Our December 2, 2011 Map is here!

Download & print the full PDF by clicking here or pick one up at any venue during the ArtWalk - this Friday December 2nd, 5:30-9pm.

Download & print the full PDF by clicking here or pick one up at any venue during the ArtWalk - this Friday December 2nd, 5:30-9pm.

Say Hello to Maine Furniture

Maine Furniture: Peter Turner rocking chair

Maine Furniture
283 Water Street, Suite A, Gardiner, ME(By appointment only)

"Say Hello" is a series of posts on the ArtWalk Gardiner blog where we meet local businesses who support the ArtWalk by providing a venue for artists to display their work and greet the public. In our fifth installment, we talk with Mark McKelvey, owner of Maine Furniture.

Tell us about your business:
Basically we just want Maine woodworkers to show up in search results for terms like Maine Furniture, Shaker Furniture, Colonial Furniture, Mission Furniture, and Contemporary Furniture. The term 'Maine Furniture' is entered into a search on Google 30,000 times/month, and we are now consistently in the top three results on page 1. We have referred nearly $15,000 in work to Maine Furniture makers, and our goal is to keep that figure rising. We are very excited to have our store in centrally-located Gardiner, and we really appreciate all the support we have received from the community. We are currently showing works from ten of Maine's top furniture makers, as well as works from local potters and painters.

How long have you been participating as a venue for ArtWalk Gardiner?
This is our 3rd Art Walk!

What do you enjoy most about being a part of ArtWalk Gardiner?
Everything! It's just great to be a part of a community that supports local artists!

Favorite memory or stand-out moment of an ArtWalk Gardiner event at your business:
When people come into the store they are immediately drawn to the furniture, and I know it's only a matter of minutes or seconds before they reach out and run their hand over the finish of a piece that's caught their attention. It happens to everyone.

Anything else that you'd like to share:
What brought us to this point was community support. We will not ask you for donations (though we're not ruling them out!), but we do ask that you check out our website, and if you like it, refer it to your friends. Please click on all the social media buttons on our homepage! It really, really, makes a big difference!

Say hello!

Say Hello to Blue Sky Bakery

Blue Sky Bakery
339 Water Street, Gardiner, ME

"Say Hello" is a series of posts on the ArtWalk Gardiner blog where we meet local businesses who support the ArtWalk by providing a venue for artists to display their work and greet the public. In our fourth installment, we talk with Ann Marie Mullen (aka "Sunny"), owner of Blue Sky Bakery.

Store's address & hours:
Blue Sky Bakery is located at 339 Water Street in Gardiner, just across from the post office. The building, constructed in 1864, is part of Gardiner's historic district.  A bakery has been on this site since 1922! Blue Sky Bakery's hours are as follows: open Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 7AM to Noon; Thursdays and Fridays from 6AM to 5 PM; Saturdays, 7 AM to 4 PM.   Blue Sky Bakery is always open for special Downtown events, including the Art Walks.   Days and hours are different during Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Years weeks.

Yummy meringue cookies!

Tell us about your business:
Owned by a mother-daughter team for nearly six years , Blue Sky Bakery features over 100 different varieties of baked goods, from the most basic to the most elegant, available by pre-order or by chance. "So many choices!"   The Daughter half of the team is Kari Mullen-McLaughlin, a graduate of the culinary and business programs at Johnson and Wales University in Providence. Kari does all of the preparation and baking on-site, and also is the one who creates those award-winning show windows.   Ann Marie Mullen, whose apron reads Sunny, is a retired educator who is responsible for the front of the house.  She serves as a member of the Promotions Committee for the Gardiner Main Street program.

Sunny always welcomes you with a smile!
photo credit: Nancy McGinnis

How long have you been participating as a venue for ArtWalk Gardiner?  
Blue Sky has been a part of the Gardiner Art Walk scene since 2006.  It's a perfect collaboration of artists and downtown businesses.  On December 2, we will once again be hosting Paula Collier of Funky Designs.

What do you enjoy most about being a part of ArtWalk Gardiner?
I enjoy feeling a part of a very alive Downtown on these special Art Walk Friday nights.  The evening supports art and artists, as well as being an exciting social event for Gardiner.  We join others in appreciating the artists who cooperate in organizing, promoting, and implementing this successful series of events.

Favorite memory or stand-out moment of an ArtWalk Gardiner event at your store:
Such fun it was when we were seranaded by the wandering minstrel on some of these evenings!    But best of all has been the presence of artist Paula Collier, whose strength is in creating hands-on art, perfect for wearing or displaying, or giving as gifts.  And we all have such great fun!

Anything else that you'd like to share:
Welcome, everyone, to the Art Walk, Friday, December 2, from 5:30-9PM in Downtown Gardiner.  Please include us on your walkabout.  We'll have a cup of Carrabassett Coffee waiting for you -- and a chance to enjoy all of the art at Blue Sky Bakery.

Say hello!

Say Hello to Johnson Hall

Johnson Hall
280 Water Street, Gardiner, ME 


"Say Hello" is a series of posts on the ArtWalk Gardiner blog where we meet local businesses who support the ArtWalk by providing a venue for artists to display their work and greet the public. In our third installment, we talk with Judy Lloyd, Executive Director of Johnson Hall.

Hours: Usually 10-6, Mon-Fri. Also open for shows. 

Tell us about Johnson Hall:Johnson Hall (or Johnson Hall Opera House) is a wonderful brick, Italianate structure built in 1864 in the heart of downtown Gardiner to provide a place for large gatherings and entertainment. It is the oldest operating theater in Maine, and one of few in the country built before 1900 still presenting entertainment. Until 1929, its stage was alive with plays, music, vaudeville, and burlesque (suitable for ladies!), and the hall also hosted banquets and social events.  It was a prominent and popular community asset, and people arrived here from as far away as Boston. But times changed. From 1930 to the 1950s, it operated as a movie palace, and the first floor housed retail stores. Times changed again, Gardiner entered a period of economic decline, the movie theater closed, and the upstairs was used for storage and a few performances of community theater. The theater is now dark, but its ambience and near-perfect acoustics inspired the dream of a renaissance.  In 1989, five people bought the building, and later transferred ownership to a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Johnson Hall, Inc., whose board raised $250,000 for initial renovations.

JH-interior, photo: Dan Brewer

In 1990-92, the first floor was renovated into an accessible 110-seat performance space, with a small lobby, office, and restrooms.  Johnson Hall Performing Arts Center operates arts programs for all ages, all year round. It presents live professional music, theater and dance performances; theater and art camps for children; teen band shows; workshops and classes for children and adults.  Johnson Hall collaborates with the Boys & Girls Club and the local schools to bring arts and theater programs to children of all ages and backgrounds in Gardiner and surrounding towns; works with community organizations to present a summer festival; and provides space for community classes, groups, and meetings.  It is in use over 250 days a year, and is managed by a full-time executive director and a part-time bookkeeper and an artistic consultant.  Johnson Hall brings about 5,000 people a year into Gardiner.  The Americans for the Arts report that each audience member spends an average of $27 on other items in addition to tickets—restaurant meals, gas, lodging, mementos, etc.  This helps the local economy.

Johnson Hall is highly committed to the economic and cultural well-being of the city and region, and we believe the renovation of the Hall will be an even larger boost to the regional economy and to historic preservation and cultural enrichment.  The upper two floors are now unheated, rough space.  In 2006, the organization joined with the City of Gardiner, the Gardiner Board of Trade and Gardiner Main Street to commission a feasibility study and Master Plan for renovation of the entire building into a 360-seat theater and conference center, with expanded lobbies, dressing rooms, and meeting rooms.  Many more people will visit the area when the theater is renovated and operating, with a higher level of nationally-known performers and small conferences. 

The mission of the Johnson Hall Performing Arts Center is to enrich people’s lives in the Southern Kennebec Valley and beyond by offering creative, educational, and performing arts programs; preserving an historic building; providing a community gathering-place; and serving as a catalyst for cultural and economic growth. Staff conduct tours of the historic building at 280 Water Street, Gardiner, during regular hours (M-F, 10-5).  The 2011 season sponsor is The Bank of Maine. Current programs are available at the website, http://www.johnsonhall.org.  The phone number is 207-582-7144.

How long have you been participating as a venue for ArtWalk Gardiner? 
Since the beginning.


What do you enjoy most about being a part of ArtWalk Gardiner? 

It’s a fun, creative atmosphere that is good for everyone who participates.  Part of our mission is to encourage creative events, and we love having artists here.  Often, we keep their artwork up for a month or so, and that looks very nice in our lobby, and sometimes helps them sell more artwork.


Favorite memory or stand-out moment of an ArtWalk Gardiner event at your business: 

Student art show artist, Tamera Caron, during May 2011 ArtWalk Gardiner.

We enjoyed hosting the students of SAD 11 for their K-12 art show in May, 2011, and bringing many new people (parents and friends of students) into the downtown who probably would not have attended an ArtWalk otherwise.

Say hello and like them on Facebook, too!

  

Say hello to TL's Wickedlicious

TL's Wickedlicious
343 Water Street, Gardiner, ME 




"Say Hello" is a series of posts on the ArtWalk Gardiner blog where we meet local businesses who support the ArtWalk by providing a venue for artists to display their work and greet the public. In our second installment, we talk with Terri Lynn Pulley of TL's Wickedlicious.

Tell us about your business:
Our store hours are from 7am to 6pm Tuesday thru Friday and 7am until 2pm on Saturday!!!

How long have you been participating as a venue for ArtWalk Gardiner?
We have participated in the Artwalk Gardiner since August of 2011, before our own Shop grand opening...it was so heartwarming to see the store come into vision as the greater vision of Gardiner artwalk continues to grow!!!!

1- Apple Dapple Poundcake; 2- Red velvet Cupcake; 3- Whoopie Pies; 4- Coffeecake Muffins; 5- Red Raspberry Streusal Bar; 6- New England Baklava; 7- Strawberry Rhubarb Piette; 8- Snickety Lemon Poundcake 

What do you enjoy most about being a part of ArtWalk Gardiner?
The best part of Artwalk Gardiner is meeting all the artists, both new and ventured as well as the excitement of having our community downtown to share in the excitement and energy that this event provides!!

Favorite memory or stand-out moment of an ArtWalk Gardiner event at your business:
It will always be a part of my heart to see several generations of one particular family all gathered and filling the cozy "sofa corner" of the shop as they celebrated the evening together not only as a family, but with friends and acquaintances...there was much laughter and comraderie as pictures were taken and good times well spent together as others walked into the shop to share in it all as well!!!

Say hello and like them on Facebook, too!

Say hello to Monkitree

Monkitree

263 Water Street, Gardiner, ME

"Say Hello" is a series of posts on the ArtWalk Gardiner blog where we meet local businesses who support the ArtWalk by providing a venue for artists to display their work and greet the public. In our first installment we talk with Clare Marron of Monkitree.

Tell us about your business:

I refer to Monkitree as a fine art and craft gallery. Peter and I will celebrate 2 years for Monkitree in May.

How long have you been participating as a venue for ArtWalk Gardiner?

As soon as we purchased the building we participated...so before Monkitree opened. We have also had artwalk participants use our second floor (we are beginning renovation so no longer available).

What do you enjoy most about being a part of ArtWalk Gardiner?

I love the excitement of the evening- people out in the street and in the businesses having a good time with neighbors and friends.

Favorite memory or stand-out moment of an ArtWalk Gardiner event at your business:

We carry Mary K Spencer's pottery (The Potter's House) year round. She is an Artwalk participant so she shows at Monkitree. People are always thrilled to find a piece and meet the artist.

Say hello and like them on Facebook, too!

Artist application for December 2011 ArtWalk Gardiner

The next ArtWalk Gardiner will be Friday, December 2, 2011 from 5:30-9pm!

Artists!- It's not too late to get involved.  If you'd like to exhibit your work in December's ArtWalk, simply fill out this PDF membership application and mail it in with your membership fee.

Open to local artists living or making art generally within a 20 mile radius of Gardiner, ME.  Applications are due by November 1st.

Connect with a downtown Gardiner business to secure an exhibition space.

All of our contact info is listed on the above linked form; feel free to contact us with any questions.

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