“Belfast Dock,” an image by Belfast artist David Estey from his original oil painting now in the collection of the University of Maine at the Hutchinson Center, has been selected to be the event graphic of Belfast Rotary Club’s 2023 Belfast Harbor Fest. The image will appear on Harbor Fest souvenir items, posters and fliers. It will also be featured in a live auction during “Evening by the Bay,” the Friday, Aug. 18 event that kicks off this year’s three-day Harbor Fest.

Estey is an improvisational painter, born in Fort Fairfield, who taught himself to draw and paint and who has produced nearly 11,000 works of art over his long career. His Maine roots and extensive study and experience have earned the hard-won gravitas reflected in his work, according to the Rotary, in a news release.

He received his BFA degree in painting from Rhode Island School of Design and continued his studies in Rome, Italy. He was an illustrator at Fort Meade in Maryland during a four-year army stint, then earned a master’s degree from George Washington University and pursued a career in public affairs. He never stopped practicing, studying and teaching art, including more than a decade of figure study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and workshops with prominent American artists. After retiring in 1995, he has shown his work in more than a dozen solo shows and more than 100 juried shows. Some of that work is in private collections in 20 states and seven countries.
 
Belfast Rotary Club launches its 16th Belfast Harbor Fest with Evening by the Bay, a special event on Friday evening Aug. 19 to benefit a local charitable organization. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. at Belfast businessman Paul Naron’s United Farmer’s Market on Spring Street in Belfast. The evening will includes silent and live auctions, the latter with a celebrity auctioneer, hors d’oeuvres, and live music. David Estey has donated an archival, signed, matted and framed giclee print of “Belfast Dock” to go to the highest bidder at the live auction.

Rotary Club’s free three-day Belfast Harbor Fest celebrates the city’s maritime history and traditions and continues through the weekend after Friday’s Evening by the Bay event. On Saturday, Aug. 19 the day begins with a 5K road race and blueberry pancake breakfast, and continues with the National Boatbuilding Challenge beginning at 11 a.m., a harborside exhibit of boats, tours of the Front Street Shipyard, the 22nd annual Come Boating! rowing regatta, a Boat Gear Swap, live music, food trucks and children’s activities. The popular Cardboard Boat Race is on Sunday morning. For more information go to belfastharborfest.com.

Harbor Fest is one of several projects that Rotary carries out year-round. Rotary provides more than $140,000 annually in scholarships, holiday gifts, food pantry support, donations for special community projects and help for families in need. The 70-member Club, dedicated to community service, will celebrate its 100-year anniversary in 2025.