Hidden Valley Nature Center (HVNC) is pleased to be hosting its first Artist in Residence, Jon Luoma of Alna. Luoma's work from the residency will be on display at HI-Hut, HVNC’s education center, on Sunday, Sept. 29 during its fall Open House. He will give an introduction to his work,  reflect on  his work and answer questions at noon that day.

Jon has been a long time HVNC community member, and this will not be his first artistic foray into HVNC. Jon’s original renditions of natural scenes from the nature center have been sold to local collectors and reproductions appear on notecards which are used by many HVNC supporters. Luoma’s artwork also appears in the special logos created for Hidden Valley Nature Center’s timberframing class and Music Festival.

Luoma will be camping out and doing his artwork onsite through September 14. Visitors should feel free to visit Jon, although he plans to make his away across most of the nature center so he may be difficult to locate.

Luoma has a bachelor’s degree in studio art from Marlboro College, Vt. He also studied traditional Chinese ink painting in Chengdu, Sichuan, China in 2006.

He has exhibited in local and nearby galleries, including one-person shows at the Tidemark Gallery in Waldoboro, Skidompha Public Library and Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta.

Luoma has received several Juror’s Choice and Peoples Choice awards.

His original illustrations for a 1998 limited letterpress edition of Thoreau’s The Maine Woods are in the collection of the Portland Museum of Art; the book and its illustrations were exhibited in 2012 in conjunction with the exhibition “Maine Sublime: Frederick Edwin Church’s Landscapes of Mount Desert and Mount Katahdin.” Two of his paintings of Baxter State Park are reproduced in “Art of Katahdin” by David Little (Down East Books, 2013).

If you’re interested in being an Artist in Residence at Hidden Valley, please contact Andy McEvoy (andy@hvnc.org). Or if you know someone who might be interested, spread the word. Applications for next year’s residency will be accepted any time.

Hidden Valley Nature Center is a member based, community-supported organization dedicated to providing educational and recreational opportunities to the community throughout the year. For more information, visit www.hvnc.org, call 207-200-8840, or email codey@hvnc.org.