Jazz Brunch
By Kate Phenix
Visitor Services Coordinator
Winter is upon us all and lucky enough, so is the second part of the PMA’s Jazz Brunch series. It started again at the end of January, and we were all pleased to have Sundays feel right again. The Museum is full of activity from the musicians getting set-up prior to opening to visitors, to Cissie Lindemann, the Jazz Brunch coordinator, buzzing around making sure everything is taken care of. Somehow, no matter what Cissie is doing, she always looks like she’s dancing. Before 10 a.m. the most dedicated fans of Jazz Brunch begin gathering at the front doors and, especially with this current cold snap, it shows how deep their devotion to the music runs that they are willing to wait outside until we open. Jazz Brunch is one of the moments at the PMA where you can feel the vibrancy and commitment of our membership base as they gather together downstairs to listen to music, enjoy some of the Café’s wonderful offerings, and socialize with the other attendees. Downstairs the Café becomes warm with all of the visitors, settled in among the chairs, tables, and even standing along the walls. Tables are shared and newspapers exchanged as everyone toasts the music and the morning with their cups of coffee. The Museum staff recognizes the regulars, and it’s a happy reunion whenever the programming starts up again after either the winter or summer hiatus. It is a time where the Museum community comes together for an easy and sweet Sunday celebration.
We are looking forward to the line up for the next few months as it includes familiar favorites, new voices, and some from our own Museum family. It should be a great set of performances. In addition, the exhibitions on view in the galleries are so vibrant and dynamic—a perfect accompaniment to the music downstairs. And if anyone ever gets bored, there is always Fritzi, our forever elegant information desk volunteer, to talk to about her appearances in the Jaws films. All in all, a perfect place to be on a frigid Sunday morning.
Piecing It Together
By Susan Danly
Curator of Graphics, Photography, and Contemporary Art
At Saturday’s lively artists’ talk, Aaron Stephan, Kate Cheney Chappell, and Henry Wolyniec provided a great perspective on their works in the current collage exhibition Collage: Piecing It Together. Taking a cue from Aaron’s own working method, it was if all of us in the audience stood back a bit from the show, stood on our chairs, and looked at the subject through a pair of backwards binoculars. My many thanks to them and to all the Maine artists who lent works to this show. Among those at the event were Frances Kornbluth, Tom Hall, Howard Greenberg, and David Dewey (who arranged for the Joe Fiore loans). My apologies to anyone else in the collage crew, if I missed you in the crush of people at the event. This is just to let you know how much your efforts are appreciated by the Museum family, the broader arts community in Portland who were much in evidence at the reception, and all the visitors who stop at the front desk to tell Rae Reimer how much they love the show.
Image credit: Aaron Stephan (United States, born 1974), Joseph Beuys and the Dalai Lama, 2008, altered anatomy book. Lent by the artist.
College Night at the Museum
By Joanna Hoyt
Marketing and Public Relations Intern
I was very fortunate to find an internship at the Portland Museum of Art that combined many of my interests. As an intern in the Museum’s marketing and public relations department, I have been able to learn the professional skills that I will need to use in the future, as well as having the pleasure of doing it all for a cause that I really love—art. When I was asked to assist in planning the upcoming College Night, I was thrilled. As a college student, I believe I have a great understanding of what my peers would like to have at the event. It’s been exciting to participate in all aspects of the planning, and I am confident that the end result will showcase all of the hard work that went into it.
The event will include a raffle for gift certificates from many Portland businesses. It’s wonderful to have support from such diverse businesses, from restaurants and clothing stores, to dance and holistic centered studios. There will also be enough food, generously donated by Leonardo’s Pizza and Wild Burrito, to satisfy any crowd of hungry college students. We have two great local bands playing, Phantom Buffalo and Marion Grace, as well as drawing and block printing projects sponsored by Artist and Craftsman Supply.
I hope that this will be a fun night for college students and that they will be able to mingle with each other and enjoy every facet of the event that has been planned especially for them. Most of all, I would like for the event to give those who attend a greater appreciation of art and of the wonderful museum that we have right here in Portland. The Museum is always free to local college students with their student ID, and I would like to see them take advantage of this in the future.
College Night is on Thursday, February 4 and will take place from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. It’s free to Maine college students with their student I.D. Non college students are welcome for $5 at the door.
I hope you all stop by on College Night!
