Thanks to a generous donation by local business leader, philanthropist, and arts advocate David E. Shaw, the PMA will open the David E. Shaw and Family Sculpture Park in the summer of 2017.
It has long been a wish of the PMA to make the Joan B. Burns Garden—located on High Street and currently closed to the public except for specific museum programming—an outdoor sculpture park available for the entire Portland community to enjoy and explore. Through the Shaw family’s donation, the David E. Shaw and Family Sculpture Park will be accessible to all through a gate on High Street, free to the public, and open year-round during museum hours beginning in summer 2017.
“The Shaw family is pleased to play a leadership role in creating a public sculpture park at the Portland Museum of Art,” shares Shaw. “We do this with great appreciation of the benefit of art to society. This park will provide public access to an artistic oasis in a cultural center of our community.”
Inspired by the upcoming culmination of Your Museum, Reimagined, the PMA’s multiyear project based on improved experiences with the collection, Shaw—an avid collector of sculpture—saw an opportunity to support the museum and permanently impact the greater Portland community. His donation aligns with the direction of the PMA under its new five-year Strategic Plan, which seeks to actively find ways to make the museum’s collection, historic buildings, and campus accessible to all, and to be “a leader in the growth and vibrancy of Portland’s urban and cultural transformation, including the revitalization of the Congress Square neighborhood”.
Through this generosity, the Shaws provide a gift that enables Portland and its surrounding communities to enjoy and to engage with art in a truly unique, intimate, and beautiful setting free of charge—one of the only green spaces in the heart of the arts district. His gift also accelerates the PMA’s plans for more artwork in the park, including acquisitions to be announced later, which will be installed in the park prior to its opening in 2017.
For more information visit portlandmuseum.org or call (207) 775-6148
Dowling Walsh Gallery Opens 2026 Season with Solo Exhibitions by Artists Lauren Fensterstock and Jacob Bond Hessler
Sidle House Gallery in Freeport opens its 2026 season with “Anne Hebebrand: A World That Is,” a solo exhibition of cold-wax and oil paintings on view May 1 through June 13. An opening reception is May 1 from 6 to 8 p.m. The exhibition draws from seven years of Hebebrand’s work, which she describes as […]
Waterfall Arts in Belfast is showing “Make Your Mark,” an immersive, community-driven exhibition in the Clifford Gallery through May 29. The opening reception was held April 18. Conceived by program director Amy Tingle, the show draws inspiration from street art and the call-and-response nature of public creative expression. The exhibition features participatory installations including doodle […]
Centre Street Arts Gallery in Bath will hold its spring reception May 15 from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring work by the gallery’s 22 member artists. Centre Street Arts Gallery is at 11 Centre St., Bath. Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Email centrestartsgalleryllc@gmail.com or call 207-442-0300 for more information.
Artemis Gallery in Northeast Harbor opens its 15th season with a group exhibition and reception on May 21 from 5 to 7 p.m. The show features work in stone sculpture by Obadiah Buell, woodblock print by Nicole Herz, oil paintings by Liddy Hubbell and David LaPalombara, photography by Parker Stewart and bronze sculpture by Rebekah […]
The Kittery Art Association, in collaboration with the York Public Library, presents “Eleven Views from Here,” on view May 2 through June 30 at the York Public Library, 15 Long Sands Road, York. An opening reception is May 5 from 5 to 7 p.m. The exhibition features selected works by 11 KAA artists representing the […]
The Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland will open “By Design: The Worlds of Betsy James Wyeth” with a public reception on May 1 from 4 to 6 p.m. The exhibition runs May 2 through Oct. 16 in the Hadlock and Wyeth Study Center Galleries, with additional programming in the Wyeth Center from June 13 through […]
Dowling Walsh Gallery in Rockland is showing “5AM in the Pinewoods,” a solo exhibition of paintings by Joanna Logue, through May 9. Logue, a native of Australia who has lived on Mount Desert Island since 2017, takes inspiration from daily hikes in Acadia National Park near her home in Somesville. The changing colors of the […]
The Maine Crafts Association will present STITCH: Runway Show + Style Market on June 4 from 5 to 9 p.m. at Maine Studio Works, 170 Anderson St., Portland. The annual fundraising event celebrates Maine’s slow fashion designers, textile artists and makers. Six Maine-based designers will present original handcrafted wearable work in a live runway show […]
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