Visiting Artists Program

Each year, six visiting artists and scholars, one of whom is the long term artist-in-residence, from international, national, and regional locations greatly enhance the USM Art program. During their stay, the artists and scholars engage in activities ranging from student art critiques, demonstrations, art exhibitions and lectures. (Check the Exhibitions and Events link for the current list of upcoming lectures.) Past visiting artists and scholars include Steven Badgett of SIMPARCH, John Beardsley, Jennillie Brewster, George Smith, Barbara Sullivan, Mel Chin and Nina Katchadourian.

Lecture Series Videos:

Nina Katchadourian
Visiting Artist talks about her work in an hour long lecture and discussion at the University of Southern Maine Lecture Series in the Visual Arts.
September 23, 2011   http://youtu.be/JsheKbMHDxk

Robert R. Riley Part I
Visiting Scholar discusses contemporary multimedia art at the University of Southern Maine Lecture Series in the Visual Arts.
October 21, 2011  http://youtu.be/PwmGzyGZrzA

Robert R. Riley  Part II                                                                                                                     Visiting Scholar discusses moving image media at the University of Southern Maine Lecture Series in the Visual Arts.
November 4, 2011  http://youtu.be/2hQJlvNU1G0

Jesseca Ferguson
Artist in Residence talks about her work in an hour long lecture and discussion at the University of Southern Maine Lecture Series in the Arts.
March 16, 2012   http://youtu.be/ngdMYcW_hok

Rory Golden
Visiting artist talks about his multi-layered figurative art in an hour long lecture at the University of Southern Maine Lecture Series in the Visual Arts.
April 20, 2012  http://youtu.be/yCYHk8T4Wcw

Andrea Sulzer
Visiting Artist talks about her new ("and not so new") work. Discussions on particular pieces that were displayed in the University's Portland campus Area Gallery from September 4 - October 16, 2012, as well as past creations, help the artist explain her process and motives.
http://youtu.be/GSvk1Ejll9U

smudge studio
smudge is a Brooklyn-based collaboration between Jamie Kruse, an artist, designer and independent scholar, and Elizabeth Ellsworth, an artist and Professor of Media Studies at the New School, New York. Portland's shoreline is considered in an exhibiton that addresses the landscape as event - as a continuous streaming of forces, configurations, and undoings. Zuihitsu is on display at the Area Gallery on the Portland Campus from Oct. 24-Dec. 9.
http://youtu.be/gpy1FUtd5Sg

Astrid Bowlby 
For over a decade, Bowlby has steadily gained recognition for her room-sized fantasy landscapes composed of thousands of hand-cut simplified ink drawings on paper. Originally from Maine, Bowlby received her BFA from USM and was an Artist-in-Residence in the Art Department durning the 2013 spring semester.
http://youtu.be/Lbh3QwNNkYM

Chris Gustin
Gustin's vessels are widely known for their figurative metaphors, luscious surfaces, and clear, direct sense of hand. He is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and a cofounder of the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Maine. He has had over 40 solo exhibits as well as lectures and workshops around the world.
http://youtu.be/Bv7qrBZNjt8

James Hull
James Hull is an artist, gallery director, critic, and an independent curator who founded the award winning artist-run, non-profit, Green Street Gallery in a subway station in 1998. He currently teaches art at Lesley University and Suffolk University/NESAD, where he is also the Gallery Director. Hill writes critical articles and art reviews for several regional art magazines.
http://youtu.be/XysalMFZ7fY