Maine Art Gallery (MAG), a local art advancement and preservation nonprofit in Wiscasset, is expanding educational offerings for the 2023 season. This year the gallery will host 12 classes, in a range of ages and skill levels and artistic interests from acrylics, watercolors, plein air, photography and sketching, to wood assemblage, abstraction, and color theory.

“I enjoyed the success of last year’s five sold-out classes and realized that there was a need to offer more,” said Cecelia Ludwig, MAG’s education coordinator. “With the approval of the Board of Trustees, I coordinated 12 classes this year, including the kinds of classes people had requested, offering more variety of art experiences as well as including classes that parents and children could enjoy together.”

The season begins in May with “Intriguing Flowers Photography” by Maine-based artist Olga Merrill, whose photography won first place at the National Photography Competition Exhibition at Foto-Foto Gallery in Huntington, New York, first place International Juried exhibit “Black and White 2020” at NYC4PA, the Silver Award at San Francisco Bay International Photography Competition, and has been displayed in group exhibits all over the U.S. and in South Korea, Russia, Hungary, Greece, Malta and Italy.

There are three en plein air classes, “Plein Air Painting at Pemaquid Sea & Surf,” Painting in the Garden Plein Air” and “Elements of Landscape Plein Air” and two sketching classes, “Sketchbook Journaling” and “Drawing for Beginners.” One of each was offered and sold out last year with waitlists, Ludwig reported. She hopes this year’s additional classes will help everyone get into the class they want.

“I listened to the community’s requests,” Ludwig wrote.  MAG is offering a course in color theory, “Color Counts!” taught by Deena Ball, because it was one of the most requested topics in MAG’s survey of participating artists last year.

Also new to this year’s lineup, Southport’s Andre Benoit will teach “Wood Assemblage” to artists aged 12 and older, and Melanie Therrien will teach “Painting with Acrylics,” to students aged 10 and up. In 2016, Therrien was awarded Uplift’s 40 Under 40 Creative Genius Award; her public art consists of murals, crosswalks, fire hydrants and selfie-wing murals throughout Lewiston.

Renowned wildlife photographer Jonathan Lavan is set to teach several classes in his “Appreciating Nature Photography” series. Adults and children accompanied by an adult will hike, identify wildlife, and learn how to approach, frame and photograph animals in the wild. Lavan owns Underpressure Diving & Nature Photography and his work is exhibited in galleries in Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago and his home state of Maine.

Favorite classes Karen Jelenfy’s “Abstract Landscape Painting” and Diane Dubreuil’s “Watercolor Class” are offered again this year. Dubreuil was the resident artist for Musee de la Grande Vigne in Dinan, Brittany, France. She was also Baxter State Park Visiting Artist of 2021 and is a Signature Member of New England Watercolor Society.

Online registration is now open. Complete class listings and instructor profiles are available at https://www.maineartgallerywiscasset.org/2023-classes

The Maine Art Gallery is grateful to this year’s class sponsors, Red’s Eats, Maine Interior Designers Association, Les Fossel Restoration Resources, and Ames True Value and to our season sponsor, Sherri Dunbar of Tim Dunham Realty.