Travels with the Chairman: Portland, Rockland, Bangor, and Lewiston, Maine

This July and August, Chairman Carter crossed the country, visiting Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, and rounded out her travels in the Northeast with a visit to Maine. Alongside Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (ME-1) and Amy Hausmann, Executive Director of the Maine Arts Commission, Carter met with arts organizations, artists, and arts leaders in Portland, Rockland, Bangor, and Lewiston. In addition to experiencing Maine’s vibrant art community, the visit focused in large part on the ways that the arts intersect with health and well-being, can serve as community anchors, and can play a role in revitalization efforts.

Portland

Carter’s visit began in Portland at the Portland Museum of Art. In addition to touring the galleries, Chairman Carter learned about the museum’s work with healthcare professionals, medical students, medical schools, and healthcare facilities to explore how engagement with the arts can strengthen skills essential to the practice of medicine. Through close observation and thoughtful interpretation of works of art, medical professionals can sharpen their critical thinking and observational skills, deepen empathy, and develop new approaches to engaging with patients. A growing body of evidence demonstrates that where the arts and healthcare intersect, these experiences can strengthen the relationship between medical professionals and their patients while also supporting the well-being of healthcare providers themselves.

Portland’s Mechanics’ Hall is hosting a National Endowment for the Arts Big Read project for the second year in a row, focusing year-long programming on Nathaniel Philbrick’s In the Heart of the Sea. Chairman Carter met with their executive director, Annie Leahy, to learn more about their Big Read and their history as a community gathering space and a cultural hub.

Chairman Carter also toured another of the city’s community and cultural anchor, Indigo Arts Alliance, located in the East Bayside neighborhood. There, she learned more about their artist residencies, public engagement events, and dedication to supporting Black and Brown artists.

Rounding out the afternoon  in Portland, the Maine Arts Commission hosted a roundtable discussion at University of Southern Maine’s Crewe Center for the Performing Arts. Titled “Creativity Builds Connection—Arts, Health, Community & Well-Being,” the event opened with short presentations from representatives of a variety of organizations working around the state and engaged with the art community: Luke Dyer, town manager of Van Buren, Maine; Charlene Huerth, co-executive director of Nibezun; Jamie Silvestri, art therapist and founder of ArtVan; Jeff Shaw, executive director,  of the Main Academy of Modern Music; artist Maurice Habimfura, a health care professional and 2025 Maine Arts Commission Fellow; and Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo, executive director of Side X Side  and Maine Arts Commission’s Maine Creates. 

Following a performance by University of Southern Maine students Jared Vigue and Mackenzie Renner, the Chairman Carter joined Congresswoman Pingree and Chair of the Maine Arts Commission Bob Keyes in a conversation moderated by Mollie Cashwell, director of the Cultural Alliance of Maine. Their conversation focused on how the arts can help support the strength and well-bring of a community as well as the importance of ensuring that all areas of Maine, whether urban or rural, have access to the arts.

Rockland

The following day, Carter and Congresswoman Pingree traveled up the coast to Rockland, Maine, starting at the Farnsworth Art Museum, where Chairman Carter learned about their extensive collection of works by Maine artists—including N.C., Andrew, and Jamie Wyeth—as well as their work to engage students through workshops. 

At the Center for Contemporary Art, Carter, visited the center’s ArtLab, creating artwork inspired by the center’s current exhibition Will Sears: The Third Field. All three of the museum’s Carter visited in Portland and Rockland took part in this summer’s Blue Star Museums, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts that works with museums across the nation to provide free admission to active-duty military and their families.

Bangor

Later that day, Chairman Carter traveled to Bangor where she met with CEO Lisa Sockabasin and staff of Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness to learn more about how they are serving their communities, which include Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Houlton Band of Maliseet, and Mi’kmaq. The organization uses Wabanaki traditions, language, and culture to guide their approach to providing a variety of public health services.

That evening, Chairman Carter joined the Maine Arts Commission for one of their Shared Tables, Shared Stories events, a statewide initiative as part of America’s 250th anniversary. These events bring together Maine residents for a potluck supper and an opportunity to engage in meaningful, place-based conversations about the past, present, and future of Maine.  Supported through the National Endowment for the Arts, this effort will conclude with a community cookbook commemorating this project. Chairman Carter contributed her “The Cookie You’ve Been Waiting For” recipe that was a big hit among participants. 

Lewiston

Concluding her visit to Maine, Chairman Carter stopped in Lewiston to visit the recently opened Maine Museum of Innovation, Learning and Labor. Known as Maine MILL, the museum honors Lewiston’s industrial workers and history as a mill town and includes more than 10,000 salvaged artifacts. The museum also honors the tragic mass shooting that took place in Lewiston in 2023, with exhibits that help memorialize the victims and honor the community that came together in response to this tragedy.

Through this thoughtful visit curated by the Maine Arts Commission, Chairman Carter had the opportunity to experience the richness of Maine’s art community as well as several examples of the meaningful ways organizations and artists are also incorporating the arts into efforts to strengthen the state’s communities.