Alison Rector’s silkscreen stories of farm life are on view in Ellsworth

Courthouse Gallery Fine Art in Ellsworth opens its spring season with a deeply personal and visually rich solo exhibition by Maine artist Alison Rector. Titled “Silkscreen Season On A Maine Farm,” the show runs from May 1 to 28 and features the complete collection of Rector’s silkscreen prints, many of which have never before been exhibited together.

An artist reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. May 7, and Rector will join author and arts writer Carl Little for an artist talk at 2 p.m. May 10.

All events are free and open to the public.

The 43 silkscreens in the exhibition span more than three decades and chronicle Rector’s life after moving to Monroe in 1990 to embrace homesteading with her husband. What began as an annual tradition — creating a small, autobiographical print to share with friends and family during the holidays — evolved into a vivid visual record of rural life.

The prints, ranging in size from 3 x 4.5 inches to 7.5 x 4.5 inches, are rich in detail and warmth. Larger silkscreens, including “The Plantation,” reflect on the region’s agricultural past, referencing a now-defunct cluster of chicken barns once central to Waldo County’s farming economy.

“We did a little of everything in a back-to-the-lander kind of way,” Rector says.

Her prints capture those rhythms with intimacy and humor — milking cows, chopping wood, moonlit fields, ice fishing, even stray animals and quiet winter scenes. Together, they form a lyrical archive of seasonal life in Maine and a testament to one family’s commitment to working the land and building community.

Rector is also known for her luminous oil paintings, often depicting interior spaces shaped by light and memory. Her work has appeared in numerous biennials, including at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art and the Portland Museum of Art. She currently maintains studios in Monroe and Portland.

A full-color exhibition catalog, with an essay by Carl Little, accompanies the show and situates Rector’s work within Maine’s broader printmaking tradition and back-to-the-land movement.

Courthouse Gallery is at 6 Court St., Ellsworth. For gallery hours or more information, call 667-6611 or visit www.courthousegallery.com.