The Haley Art Gallery will host a gallery talk by Sharon Oakes in connection with the current exhibit, “Bill Oakes: Art, Imagination, Vision,” from 2 to 4 p.m. Aug. 20.
Sharon and Bill Oakes were married for 15 years before Bill passed away in 2005. The talk will explore how a 1990 trip to Mexico and the artist’s unique vision and expansive imagination inspired many of the exhibited works on view at the gallery through Sept. 10.
A portion of the profits from the Bill Oakes show will be donated to The Dance Hall in Kittery.
Sharon Oakes will also discuss how Bill, after years as a representational artist and illustrator, was so excited by Mexico’s light, textures, colors, peeling posters and rusting cars–turned from realism to abstraction. He felt abstract art encouraged the viewer to use their imagination and see in new ways. One of his greatest joys in life was helping others make discoveries.
Bill grew up in Maine and started painting as a child. Following his graduation from Brunswick High School, he attended Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington. Moving to Washington, D.C., to join the Navy, he was assigned to the Navy Combat Art Gallery as the first artist on active duty providing visual reporting since 1954. His over 180 paintings and drawings of returning Vietnam vets at the Bethesda Naval hospital, sailors at the Navy diving school, and the recommissioning of the Battleship New Jersey, remain in the U.S. Navy Fine Arts Collection.
Bill held a master’s degree in critical and creative thinking from UMass, Boston and taught at the New England School of Art and Design and the Art Institute of Boston. His illustrations appeared in books and numerous magazines and newspapers including The Washington Post (as a Watergate trials courtroom artist), The Boston Globe, The Christian Science Monitor and Look, National Geographic, Reader’s Digest, Time, Sail and Yankee magazines. He created and self-published several art instruction manuals and produced three children’s books with one of his art students.
Visit Haley Art Gallery and its gift shop of handmade, social-impact gift items from around the world from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Saturday at 178 Haley Road, Kittery. Call 617-584-2580, email haleygallery@comcast.net, or visit haleyartgallery.com for more information. Follow the gallery on Instagram at https://instagram.com/haleyartgallery.
Join award-winning painter Terri Brooks for “Figures in Pastels,” a workshop designed for experienced pastel artists. Working from a live, costumed model, participants will refine their ability to capture the human form using layered pastel techniques. The class will focus on essential life-drawing skills, using light and shadow to define facial structure and form through […]
The Deer Isle Artists Association announces the March Artist-in-Residence Program on March 4 with artist David McBeth. McBeth is a potter, working primarily with porcelain that is high-fired and ready for the dining table. Additionally, he is a knitter, whose preferred material is wool yarn. A true renaissance man, lately McBeth is also a writer, […]
Established in 2010, The Maine Museum of Photographic Arts is the only museum in Maine dedicated exclusively to photography. Dear Friends of the Maine Museum of Photographic Arts, What a transformative year 2024 has been for MMPA. As we reflect on the past twelve months, we’re struck by the extraordinary level of artistry, scholarship and […]
The Center for Maine Contemporary Art (CMCA) presents its winter season with the unveiling of two new thought-provoking exhibitions and held an opening reception on Feb. 1. New exhibitions that opened Feb. 1: “The Sun, Trying to Disappear” is a show that speaks of entanglement. The images in this exhibition flutter between icons and mistrusted […]
Crescendo is about reaching new heights, riding the waves of life, climbing peaks, looking up to the zenith, witnessing the culmination of a project, peering over the crest, feeling the surge of emotions. 2025 is a 9 year in numerology, marked by a crescendo of power and experience, acclimation and completion, and new beginnings. Artists […]
Joseph Fiore (1925-2008) was a widely respected artist and active member of the Maine Art Gallery during the 1960s and ‘70s. In celebration of the 100th year of his birth, the gallery is partnering with Maine Farmland Trust (MFT) on an exclusive and overdue major retrospective, “Fiore at 100: Maine Observed.” The show runs June […]
The Midcoast Downeast Chapter of the Union of Maine Visual Artists, in collaboration with Waterfall Arts and Dark Sky Maine presented “Dark Skies: Artwork Honoring Dark Nights in Maine,” which ran from Jan. 17 to Feb. 28 at Waterfall Arts in Belfast. Not only did the exhibit gather a sizable crowd of over 280 people […]
In March the Roux & Cyr International Fine Art Gallery will host its first abstract contemporary artist as its featured artist of the month. Jeanne Maguire, a Maine-based abstract artist, will be the First Friday artist on March 7. Maguire’s show is titled “Feminine Archetypes” and her work is vibrant and expressive, capturing the emotion […]
Youth Art Month is right around the corner. Show your support and celebrate the young artists in this year’s youth show, “Healing Through Color,” on view March 6 to 9. Students from all instructional levels will be featured in the show, which emphasizes the importance of visual arts, creative expression, and access to the arts […]
Receive news and information about Maine artists and events delivered right to your inbox.
