First Friday Art Walk

5:00-8:00 pm Friday, July 3

Portland galleries and studios throw open their doors this Friday for the monthly art walk. Download the July Art Walk map on www.firstfridayartwalk.com

Selected Tours

In the heart of the Arts District

We'll make the most of the midsummer sun as we hit the pavement in the heart of the Arts District for this month's tour. First stop is the SALT INSTITUTE FOR DOCUMENTARY STUDIES (561 Congress St.), where we'll take in the most recent body of thought-provoking photography, writing and audio from Salt students.

With new insight into the people and places of Maine, we head next door to SUSAN MAASCH FINE ART (567 Congress St.) to see the industrial view of Portland as painted by David Campbell. In addition, Julie Lutts is showing mixed media collage.

Once we've seen all there is to see here, we head across the street to check out TWO POINT ART GALLERY (564 Congress St.), where a group show from Westbrook-based Bakery Photographic Collective fills the space. The show features more than 20 photographers who capture everything from portraits to landscapes.

Staying with the landscape theme, we muscle our way into the crowded PORTLAND MUSEUM OF ART (7 Congress Sq.) to see the recently hung "Call of the Coast: Art Colonies of New England." The exhibition explores how these artists and art communities helped shaped America's 20th century identity. Finally, we head down High Street to the JUNE FITZPATRICK GALLERY (112 High St.) to check out contemporary landscapes from well-regarded architectural photographer Brian Vanden Brink. The show features images from his new book "Ruin." These hauntingly beautiful works depict the remains of neglected buildings across the country.

After viewing the show, we'll be thankful to be surrounded by well-maintained buildings, many of which offer tempting eats and drinks. Because there's really no better way to enjoy the lingering daylight than with a cold beverage and an excellent meal.

"Taken Out of Context" opens June 3 and remains on view through June 30. The opening reception takes place during the First Friday Art Walk June 5. Whitney Art Works is located at 492 Congress St., Portland. Call 780-0700 or visit www.whitneyartworks.com.

- Avery Yale Kamila
[Image: "El Dorado, Maryland 1996," by Brian Vanden Brink at June Fitzpatrick Gallery]

Picturing Portland

Group photo show offers diverse views of Maine's largest city

Portland is a city filled with recognizable landmarks and little noticed nooks and crannies. It's a city where the new rises next to the old and where the natural world is never far from the urban hustle and bustle. It's also a city where photographers find endless fodder.

A new show on view at Portland Photo Works called "Port City Show" celebrates this eclectic landscape as seen through the camera lens. After the call for entries went out, gallery owner Elliott Teel received photo submissions from 40 people and ultimately selected 43 images from 34 artists for inclusion in the show."I was looking for a broad scope of Portland, not just the Old Port or downtown," Teel explains. "I didn't want it to be just stock images of Portland."

The closest thing to a quintessential Portland shot in the show is James O'Reilly's "Observatory Moon." Here a massive full moon is bisected by the Portland Observatory and framed by an azure sky and the simple architecture of Munjoy Hill. Another recognizable shot is Michael Cempa's "Evening on Congress," which looks west up the main drag from the Maine College of Art headquarters and captures the motion-filled view of a winter night. Each work is easily identifiable, yet contains enough of the unexpected to set it off from the typical images used by tourism promoters.

"City Hall 2," by Merita McKenzie, features the civic building's familiar bell tower, but by shooting the image from above so the landscape around Marginal Way surrounds the tower, McKenzie illustrates the dichotomy that exists on the peninsula between dense urban development and under-utilized industrial land. Portland's creative culture shines through in works such as "Jazz at the Blue," by Deb Heald, where a musician plays a saxophone in a nightclub, and "A & C," by Melissa Burgess, which depicts the colorful mural on the backside of the Artist & Craftsman Supply building.

While most of the images in the show focus on buildings, landscape and architectural details, a few provide portraits of people. Samuel Blake's "Sea Urchin Fisherman" captures the city's working waterfront with an image of a yellow-aproned worker taking a smoke break on the dock. In the background, the shadow of a second worker is visible. The newer face of Portland is seen in Sergei Chaparin's "Tahir Saleh," which depicts a Sudanse artist leaning against a brick wall. The fear and uncertainty felt by many of Portland's recent immigrants can be read on the face of a toddler wearing a pink dress and standing against a chain link fence in Charlie Widdis' "A Day in Kennedy Park."

Taken as a whole, the show does a remarkable job of reflecting the visual and cultural diversity of Maine's largest city. From gritty urban views to sublime waterscapes, the works cover a lot of ground. Best of all, the photographs manage to be both familiar and surprising, much like the city itself.

"Port City Show" is on view for First Friday Art Walk and through July 31 at Portland Photo Works, 142 High St., Portland. FMI call 228-5829 or visit www.portcityshow.com.

- Avery Yale Kamila
[Image: Custom House Wharf by Alex Arbuckle]
[Image: Observatory Moon by James O'Reilly]