The University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Reed Art Gallery will present Thérèse L. Provenzano’s artwork The Lay of the Land Reconsidered, showing paintings of Maine farmlands and agriculture, from Nov. 3 through Dec. 15, 2017. The public is invited to view the exhibition throughout the show’s run and attend the Gallery Reception on Friday, Nov. 3, from 5-7 p.m. with an artist’s talk at 5:30 p.m.; light refreshments will be served. This reception is being held in conjunction with the First Friday Art Walk. The Reed Gallery is located on the second floor of the University’s Center for Innovative Learning.
Originally from New York, Provenzano moved to Northern Maine to her great-grandfather’s homestead in 2002. She began working on pastel paintings, which conveyed Northern Maine through its landscapes and farmlands. She uses her inspiration from Maine itself and Acadian culture to paint. Acadians are descendants of French colonists who settled in Canada and small parts of Maine during the 17th and 18th centuries.
“The Maine landscape and farm objects inform my work. My biggest influence is life itself. There comes a point in your career when you let the work reveal itself and don’t overthink it,” Provenzano said in speaking with Down East Magazine; her artist profile and work were published by the magazine to promote its Art of Giving Gala. “There is no one else at the helm or forefront. It is just you and the work. Trust where it is headed.”
Provenzano earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Philadelphia College of Art, a Certificate of the Fine Arts from the National Academy of Design School of the Fine Arts in New York, and a Master of Fine Arts from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, PA. She currently teaches visual arts and history of art at the University of Maine at Fort Kent.
Provenzano’s work is represented by Maine Farmland Trust Gallery in Belfast. She was most recently awarded Third Place Prize Award at the Parrsboro International Plein Air Festival and Gala Exhibition in Nova Scotia, Canada, and was one of the first four artists to be awarded artist in residence at the Joseph Fiore Art Center at Rolling Acres Farm in Jefferson, Maine.
She was most recently published in Sarah Loftus’s historical writing of Rolling Acre Farm. She also received a review mention of her Buckwheat exhibition at Maine Farmland Trust Gallery published by critic Carl Little in Art New England. In addition, curator Bruce Brown selected her work for last year’s annual juried show at the Harlow Gallery in Hallowell, Maine.
All are invited to view The Lay of the Land Reconsidered between November and December and to come out to the First Friday Art Walk on Nov. 3 and take part in the free reception. Light refreshments will be served. In addition, the show will be open during the First Friday Art Walk on Dec. 1 from 5-7 p.m. Please follow gallery happenings on the Reed Gallery Facebook page, www.facebook.com/ReedArtGallery.
The Reed Fine Art Gallery is located on the second floor of UMPI’s Center for Innovative Learning and is open Monday through Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Sunday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., and is closed on Saturday. The gallery is closed during University holidays. FMI, contact Hyrum Benson at (207) 768-9441 or hyrum.benson@maine.edu.