Away from It All is a new film being created to tell the long-overdue story of how Maine has influenced American Art History. It will cover the period of 1850–present. Susan Danly, Former Senior Curator at PMA; Suzette McAvoy, Former Curator at the Farnsworth Museum and Director at CMCA; Carl Little, noted Arts Writer; and Peggy Greenhut Golden, Former Director of Greenhut Galleries, are the team behind the production.

 

Maine Public will premiere the film, and our hope is to air it on PBS as well.  There will be a shorter version on the film website for school children with a curriculum that can be accessed globally.  

 

Artists have been coming to Maine since the 1700s—Thomas Cole, Frederick Church, Robert Henri, George Bellows, Rockwell Kent, Edward Hopper, Winslow Homer, Marsden Hartley, John Marin, Georgia O’Keeffe, N.C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, Jamie Wyeth, Will Barnet, David Driskell, Ashley Bryan, Alex Katz, Lois Dodd, Louise Nevelson, Richard Estes, Ken Noland, Marguerite Zorach, William Zorach to name a few. Away from It All will travel everywhere in the state following the artists while telling their stories.

 

Questions we hope to answer in the film are—Why Maine? How did Maine change the practice of these artists? How did they transform the NYC art scene upon returning from their time in Maine with new paintings? Which artists stayed in Maine and why? What was Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture’s role in making Maine the only state in the country that can boast of launching so many artists’ careers, and in doing so exerting a profound influence on American Art History? And what is happening in Maine’s art scene today?