Taking Different Trails: The Artists’ Journey to Katahdin Lake

January 18 – May 24, 2008

Exploring a Contemporary Vision of Conservation at Katahdin Lake.

The Bates College Museum of Art presents the exhibition Taking Different Trails: The Artists’ Journey to Katahdin Lake. The exhibition opens with a receiption at 7pm on Thursday January 17, and the public is invited to attend. At 6pm there will be a panel discussion: Land Conservation in Maine, in the Olin Arts Center, room 104.

This exhibition will feature the work of 19 contemporary artists and their views of and from Katahdin Lake in Township 3 Range 8. All of the participating artists were among those involved in the Katahdin Lake Campaign that helped conserve a piece of the Maine wilderness containing a pristine Katahdin Lake, an old growth forest, and a view that has inspired generations of artists. Through a partnership of local and national conservation organizations and approval by the Maine State legislature, a massive year-long fund raising effort was undertaken, kicked off by the artists in July of 2006. The acquisition of 4,119 acres of land including the 649 acre Katahdin Lake in 2006 and its subsequent transfer by deed to Baxter State Park was an historic achievement for the people of Maine.

The exhibition is one in a year long series at the Bates College Museum of Art exploring themes related to environmental issues, such as sustainability, conservation, wilderness, and landscape. For further information on this and the other exhibitions, please visit the museum website at www.bates.edu/museum.xml.