PORTLAND — For one arts nonprofit group, the Union of Maine Visual Artists or UMVA, it’s all about artists helping artists and bringing different kinds of artists together to share their varying experiences and abilities and helping to expose their work to the public. Which is just what the UMVA Holiday Pop-Up will do from Dec. 1 to the 3rd at the historic Schwarz building, 600 Congress Street, across from the Portland Museum of Art in Congress Square. Hours are 4-8 pm on Dec. 1 , First Friday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Dec. 2-3, Saturday and Sunday.
Over 13 artists are participating in the Union of Maine Visual Artists. Art Lovers will find paintings, photography, sculpture, drawings, mixed-media wall sculptures, collage as well as fine crafts (jewelry, silk scarves, purses) plus greeting and holiday Cards. Among the participating artists are Tracy Ginn, Joanne Tarlin, Judith Greene-Janse, Mx. Aurelia “Alder” Wrenn, John Ripton, Leonora Leibowitz, and Kharris B.
UMVA, founded in 1975, is a non-profit organization that promotes and advocates for the visual arts, artists, and all arts supporters. As artist advocates, the UMVA initiated and saw enacted into state law the Maine Percent for Art Program (requiring a percentage of funds for state buildings to include art) and the Artists’ Estate Tax Law (allowing art work to be used to pay artists estate taxes).
Other programs and projects supported by UMVA include: The Maine Arts Journal, an online, quarterly publication which features essays by and about artists, interviews, UMVA member submissions, poetry, UMVA updates about its current projects, local chapters, and more; ARRT! Artists’ Rapid Response Team, a collaboration of artists & progressive groups making art to create positive change; Lumen ARRT!!, a group creating large-scale video projections in public spaces to give a visual voice to progressive non-profits; and the New England Emmy Award-nominated Maine Masters Project, a video series of 19 compelling profiles of some of Maine’s most distinguished and often less recognized artists. There are currently two chapters: Portland and Midcoast.
