The Parsonage Gallery is hosting Intersecting Ecologies, a collaborative multi-media exhibition by Paula Gerstenblatt and Jan Piribeck. The exhibit focuses on the intersection between personal, social, and economic systems in coastal environments.  All are welcome to an opening reception at the gallery from 5-7 p.m., Friday, Sept 5.

The exhibition draws upon Gerstenblatt and Piribeck’s experience as artists, researchers, and community practitioners in Sears and Long Island in Maine, as well as Greenland. 

The project has special relevance in Searsport, where the artists have spent time researching the unique ecology and history of Sears Island and engaging with community members about the island’s future.  Sears Island is one of the largest undeveloped islands on the Eastern Seaboard and is known as Wahsumkik or shining beach by the Wabanaki tribes of Northern New England. 

In conjunction with the exhibition, a one and a half-day retreat will gather invited members of the local community and statewide stakeholders to foster a space for exploration, reflection, and dialogue about pressing environmental issues for Midcoast Maine and beyond through an exhibition, guided walks, creative workshops, and structured conversations. 

The exhibition and the accompanying retreat evolved from the interdisciplinary project Maine-Greenland Collaborations with support from the University of Southern Maine’s North Atlantic Institute. Additional support is provided by the Onion Foundation, whose goal is to ensure that everyone from every corner of the state can access meaningful experiences in the arts and the natural world, and Friends of Sears Island, who serve as stewards of the island’s natural and cultural resources.  

The exhibition will be open at The Parsonage Gallery (8 Elm Street, Searsport) from September 5 through November 30.  There will also be a related talk Saturday, Sept 13, at Anodyne Bookshop (175 West Main St., Searsport) by Dr. Firooza Pavri based on her book Windscapes: A Global Perspective on Wind Power.

The Parsonage Gallery exhibits work by a slate of contemporary artists, with a special emphasis on issues of ecology and spirituality.  It is directed by Dr. Aaron Rosen and is a program of Our Common Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3).  It is open 11 a.m. to sunset daily.

About the Artists

Paula Gerstenblatt is an artist and Professor of Social Work at the University of Southern Maine. Her current research addresses the impacts of environmental, cultural, and social change in coastal communities in Maine and Greenland through qualitative and arts-based methods. Dr. Gerstenblatt's work on collage portraiture represents complex narratives told from multiple perspectives and includes voices of those often overlooked. She is a National Endowment for the Arts grant recipient, and her recent work has been exhibited at the Maine Jewish Museum and the Maine Center for Holocaust and Human Rights in projects supported in part by a USM Trustee Professorship award.

Jan Piribeck is an artist and Emerita Professor of Art at the University of Southern Maine. Her studio practice combines painting and drawing with digital media, and her arts-based community work includes organizing public walks to sites of ecological significance. She has presented widely on the topic of art and environment, and her work on climate change has been shown in numerous exhibitions including ANTHROPOCENIC: Art About the Natural World in the Human Era, Bates College Museum of Art, Lewiston, Maine; MELTDOWN, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, Maine; and the Qajak Journey, animation and installation at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Maine College of Art and Design, Portland, Maine.