The arts agency for the cities of Lewiston and Auburn, Maine
Learn MoreKick off the Sounds of Summer with Don Campbell!
Don Campbell has opening performance credits that include Carrie Underwood, Toby Keith, Willie Nelson, Charlie Daniels, Randy Travis, Keith Urban, Merle Haggard, George Jones, America, Three Dog Night, Shawn Colvin, Jonathan Edwards and many more.
To learn more about Don Campbell visit his website at: http://www.doncampbellband.com/doncampbell.cfm.Art & Ale Current Exhibit
Featured Artist: Gregory K. Waters
Beginning on July 6 Gregory Waters oil paintings of landscapes and all things outdoors can be viewed at Gritty’s Art and Ale Gallery located at 68 Main St. in Auburn.
Born in 1982, Greg Waters was introduced to art at a very young age. He began sketching with pencil, ink and charcoal. When he was 18 years old, a close family member sparked a new found interest in painting with oil. After a few lessons, Greg was on his way.
While work at a pizza shop, Greg gathered his portfolio and presented it to a professional tattoo shop. By 2005 he began a career in tattooing where he learned the history, meaning and culture of tattoos. Any chance to explore new forms of art and mediums is always at the forefront of Greg’s interest. In 2009, Greg was able to enhance realism with both oil and acrylic paints. Finding joy in the ordinary, he has built a strong composition of places visited, both real and imagined.
Some of the activities that inspire him include sailing, hiking, fishing and hunting. He enjoys spending time at the beach whenever possible. Greg’s love for anything “outside the box” has been the most influential tool in becoming the artists he is today.
Greg shared his work in the Gritty’s Art and Ale exhibit in 2011 and is back this year with more inspirational elements.
Ring in the Sounds of Summer with L/A Arts free concerts in the park
Though summer only officially began on June 21, at L/A Arts summer is in full swing! Already having presented two free Friday Art Walk concerts in Dufresne Plaza in May and June, L/A Arts is excited to continue in our tradition of providing free and fun summer concerts throughout July and August with a Thursday noontime concert series beginning on July 12 at the Hilton Garden Inn Riverwatch in Auburn; all July concerts are located at the Hilton Garden Inn Riverwatch and August concerts will take place in Fountain Park at the Bates Mill Complex, Lewiston. The Sounds of Summer noontime concerts feature everything from the pop music of the bubbly Veayo Twins to the rockin’ stompin’ Cajun dance music of the Cajun Aces de Douce. The Sounds of Summer concert series boasts an impressive eleven performances; six noontime concerts and five Art Walk Lewiston Auburn Friday concerts at 6PM in Dufresene Plaza, Lewiston. The total line up is listed in our calendar of events; come to them all or just to one and take in the Sounds of Summer!
Community Gallery: Current Exhibit
Exhibit: HumaniTy Expressed Visually 
Featured Youth Artists from the Lewiston Educational Achievement Program (LEAP) a 21st Century CLC & Maranacook Community High School
A collection of logo and t-shirt designs, collaborative sculpture and the award winning LEAP mural design for EcoMaine’s “Recycling is a Work of Art.”
Opening Reception June 29, 3:30-6PM
HumaniTy Expressed Visually is an artistic collaboration between the Lewiston Educational Achievement Program (LEAP) and Maranacook Community High School. HumaniTy Expressed Visually celebrates in the hard work and talent of student artists, highlighting the culmination of a successful year of arts enrichment for LEAP at Lewiston Middle School and the completion of a project in logo design, animation and t-shirt printing using stencils and student generated block prints. The mission of HumaniTy Expressed Visually is to expand knowledge of communities, enhance communication and to foster self-awareness through hands on, cultural exploration in the visual arts.
L/A Arts Community Gallery is located at 221 Lisbon St. Lewiston.
Art & Ale: Current Exhibit
Featured Artist: Mike McAllister
Beginning June 1, the beautiful photography of Mike McAllister will be available for viewing in the Gritty’s Art and Ale windoe, located at 68 Main St, Auburn. McAllister will feature photos taken while on holiday in Ireland.
Mike McAllister describes his philosophy, process and work as an artist best—
“The world rushes too quickly. I want to slow down. Step by step I walk or hike noticing things often overlooked. There’s beauty in the tiniest of things, sprigs of nature. Whiz by through the speed of a car and a whole world is missed. I have a different perspective than most. I take time to ponder. Take time to try to understand why a world spends so much time and energy on useless political things. Things you could pour so much of your own energy on and no matter how passionate you are on a subject or even if you had the answers to cure the world, the powers that be would never listen. I’ve come to a place of understanding. The joy of life is in the little things. Take time for friendships. Slow down and experience the sounds of nature. Watch a flower unfold or a blade of grass sway in the wind. Respect nature around you. Love.
A while ago, I visited Ireland for the first time and walked much of the soil of my ancestor’s homeland. Tourist busses whizzed by as fifty wide-eyed faces pressed to the windows. Everyone trying to see, yet missing everything. They were from away, perhaps the US. They reminded me of the rushing attitude I’m often surrounded with. But here in Ireland, the pace was different. The pace reminded me of my own. Step by step, walking. I felt at one with this land. A country I could easily move to. A country I could easily understand. People at peace, living off the land without destroying it. Respect for nature. I found it absolutely beautiful from every tiny stone to the majestic cliffs that braved the mighty Atlantic.
My camera recorded all I saw, as if an extension of my own vision. I took thousands of pictures. Beautiful pictures. Pictures I wish to share with everyone in silent hope that through them, they too will see the world as I do. Step by step.
My work is produced using a digital workflow. All darkroom work is performed in a dry/digital darkroom. Prints are produced using pigment inks on archival cotton rag paper.”
Gallery Images Coming Soon…