Area artists featured in Common Street Arts Kennebec River exhibition

By Larry Grard
TPI Feature Writer

WATERVILLE — Works by Jessica Beer of Kingfield, Nora West of New Portland and Abbott Meader of Oakland are among those featured at Common Street Arts exhibition or “Ebb + Flow, Feflections on the Kennebec River.”

The exhibition, which runs through Sept. 8, is a collaboration between the Waterville Area Art Society, Harlow Gallery, Wesserunsett Arts Council and Common Street Arts.
Artists whose work is displayed were asked to respond to the Kennebec River and its importance as a natural resource for the towns and cities that surround it.
Patricia King, vice president of Waterville Creates, the parent organization for Common Street Arts, said that the cities and towns around the Kennebec have refocused on it.
“With the River Walk, we’re now seeing the Kennebec as a resource and also looking at the river through an environmental lens,” King said.
King pointed out there are “past, present and future” aspects of the Kennebec to consider.
“I think people are paying more attention to it,” she said. “People are also seeing it as a living resource – a natural resource. It’s also a good opportunity for local artists – a good way for them together as a theme.” Common Street Arts, at 93 Main St., is open Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. except for Thursdays, when it is open until 6.

PHOTOS: Works by Jessica Beer of Kingfield, Nora West of New Portland shown here) and Abbott Meader of Oakland are part of the exhibiting “Reflections on the Kennebec” at Common Street Arts, 93 Main St., Waterville. (Larry Grard photos)