Tuesday, July 15 | 4:30pm | Free + In-person

Join us for a conversation between Artist Arvie Smith and Curator Grant Wahlquist held in person on Tuesday, July 15 at 4:30pm. We are pleased to welcome this year’s Sherman Family Foundation Residency awardee to Midcoast. Smith creates poignant paintings that explore the experiences of those living on the margins, historically and today. 

About the Artist

Arvie Smith (b. 1938, Houston, TX) is a painter and educator whose artistic career spans over four decades. His work transforms the history of oppressed and stereotyped segments of the American experience—particularly the Black experience—into lyrical, metaphor-rich tableaus that confront the enduring legacies of American history. Drawing on personal memories of growing up in the Jim Crow South, as well as the writings of James Baldwin, Angela Davis, Maya Angelou, W.E.B. Du Bois, Michelle Alexander, and Isabel Wilkerson, Smith's vividly colored, psychologically charged paintings reveal deep sympathy for the dispossessed and marginalized. With a vibrant blend of humor, rhythm, historical iconography, and extensive research, he critiques oppression while celebrating resilience and affirming the beauty, complexity, and strength of marginalized communities. Smith holds an MFA from the Hoffberger School of Painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art and a BFA from Pacific Northwest College of Art. His work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions and is held in the collections of the Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR; Delaware Museum of Art, Wilmington, DE; Reginald F. Lewis Museum, Baltimore, MD; Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Salem, OR; and Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK; among others.

About the Residency

The residency program hosts one artist each summer at the Shermans’ studio space in Maine. Selected artists are given free lodging, a $5,000 stipend, and financial support for supplies and travel costs. After each residency, the museum will acquire a work by the artist for its collection. 

Michael Sherman is a movie producer; he co-founded Bow and Arrow Entertainment (www.bowandarrow.la), a production company that focuses on artist driven narrative and documentary pictures. Bow and Arrow has had 14 films premiere at the Sundance film festival as well as many other festivals throughout the world. His recent film HORSEGIRLS will premiere at Tribeca in June and A PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY hits theaters in June as well. Sherman is also a devoted patron of the arts. He serves as a trustee at his hometown Baltimore Museum of Art.

Betsy Sherman is a lifelong educator and advocate for children and families. She and her late husband, George, established the Sherman Family Foundation in 1995. Her passion for childhood advocacy began early in her life and continues through her focus on educational opportunities for children and their families. Following graduation from Tufts University with a degree in early childhood education, she was fortunate to be one of the first Head Start teachers in Kentucky. These early teaching experiences in Kentucky and rural Virginia drove her desire to help disadvantaged youth. Betsy has been an active board member at the Family Tree for nearly 40 years and has served on several other non-profit boards.