Experience a one-of-a-kind gallery exhibition this Fall, where we'll be featuring over 160 photographs, writings, and works of art submitted by local residents as part of the Our Town: A Community Self-Portrait initiative. Join us for the opening reception on Wed. October 30th at 6:00 PM and celebrate Freeport's community self-portrait, followed by a Community Conversation facilitated by Eric Smith, Director of the Freeport Historical Society and Libby Bischof, PhD—History Professor at USM, Director of the Osher Map Center and herself, a photographer. Come view our town through the eyes of the community, share your thoughts, and explore what this collective view of Freeport might tell us about life here in 2024. This event is free & open to the public! All ages are welcome and refreshments will be served.
The Freeport Community Word Salad project, led by Mandana MacPherson, will be featured at the Meetinghouse Arts Gallery as part of the Oct 30th celebration for the Our Town: A Community Self-Portrait Exhibit, giving attendees a chance to create their own unique set of words or poems about Freeport. A book of collected poems from the nine-month Freeport Community Word Salad project will be available for sale in the Gallery with proceeds benefitting the Meetinghouse Arts Our Town project.
In partnership with local artists, Freeport Historical Society and other local town, nonprofit & business partners, this exhibition has been carefully curated to share not only the instincts of a community as they document the significant places, events, and undertakings in town, but also the activities and rhythms of its daily life. Experience this one-of-a-kind gallery exhibition featuring over 160 photographs, writings, and works of art submitted by local Maine residents beginning Friday, October 25th and ending Sunday, November 3rd. Keep reading to learn more about the Our Town inititiave.
What is Our Town: A Community Self Portrait?
- Our Town: A Community Self Portrait is an arts-based, community driven documentary project, organized by Meetinghouse Arts and funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Horizon Foundation and the Margaret E. Burnham Charitable Trust.
- From May 25th through July 1st, we invite ALL Freeport residents, businesses, and community organizations to photograph and write about the people, places, objects, traditions, and activities that exemplify what is meaningful and distinctive about our town. The work, a collective snapshot of this time, will be the basis for exhibitions and community conversations in October. The project is inspired by and continues the work of the Freeport Downtown Vision Plan. As with the development of that plan, the community is broadly encouraged to identify what's here and what's missing to help articulate a town identity.
Why do we want to do this project?
- Freeport has reinvented itself many times, shifting from timber to stones, ships, shoes and retail and finds itself again at a moment of transformation. A Community Self Portrait continues the investigative process that guided the Freeport Downtown Vision Plan, acknowledging shifting demographics, economic changes and multiple viewpoints about how Freeport sees itself and where it wants to go. This project asks you to show the things you can't live without or can't live with; things that bring joy or sadness; things that changed you, or you would like to change, or simply, have changed. There's no right Freeport, other than the one you portray.
- Partners with Meetinghouse Arts on Our Town: A Community Self Portrait include: The Town of Freeport, Freeport Historical Society, Freeport Economic Development Corporation, the Freeport Chamber of Commerce, Freeport Community Services, Freeport Community Library, Visit Freeport, Freeport Conservation Trust, Tri-Town Equity and Inclusion Coalition, RSU5, and the Desert of Maine Center for Arts & Ecology.
Residents of all ages are invited to explore, create & reveal
what makes Freeport the place they call home.
Questions? Click here to Contact Us
This project is made possible by the generous support of grants from:
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This community-wide effort to document this moment in our town will be invaluable to our organization as the keepers of Freeport's stories, as well as a vital reflection for our community right now.
FREEPORT HISTORICAL SOCIETY
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Freeport is at a crossroads with significant decisions yet to be made about its future. this project would bring clarity to what makes Freeport, Maine home for those who may not have participated in the Downtown Revisioning planning process, and it would give others an opportunity to utilize different forms of expression.