2013 Visitor's Guide

Happenin’ Arts SCENE Greater Portland has a thriving arts community with the cultural offerings you’d expect to find in a much larger urban area; even in the coldest months, our arts scene never hibernates. Photo: Bob Delaney, First Friday Art Walk

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On the first Friday of each month in Portland, and the third Friday in Freeport, sidewalks overflow with art lovers. Artist studios and galleries open their doors to the public for the evening, inviting casual art fans and aficionados to peruse the diverse selection ranging from traditional seascapes painted in watercolor to hanging installations constructed from repurposed cardboard and found objects. Outside, small crowds gather around a busking guitarist or trio of belly dancers. Local crafters chat with passersby over tables of their work — handmade jewelry, screen-printed tees, a stack of notebooks made from album covers. The monthly Art Walks are a popular facet of the region’s diverse art scene. But on any given day, art to suit a variety of tastes can readily be found. Open year-round, the Portland Museum of Art exhibits classic European art by

Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Claude Monet. Other museum collections tell the story of Maine’s own artistic history through the works of Andrew Wyeth, Winslow Homer, and contemporary artists like John Bisbee. Curated galleries showcase and sell works on canvas, crafted in glass, or carved from wood. Sophisticated art-seekers can look to professional theatrical performances from Portland Stage and to Portland Ovations, the arts organization that supplies Maine with cultural classics like string quartets and The Joffrey Ballet. Portland Ovations also brings innovative performances to town, including dance company MOMIX and the choreographed percussion of STOMP, as well as rockin’ musical theater like "Rock of Ages.” The well-regarded Portland Symphony Orchestra regularly fills Merrill Auditorium with orchestral sounds, fromMahler’s Fifth Symphony

to Paul Hindemith’s “Mathis der Maler.” And the PSO POPS! performances have been known to aptly take on the music of Madonna, Elvis Presley, and The Beatles. When the weather is warm and the foot traffic high, art takes to the streets with South Portland’s Art in the Park, Freeport’s Fall in the Village Art Festival, and the WCSH 6 Sidewalk Art Festival, featuring the work of hundreds of artists fromMaine and the entire eastern seaboard.

LOCAL TIP Catch live music in bars and pubs throughout the Old Port and free outdoor concerts in the summer months in downtown parks and squares. (See page 31 for dates)

CONVENTION + VISITORS BUREAU / 21