Nearing the end of the summer’s peak season, Wiscasset Art Walk on Thursday, Aug. 31 from 5 to 8 p.m. offers visitors an assortment of activities to enjoy, ponder, and share. From the magnificence of award-winning artists to the reflections on loved ones lost to drug use, the evening promises a stimulating experience. 

Sylvan Gallery on Water Street hosts award-winning artists Crista Pisano and Neal Hughes, fresh from travels as plein air painters. The gallery features an exhibit of their new work, and the artists will be on hand to talk about the plein air competition circuit and the qualities that make their fresh art so successful.

August’s Wiscasset Art Walk coincidentally falls on International Overdose Awareness Day and so WAW has invited the 716 Candles Project, in partnership with Healthy Lincoln County, to share insight and the human side of substance use with the Wiscasset community. 716 Candles is a multi-site, multi-day program which, in Wiscasset, will feature hands-on making of paper cranes, an international symbol of hope and peace; and “Show of Hands,” the forming of plaster hands to reflect care for those affected by substances, under the guidance of Merrymeeting Adult Education’s Maggie Morgan, also illustrating art making as a means to healing. An exhibit of photos, “Lights of Lincoln County,” by Charles Richards, poignantly displays the faces of our neighbors and friends who have been impacted by drug use.

Also on the sidewalk during this beautiful evening is the dynamic musical twosome of Rick Turcotte and Chris Lannon. When these guys play blues and country together, the energy rises and feet get tapping. They are high energy and an upbeat accompaniment to the sidewalk activities.

The enthusiastically anticipated opening of Jodie’s Restaurant, in the former Sarah’s Café at the corner of Main and Water streets, is here at last and open during WAW. Signs declaring that the new restaurant is ‘Coming Soon’ have teased passersby for weeks. And new owner Jodie Roquemore’s posts on Facebook, asking fans for their menu suggestions and dining hopes, have been tantalizing. The whole town is looking forward to checking out the new menu.

Near the conclusion of Wiscasset Art Walk, a candlelight procession organized by 716 Candles will gather in the Railroad Avenue parking lot, starting at 7:10 p.m. and walk to the Sunken Garden as a communal expression of love, hope and personal reflections. Anyone impacted by addiction, their friends, families, and allies, are invited to participate.

In 2023, the business sponsors who support the many free WAW activities and performers are Lead Sponsor Fogg and Dalton Art Restoration and Major Sponsors Ames True Value, Big Barn Coffee, Bradbury Art & Antiques, Carriage House Gardens, Cod Cove Inn, First National Bank, J. Edward Knight Insurance, Jodie’s Café, Peter Eaton Antiques, Red’s Eats, Rock Paper Scissors, Sherri Dunbar/Tim Dunham Realty, IndustrialME, BIRCH Home Furnishings & Gifts, and Water Street Kitchen & Bar.

For more information about Wiscasset Art Walk and 716 Candles, visit www.wiscassetartwalk.org or email wiscassetartwalk@gmail.com. Wiscasset Art Walk is a program of Wiscasset Creative Alliance.