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Written by Deanna Jordan
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"It's not really a novel about potatoes; it's really a novel about sex and death...and various types of hunger." That is how author Peter Behrens described his award winning novel, "The Law of Dreams" during his appearance as the University's second Distinguished Lecturer, speaking on "Potatoes, The Surprise of the World: Experience and Imagination in the Wake of the Irish Potato Famine."
Behrens' novel is set in the mid 1800's during the Great Irish Potato Famine and follows the journey of Fergus O'Brien. Fifteen-year-old Fergus is forced to leave the mountain on which he has lived his whole life, after blight wipes out their entire potato crop. The book details his journey from Ireland to America on his quest to make a better life for himself.
In his lecture Behrens explained that the story is based on his own great-grandfather's experience when his family migrated to Canada after the famine. He recalled going on Sunday drives in Montreal with his grandfather and passing by a memorial in the Irish community of Griffintown. The monument is a plain, black rock that marks the spot where the discovery was made of a mass grave, holding those who had died in Canada during the famine years.
Behrens described the memorial as being "a place of terrible and shameful memories."
He said that the affects of the famine were still being seen and felt when he was growing up and can still be felt today. He spoke of one of his many visits to Ireland during a time when Ethiopia was suffering a famine. He said that it was all that was talked about on the news and the  Irish did all they could to offer help and support to the Ethiopians.
The Irish Potato Famine, or the Great Hunger, as it was also called, occurred during the 1840's, when blight swept over the country and destroyed potato crops almost overnight. For the millions of Irish who lived in poverty potatoes were the only means they had to live on, and the loss of their crops meant death. Millions of Irish began to immigrate to other European countries, Canada and the United States to escape their doomed existence in Ireland. Behrens empathized with them, saying that they left their country, not knowing what was in store for them, but knew that there was no way it could be any worse than what they were already dealing with.
The lecture was followed by a reception, during which members of the audience enjoyed refreshments, picked up a copy of "The Law of Dreams," and chat with the author while he signed the book. Behrens has written many essays and short stories which have appeared in numerous magazines across the country. After one of his stories was optioned in Hollywood he began to work as a screenwriter. "The Law of Dreams" is his first novel and has done very well, winning several awards including the Governor General's Award for Literature in Fiction in 2006. He also has high hopes for his next novel, which he is currently in the process of writing.
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Written by Shane Smith
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Following Shelby Wilcox's show "Shadow Paintings," Heather Nunez's "Pink Nudes, with and without Food" wraps up the aesthetic conversation the two artists have had since their joint show, "Attaining womanliness."
"Pink Nudes, with and without Food" seems to be a delicious last word. In the trio of shows a new version of the figure has emerged, one of slick, descriptive line bathed in washes of color. In Nunez's recent series, that color is pink. "Pink Nudes, with and without Food" is appropriate for our modern decadent taste and Nunez knows how to comment on today.
This series is not whole in itself but more of a running dialogue with several past works. Nunez has been dedicated in exploring the ideas of "body" and "reflection on self-image" for the past couple of years. As seen in some pieces from "Attaining Womanliness," the form of body is scrutinized, analyzed and put under a microscope. Fractions of the body become isolated and enlarged enough to read as an abstract painting. The clarity of understanding beauty approaches the viewer, instead of turning the viewer into the critical crowd passing by. All except that deemed ideal. Nunez allows us to see another side of our bulge, sags and cracks--a lush and fruity side.
Hips rounded with fat become ripened grapefruits filled with juice. A hunk of ham lays along the body. The statement is unclear but the ham could be stylistically confused with the thigh. In many of the pieces, the food closely resembles the figure. The visual reverence is enough to have someone watch what they eat. Creating a moral dilemma: providing the food that was offered and the message gained.
The canola and cheeses put out weren't as decadent as the paint surface. Washes of pinks were layered along side bits of olive greens and black looking umbers. The paint surface reached a full volume of color through the covered mistakes Nunez made. Nunez worked sketches from models (mostly family) into paint studies in oil. Then, finally, she worked on the large canvas that filled the gallery walls. Certain areas were meant to be read more abstractly, testing the viewer's interpretation of the figure into a real aesthetic experience. In the studio Nunez had bowls upon bowls filled with countless number of pinks. Why pink?
She responded, "It worked perfectly."
The artist was teamed with her family during the reception. One of her kids, Margo, will soon pick up the trade. Heather had mentioned that every time she wanted to paint at home her daughter Margo would grab her brushes. Judging by them and the layout of food at the reception, cheeses, wines and canapés, I would argue that this family has the sensitivity for a fully-enriching life.
Heather's talk was very simple. She didn't need to defend her work and if she did, it was a luxury. Heather gave the sense that her transition to professional artist was as natural to her as wife and mother.
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Written by Johnny Lynch
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On May 12, 2008 a group of students from University of Maine at Presque Isle will accompany art professor Cliff Boudman on a trip to visit the many amazing sights of Egypt.
Past trips to Europe have led Boudman's students to Ireland, Scotland, Greece, and other interesting locations.
The set course of the journey is made to be reminiscent of treks made by ancient Egyptians as they made their way from the city of Luxor and visited each temple of their respective gods and goddesses.
Teena Bishop, a student at UMPI, will be one of the lucky students traveling to Egypt.
"We're going on a cruise on the Nile," said Bishop. "We're going to visit the pyramids, go to Alexandria, we're going to Cairo. I'm interested in the food, what kind they eat. I just thought it would be a once-in-a-lifetime trip. It was exciting when we talked about King Tut, and I'm actually going to be there to see it in person."
This current trip will be Boudman's 36th art study tour with UMPI students and community people since his first in 1971. He hopes to once again see such sights as Memphis and the step pyramids, the temples at Luxor, the pyramids and the Valley of the Kings.
The purpose behind this trip, like any other planned by Boudman, is about leaving an area and trying to find out about one's self a little more, reflecting more objectively on where one is in their life. It also has to do with studying the past to better understand a little bit about the present.
"We have about 22 to 23 people going into a culture that's quite different from ours," said Boudman. "Some people would be a little xenophobic about it, but the Egyptian people are wonderful, family-oriented people. Every moment of every experience will be new, and that's what travel is all about. It's like an odyssey, traveling into the past to see the future."
For Boudman, there is only so much that a student can learn from viewing the ancient works of art in the classroom.
"It's one thing to look at images on slides," said Boudman, "but to stand in front of the actual images is a way to absorb the material that you can't in class. When you actually see the piece, there's an energy there that's very strong."
Boudman's plan for next year's trip is a journey into Sicily with chances to see sights like Pompeii.
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Written by Media Relations Office
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The University of Maine at Presque Isle's Reed Fine Art Gallery is adding 153 original Andy Warhol photographs to its permanent collection thanks to a major gift from the Andy Warhol Photographic Legacy Program.
Reed Art Gallery Director Sandra Huck said that university officials signed a contract on March 19 to receive the black and white photographs and Polaroid images, valued at more than $100,000. The Warhol Foundation is donating a total of 28,543 original Warhol photographs - valued in excess of $28 million - to 183 college and university art museums across the U.S. This unprecedented gift is being made through the legacy program in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. The foundation oversees the legacy program.
"That this small campus is able to participate in this program and is a recipient of this gift is nothing short of remarkable," Huck said. "I couldn't be happier."
The aim of the Photographic Legacy Program is to provide greater access to Warhol's artwork and process, and to enable a wide range of people from communities across the country to view and study this body of Warhol's work, according to foundation officials. The program offers institutions that do not have the means to acquire works by Warhol the opportunity to bring a significant number of photographs into their permanent collections.
For the Reed Art Gallery, some of those photographs include images of Carly Simon, Wayne Gretzky, and Victor Hugo. Fittingly, the gift includes a black and white print titled "Owl" - an owl serves as the University's mascot.
"What's really significant about these images is that they are the tangible documentation of the American art scene from the 1970's to the 1980's through Andy Warhol's eyes," Huck explained. "These images are important in and of themselves, and because of the larger body of work they represent."
The Reed Gallery expects to receive the photographs by the end of April. Huck said officials hope to get some of them framed and available for public viewing in the coming months.
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Science and The Arts
