History and art combine at Northeast Harbor Library through December

Shaun Farrar

Dec 10, 2024

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The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by The Witham Family Hotels Charitable Fund.

BAR HARBOR—“The wonderful thing about art as an activity is you can do it as you age, it’s not expensive like keeping a horse, it doesn’t depend on the weather, and you can do it almost anywhere, at any time, in any state of health,” Birch Bay Village resident John Bryan said Friday, December 7.

Bryan was talking about art as he explained how what he wanted to call “The First Intergalactic Birch Bay Village art exhibition” came to be.

Every Tuesday, a small group of Birch Bay Village (BBV) residents meets for three to four hours to discuss art and work on personal art projects.

Bryan thought it would be wonderful if the group could put on a small exhibition and display their works for the BBV residents. As the art group started planning for the exhibition, word began to spread as residents gathered for supper every evening.

After a few suppers, Bryan had eight residents, who were not members of the art group, who wanted to display paintings that they had done.

“The wonderful thing for me was to get a chance to meet my neighbors,” Bryan said.

As residents expressed an interest in participating in the art show, Bryan would meet them and look at their art, and they would tell him about chapters of their lives.

On Friday, December 7, the art show came to fruition. Approximately 42 works by ten BBV residents were displayed in the reception area and hallway of the main building for residents and visitors to see.

There was a short presentation in the dining room followed by hors d’oeuvres, beverages, and socialization for artists and guests. The exhibition will be displayed for two months if you missed it on Friday and would like to go see it.

Bryan, who is from South Carolina, had summered on Swan’s Island for 54 years before he and his wife moved full-time to BBV in May of 2022. He is a retired art and architectural historian who taught at the University of South Carolina. Bryan hopes that in the spring, BBV will sponsor a crafts fair for the many resident artists who do art other than painting and need table space for displays. He also hopes that the art group can partake in some plein air painting when the weather is good again.

Below is a representation of each of the participating artists.

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A WINTER WALK THROUGH THE GARDENS

Also, at the Northeast Harbor Library, there is an entirely separate and free show that focuses on the Bar Harbor Historical Society’s Hudson to Harbor artists and the Land & Garden Preserve’s (LGP) archives. The exhibition runs throughout December and mixes historical documents from the Land & Garden Preserve’s archives with art. Many local artists and students’ works that were inspired by visiting the grounds are included in the collaborative show.

Other art included was part of the Bar Harbor Historical Society’s Hudson to Harbor show earlier this year.

Art will be for sale and part of the proceeds will benefit the Northeast Harbor Library. The exhibition opened December 5.

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