Downeast gallery adds antiques and sculpture garden to its offerings

The coast has long been symbolic of the mingling of goods and ideas from near and far. With that in mind, it feels appropriate to find MOTHERS Gallery in Columbia Falls, where the Pleasant River meets the Atlantic Ocean, uniting Maine headwaters with the world. The gallery is a place unique both for its particular offerings, as well as its singular approach to embracing nature and nurture.

As its name proclaims, MOTHERS Art Gallery is, first and foremost, a celebration of mothers. Whitney Vosburgh, who co-owns the gallery with his wife, Heather Merriam, is a fourth-generation artist, and the renowned landscapes of their mothers — Vera Rahn and Kathleen Sutherland — occasionally takes center stage. But the meaning behind the gallery’s name goes far deeper, one layer at a time.

Vosburgh and Merriam didn’t originally set out to open a fine  art and antique gallery in the heart of Downeast Maine, but after purchasing the property — not far from Merriam’s childhood summer home in Jonesport — the possibility became apparent. Not only did they purchase the 1841 house with an attached ell and barn, but all its contents that included many paintings by the beloved Aunt, who taught at the Woodstock School of Art, of the previous antique dealer owners.

“It felt as if we had inherited it from a relative who had similar taste in art and antiques from Maine and all over the world,” Vosburgh shared, noting that while he and Merriam are American, they both grew up, studied and worked around the globe. “We feel very comfortable with and enjoy different artistic and cultural expressions from different periods and parts of the world.”

As Vosburgh was cleaning out the barn in early summer 2021, the collection of unusual and quality art and antiques and the alluring atmosphere of the barn interior prompted him to reconsider his family’s background as painters and antiques dealers. “By the end of the summer, we decided to open a gallery,” he said.

MOTHERS Art Gallery opened in May 2022, taking advantage of the barn’s two natural exhibit spaces on the lower floor. Appropriately, the first shows featured the work of Vosburgh’s mother and Merriam’s mother who are both acclaimed landscape artists. With two mothers in the picture, only the surface of the gallery’s theme is scratched, however, Vosburgh explained that “We aim to celebrate Mother Nature, the mothers of creation, all mothers, everywhere.”

Creativity knows no geographic bounds, and so the compelling art and antiques on display at MOTHERS is made by artists and artisans both local and from around the world. “Instead of just showcasing what Maine art is best known for — lobsters, lighthouses and landscapes — wonderful as they are, we wanted to add to that. It wasn’t ‘but,’ it was ‘and’. We want to bring the best of the world to Downeast Maine, and the best of Downeast Maine to the world.” 

Among the listed and non-listed artists that have been featured at MOTHERS thus far are artists Dutav, Krista Ann Boelmert, and George Osborne, among many others. The barn’s two gallery spaces are joined on the side by worldly antiques, from a Haitian Voodoo flag to a Tibetan-Nepali Buddhist tanka, creating a smorgasbord of visual wonderment for visitors to experience. Vosburgh himself is an artist, and his abstract, spiritual landscapes and fused glass are occasionally exhibited at the gallery. 

While Columbia Falls — a small village just shy of 500 residents located just off of Route 1 — isn’t what many would envision as an artistic hotspot, Vosburgh and Merriam have increasingly become aware of the high number of artists, craftspeople, and writers in the area. “Heather and I love to walk, so we’ve gotten to know quite a few people, and it’s just one of those places that acts like a creative magnet.”

The response from locals and visitors alike has been enthusiastic and positive, encouraging Vosburgh and Merriam to develop plans to expand what MOTHERS offers in the area. Along with adding a sculpture garden — featuring the works of a local granite sculptor to start — MOTHERS will play host to cultural events in the near future. “We celebrate human nature in community at the gallery, so we hope to be having a number of communal events both locally and regionally,” Vosburgh shares.

This year, among the exhibits planned is one of Victoria Veedell of San Francisco. “She paints very beautiful, impressionistic landscapes in various spots around the world, including the Canadian Maritimes,” said Vosburgh, who met her during an artist residency in rural Japan. “We both have a similar feel for expressing the experience and the memory of a place, as opposed to exactly what it looked like at a certain time.”

Find MOTHERS Gallery at 19 Church Hill Circle, Columbia Falls, or online at www.mothersartgallery.com and on Instagram @mothersartgallery. Open May through October, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday through Saturday or by appointment: 510-504 1109.