JEFFERSON — Maine Farmland Trust season’s last Open Studio Day will be held from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 30, at the Joseph A. Fiore Art Center at Rolling Acres Farm, 152 Punk Point Road. Those who attend can meet the September artists in residence and view their work.
There will be live music on the lawn by high school jazz-trio The Extension Chords, with Myles Kelley, piano; Katherine Bowen, bass; and Owen Markowitz, drums. Free coffee, tea and local ice cream will be served. The resident gardener will offer hourly garden tours of the center’s garden and the performing artist in residence will share video and performance created during the residency, in response to the site, according to a news release from the land trust.
Plein-air painter Carol Douglas took advantage of the landscape at Rolling Acres Farm by alternating between painting with oil on panel one day, and watercolor on yupo (a synthetic, water-resistant paper) the next — a challenge which led to some experiments with texture and color.
Visual arts resident Clif Travers embraced the space by building an 8-foot by 6-foot panel with reclaimed wood, which became the ground for a giant mosaic tree.
Performing arts resident Heather Lyon spent much of her month in the lake at the end of the farm fields, performing and shooting video at dawn. She worked to deepen her connection to the lake, simultaneously a force and a site, capable of holding an exploration of grief and transformation.
Rachel Alexandrou, whose organic gardening experience spans a decade, is this year’s seasonal resident gardener. She lives on the grounds and grows produce for the residents, and is a talented and knowledgeable forager, as well as an artist and musician.
The Gallery at Rolling Acres will be open and is showing “Nature Observed: The Landscapes of Joseph Fiore,” featuring oil paintings and pastel drawings of the late artist and environmentalist.
The mission of the center is to actively connect the creative worlds of farming and art making. The center’s purpose is to continue and evolve the dialogue between human and environment within the context of our current culture and time, according to the release.
The center is a program of Maine Farmland Trust.
For more information, visit mainefarmlandtrust.org.
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