Some of the most inspiring work I’ve ever seen is being made at The Art Department, an arts space that serves “artists with intellectual and developmental uniqueness” in Portland, Maine.
I was invited to expand on their monthly theme of Album Cover Art by hosting a collage workshop. They were already off to an amazing start:



We all enjoyed searching through bits for the good stuff:

Jane chose The Mountains as the subject of her collage:

Devan chose to focus on Things That Are Scary:

Music and Neighbors of Poland, and Mythology were also subjects of the day:

Here’s some of the group with their finished pieces:

The arts program here was started a year ago by the fantastic Liz Mortati, now the Program Manager.

Artists are engaged in painting, paper mache, textile arts, sculpture, installation, film, exhibits, zines, book arts, photography, writing and text, signage, made-up language, community projects, interactive transparency and mylar shows, celebrity makeovers, and more! Their gallery was simply beautiful.
Here is Daniel Fuller, Director and Curator of the Institute of Contemporary Art, admiring an album & album cover bird mobile:

Tom Selleck made the scene…

As well as President Obama:

I was particularly drawn to a series of silkscreens prompted by the question “If your food could do anything, what would it do…?”

I am changed!
I’d like to thank Jane, Sophie, Devan, Abbott, Abby, Paulina, Steven, Justin, Liz, Sean and the numerous volunteers for making such a delightful workshop possible.
And a particular thanks to Adriane Herman for the introduction to The Art Department and the general whirligiging around Portland