When “Landscapes of the Heart: Abstraction to Verismo” opens on November 19, with an artists’ reception from 4 to 6 p.m., at Craignair Gallery, 5 Third St., Spruce Head, viewers might marvel at the different ways the 23 artists responded to the theme, according to the Gallery. The jurors, gallery director Katharine Cartwright and UMVA board member Ann Tracy, had a big job with over 100 entries from 50 different artists, choosing the 35 pieces for this final 2025 UMVA (Union of Maine Visual Artists) show that continues until January 5, 2026. This is the first time that Craignair Gallery and UMVA have collaborated on an exhibition. The artists in the show are from towns and cities from Kittery to Downeast.  

“The Craignair Gallery is honored to exhibit the works of many of Maine’s most talented artists,” said Cartwright. “Since our inception four years ago, we have exclusively represented Maine artists and will continue to do so well into the future. We invite the public to visit this extraordinary exhibition.”

The work in this show is mostly centered on painting, but there are also unique prints, hanging ceramic pieces, multimedia work, photography and sculptural basketry. You will see familiar places and abstractions echoing artists’ feelings of being here in Maine.  

“The land holds my memories, my joys and my sorrows, and has been my truest and most stable friend,” said artist Andrea Peterson.  “While I am often speechless at the beauty of Maine, the place I feel most at peace is on the river’s edge amongst the trees. I have spent many hours immersed in the spaces I am painting in attempt to express the energy I feel in this connection. It is my hope that this land remains a sacred place to all.”

In addition to Peterson, the show features Anne Strout, Arlene Jurewicz-Leighton, Avrohm Melnick, Daryne Rockett, David Neufeld, Deborah Jellison, Jane Page-Conway, Janelle Delicata, Janice L. Moore, Joanne Tarlin, Judith Greene-Janse, Karen Adrienne, Kimberley Harding, Martha Ferguson, Mary Brooking, Randy Fein, Robin Brooks, Sandy Wilcox, Shanna Compton, Timothy Crawford Willson and Vanessa White-Capelluti.  

The Union of Maine Visual Artists, UMVA, founded in 1975, is a nonprofit organization that promotes and advocates for the visual arts, artists, and all arts supporters. It is a statewide arts network connecting Maine artists. As artist advocates, the UMVA initiated and saw enacted into state law the Maine Percent for Art Program (requiring a percentage of funds for state buildings to include art) and the Artist's Estate Tax Law (allowing art work to be used to pay artists estate taxes).  

Other programs and projects supported by UMVA include: The Maine Arts Journal, an online, quarterly publication which features essays by and about artists, interviews, UMVA member submissions, poetry, UMVA updates about its current projects, local chapters, and more; ARRT! Artists' Rapid Response Team, a collaboration of artists & progressive groups making art to create positive change; Lumen ARRT!!, a group creating large-scale video projections in public spaces to give a visual voice to progressive non-profits; and the New England Emmy Award-nominated Maine Masters Project, a video series of 19 compelling profiles of some of Maine’s most distinguished and often less recognized artists; and a new feature-length film project currently underway, Away From It All: Maine’s Place in American Art History. There are currently two chapters: Portland and Midcoast/Downeast. More information is at www.TheUMVA.org.