The arts agency for the cities of Lewiston and Auburn, Maine

Still bathing in the afterglow of the Ice Festival of Lewiston Auburn—or sulking because you were unable to join in the fun? L/A Arts is excited to present another unique fundraiser that combines a social gathering with the arts. Arts and Crafts partners L/A Arts, Fishbones Restaurant and Sebago Brewing Company to combine a scrumptious five course dinner tasting with craft beer pairings, and fabulous works of visual art by Maine artists. Each attendee will leave with a piece of beautiful work—ranging from photography to oil paintings, shadow boxes to pottery. On Sunday March 10, join L/A Arts to fill your belly and your walls. This exclusive fundraising event supports L/A Arts mission to engage and inspire a vibrant community through arts and culture. That means more events like Ice Fest L/A, free summer concerts in the park, Art Walk Lewiston Auburn last Friday Art Walks, Main Stage Performances and a whole lot more. Limited tickets are available to attend Arts and Crafts and are priced at $100—a steal when considering a five course meal from a five star restaurant, tasty beer pairings and your very own piece of Maine made art work. Tickets can be purchased by calling L/A Arts at 782-7228 or online. Buy Tickets Artists who have donated their work to be a part of this event include: Therese Banks, Wendy Barrett, Pam Bell, Claude Bergeron, Don Bernard, Stephanie Berry, Felice Boucher, Steve Bradford, Sean Cabbaniss, Dan Cake, Melinda Campbell, Maureen Caron, Grayling Cunningham, Lisa Davis, Hillary Dow, Jody Dube, Neill Ewing-Wegmann, David Footer, Jennifer Gammon, Jen Gibbons, Sarah Haskell, Stanley Hollenbec, Penny Hood, Jeff Jacques, Bonita Kenny, Dacia Klinkerch, Alfred Kypta, Karl Lalemond, Kerry Landry, Mike Landry, Annette LaVallee, Mike Libby, Kathy Ligori, Vicki Lund, Natasha Mayers, Mike McAllister, Connie McVey, Kathleen Murphy, Adam Nelson, Arla Patch, Tom Platz, Tom Reichard, Michael Reidy, Susan Roux, Andrea Segars, Sandy Simard-Nyberg, Gail Skundera, Mary Spencer, Anne Strout, Judy Taylor, Debora Trafton, Miles Turner, Jim Walker, Helen Warren, Greg Waters, Sheri Withers and Sarah White.

We at L/A Arts are committed to spreading the word about opportunities for artists. The Cape Elizabeth Land Trust reached out to us to spread the word about a Call to Artists for their upcoming Paint For Preservation 2013 event. Below is the press release they sent out in late January.

Cape Elizabeth Land Trust Call for Artists: Paint for Preservation 2013

The Cape Elizabeth Land Trust (CELT) announced on January 23 that is has begun accepting artist submissions for Paint for Preservation 2013, the organization’s sixth annual juried Wet Paint Auction and one of Maine’s premiere art auction events. Artist entries will be juried by Jean Maginnis and Wes LaFountain, founders of Maine Center for Creativity.

The Wet Paint Auction will be held Sunday, July 14, 2013. During the day of the event, selected artists will paint en plein air at designated public and private locations chosen to highlight Cape Elizabeth’s natural beauty. That evening, the newly painted artwork will be auctioned live at a tented cocktail reception at Ram Island Farm in Cape Elizabeth. Proceeds from the Auction are shared with participating artists and benefit the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust’s Saving Cape’s Great Places initiative to preserve local conservation lands.

Interested artists are invited to submit two images of original paintings in any medium for juried consideration. Samples must be submitted as digital images on CD or electronically via email. The artist submission form and further instructions regarding submission requirements may be obtained at www.capelandtrust.org/paintforpreservation/2013/. The deadline for artists’ submissions is Wednesday, March 27.

CELT’s Wet Paint Auction is open to all mediums. Artists working in watercolors and pastels may provide a mat. No frames are permitted. The minimum size of the artwork is 10”x10”; maximum is 48”x48”.

About the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust
The Cape Elizabeth Land Trust permanently conserves and provides stewardship for lands cherished by our community—from shore lands to marshes, from farmlands to woodlands—for the education, use, and enjoyment of this and future generations.

Founded in 1985, the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust has permanently protected over 660 acres spanning 27 properties. CELT is a member of the Maine Farmland Trust, the Maine Land Trust Network and the Land Trust Alliance. For more information please visit: www.capelandtrust.org or call (207) 767-6054

Attending Ladysmith Black Mambazo this weekend? Unable to attend but still looking for something fun and affordable? Make this a weekend full of music, dance and fun with the Bates Folk Festival, February 8-9.

Contradancing, workshops and performances by established musicians from as far away as Scotland are on tap for the third annual Bates College Folk Music Festival, a two-day event beginning at 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 8, in the Muskie Archives, 70 Campus Ave., and Chase Hall Lounge, 56 Campus Ave.

The event is open to the public. Admission fees vary according to ability to pay — from $5 to $20 for one day, and $10 to $30 for both days. No one will be turned away for inability to pay. Tickets are available at the door. For more information, please visit batesfolkfest.weebly.com/.

The event is sponsored by the Freewill Folk Society, a student organization at Bates. For more information, please contact [email protected].

The festival opens Friday with music by the Bates ensemble Chase the Fiddlers, led by Greg Boardman of the applied music faculty, and by the Scottish trio Cantrip.

Friday’s performers also include Bates College students; the Press Gang, an Irish-music trio from Portland; and the Scottish-Latin fusion band Alba’s Edge. Kim Roberts of Farmington calls a 6:30 p.m. contradance with the Maine duo Velocipede and a 9 p.m. contradance with Alba’s Edge.

On Saturday, an open mic featuring Bates musicians starts the day’s activities at noon. Following a 1 p.m. contradance with music by Greg and Jessie Boardman, Velocipede offers a concert at 3:30 p.m. Performances by student bands conclude the third annual festival on Saturday evening.

Christopher O’Riley has received positive reviews nationwide for his excellence on the ivory keys. After January 26th’s performance at the Franco American Heritage Center, Lewiston Auburn can add themselves to his multitude of fans.

Below is a letter of review from Carol Dilley, Director of Dance at Bates College. Take a moment to read it through. If you missed on Christopher O’Riley, and are feeling it tug at you now, trust us when we say, do not make the same mistake twice by missing out on our February performances and events. February’s event calendar is jam packed with award winning artists, exciting nights out and passionate dance.

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Dear LA Arts,

What a privilege it was to hear a concert of that caliber, drama and surprise last night in the Franco American Heritage Center. I arrived with a vague expectation of enjoying a piano concert of somewhat contemporary music but I was completely unprepared for the stature and dramatic impact of the artist, Christopher O’Reilly. The first half of the evening caught me completely off guard. His performance of the complete Berlioz/Lizt Symphonie Fantastique was intimate, explosive and left everyone panting for breath. He played the piece as if it were his own music playing him, not his rendition of someone else’s transcription of someone else’s music from 150 years ago. Concerts should always feel that immediate but they rarely do. It was like being thrown a surprise party. The second half was also wonderful and I very much enjoyed the contemporary rock arrangements I had come to hear. Just would have been a satisfying evening in itself but the treat of the unexpected first half in the intimate Franco Center Hall right here in Lewiston made that perhaps my favorite piano concert ever.

In this artist you have found exactly the right tone that was familiar enough for the less adventurous in the audience, contemporary enough for those of us with a passion for the vanguard of that art forms and dramatic enough so that you didn’t need to be a music scholar to feel the impact of his artistry. Thank you again for your efforts.

Carol Dilley
Director of Dance
Bates College