FARMINGTON — The Emery Community Arts Center on the University of Maine at Farmington campus is featuring three exciting fall events. All will take place in the Emery Performance Space and are free and open to the public.
Thursday, Oct. 27, 7 p.m. Screening of the film “I Know a Man…Ashley Bryan”
Directed by Maine-based filmmaker Richard Kane and artist Robert Shetterly, the documentary film is a story about a 90+ year-old artist who skips and jumps in his heart like a child, yet is a spiritually deep creative genius. Ashley is a poet and illustrator of 50 children’s books, maker of magical puppets and sea glass windows from found objects inspired by his African heritage. He lived on the remote Cranberry Islands in Maine until his death at 98 years old in February 2022. He had been using art his entire life to celebrate joy, mediate the darkness of war and racism, explore the mysteries of faith, and create loving community. His life story and the art he makes from this wellspring of experience are an inspiration to people of all ages.
Wednesday, Nov. 2, 7 p.m. Recital by Aaron Wyanski, UMF assistant professor of music composition, of solo piano music featuring original works along with music by Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell and Fiona Apple
Wyanski is a composer, pianist, and educator whose work explores memory, perspective and vulnerability. His music has been commissioned by the Amaranth String Quartet, Roger Zahab, and percussionist Michael Jones, among others, and he has been an artist-in-residence at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the Vermont College of Fine Arts.
An active educator, Wyanski has previously taught at The Hartt School (University of Hartford) and Sweet Briar College. He holds a DMA in composition from The Hartt School, an MFA from The Vermont College of Fine Arts, and a BM in jazz studies from Purchase College (SUNY).
Thursday, Nov 10, 7 p.m., Screening of the 22nd Annual Animation Show of Shows
This 22nd edition comprises an international collection of animated short films, which deal with both the anxieties and hopes of a world faced with a seemingly endless series of existential crises. All are inventive, their tone ranges from the whimsical to the profound; their techniques, from stop-motion to hand-drawn to computer-aided.
Nine of the films are new and come from Europe, Asia and North America. The program culminates with a striking restored 4K digital remaster by the Academy Film Archive of Frederic Back’s classic 1987 Oscar-winner, “The Man Who Planted Trees.”
The Animation Show of Shows is not rated, and some subject matter is of a mature nature and not intended for young children. For details visit Animation Show of Shows.
The Emery Community Arts Center is an innovative, experimental venue for the arts in Western Maine. It features an exciting 2,500-square-foot, 109-seat multipurpose performance space with dynamic vertical foldaway doors that open onto an outdoor performance area and a 1,600-square-foot Flex-Space gallery for traditional exhibits, new media and performance art. A dramatic interior corridor offers additional exhibition space and connects the center with the UMF Alumni Theater.
The Emery Arts Center gallery is located on Academy Street in downtown Farmington. The gallery is open Monday-Friday, 10am-6pm; Saturday, 12pm-6pm. Closed Sundays and holidays. Please check Emery’s website for updates at https://wpsites.maine.edu/emerycommunityartscenter/.
For more information contact Ann Bartges, director of UMF Emery Community Arts Center at [email protected] or 207-778-7461.
