The third series of Maine-Aomori Printmaking Society exhibitions is underway! US shows this year include Green Lion Gallery, Arundel Farm Gallery, and University of Maine. Visit the Friends of Aomori website for details.

Lesvos Hospital Aid Benefit Concert

Tetra Projects was launched in 2012 with an exhibition in Portland's Sister City of Mytilene, Greece on the beautiful island of Lesvos. As of 2016, the island has now handled more than 500,000 refugees, a situation that has created severe challenges for the Lesvos Hospital. The Hellenic Society of Maine and Partners for World Health are hosting a benefit concert of traditional music at the University of Southern Maine on Sunday, August 21st. Visit www.hellenicsocietyofmaine.org for more information or to donate.

Japanese Artists visit Portland for MAPS residency and exhibition

Tetra Projects and Friends of Aomori just completed an incredible week with our five visiting artists from Japan, culminating in a packed reception at Space Gallery for the MAPS exhibition, on view through April 1st. The visiting artists -- Reiko Kudo, Yoshiko Takebayashi, Yoshimasa Tsujii, Seizoh Yagihashi, and group leader and museum director Jiro Ono -- spent their spent their mornings working at Pickwick Independent Press and their afternoons touring local sites, meeting with arts professionals, and delivering workshops and demonstrations to art students. Visit the links above for a full album of pictures and more information about the project.

Prints by Maine artists on display in Japan

Prints by ten Maine artists were exhibited in Aomori, Japan, through the MAPS project in March, 2015. This project is a partnership between the Munakata Shiko Memorial Museum of Art and Friends of Aomori. Learn more about MAPS here.

An article about the print exhibition in the local Aomori paper.
Pictured are works by Lisa Pixley, Colleen Kinsella, and Judy Allen.

Japanese partners in MAPS:
Mr. Tsujii, Display Chief; Mrs. Takebayashi, artist;
Mr. Jiro Ono, Museum Director; (left to right)

    

Shipping work to Japan

Last week we packed and shipped a group of ten prints for an October exhibition in Japan, organized by Tetra Projects and Friends of Aomori. Details coming soon! 

Print presentation in Japan

In April 2014 a woodblock print was selected from the Peace Through Friendship /  Yūjō ni yoru Heiwa Tetra Projects exhibition at June Fitzpatrick Gallery as the Citizen-to-Citizen gift to the people of Shinagawa, Japan from the people of Portland, Maine. 

Shinagawa and Portland are Sister Cities, and the delegation pictured was visiting in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the official relationship. 

In these images the print is being presented by Jeff Sandler, President of the Friends of Shinagawa. The print is titled "They Pull Back" and was created by Kyle Bryant, a Maine artist currently based in Barcelona, Spain. You can see more of Kyle's work at www.kylebryant.net.   

Reception and Exhibition for Peace Through Friendship / Yūjō ni yoru Heiwa

 We had an amazing turnout for the reception and celebration for Peace Through Friendship /  Yūjō ni yoru Heiwa at June Fitzpatrick Gallery on Friday the 28th. Guests included the artists, members of the Friends of Shinagawa, members of other Sister City organizations like the Hellenic Society of Maine (with whom Tetra Projects collaborated for Portes in 2012), past and present officials from the City of Portland, and many friends and family.

In all, over 150 people attended the show, some of whom will be traveling to Japan in April for an official visit led by Mayor Brennan. Kyle Bryant's print "They Pull Back" was selected by the jury as the winner of the Citizen-To-Citizen Purchase Prize and will be presented to the people of Shinagawa during the historic 2014 visit, celebrating 30 years of friendship between Portland and Shinagawa. Thanks to everyone who helped make this project possible! You can see more pictures of the installation and reception for the show on the Tetra Projects Flickr page.