Current Exhibition
The Unfinished Art Project
Exhibition of art that is incomplete in an effort to bring awareness to the impact of mental health on the creative process
On View from May 6 through June 25, 2023
Opening Reception: Friday, May 5 from 6:00 – 8:00 PM
The Unfinished Art Project is a juried exhibition of art that is incomplete and/or unpolished based on the artist’s definition, in an effort to bring awareness to the impact of mental health on the creative process.
The exhibition intends to showcase unfinished work as a means of talking about barriers to productivity and breaking down stigmas of laziness that are often associated with mental health.
Join us for the opening reception on Friday, May 5 from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM. The exhibition will be on view from May 6 to June 25. Please wear a mask.
The Unfinished Art Project is in collaboration with the Maine Chapter of the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI). Funded in part by a grant from the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.
OPEN GALLERY HOURS
Fridays & Sundays 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
(Excluding May 21, May 28, June 4, June 11 and June 18)
To schedule an alternative time to view the exhibition, please email katie@mayostreetarts.org or call (207) 879-4629.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Audrey D. Brokos (she/her) is an artist who does drawing, sketching, painting, sculpture, sewing and photography. She goes to school at Fiddlehead in Gray and goes to Art Camp after school and during summer vacation. She also likes music and fashion a lot. She plays guitar. She loves going to the First Friday Art Walk, making music with her dad and hanging out with her Papa who is also a guitar player.
Dr. Florence S. Edwards DDS (she/they), has been a practicing dentist for over a decade including time served as a Captain in the US Army. She is a Howard University graduate and a Maine resident since childhood. Flo is an active member of her community; she serves on the Boards of Directors of The Third Place. She is also a podcaster since the pandemic, volunteering her talk show In The Pocket, to University of Southern Maine’s WMPG radio station from 2020-2022. She also hosts BIPOC happy hours called Fourth Friday. In her spare time Flo is a bit of an outdoor enthusiast. She enjoys jogging with her two labs, snowshoeing on forest trails, camping every summer in Maine’s state parks, and kayaking with her wife along the rivers and coasts of Maine.
Rabee Kiwan (he/him) is a Portland based artist. He is originally from Lebanon. He endured war and poverty, but managed to obtain a scholarship to pursue Medicine. He emigrated to the US to finish his medical training. He works as an MD, but also paints regularly and has had multiple exhibitions, both locally and nationally. He paint in oil and watercolors. He tries to convey beauty in the world by using brighter colors, but sometimes darkness takes over and his work becomes emotionally intense! @rabee.kiwan
Mark McMeeken (he/him) was born in Fort Poke, Louisiana. When he was born, he didn’t breathe for two and a half minutes of his life. This caused him to have epilepsy. He grew up in a military family, which meant moving around a lot. His first language was German. He never got a sense that he belonged anywhere–that he fit in. He never felt “grounded.”
Always moving. Always up in the air. The happiest times were when he was living in South-Western Virginia, with his mother. They lived in a trailer park, and he loved playing in mud puddles. His Grammy lived up the mountain. He had so much fun. At the age of thirteen, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia–hearing and seeing things that weren’t there. It was just bad. He wound up in a mental institution. He’s a big guy now. He grew up with his Uncle Sammy calling him his “little buddy.” He still calls him that to this day.
Keegan Whitford (he/they) (known by most as Keg) is a trans person, blacksmith, musician and multi-disciplinary artist living in Portland, Maine. They graduated from the ceramics department at Maine College of Art in 2020 and now work as a full time blacksmith in South Portland. Outside of work, he also volunteers at the Apohadion Theater, makes music, and travels for iron casting and other metal work. @bugbone.s
ABOUT THE JURORS
Kifah Abdulla (He/Him) is an artist, poet, performer and teacher. Born and raised in Baghdad, Iraq, he now lives and works in Portland. He has released multiple books including Mountains Without Peaks , a new memoir about Kifah’s life in Baghdad in the early 1980s, compulsory military service during the Iraq-Iran war, and being captured as a prisoner of war. He has also written a duel-language book of poetry Dead Still Dream ال. His work merges art and activism and most recently he has been working on a project titled “REBEL: Take Action.” @kifahabdulla
Heather Flor Cron (She/They) is a queer Peruvian-American farmer, performer & transdisciplinary artist who works with intuitive movement, dirt, installation, printmaking, fiber, and food. Her experience ranges from residencies, grants, group exhibitions, curatorial experience, and art teaching. Flor has been featured in a number of group exhibitions including (but not limited to) SPACE Gallery’s Re-Site, Able Baker Contemporary’s Undercurrents curated by Veronica Perez , and Speedwell Projects Can’t Take My Eyes Off You curated by Faythe Levine . She is also the recipient of awards and residencies such as the Kindling Fund via Space Gallery / Andy Warhol Foundation, David C. Driskell Black Seed Studio Fellowship, Speedwell Projects Residency, Studios at MASS MoCA Fellowship and the Ellis Beauregard Foundation Residency.
Julianne Mclaughlin (She/They) is the coordinator of suicide prevention with the Maine chapter of the National Alliance of Mental Illness. Mclaughlin graduated from the University of Maine at Farmington in 2017 with a degree in Political Science. They will be an important resource for advocacy with this project. Julianne’s specific background with art and mental health awareness will provide a unique outlook for this jury.
ABOUT THE CURATOR
Kathryn Price (she/her) graduated in 2020 with a Bachelor’s degree in Photography and Art History from Susquehanna University and currently works as a photographer and pianist in Portland, Maine. She was recently awarded the Springboard Artist Grant from the Maine Arts Commission with a proposal to organize this exhibition and is honored to have this as a jumping off point for mental health advocacy as well as future work. Price has been featured in exhibitions such as This Must Be the Place at the Complesso di Santa Verdiana in Florence, Italy. She has also been selected to present her art history research at conferences such as the 15th Intercollegiate Art History Symposium in Frederick, Maryland and the virtual Southeastern College Art Conference. Her work with NAMI began in 2015 where she was one of the youngest speakers for the NAMI Maine Speaker’s Bureau. @kathryn_dawn_photo
GALLERY HOURS
On View from May 6 through June 25, 2023. Gallery hours are on Fridays & Sundays 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM and by appointment.
The gallery will be closed on May 21, May 28, June 4, June 11, and June 18.
Please email Katie at katie@mayostreetarts.org or call (207) 879-4629 with questions or to schedule a visit!
To see our recent exhibitions visit our Past Exhibitions page here.
To learn about upcoming exhibitions, we encourage you to sign-up for MSA’s weekly newsletter here.
Questions about MSA’s gallery? Please email Katie at katie@mayostreetarts.org with all inquiries.