Arts In The Barn presents “Threshold”, paintings by Cheryl McAlister, July 10 - 12, 2026. An opening reception will be held Friday, July 10, from 5 - 7 p.m. Refreshments will be served.

"This will be a beautiful event, showcasing new work by a career artist whose paths has been far and wide, and now she is ready to display the new directions in her work," said Arts in the Barn, in a news release.

Cheryl McAlister is a painter working in acrylics and chalk pastel to investigate compositional structure and dramatic contrast in the landscapes of coastal Maine. Rather than depicting scenes directly, she uses familiar subjects — fallen timber, ice and water, winter light through bare trees — as foundations for formal inquiry, asking whether powerful geometric structure and a connection to the observed world can coexist. Her paintings hover deliberately between abstraction and representation, inviting the viewer to look rather than simply recognize. 

McAlister received her BFA from RISD in 1984 and her MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2002. For over twenty years, she taught painting and drawing at private art schools and served as Associate Professor of Fine Arts at the New England Institute of Art in Brookline, MA from 2001—2011. 

This show is up for a weekend only.

The Arts In The Barn program is under the 501c3 statute for the Cushing Historical Society, and these programs benefit the Historical Society’s aims. We are a community supportive organization and have talks and presentations about the history, cultural heritage and persons of interest in our midcoast area.