Opening October 11, 2024
James Parker Foley
United States, born 1993
Divers Approaching Infinite Density, 2023
oil on linen, 72 x 60 inches
Courtesy of Sarah Bouchard Gallery
© James Parker Foley
Image courtesy the artist
Jay Stern
United States, born 1991
Green House and Table, 2023
oil on canvas, 40 x 45 inches
Courtesy the artist
© Jay Stern
Image courtesy the artist
Brian Smith
United States, born 1994
Gay Bar, 2024
vintage glass, plastic, and stone beads, chatons, gemstones, foam, adhesive, and pigment, 30 x 24 x 10 inches
Brian Smith
© Brian Smith
Image courtesy Brian Smith
Maya Tihtiyas Attean
United States, born 1994
Becoming a ghost of myself, 2023
gelatin silver print, 32 x 40 inches
Maya Tihtiyas Attean
© Maya Tihtiyas Attean
Image courtesy the artist
As We Are is a dynamic snapshot of contemporary art, presented through the lens of fourteen emerging artists connected to Maine.
Working across a wide range of media, artists explore shared concerns, including climate resilience, place-making, and expressions of belonging. Opening October 11, 2024, the exhibition traces enduring American modernist traditions and their continued relevance to twenty-first century debates.
Featured Artists
Adams has developed a vibrant, graphic pattern-based visual language filled with references to the natural world that possess an heirloom quality. Her work takes form by way of quilting, painting, design and large-scale murals.
Elana Adler is a multidisciplinary artist born in Ann Arbor, Michigan and currently based in Portland, ME. She received a BFA in Textiles from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2008 and a MFA in Fibers & Material Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2017.
Maya Tihtiyas Attean (b. 1994) is a Wabanaki artist, living and working in Portland, Maine. She grew up on Alnabe Menahan, the Penobscot Nation Reservation. Her work has evolved to use photography to create art reflecting her ancestry, resiliency, and culture.
Oscar Chacon is a Texas-based artist whose creative practices and processes focus on producing mixed media, paper-based drawings. His art draws inspiration from photography, performance, film, video, and nature.
James Parker Foley’s paintings are set within the world of his mind: a spare, utopian iteration of the Maine coast. Recent works are predominantly blue and set at night, creating a lucid, expansive space.
Meg Hahn is an artist and arts organizer based in Portland, ME. Her practice is rooted in the process of painting and observing formal qualities found from observation.
Dylan Hausthor is an artist based on an island off the coast of Maine. They received their BFA from Maine College of Art and MFA from Yale School of Art. They work teaching ghost hunting, ritual, photography, and mushroom foraging. To help write this biography, Dylan contacted a forensic medium, who suggested that they “seemed like someone passionate in the things they believed in, hides secret messages in the things they have to say, and should avoid driving Volvos”.
Jenny Ibsen is an artist, restaurant worker, and organizer based in Portland, ME. Born in China and raised in Connecticut, Ibsen considers her studio practice community-centered, creating tablescapes that encourage engagement amongst friends and strangers alike.
Hector Nevarez Magaña is a Mexican-American photographer living and working in Portland, Maine. Originally from East Palo Alto, California, Hector attended Bowdoin College, where he received his BA in Visual Arts in 2016. After moving to Portland, he co-founded New System Exhibitions, an artist-run exhibition space in the Bayside neighborhood, where he currently maintains and operates his own darkroom.
A Maine native, Tessa Greene O’Brien is an artist & curator based in South Portland. She received a BS degree in Fine Art from Skidmore College and an MFA from Maine College of Art and Design. O'Brien has shown throughout the United States.
Brian Smith is a Portland, ME based artist who works in sculpture, painting, and drawing. He is inspired by queer ecological theory, and what it offers in the context of climate change.
Jay Stern received a BFA in Painting from the University of Cincinnati and an MFA in Arts Leadership from Seattle University. This year Stern will exhibit two solo presentations in Portland, Maine and Los Angeles, and show new work in a group exhibition at UTA Artist Space in Atlanta.
Anna Valenti is an artist born in Lake George, New York. Trained in ceramics, Valenti's practice brings together fiberclay, hemp, and lime. Her work builds upon weaving structures and gathering spaces to explore connectivity.
Holden Willard is a painter based in Portland, Maine. He graduated from Montserrat College of Art in May of 2021 and received his BFA in Painting, however his interests serve multiple mediums: printmaking, performance, collage & woodworking.
This exhibition is part of Art for All.
Art for All supports the PMA's dedication to being an open, accessible, inclusive, and welcoming museum for all, through exhibitions and programs that reflect our community and create experiences with art that strengthen our bonds and bring us together.