Press
The Pinkies Come to Freeport: Bold Art Installation Shines a Light on Climate Change and Maine's Fishing Heritage
Freeport, ME – Meetinghouse Arts, in partnership with Maine Coast Fishermen's Association (MCFA), Freeport Climate Action Now, Center for Arts & Ecology in Freeport and Freeport Oyster Bar, is proud to announce the arrival of The Pinkies – three 9’-11’ tall, huggable pink sculptures made from old fishing gear, nets, and ropes sourced from recycling centers, donations by fishermen, and clean-up efforts led by Maine’s fishermen, nonprofits, and volunteers.
The Pinkies will be on display from October 2024 through October 2025 on the lawn in front of Freeport’s Town Hall at 30 Main Street. A series of educational events inspired by The Pinkies are planned over the next year, engaging local students and the community to celebrate art created from reclaimed materials, honor the stewardship of Maine’s coastal fisheries, and offer meaningful opportunities for community dialogue about the growing impact of climate change on our marine ecosystems and coastal livelihoods.
An opening & welcome event is planned on the Town Hall lawn with The Pinkies for October 11, 2024, from 4-6 pm.
"Posey’s Pinkies have been a vibrant part of Payson Park in Portland for the past two years, and when it was time for them to find a new home, we knew Freeport would be the perfect fit. This coalition of local businesses and nonprofits was eager to step up and bring these bold sculptures to our community," said Suzanne Watson, Director of Meetinghouse Arts. "We are also incredibly grateful to the Town of Freeport. Freeport’s dedication to public art – a key element in the 2022 Downtown Visioning Plan – along with their partial funding and permission to use town property, has made this possible. We are hoping it leads to more public art projects in the future."
Artist Pamela Moulton (“Posey”) states, “As a teaching artist, I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with over 5,000 individuals from schools, museums, environmental organizations, and retirement homes to create these sculptures. The Pinkies are a testament to the power of collective creativity and I’m thrilled to see them find a new home in Freeport, where they can continue to inspire conversation and action around climate change."
Freeport, a town normally known for its shopping, is also home to a variety of working waterfront businesses, including aquaculture, commercial fishing, seafood restaurants, and shoreside support. This public art installation underscores Freeport’s connection to Maine’s coastal economy.
"MCFA believes deeply in breaking down barriers, creating opportunities for education and awareness, and building more resilient communities through relationships and dialogue. Art creates a vehicle to spark real conversations about what is happening both within our communities and out over the horizon in the Gulf of Maine, and we are excited to be a part of the team bringing the Pinkies to Freeport,” said Ben Martens, Executive Director at the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association.
"Why, you might wonder, are these creatures pink? Because, Posey tells us, pink is the color the Arctic ice is turning as it warms and algae bloom in response”, added Kathleen Sullivan of Freeport Climate Action Now, “For us at FreeportCAN, these figures are important reminders that the Gulf of Maine and all the creatures, human and otherwise, who depend on the health of those waters are at risk. The question they pose is how can we together find ways to care for and protect this beautiful, elegantly constructed ecosystem which is such a beloved part of this place we call home?"
For more information about The Pinkies and upcoming community events inspired by them, visit MeetinghouseArts.org/Pinkies or contact Suzanne Watson, Executive Director, Meetinghouse Arts, at director@meetinghousearts.org or 207-712-3016.
Meetinghouse Arts to preview ‘Our Town’ initiative with Freeport building projections
The projections are a preview of the community art project, "Our Town: A Community Self Portrait," done in collaboration with Freeport Historical Society. The Times Record.
Date: Aug 3, 4 & 31, 2024; Sept 1, 2024
Time: 9:00 pm
Where: Various Locations, Downtown Freeport
Contact: Suzanne Watson, Executive Director
207-712-3016 director@meetinghousearts.org
Meetinghouse Arts, 40 Main St., Freeport, Maine 04032
On the nights of Aug. 3rd, 4th, 31st and Sept. 1st, buildings in Downtown Freeport will be illuminated with historic and contemporary local photos and writings. Working collaboratively, the Freeport Historical Society will be projecting images from its collection of photos from the Town’s past. Meetinghouse Arts will be previewing current work by Freeport residents selected from submissions to its initiative, Our Town: A Community Self Portrait.
What the selections from both organizations share are the instincts of a community to document both the significant places, events and undertakings in town as well as the activities and rhythms of its daily life.
“The projections will activate Downtown Freeport at a time when the Town is looking for opportunities to liven up underutilized public spaces.” said Evan Haynes, a Freeport artist and Director of the Community Self Portrait project. “Meetinghouse Arts had conceived the Self Portrait project to be an arts based, community driven documentary that would support the town’s ongoing engagement with planning for the future. The projections are a terrific preview for a project that would traditionally result in a gallery exhibition. Putting larger than life images and texts on the street at night might surprise people walking to their cars to see previous generations of their family working at the quarry or snapshots of a neighbor at a parade.”
Our Town: A Community Self Portrait is a collective commentary and snapshot of Freeport’s summer of 2024. Residents, businesses and organizations were invited to capture and describe the town’s essence through photography and words. This documentary created by the Freeport community, is the basis for exhibitions and a community conversation that will be happening at Meetinghouse Arts and various locations in Freeport, October 25 through November 3.
Funding for Our Town: A Community Self Portrait and the projections was provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Horizon Foundation, the Margaret E. Burnham Charitable Trust and the Town of Freeport.
Announcement
On Aug. 3rd, 4th, 31st and Sept. 1st, buildings in Downtown Freeport will be illuminated with historic and contemporary local photos and writings.
Arts & Cultural Alliance of Freeport announces new name, logo
The organization takes name Meetinghouse Arts to celebrate its home in downtown
The Board of Directors of Arts & Cultural Alliance of Freeport - the nonprofit organization founded in 2015 by local citizens to support artists, arts and culture in greater Freeport - announced that the organization will be exclusively using the name Meetinghouse Arts for all of its operations, including events at the gallery and performance venue located within the historic First Parish Church at 40 Main Street in downtown Freeport.
"This is well timed, as the gallery celebrates its one-year anniversary and the stage rounds out a full season of diverse offerings from local and regional performers," Meetinghouse Arts Executive Director Dana Legawiec said. "The name Meetinghouse Arts shapes the organization's identity as a center for the arts as well as the catalyzing energy that draws people together to celebrate and activate the arts and culture."
Marking this name change is a new logo, designed by Mali Welch of All Over It Maine, designed to signify "the passion, energy, and creativity inspired by the arts as well as the community's heritage and rich cultural assets," according to a press release.
A newly designed website, made possible through sponsorship from Bath Savings, will follow the name change and logo design, reflecting the organization's growth. The new website will provide access to the organization's offerings as well as a calendar of cultural activities throughout the area.
The Meetinghouse Arts mission is "to cultivate Greater Freeport as a vibrant center for arts and culture by fostering creative collaboration, expanding access to arts and cultural assets, and amplifying the arts and culture as powerful tools to create, strengthen, and connect community."
Meetinghouse Arts taps Suzanne Watson as its temporary executive director during the search
The Times Record
As a regular volunteer at Meetinghouse Arts, Watson is familiar with its programs and services. Her passion for the arts has been evident in her past involvement with the Studio Theater at the Chocolate Church Arts Center in Bath and as a consultant on board development at the Young People’s Theatre in Brunswick, where she also helped run a successful development campaign. A longtime resident of Freeport, she has served on the Project Review Board and the town Planning Board. She has worked in the fields of energy conservation and efficiency, and economic development. We are thrilled to have someone of Suzanne’s caliber and experience to lead us through this transition to new leadership,”said Nancy Salmon, president of the Meetinghouse Arts board.
Watson replaces Dana Legawiec, who is stepping down from her duties to return to her work as an independent theater artist, teaching artist and consultant. Meetinghouse Arts will perform a national search for Legawiec’s replacement
Announcement
Meetinghouse Arts recently announced the selection of Suzanne Watson as interim executive director, effective Oct 1.
Times Record Community Matters: Arts and Cultural Alliance of Freeport
Community Matters is a monthly series highlighting the great work local nonprofits are doing in our area. Proudly supported by Priority Real Estate Group and Rusty Lantern Market
Housed in a stunning historic church in the heart of Freeport, Meetinghouse Arts Gallery and Stage welcomes all to enjoy its wide choice of arts and cultural events and programs. Come engage in our many offerings: art shows and workshops, theater performances, concerts, dance, lectures, film, youth activities, history exhibits, and much more!
Meetinghouse Arts, at 40 Main St. in Freeport, is a project of the Arts & Cultural Alliance of Freeport (ACAF). ACAF is a non-profit community organization committed to enhancing and cultivating greater Freeport as a vibrant center for arts and culture.
Our gallery membership presents an eclectic and exciting range of work by both established and emerging artists from Maine. We strive to connect the work of the creative community in and around Freeport and envision Meetinghouse Arts gallery as an engaging center for the visual arts that both residents and visitors will return to again and again.
Gallery shows change every few weeks, so there’s always something new and fun to see. Since its opening in early November 2021, the Stage at Meetinghouse Arts has hosted both professional and community theater, lectures, stand-up comedy and improv, variety shows, music collaboratives, classes, concerts, the Bates Film Festival, and cross-media projects like this May's "Finding Parkinson's". A community-wide production of Thornton Wilder's classic "Our Town" is on tap for this fall. Presenters and performers could be your next-door neighbor, or someone known on national and international stages.
For more information, please visit the Gallery, the website, our Arts and Culture Alliance of Freeport Facebook page, or contact our Executive Director, Dana Legawiec at director@FreeportArtsandCulture.org.
The mission of ACAF is to cultivate Greater Freeport as a vibrant center for arts and culture by fostering creative collaboration, expanding access to arts and cultural assets, and amplifying the arts and culture as powerful tools to create, strengthen, and connect community.
On May 5th, the Meetinghouse Arts Gallery opens an exhibition of artist C. David Thomas, FINDING PARKINSON'S: Doing Battle With My Brain. Along with the exhibition, ACAF will host a public reception on Friday, May 6th from 5pm-7pm; dance artist and educator Jessie Laurita-Spanglet will lead an IMPROVment® movement workshop for the Parkinson's community on Thursday, May 12th from 2pm - 3pm; and on Saturday, May 14 at 2pm Dr. David H. Rose, a neuropsychologist and educator, will speak on the intersection of Parkinson's and the creative process. Thanks to a grant from the Maine Humanities Council, all events are free and open to the public.