USM Public Affairs

Detail from sketchbook, Janwillem van de Wetering

The latest Kate Cheney Chappel ’83 Center for Book Arts at USM exhibition, “Janwillem van de Wetering: Artist’s Books, Sketchbooks, Trade Books, and Small Sculpture,” will be on display from Friday, January 15 through Sunday, February 28 in the UNUM Great Reading Room of USM’s Glickman Family Library, Portland.  This free exhibit is open during library hours, 10 a.m.-11 p.m., Sundays; 7:45 a.m.-11 p.m., Mondays-Thursdays; 7:45 a.m.-8 p.m., Fridays; and 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Saturdays. On Sunday, February 14, hours are 2-10 p.m.  A reception and lecture, “Janwillem van de Wetering: The Creative Spirit,” by author Carl Little will take place from 4-6 p.m., Tuesday, January 26, in the University Events Room of the Glickman Family Library.  For more information, contact Rebecca Goodale, at 228-8014.

Janwillem van de Wetering was an award-winning author and artist who was born in the Netherlands and became a longtime resident of Surrey, Maine.  He wrote detective novels set in Amsterdam, a memoir of living in a Kyoto monastery and a series children’s books about a downeast porcupine.  Carl Little is the author of many art books as well as “Ocean Drinker: New & Selected Poems,” who profiled van de Wetering in a 1994 Down East magazine.

USM alumna Kate Cheney Chappell (Class of ‘83) professional artist, and co-founder of Tom’s of Maine, established USM’s Center for Book Arts in 2008. The Kate Cheney Chappell ’83 Center for Book Arts at USM celebrates the innovative and engaging nature of book arts through lectures and workshops by national and regional book artists, and through exhibits of artists’ books.  The Center’s program coordinator is Maine artist and member of USM’s Art Department faculty Rebecca Goodale.

High Resolution Image:

Detail from sketchbook, Janwillem van de Wetering

http://usm.maine.edu/mcr/news/BookArts.jpg

The University of Southern Maine (USM) offers its 10,000 plus students more than 115 areas of undergraduate and graduate study. USM’s location in southern Maine, a region cited as one of the most liveable in the country, offers a range of educational, cultural and recreational opportunities.

CONTACT:
Rachel Talbot Ross
(207) 253-5074 NAACP office
(207) 210-1052 cell
naacpportland@gmail.com
http://www.portlandmlk.net/

The NAACP Portland Branch offered community members a chance to participate in “Reading, Writing and the Engaged Community,” a series of reading and writing workshops focused on social justice.  Held in association with the USM Stonecoast Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing MFA program, adult writers of all levels and styles were invited to participate in instructive workshops that combine reading and discussion of King’s most important correspondence, sermons, publications and speeches. Participants then wrote their own reflections on the readings, coached by Stonecoast students and alumni.  The written work may take the form of a journal entry, short story, poem, play, speech, sermon or narrative statement which will be presented to the public 7:30 p.m. on Friday, January 15 at the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport.

The media is invited to join the group during their last workshop on
Saturday, January 2.

What: “Reading, Writing and the Engaged Community” – Community writing workshop celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led by USM Stonecoast MFA students and alumni.

Time/Date: 9 a.m.-11:30 AM, Saturday, January 2.

Location:  Wishcamper Center, USM’s Portland campus.

In addition to this series, “Why King Matters Now,” a writing program for young people was developed to explore the meaning of King’s legacy today and to help participants improve their writing skills. Workshops took place in December at community centers in Kennedy Park, Parkside, Riverton and Sagamore Village.  This series is presented in association with Maine Interfaith Youth Alliance, Portland Housing Authority, The Telling Room, and USM’s Office of Community Engagement.

The University of Southern Maine (USM) offers its 10,000 plus students more than 115 areas of undergraduate and graduate study. USM’s location in southern Maine, a region cited as one of the most liveable in the country, offers a range of educational, cultural and recreational opportunities.

Stephen Walsh, "Scape," oil on canvas, 2008 Jurors Award Winner

“USM Juried Student Exhibition: Selected Works”
Friday, January 15 – Friday, March 5, 2010
Area Gallery, USM’s Woodbury Campus Center, Portland

The USM Area Gallery will display the work of art students in a free exhibit, “USM Juried Student Exhibition: Selected Works.” The exhibit will be open 7 a.m. – 10 p.m., Mondays through Fridays, from Thursday, January 15 through Friday, March 5. For more information, visit www.usm.maine.edu/gallery, or call (207) 780-5008.

All works in this exhibit debuted in USM’s Gorham Art Gallery last fall as part of the larger annual Juried Student Exhibition. Among selected works on exhibit will be an oil panel by John Puiia of Scarborough, winner of the President’s Purchase Award, and an oil painting by Stephen Walsh of Windham, which won the Jurors’ Award.

The jurors were Jeremy Foss, professor of painting, Massachusetts College of Art; Robyn Holman, curator, USM Lewiston-Auburn Atrium Gallery; and Ling-Wei Tsai, associate professor of sculpture and new media, Maine College of Art.

This exhibit offers the public the opportunity to enjoy the work of these emerging artists while presenting the student artists with a chance to see their work presented in a gallery setting.

The exhibition is sponsored in part by Home Instead Senior Care, Gorham House of Pizza, iBec Creative, and Gorham House: A Comprehensive Living Center, as well as the Art Guru, Artist & Craftsman Supply, Cook’s Hardware, Casco Bay Frames, Mr. Bagel, Hunt’s Photo and Video, The Gorham Grind, and Thatcher’s Restaurant and Sports Pub of South Portland.

High Resolution Image:
John Puiia, “Ferry Terminal,” oil on panel, 2009
President’s Purchase Award Winner
http://www.usm.maine.edu/mcr/news/ferryterminal.JPG

High Resolution Image:
Stephen Walsh, “Scape,” oil on canvas, 2008
Jurors Award Winner
http://www.usm.maine.edu/mcr/news/steve.jpg

The University of Southern Maine (USM) offers its 10,000 plus students more than 115 areas of undergraduate and graduate study. USM’s location in southern Maine, a region cited as one of the most liveable in the country, offers a range of educational, cultural and recreational opportunities.

The holiday season is one of joy and happiness for many, but it is also the time of year of sadness and depression for those who are alone, experiencing financial difficulties, or who feel their holiday will not live up to their unrealistic expectations. Although it is a myth that suicides spike during the holiday season, many people do have the blues.   Many, also, may see the New Year as the to make positive change in their lives.

USM’s Director of University Health and Counseling Services Dr. Kristine Bertini can speak about the causes of depression; hope for those struggling with suicidal predispositions; surviving the suicide of a loved one; and steps one can resolve to make that will lead to better mental health.

Bertini is a clinical psychologist and author of the 2009 book, “Understanding and Preventing Suicide: The Development of Self-Destructive Patterns and Ways to Alter Them.”  She also is chair of the University Task Force on Suicide Intervention and a member of the Governor’s Steering Committee on Suicide Prevention.

USM’s Director of University Health and Counseling Services Dr. Kristine Bertini is the author of the book, “Understanding and Preventing Suicide: The Development of Self-Destructive Patterns and Ways to Alter Them.” She can speak about the causes of depression; hope for those struggling with suicidal predispositions; surviving the suicide of a loved one; and steps one can take that will lead to better mental health.

Read more here at http://blogs.usm.maine.edu/publicaffairs/archives/2069

The December 16 Portland Press Herald covered the news that German Studies is being looked at for elimination.

Read about Southworth Planetarium’s next celestial poetry event, “Solstice Dawning,” in the December 16 Portland Press Herald.

On December 16, the Portland Press Herald published the names of this year’s inductees to the College of Education and Human Development Hall of Fame.

Director of University Health and Counseling Services Kristine Bertini was interviewed on December 15 by Tom Porter on Maine Public Radio about how the holidays can contribute to instances of suicide.

Read Professor of Economics Susan Feiner’s editorial that appeared in the December 13 Maine Sunday Telegram about Husson University and the comparative costs of higher education in Maine.