hardscrabble Lewiston upbringing. The 62-year-old earned his degree in business administration from Husson College and his master’s degree from the University of Maine. He has also been mayor of Waterville since 2003. Next on his list of achievements will be January’s gubernatorial inauguration. I respect his hard work and determination.

Marden’s got its start in a similar fashion. Founded by Harold “Mickey” Marden, a former Albion mailman, Marden’s was an after-hours auction and liquidation service. By 1994, the business was grossing over $50 million a year, according to the introduction of an exclusive Q-and-A session with LePage on asmainegoes.com.

The introduction states that Marden’s has expanded more than 100 percent in size and sales under LePage’s management. I remember school shopping at Marden’s in elementary school. Now I regularly trawl the regional hubs when convenient – my personal favorites are the Ellsworth and Calais stores. What I have bought from Marden’s has ranged from delightfully tacky to wholly refined.

However, I never subscribe to the store’s well-known jingle, “I should have bought it when I saw it at Marden’s!” because I alwaysMaine buy it. For less.

So it comes down to this: When our incoming governor is busy instituting a fifth year of high school and trying to fight off all of those pesky same-sex marriage advocates, who will be looking out for Marden’s?

The same goes for those other hard-nosed issues. It does seem like our state has an awful lot of them right now. We need a leader, especially one who plans to simplify government and bring good-paying jobs to Maine. Many social and domestic issues need to take a backseat at the moment. I do confess I am more in the pro-choice camp myself, but I see where LePage comes from regarding his views on abortion and marriage.

His rationale for being pro-life simply makes sense.

“I am clearly a pro-life candidate, and when you come from a family of 18 kids you have to be pro-life – otherwise, you might have been ‘the one,’” he was quoted as saying in an MPBN.net candidate profile.

That might make me rethink things, too.

His staunch take on marriage laws shows a man of his word. This personal characteristic must have driven him to success in not only his management of Marden’s, but also in defying the odds in his own life.

The Your Vote 2010 profile quotes him on the issue of marriage: “I believe that marriage consists of a man and a woman and I would veto a gay marriage law if it came to my desk as governor.” Oh, to have that certitude.

But enough of that, I just wanted to voice my concern regarding the future of Marden’s. It is where the elite meet and the misers mingle. I wish I could continue to bargain hunt under LePage’s wing, but I must forge ahead, continuing my pride in being an American consumer with one less wingman.

I just wish LePage didn’t have to be governor and could continue being the general manager of Marden’s. This will be a sad Christmas time, indeed. You will let me know when you hear who the new Marden’s Surplus and Salvage general manager is, won’t you?

Maddy Glover is a fourth-year journalism student and a copy editor and staff reporter for The Maine Campus.

Nine works by Pablo Picasso are currently featured in the University of Maine Museum of Art, along with photographic works by Bangor-native Ilya Askinazi and Blanchard-native Todd Watts.

UMMA director George Kinghorn hopes to provide a local alternative for art patrons seeking a cross-cultural experience with the museum’s Picasso exhibition, “The Passionate Print.” Instead of traveling to New York City or other art meccas, Greater Bangor area visitors can enjoy Picasso in their own backyard.

“I think people have been pleasantly surprised,” Kinghorn said of the exhibition’s world-renown content and locale. All prints are from the museum’s permanent collection.

Ranging from the rare and classically abstract “Jacqueline in a Straw Hat” linocut — a form of relief print in which linoleum is used as the printing surface — to the printmaking textbook hero “Faun Unveiling a Woman,” Picasso’s wide catalog has been carefully represented in the exhibition.

Kinghorn pointed out Picasso’s technical skill and scope of talent, evidenced by his Aristophanes series in which starkly linear prints, devoid of shading, reveal his economy of line.

What makes the Picasso exhibition especially meaningful is that six of the nine prints are fresh from the Williamstown Art Conservation Center in Williamstown, Mass. Kinghorn said across the board, the prints needed to be restored. The makeover process included bathing the prints in neutralized solutions to rid them of any acidic buildup, often due to improper matting, selective bleaching and providing them with new display mats and frames.

“We’re grateful to have these works,” Kinghorn said with a smile. “I think they’re very beautiful.”

The Picasso exhibition brings with it a cross-cultural and otherworldly experience. So do Askinazi and Watts’ photographic works, spanning from Russia and Israel, to the streets of New York to the Moosehead Lake region.

Both artists depict dreamlike realities. Askinazi uses a hefty, vintage Deardorff 8×10 view camera and fiercely traditional darkroom practices, while Watts intricately layers his inventory of images through computer manipulation.

Askinazi uses his 8×10 camera to document unplanned moments in life, capitalizing on lighting, planes, shadows and angles to capture surreal moments. The Russian-born artist has photographs from Israel, Maine and New York in “A Pointed View.”

“They are technically very fine prints with a wonderful tonal range,” Kinghorn said, adding that each image offers a mysterious sense of place.

On the other side of the gallery is Watts’ “String Too Short To Use.” Watts, who moved from Manhattan to the town of Blanchard in the Moosehead Lake region, distorts, enlarges and layers images from his extensive image inventory. Many are recycled and, according to Kinghorn, are merged and manipulated in an artfully unexpected way.

As with many artists, Watts customized his exhibition’s works to the UMMA’s galleries. Kinghorn said scaling to space is the optimal way to connect with viewers and to challenge the artist.

“[Artists] often want to produce work scaled for the environment,” Kinghorn said. “It’s a rich experience for viewers. They are able to do things they may not typically do.”

Watts uses his computer as a creative tool and blurs the boundaries between photography and technology, according to Kinghorn. Watts makes and paints all of his own frames out of high-density foam, influencing all aspects of the viewing experience.

“His environment has certainly impacted his work,” Kinghorn said of Watts’ pervasive natural themes — even if the original photo of a riverbank is obscured by Karo syrup and reflectively distorted with Photoshop tools.

So did Lady Gaga.

In a last ditch lobbying effort, the pop star and Servicemembers Legal Defense Network representatives came to Portland the day before the vote.

“I am one of the casualties,” former Air Force Major Mike Almy said of his discharge from service due to the policy.

“I kept my personal life far away from my professional life,” Almy added, speaking to a crowd of more than 2,000 people in Deering Oaks Park. He was discharged after a colleague discovered personal e-mail messages to a fellow male Air Force member he had dated.

The defense bill had included controversial amendments such as repealing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, allowing abortion in military hospitals and granting conditional citizenship to undocumented youth. The bill was rejected with a vote of 56–43. Sixty votes were needed to overcome the Republican opposition.

Both Maine senators, Republicans Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, stayed within party lines while voting, despite Collins’ earlier public support for the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Arkansas Democratic senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor skipped the fence and voted with Republicans to block discussion of the bill.

The Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps enrollment officer at UMaine, Maj. James Karcanes, did not know about Monday’s rally in Portland, but knew that in his year-and-a-half in his position at UMaine, he has never seen a problem caused by the policy. He could not disclose his personal opinions regarding the senatorial vote or the policy itself.

“All I can do is tell you Army policy,” said Karcanes.

He explained the direct chain of command from Congress, to president, to secretary of defense, and said all service members are executors of military law.

Gaga, in a satirical twist of military law, manipulated the rhetoric of the U.S. Armed Forces oath of office to allow for breaches, if an openly gay member of the armed forces is serving.

Or as Gaga put it, “Unless, there’s a gay soldier in my unit, sir.”

Her fiery speech incited crowd participation and minimal protest, with one man calling himself “Brother Terry” preaching sermons off to the side.

Brother Terry explained to those questioning his sermons that the Bible denounces homosexuality and is the word of God and that America is a Christian nation.

If the policy is not repealed, the unofficial Gaga-proposed solution would be to send homophobic people home rather than discharging openly gay service members.

“If you don’t like it, go home,” she yelled out to the cheering crowd.

In a Sept. 21 Christian Science Monitor article, reporter Gail Russell Chaddock quoted Collins’ floor speech: “It’s the right thing to do. I think it’s only fair,” Collins said, referring to repealing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, “but I cannot vote to proceed to this bill under a situation that’s going to shut down the debate and preclude Republican amendments. That, too, is not fair.”

Collins and other GOP members blocked the bill in opposition to the proposed amendments and limited discussion, according to reports from The Los Angeles Times.

In a procedural quirk, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. sided with Republicans in his vote, but only so he would be able to bring the measure up at some other time, according to a Sept. 21 article appearing on cnn.com.

In the UMaine Rainbow Resource Room in the basement of the Memorial Union, loungers Evan McDuff and Charles Chapin expressed their disappointment over the vote.

“I feel it’s a huge letdown but I’m not surprised at all,” Chapin, a fifth-year student double majoring in psychology and early childhood development, said.

“I’m kind of disappointed,” McDuff, a second-year botany student, said. McDuff attended the rally with friends on Monday and thought “all the speeches were really great.”

Whether on campus, or off, the policy will continue to be challenged, but has been effectively barred for now.

Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” poured from the speakers while the crowd at Portland’s Deering Oaks Park chanted “This – Law – Sucks.”

“I wrote this speech, this address, myself,” said Gaga, born Stefani Germanotta. “I’ve spent 48 hours trying to find the perfect thing to say. My address to you today is called ’The Prime Rib of America.;”

Conservatively dressed in a suit, tie and glasses, Gaga highlighted Maine in her recent collaboration with Servicemembers Legal Defense Network in lobbying for the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

According to the SLDN guide to the policy, it was passed by U.S. Congress in 1993 and mandates the discharge of openly gay, lesbian or bisexual service members. The guide stated that more than 13,500 service members have been fired under the law since 1994.

Maine’s relevance was not lost on SLDN representatives and Gaga. The state’s two publicly undecided moderate Republican senators, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, will vote on the amendment made to the Defense Department authorization bill on Sept. 21.

Other controversial amendments to the bill will also be voted on, including the allowance of abortion in military hospitals, and the granting of conditional citizenship to undocumented youth, according to the DREAM Act Portal.

Rallygoers of all ages and sexual orientations cheered for Gaga and her unofficial proposed amendment: “If you don’t like it, go home.”

Describing DADT as backwards, Gaga said those guilty of homophobia should be discharged. She recited the U.S. armed forces oath of enlistment, but added her own disclaimer: “Unless, there’s a gay soldier in my unit, sir.”

She said thousands of U.S. service members are unable to serve with honesty due to the policy forcing them to hide their sexualities in order to keep their jobs

Rally volunteer Elyse Johnson, 20, of Barre, Mass., is the director of the University of New England’s Gay, Lesbian, Bi-Sexual, Transgendered and Questioning services. She was having dinner with her partner Sunday night when her adviser told her about the Gaga rally. She said she “screamed bloody mary,” and promptly carpooled with three of her friends from GLBTQ Services on Monday.

She said that, as volunteers, they were mostly asked to perform basic security checks and keep an eye on the crowd. When asked if she thought there would be any issues, Johnson replied, “Not at all,” pointing toward the peaceful nature of the rally.

Jeremy Bickford, Derrick Webb and Daniel Shackley, all from the Lewiston area, had heard about the event on Facebook early Sunday afternoon.

Shackley said he had expected more people to show up at the rally but conceded that it was a Monday afternoon and the announcement had been fairly last minute.

Karen Thorne, a woman with short brown hair and blue square-framed glasses, was engaged in heated discussion over homosexuality with a man protesting the event who would only identify himself as Brother Terry.

Thorne described the number of those in attendance as “pitiful at best” and countered Brother Terry’s arguments by saying, “I’m not against your beliefs, I just think there are things people need to talk about more.”

Rallygoers Owen Kahn and Elias Peirce, both of Portland, also questioned Brother Terry.

“If you were wrong, how would you know?” asked Kahn, pointedly, his voice carrying through those of others. Brother Terry explained that the Bible denounces homosexuality and is the word of God, and that America is a Christian nation.

Kahn and Peirce left the debate as suddenly as they had entered, and said that one way or another, an aspect of the rally would have brought them there, whether it were gay rights or Lady Gaga.

“I just wish she was wearing the meat suit,” Peirce joked, referring to the Franc Fernandez-designed meat dress she wore to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards ceremony last week.

Brother Terry incited jeers and debate from rallygoers who denounced his claim that homosexuality is a lifestyle. In a three-piece gray suit, and with buzz-cut hair, Brother Terry clasped a Bible in his hand, waving it enthusiastically in time to the cadence of his announcements. Although he was set up off to the side of the main event, his message was easily accessible, albeit in the minority.

Rep. Chellie Pingree and Portland Mayor Nick Mavodones spoke out against the policy, as did members of the SLDN prior to Gaga’s arrival. Stories of being fired on the spot, enduring grueling legal battles and humiliating outings by colleagues were shared with an empathetic crowd.

Former Air Force major Mike Almy, one of the SLDN members to accompany Gaga to the MTV VMAs, had grown up in a military family and always expected to follow in his father’s footsteps. He did, but only for a while, and hopes to continue to do so if the policy is repealed.

“I never thought I would be a statistic,” Almy said of DADT’s implementation. But at what he described as “the height of the insurgency,” his superiors searched his e-mail records and found evidence that he had flouted DADT — through his electronic correspondence with a fellow service member he had dated. Although he had served through four deployments, Almy was discharged immediately.

Perhaps the homemade sign in tribute to Gaga best described the mood of the event: “We’re all free bitches, baby.”
The message was written in rainbow form and referenced a line from Gaga’s hit single “Bad Romance.”

Gaga hammered her message home when she likened the DADT policy to an existent cafeteria-style military. Buffet options are there for the consumer, or military leader, to pick and choose from.

“I wasn’t aware of this ambiguity in our Constitution. I thought the Constitution was ultimate. I thought equality was non-negotiable,” Gaga said, slowly enunciating to a roar of approval from all of her “little monsters.”

Olson will be at UMaine for three days, with showings of his two acclaimed films “Flock of Dodos: The Evolution–Intelligent Design Circus” and “Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy.” There will also be a public lecture and book signing for his 2009 release of “Don’t Be Such a Scientist: Communicating Substance in an Age of Style.”

The real treat, however, is the 20-year anniversary screening of “Salt of the Earth: A Journey to the Heart of Maine Lobster Fishermen.” Originally aired on MPBN, “Salt of the Earth” is a simple film, according to Olson, chronicling the stories told by brother lobstermen Brian and Stevie Robbins of Stonington, and their father.

“There’s not much to it,” Olson said of the nontraditional film that takes place at one of the family member’s homes.

He said people relate to the quirky simplicity in the film he wrote and directed. The Robbins brothers will take part in the event through a discussion session following the film.

With a Harvard Ph.D in coral-reef ecology and an extensive background in higher education, Olson spontaneously switched careers while teaching at the University of New Hampshire. In 1994 he moved to California and earned his master’s in fine arts at the University of Southern California in 1997. He has been in Los Angeles ever since.

“It was liberating,” Olson said of the sudden career shift.

Not having been to Maine since the production of “Salt of the Earth” increases the anticipation for Olson. He said he’s looking forward to the trip, organized in part by UMaine marine sciences professor Malcolm Shick — an old acquaintance from Olson’s scientist days.

He said his current projects have come out of his two careers and their shared need for story telling. Olson pointed out the similar processes involved with both filmmaking and scientific research. One starts with the observe and capture state, punctuated by editing, and capped with a final product, fit for viewer consumption — whether it be scholar or moviegoer.

Although sometimes criticized for dumbing down critical scientific issues, Olson maintains he is furthering general discourse through more accessible mediums. He used lung cancer statistics as an example, saying that empirical evidence is much more effective when sandwiched in story form with a humanistic element.

“I’m looking to connect in a manner that reaches a broader audience,” Olson said.

“Flock of Dodos” will be featured Tuesday, Sept. 21 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Collins Center for the Arts and will be followed by a question-and-answer session.  From 4 to 5 p.m. at the same location, Olson will give a talk based on his book “Don’t Be Such a Scientist.”

“Salt of the Earth” showtime will be 7 p.m at the CCA. This is the only event on Olson’s itinerary that requires a ticket purchase.

Olson’s visit will conclude on Thursday Sept. 23 with the Maine premiere screening of “Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy” at 4 p.m. in the CCA.

KahBang Music Festival veterans Royal Bangs of Knoxville, Tenn., will headline the event. Las Vegas, Nev., three-piece Coastwest Unrest will also take the stage at the Orono American Legion Hall April 30.

You Go to Hell, practicing in an orderly garage filled with as many lawn care products as musical equipment, play songs referencing literary greats Sylvia Plath, Tincturn Abbey and Leo Tolstoy.

Starting what the band recognizes as its “most underdeveloped song,” banjoist Tyler Babbie expressed the need for a collective and marked descent into “at least two freak-out” interludes for the song’s grand finale. Drummer and WMEB music director Michael Fournier fervently agreed.

“During the freak-out we need to really freak out,” he said, readjusting his drum kit while the band took a break amidst feedback for a broken banjo string.

The ska sound of the saxophone and the banjo’s ragged pluck transform the more traditional remainder of the band: bass guitarist Steve Miller, guitarist Paige Mitchell and lead vocalist Katie Lattari. Mitchell’s young daughter Lily, the band mascot, prances around snow shovels and a white canoe, clad in a Little Mermaid dress and oversized protective headphones.

The band mates all have musical experience, but for several, You Go to Hell is their first band – and they’re having a good time being in it. Fournier has been playing the drums for about a year and a half. Miller, originally a drummer, decided to trade instruments for this particular musical venture. For Griffin, this is her first time playing the saxophone since high school.

“I just wanted to hang out and play the sax,” said Griffin with a smile..

As WMEB music director, Fournier said he was well-positioned to put a You Go to Hell “bug” in fellow station executives’ ears when it came time to book bands for the spring show.

“The music director has to have a finger pretty firmly on the pulse of the music scene,” said WMEB production director Keagan Rae of band selection. Rae explained the fall show is usually locally oriented, featuring Maine bands, while for the spring show the station tries to attract larger acts.

WMEB promotions director Matthew Louis said the station wants to showcase fairly well known bands, but have budgetary considerations to take into account.

Louis and Fournier have been working with Coastwest Unrest, while former music director and current station manager Jay Grant has been the driving force behind Royal Bangs’ upcoming appearance in Orono. Royal Bangs are currently touring in Europe and were unavailable for comment, according to band manager Jody White of JD White Management in Nashville.

“We want as many people to show up as possible,” Rae said of the station’s spring show. He and Louis explained turnout is the main reason WMEB struggles with selecting a venue. The station executives want to include everyone, including those under 21.

“We try to cater to all ages,” Louis said, adding that the show’s goal is to provide an alternative to standard Friday night activities in the Orono area.

Meanwhile, in a garage in Orono, You Go to Hell work toward their first real gig with laughter and cans of Miller Lite.

After discussing Royal Bangs’ European tour and Coastwest Unrest’s first national tour, Fournier addressed his band mates with joking encouragement: “We’ll be going on a one-day tour,” he said.

The opening and awards ceremony took place April 2. Lord Hall Gallery curator Laurie Hicks described the event as “wonderful and positive” and having “a lot of high energy.” Students from Art Education 474: Topics in Art Education, coordinated an auction to take place during the ceremony, to benefit the Art Creation Foundation for Children, a non-profit arts organization in Jacmel, Haiti.

“We wanted to support something that was intended for art,” Plourde wrote in an e-mail of his class’s choice of the Art Creation Foundation for Children. A class service learning project, the auction brought in a much larger opening-night crowd than usual.

According to Plourde, auction coordinators wanted to make the opening ceremony a larger event providing different outlets for art. Organizers opted to simultaneously host the ceremony and opening event. Auctioned works ranged from elementary school student work to professional works by local artists.

The Juried Student Exhibition “is a long standing tradition in the department,” Hicks said. She has been involved with the exhibit for her 23 years at UMaine and knows the exhibit was an art department mainstay even before her arrival to the university.

Of more than 300 works submitted to the exhibit, 106 were selected. Selections reflect work done in the last year, according to Hicks, and are related to studio art coursework. Submissions must have been completed between last spring’s juried art exhibit and this one.

UMaine student Elizabeth Herron, whose painting “Lands” is featured, explained that her work depicts a summer pastoral scene, painted on-site, and uses of ground and broken color techniques. The blotchy use of bold greens, blues and whites is painted over a mustard yellow base.

The jury process is split into two parts. The first jury, made up of UMaine studio art faculty, makes the preliminary decisions regarding what is and is not included in the exhibit based on particular medium area expertise. The second juried phase is conducted by assistant professor of art ed Nadeau, Hicks and outside juror Elizabeth Finch, a Colby College Museum of Art curator.

Student works ranged from acrylic paintings to braided rugs made of recycled newspapers to spindly red wooden sculptures.

Featured artist Katrina Vaughan spoke of the solidarity celebrated among art students in the juried exhibit.

“That’s where you connect. You can really appreciate it, because you know how hard you’ve worked,” Vaughan said. She explained that this bond shared between art students is put on display and showcased in the juried exhibit — something not done in other majors.

“You can’t really put a research paper on display,” she said.

Vaughan has three works featured and has been in the juried show in the past. Her photo “I Can’t Catch It” was taken for a photography class as a study on light and portraits in order to “achieve what a person is” in a non-traditional form. The black and white photo portrays the back of a woman as she pulls her short hair outward.

Plourde’s “Obsession: Beautiful, Blue” was for a painting class dealing with the issue of scale and how to represent concepts in a larger format. Made up of close to 3,000 Chiquita banana stickers aligned in rows and columns on a recycled canvas, the eye-popping piece is an illustration of the “overwhelming sense of anxiety and order one experiences in being obsessive-compulsive,” Plourde wrote in an e-mail.

Plourde acknowledged the painting’s unconventional, less-than-serious medium, which is the painting’s message.

“One gets an overwhelming visual experience resulting in blurred sense of constant adjustment and refocusing,” Plourde said.

Plourde had difficulties finding the stickers in bulk.

“Picking close to 3,000 [stickers] would be mad,” he said. After several attempts to contact the Cincinnati-headquartered company, he finished the piece last August. The class took place during the last spring semester.

“In trying to focus on the strict order of one set of shapes, whether it’s the positive or negative, you lose the other as it submits to the intended focus,” Plourde said.

In addition to his featured artwork, Plourde was pleased with the auction’s success.

“In combining the auction for Haiti with this event, we make the opening about something much larger than ourselves,” Plourde said in an e-mail.

According to Hicks, the opening night auction brought in about $1,700.

“We had so many people this year, and it was great to see all of the support. We had many people coming up to take a look, but also a lot of serious bidders,” Plourde said.

“It was a very exciting, very positive, celebratory process,” Hicks said.

According to projections by Vice President of Administration and Finance Janet Waldron, there is a $25.2 million budget shortfall projected between fiscal years 2012 and 2014; $12.3 million will be cut from academics through proposals that will originate in APPWG.

Student Sen. Nate Wildes, General Student Senate’s liaison to Faculty Senate, said the APPWG proposals go beyond financial concerns in a statement to the senate.

“It was very clear that students take these cuts to mean not only a loss of their future,” Wildes said, “but really a loss of the hope that their families placed in them.”

Wildes spoke after a group of students addressed General Student Senate to express disapproval of APPWG’s proposals on Tuesday.

“This really goes to our souls,” Wildes said, “and what it means to be students and what it means to be youth in the state.”

UMaine has “the largest percentage of the state appropriation,” Waldron said. “The state appropriation has been hammered and we’re going to get hammered with the state appropriation. It becomes almost as simple as that,” Waldron said.

“I just have great nervousness about the curriculum being stripped away,” said art professor Michael Grillo. “There seems to be not much communication to us.”

Geology professor Daniel Belknap wanted to make sure that current students know they will graduate with a degree in their chosen major, and that proposed changes will be phased in over the next 12 to 14 months.

Wildes said students are aware of the proposed changes and that their greater fear is a loss of degree credibility.

Associate French professor Kathryn Slott questioned the justification for proposed APPWG cuts.

“What other university system in the U.S. … is eviscerating the core of its flagship campus for the benefit of balancing the budget across its system and satellite campuses?” Slott asked the senate.

“I can’t speak to those other campuses,” Kennedy said. “I do know that as I’ve followed, informally, the magnitude of the cuts made at those same universities that, in most cases, budget cuts at comparable campuses are equal to or greater than those proposed” by the APPWG committee. Kennedy said he did not know how public these campuses’ budget cut announcements have been, in comparison to UMaine’s. Several senators expressed appreciation for the APPWG interim report public forum held March 29.

The University of Maine System will have a public agenda meeting April 6. The day-long symposium, “Advancing Maine: Aligning Academic Programs to Meet Future Workforce Needs,” will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. at Wells Conference Center.

“Tonight we had a relatively good turnout,” said Maine Channel head technician Zachary Glidden, turning to production manager Matthew Pendleton, who estimated an audience of more than 60 viewers.

Milling around the CCA lobby before showtime, filmgoers refueled and prepared for cinematic entertainment. Free pizza, food and beverages were provided by the Maine Channel. Hosted by Pendleton and Maine Channel business manager Joseph Pelletier, the film festival featured 18 student-directed films.

An informal applause meter determined the audience film pick, “Feet — A Documentary,” by Tricia Holmes, and Maine Channel staff members voted Jesse Melanson’s “Faces Through a Hole” as their winner. Both directors received $100 gift cards to Computer Connection.

“Feet,” a stop-motion film, observes a pair of Ked-clad feet and its daily route around the UMaine campus, from a floor-level perspective — the Raymond H. Fogler Library’s second-floor red carpet has never looked so vivid.

“Faces Through A Hole” is “psychedelic mayhem,” Melanson said. The experimental video depicts “the evolution of different things, sinking to music” through an eye-like hole, according to Melanson. Using a variety of graphic programming software, Melanson creates a hypnotizing, three-dimensional visual experience, punctuated by “flashy colors and morphs.”

Melanson’s work is characterized by symmetrical design.  Bright light, and trance-inducing beats contribute to its kaleidoscope effect. The festival’s pamphlet jokingly disclaims liability for any film-induced seizures, nose bleeds or “head explosions.”

“Try sitting in the front row for that one,” quipped Pendleton to viewers after the movie.

Glidden cast his vote for Melanson’s video primarily for its expressiveness. He admired its technical qualities and unique place in the festival.

“It was really the only experimental video we had,” he said.

“Naraka,” by Ryan Page, was another genre solo at the festival. At more than 16 minutes, the horror film captivated its audience with stark simplicity. Black-and-white and sans dialogue, “Naraka” documents elevating paranoia. Page, the protagonist, moves to an isolated cabin and is pursued by a cult. Ominous robed figures stalk him until his demise. Pyres, Bibles, psychological torment, and Abu-Ghraib-inspired figures form a sense of apocalyptic doom.

Page said he was interested in creating horror with unique imagery.

‘Naraka’s’ “sort of showing contemporary paranoia in abstract terms,” said Page, “It’s about contemporary paranoia and biblical fears,” he added, acknowledging the religious allusions peppered throughout.

“Naraka”-produced tension was palpable among audience members.

“I was waiting for something to make me jump,” said filmgoer Anna Osborne during intermission.

Another viewer applauded “Naraka’s” score, the majority of which is Page’s original music.

Other favorites were some of the comedic submissions.

“[‘Love and Loss in a Cubicle’] is my favorite so far,” said audience member Brianna Finnegan. The film, directed by Pelletier, was only three minutes long but was well-received, with peals of laughter.

The film begins with office worker Travis Bourassa misunderstanding a co-worker’s offer of “Can I give you aides?” as, “Can I give you AIDS?”

“Love and Loss” chronicles the boredom of Bourassa’s daily routine being interrupted by two new office aides – one of whom has great romantic appeal. Bourassa’s seductive efforts are thwarted, however, when she is reassigned to the sixth floor. Bourassa, a former Maine Channel staff member, was either featured in or had a cameo appearance in, three of the films.

“E-mail,” directed by Alexander Morrow, dramatically follows an office underling’s attempt to e-mail a file to his superior – but he thinks he sent the wrong file. The plot climaxes with the office worker hiding under a desk, desperately trying to recover the sent file from his superior’s computer, while his superior is sitting at the desk. Although his efforts are to no avail, the crisis is averted.

Documentary was the most strongly represented genre, with “Bob MacLaughlin Humorous Poetry,” “The Cheap Suits – A Rockumentary,” “Feet,” “Grain Surfboards,” “Bang Pop with Kyle Kernan” and “Flannel – This is Maine.”

“The Castle,” directed by Benjamin Hornsby, was the longest film at 35 minutes. The self-described contemporary new-wave drama follows Jeshua Doyon, a recent college graduate who works at Wal-Mart during the day but truly only lives for his band and its shenanigans. Doyon’s guitar mysteriously goes missing one day, and a friend assures him that “[he] knows a guy” who can help.

The roundabout search for Doyon’s guitar takes place in a series of parking lot stakeouts during the harsh Maine winter, and through false leads. Finally, a guitar shows up in front of Doyon’s doorstep – but it’s not the right one. Doyon still continues to play, however.

Other films included “Parallel Decisions,” which focused on choice-based consequences in a split screen format, affording its audience a glimpse of the alternative.

The Rebecca Wade-directed “Left4Dead” parodied the zombie video game of the same title, and “Restless Groove,” directed by John Hicks, under Carbon Vapor Productions, was a live performance of the band of the same name playing at the Old Town bar The Dime.

After the film picks had been announced, throngs of audience members filed out of the theater and gathered in the lobby, looking hopefully through the already picked over pizza and soda leftovers.

“Come hang out with the Maine Channel,” Pendleton and Glidden reminded viewers, as they left the CCA, and the stacks of pizza boxes, behind them.