See famous paintings by Maine masters at these state parks

Winslow Homer at Wolfe’s Neck. David Driskell at Bradbury Mountain. Edward Hopper at Scarborough Beach.

The Portland Museum of Art has partnered with Maine’s Bureau of Parks and Lands and Freeport retailer LL Bean this summer and fall to temporarily install 25 reproductions of paintings from its permanent collection at state-run parks across the south. and the coast of Maine.

Entitled “Art Outside and On the Trail”, the pieces are on display through October at the following parks: Sebago Lake in Casco, Bradbury Mountain in Pownal, Scarborough Beach and Wolfe’s Neck Woods in Freeport, as well as the Maine Coastal Botanical Gardens non-profit. in Boothbay Harbour.

Almost every selection is by a Maine artist or an artist with strong ties to Maine, and many are landscapes depicting specific areas of a state whose natural beauty has long served as a muse.

“This exhibition of artwork in our state parks provides a unique opportunity for nature, culture and art to come together for the benefit and enjoyment of the public,” said Amanda Beal, Director of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, which oversees parks and lands. . “This opportunity to connect with the natural world through art in our state parks is one that we are truly excited to support.”

At each site, framed reproductions are affixed to wooden poles and scattered along a path or beach. Each includes a bit of information about the piece and the artist.

A reproduction of Winslow Homer’s “Weatherbeaten” is displayed along the boardwalk at Scarborough Beach State Park. Ben McCanna / Personal Photographer

Some of the paintings included are: “Gulf Hagas,” by realist painter Joel Babb, who built a studio in Sumner in the mid-1970s that became his permanent home; “Weatherbebaten,” a classic Homer seascape painted from the artist’s studio in Prout’s Neck, now owned by the museum; “Dark Harbor Fisherman,” by NC Wyeth, who split his time between Pennsylvania and coastal Maine; and “Self Portrait in Greenhouse Window”, by Lois Dodd, painted from her studio in Cushing.

There are a few paintings that have no connection to Maine but reflect the museum’s collection of Impressionist masterpieces, such as “La Seine à Vétheuil” by Claude Monet and “Confidences (Secrets)” by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

A reproduction of ‘Confidences (Secrets)’ by Pierre-Auguste Renoir is displayed along a pathway in Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park in Freeport. Ben McCanna / Personal Photographer

Anyone who takes a selfie along the art trail can show it to the museum for free. Visitors to all five sites by the end of October can receive a free family membership.

As the museum planned a major addition and overhaul to its Portland campus, the institution also reflected on its motto, “Art for All.” The artistic path is a natural progression of this philosophy.

“We fully believe that art is at the heart of our communities, and we are proud to partner…to bring reproductions of the PMA’s collection beyond the museum and into Maine’s parks, trails and open spaces” said museum director Mark Bessire.

Bessire said the coronavirus pandemic offers many lessons for arts organizations to provide patrons with additional opportunities to experience art and culture in non-traditional ways.

“We’ve been successful in expanding audiences outside of formal interiors, and we’re excited to have more,” he said.

More information about the partnership and the chosen works is available online at portlandmuseum.org/magazine/nature-art-trail.

WHAT YOU WILL SEE WHERE

Sebago Lake State Park, 11 Park Access Road, Casco ($6 admission for adults)

“The Turtle Knows Your Name” – Ashley Bryan

“Mount Kathadin from Millinocket Camp” – Frederic Edwin Church

“Morning” – George Wesley Bellows

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” – Tim Rollins and KOS

“Self-Portrait at the Greenhouse Window”, Lois Dodd

Scarborough Beach State Park, 418 Black Point Road, Scarborough ($8 admission for adults)

“The Portland” -Antonio Jacobsen

“The Bad Weather” – Winslow Homer

“Monhegan Houses” – Edward Hopper

“People love us” – Jeffrey Gibson

Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park, 426 Wolfe’s Neck Road, Freeport ($4 admission for adults)

“View of Diamond Cove from Great Diamond Island” – Charles Codman

“The Seine at Vetheuil” – Claude Monet

“Take a Sighting” – Winslow Homer

“Fisherman of Dark Harbor” – Newell Convers Wyeth

“Confidences (Secrets)” – Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Bradbury Mountain State Park, 528 Hallowell Road, Pownal ($4 admission for adults)

“Ghetto Wall #2” – David Driskell

“View from Munjoy Hill”, – unidentified artist

“Kinsman Falls” – Marsden Hartley

“Target Audience: Pink Helmet” – Reggie Burrows Hodges

“Beaver Dam Pond, Acadia National Park” – Richard Estes

“Dragon Cement Co., Thomaston, Maine II” – Yvonne Hélène Jacquette

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, 105 Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay ($22 admission for adults)

“Pine and Moon” – David Driskell

“Gulf Hagas” – Joel Babb

“Dusk at Stroudwater” – Charles Frederick Kimball

“Two Boys in a Canoe” – Neil Welliver

“Practicing Winter” – Emily Mason

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