2012 Waponahki Student Art Show now open!

The Abbe Museum, in partnership with Maine Indian Education, is pleased to present the 11th Waponahki Student Art Show.  This annual exhibition demonstrates the strong collaborative spirit of two institutions devoted to promoting art education and celebrating Waponahki culture.  We are thrilled to have the work of these talented young Waponahki artists coloring the walls of the Abbe and welcoming the arrival of spring and summer.  

The 35 featured artists are from the Penobscot Nation at Indian Island, and the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Indian Township and Pleasant Point. They range in age from pre-kindergarten through the twelfth grade.  The styles, mediums and images vary throughout the exhibition, but nature and culture clearly have a strong presence in many of these original works.

As guests of the Waponahki Student Art Show, we are invited on a unique journey into the imaginations of these young people; through their expressive works of art we glimpse their lives, culture and natural surroundings.  Watercolor, crayon, pastel and finger-paint are employed with confidence to bring images to life: a dancing fox, bright red blueberry bushes, dream catchers, colorful turtles and bears. The words used by the students to describe the inspiration for their art are straightforward and simple, but can be both moving and provocative at once.

The 2012 Waponahki Student Art Show opened in late April, and will be on exhibit through September.  This month we look forward to the private reception for the young artists and their families, where each student is celebrated with a framed certificate and a package of art goodies to encourage future creativity.  When the exhibition leaves the Abbe the art will be returned to the students professionally framed, thanks to the generosity of K.A. McDonald Picture Framing in Bar Harbor, Maine.