Norajean Ferris, Definitions Across All Spectrums.

Center for Maine Contemporary Art is showcasing its 2020 Biennial through May 2, 2021. Since 1978, CMCA has held this exhibit every even-numbered year in the fall. This is the Biennial's 22nd edition, making it the longest-running open juried exhibition in the state of Maine. The 2020 Biennial jurors–Nina Johnson-Milewski, owner, founder and director of Nina Johnson Gallery in Miami, Florida and Kate McNamara, independent curator and educator–selected works from a pool of over 500 submissions, settling on 34 artists from 17 Maine communities. "With over 500 submissions the process of looking through the Biennial entries offered us an opportunity to view an incredibly diverse range of art practices reflected in the contemporary art field," said McNamara. "I am thrilled with our final selection of work, which reflects some of the hopefulness and re-imagining this particular and historic moment in time calls for." Although 2020 has perhaps been the most challenging Biennial year yet, Johnson-Milewski hopes the exhibit can spark something positive: "I hope this exhibition will reflect the importance of harnessing the creative spirit, particularly in times of disconnection, isolation, and confusion." CMCA's 2020 Biennial celebrates not just the talent found in Maine, but the resiliency and strength of artists who continue to create in difficult times. CMCA is located at 21 Winter Street in Rockland, Maine and is open Monday–Saturday 11:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. and Sunday 12:00–5:00 p.m. For more information, visit cmcanow.org/event/biennial-2020.

Katherine Gulla, Fossil 283, 2015, archival pigment print.

The Danforth currently has three exhibitions, Catherine Smith: A Cabinet of Curiosities, Katherine Gulla: Passage and Rebecca Hutchinson: Midnight Blooms, on view through February 28, 2021. Catherine Smith: A Cabinet of Curiosities highlights the work of Catherine Smith, an installation artist, sculptor and collector. She's interested in 3D art objects not only as art pieces but as memorials, relics and icons. The work profiled in A Cabinet of Curiosities–both her sculptures and 19th-century photographs from her personal collection–evoke history and remembrance. Despite this, her work remains relevant in our modern times, reminding us of how old narratives can still create contemporary stories. Katherine Gulla: Passage profiles multimedia artist Katherine Gulla's three series Path, Falling and Fossil. Respectively, these series represent the process, trials, and remains of the artist's journey through creation. Her work is subtle and meditative, quietly reflecting nature's response to climate change and using it to bring forth feelings of absence and loss. Rebecca Hutchinson: Midnight Blooms is an installation of Rebecca Hutchinson's flowering sculptures. Made of handmade paper, ceramics and recycled materials, these "blooms" are towering and overwhelming, surrounding the viewer. But taken as a whole, the forest of blooms is calm and quiet. The blooms represent survival and adaption, exposing our desire to return to nature for solace and our fears of the future. All three of Danforth's exhibits explore different responses to the modern zeitgeist, offering ways for the viewer to process the modern era. The Danforth is located at 100 State Street in Framingham, Massachusetts and is open Thursday–Sunday 12:00–5:00 p.m. For more information, visit danforth.framingham.edu/see-art.

The Black Box Gallery at The Umbrella Arts Center is showing One Day I Will Walk Into The Umbrella through December 21. This exhibit showcases the work of Justin Printice Douglass, winner of The Umbrella's drawing contest at the Concord Prison Farm in 2015. The works featured in the exhibit were drawn while Douglass was incarcerated in the Northeast Correctional Center in Concord and the Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Norfolk. Jerry Wedge, Executive Director of The Umbrella, corresponded with Douglass and received over forty drawings and poems from him while he was incarcerated. Eleven of these drawings are on display in One Day I Will Walk Into The Umbrella, the title of which was inspired by a line from a letter Douglass wrote in 2017. "The Environment I'm in doesn't really, well it's not positive," he said. "One day I will walk into the Umbrella...I just wanna create Art." That faith in the future and determination to create is clear in Douglass's works, which seem to portray the journey of a man finding his humanity. The foreground and background of the drawings blur together, making them easy to get lost in. The viewer can follow a path through each art piece in whichever way catches their eye, finding themes of connection, creation and a higher power. Douglass was released from prison in April 2019, but it's clear that his artistic journey has only just begun. One Day I Will Walk Into The Umbrella offers a portrait of humanity every viewer can relate to, even if they don't share Douglass's experiences. The ideas of family, faith and the act of creating and being created are ones that resonate soundly with the human experience and allow the viewer to explore their own concept of self. The Umbrella Arts Center is located at 40 Stow Street in Concord, Massachusetts, and is open Monday–Friday 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. and Sunday–Sunday 12:00–4:00 p.m. For more information, visit theumbrellaarts.org/one-day-i-will-walk-umbrella.

To view all images, "view images" may need to be enabled on your browser.

Remember to download the free Artscope mobile app. It is available for iPhone, iPad, DROID & Tablet, and can be downloaded here or in the App store or Google Play. The Artscope app will give you important news, gallery & sponsor listings, live feed of Artscope Online posts, current issue excerpts and interactions that make you an integral part of the Artscope universe.

Come experience the dialogue that is taking place on Artscope Online right now! Our comment box feature allows you to give your remarks and feedback through your Twitter, Facebook or Google accounts. This is just another way to continue the art discussions that make up the Artscope universe. Also, you can visit the Artscope breaking news feed on the current exhibitions page of our website to see what's happening today through tweets sent directly from your favorite galleries and museums. When you attend an exhibit, after learning about it through the feed, please mention that you saw it in Artscope.

Artscope's website has a brand new look! We've redesigned and enhanced artscopemagazine.com, creating a dynamic site with trending articles, popular articles and seamless multi-platform reviews, a listings feed, an events calendar and more. Check it out today!

As always, information on upcoming exhibits and performing arts events can be sent to [email protected], to appear in the magazine or in e-blasts such as this. Want to advertise? Reach us here for more information. To learn more about sponsoring these email blasts, contact us at [email protected] or call 617-639-5771.

'scope us out!