The Bates College Museum of Art and 217 Films announce the world premiere of the new Marsden Hartley documentary Visible Silence:  Marsden Hartley, Painter and Poet.

This movie is a production of Connecticut-based independent film makers Michael Maglaras and Terri Templeton of 217 Films.   Written by Maglaras, the world premiere of this hour-long documentary will be held at the Olin Arts Center at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine on Thursday, September 25 at 7:00 pm and 9:00 p.m.217 Films and the Museum are making the event free open to the public as a gift to the citizens of Lewiston, Maine in honor of their most famous son. Admission is free but tickets are required. For reservations or more information call 207-786-6135 or email olinarts@bates.edu

Bates College Museum of Art is home to the world’s largest collection of Hartley artifacts, and Visible Silence features many pieces from this extensive archive of Hartley’s personal effects, including drawing and photographs.  This documentary includes more than 45 of Hartley’s paintings and drawings — from his earliest work as a child to the last painting found on the easel in his studio in Corea, Maine the day he died in 1943.

Hartley was deeply attached to his hometown of Lewiston and to the Androscoggin River, and locations in and around these areas play a key role in the film.  Hartley traveled extensively, but always returned to Maine and, at the end of his life, considered himself “Maine’s Painter.” He requested his ashes be strewn along the Androscoggin when he died; and this important and poignant moment is dramatized in Visible Silence.

The world premiere of 217 Films first Maine-made movie, Cleophas and His Own, based on a story by Marsden Hartley, was held in Lewiston in 2005. Visit the 217 Films site for the film:http://www.two17films.com/AboutthePremiereVS.htm