Old Port magazine November 2017 by Maine Magazine

PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION AT WAYNFLETE SCHOOL

CHAMPION LIZ LEDDY AND THE PORTLAND BOXING CLUB

PORTLAND'S

CITY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2017

New In Town PRESIDENT LAURA FREID ON MECA’S NEXT MOVES EMILY ISAACSON’S BOLD APPROACH TO BACH THE WEST END WELCOMES CHAVAL

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We know Portland.

WHERE TO GO WHAT TO DO WHERE TO SHOP WHERE TO EAT

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ot only do we cover Portland, we live it everyday. We seek out the people, places, and things to do that make this such an incredible place to live and work. This city is ever-evolving and we keep up with it. When you’re ready to head out and about and explore Portland, ask for our expertise. We won’t steer you wrong.

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NOV E M B E R 2017 48 MECA’s NEXT CHAPTER For new president Laura Freid, forging connections is a priority.

T H I S PAG E : “ I believe we need to be inclusive, make big plans, and invite everyone to jump on board.” –Laura Freid

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TEACHING LOCALLY, ACTING GLOBALLY Waynflete School educates students to be engaged students of the world. by Susan Axelrod Photography by Erin Little

74 VICTORIAN TRANSFORMED Dual artistic sensibilities share space in a Parkside townhouse. by Debra Spark Photography by Myriam Babin

D E PA RT M E N TS

21 TA K E N OT I C E News, notes, and more

22 D I N E

At their second restaurant, a Portland couple maintains a fine balance of food and family.

32 ACT I V E L I F E

The Portland Boxing Club teaches teens self-control, and produces some knock-out champions too.

38 L O O K

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Yo u r g u i d e t o g a l l e r y h o p p i n g

42 P RO F I L E

D r. E m i l y I s a a c s o n e n e r g i z e s Maine’s classical music scene.

85 GAT H E R

Portland Museum of Art Director’s Circle Summer Lawn Party; Maine Wild Blueberry Chefs Challenge

88 I N S I D E R P I C KS

Maine Media Collective staff share their favorite fall activities.

I N EV E RY I SSU E 15 EDITOR’S NOTE 17 STAFF NOTE 19 TALENT ROSTER 82 ON THE BLOCK

O N T H E COV E R :

Looking East along Fore Street in Portland’s Old Port.

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Karen Bowe, Ryan Hammond, Peter Heinz, Kerry Rasor, Tom Urban, Emily Wedick PRODUCTION MANAGER | Joel Kuschke DIRECTOR OF EVENTS & SPONSORSHIPS |

Terri Coakley

ONLINE EDITOR | Shelbi Wassick EDITORIAL ASSISTANT | Brittany Cost OFFICE MANAGER | Alice M. Chaplick COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT MANAGER |

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Dr. Lisa Belisle, Katy Kelleher, Debra Spark STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER | Sean Thomas STAFF VIDEOGRAPHER | Lamia Lazrak PHOTOGRAPHERS |

Myriam Babin, Liz Caron, Dave Dostie, Erin Little, Nicole Wolf COVER PHOTOGRAPHER | Peter Frank Edwards PHOTO RETOUCHING | Tripp Harrington CIRCULATION | Sarah Lynn ART COLLECTOR MAINE |

Laura Bryer, Jack Leonardi, Taylor McCafferty, Anna Wickstrom, Emma Wilson THE BRAND COMPANY |

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Chief Executive Officer | Kevin Thomas Chief Operating Officer | Andrea King Chief Financial Officer | Jack Leonardi Old Port is published ten times a year by Maine Media Collective LLC.

WE DELIVER. Subscribe 207 772 3373 themainemag.com/subscribe

Editorial and subscription information: phone 207.772.3373 | fax 888.836.6715 75 Market Street | Suite 203 | Portland | Maine | 04101 Opinions expressed in articles or advertisements, unless otherwise noted, do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher, staff, or advisory board. Every effort has been made to ensure that all information presented in this issue is accurate, and neither Old Port nor any of its staff is responsible for omissions or information that has been misrepresented to the magazine. Copyright © 2017, Maine Media Collective LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission, in writing, from the publisher. Printed in the U.S.A. oldport.com

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EDITOR’S NOTE PHOTOGRAPHY BY TED AXELROD

ike anyone else who lives and works in Portland, I have my regular routes and routines. Midmorning, I might take a break for a walk to Bard Coffee, a short stroll steeped in familiar scenes. In Post Office Park, there’s always at least one parent watching their young child clamber over the boulders, while near the corner of Exchange and Middle streets, Mark Gatti is cheerfully setting up his hot dog cart—as he has for more than 30 years. At lunchtime, I head for one of a handful of places where I know the menu and at least one name behind the counter, and they know mine. There is comfort, even joy, in this familiarity, but I always welcome the opportunity to discover something new about Portland. For nearly two years, I lived a block away from Waynflete School, but knew little about it until I took a tour of the campus and interviewed head of school Geoff Wagg, alumnus Josh Broder, and others for this issue (“Teaching Locally, Acting Globally,” page 62). I was surprised to learn that inside Waynflete’s

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historic brick buildings, students are learning Chinese, studying astrophysics, and engaged in social justice issues, in an environment that nurtures relationships and encourages connection beyond the campus. A few blocks away from Waynflete, Chaval seems to have won over neighbors who long beat a familiar path to the door of its predecessor, Caiola’s. Owners Damian Sansonetti and Ilma Lopez have “a knack for knowing what diners want,” writes food editor Karen Watterson in this month’s Dine feature (page 22). While the menu and the space bear little resemblance to its former life, Chaval has the same welcoming vibe, an essential ingredient at any restaurant, but especially those that “belong” to a neighborhood. Also in this issue, Dr. Lisa Belisle interviews Emily Isaacson, artistic director of the Oratorio Chorale, who is both enriching and shaking up Portland’s classical music scene (“Conducting Her Way Back Home,” page 42). New Maine

College of Art (MECA) president Laura Freid is finishing up her first semester having focused on making connections all across the city (“MECA’s Next Chapter”, page 48). Between her start date in July and when this issue went to press, she has held some 500 meetings with organizations and individuals, exploring partnerships and other ways to expand MECA’s reach. Change is often uncomfortable, and learning something new can be fraught with challenge. Our growing city benefits from newcomers, those who are unafraid to chart a different course, or present a fresh point of view. And so, by extension, do we.

SUSAN AXELROD Managing Editor saxelrod@oldport.com

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CREATE BIGGER

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Our mission is to make a substantial and unique commitment to supporting Maine’s nonprofit community both statewide, regionally, and at the town level. We believe that the work Maine’s nonprofit organizations do, individually and collectively, makes our lives better and Maine a better place to live. With limited budgets, Maine’s nonprofits need help boosting awareness of their specific causes and help to raise the funds they need. We have established long-term relationships with over 120 nonprofits and community-based organizations. We give to these organizations by providing, free of charge, services ranging from advertising, graphic design, brand development, marketing advice, online announcements, and social media engagement. We often include nonprofit organizations in our editorial coverage through feature articles and/or recaps of their events. You’ll find the latter in our “There + Then,” “Turnout,” and “Gather” sections. Over the past year, we have made cash and inkind donations and services of more than:

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16 OLD PORT

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STAFF NOTE PHOTOGRAPHY BY SEAN THOMAS

friend asked me earlier this year if Portland felt like my home. I lived in the city during college and for the past two years, but I didn’t know the answer to the question. Driving back to Portland the next day I thought about how it felt to cross the Fore River into the city compared to driving over the Piscataqua River Bridge into Maine. The iconic green bridge connecting New Hampshire to Maine always brings a sense of coming home, but I didn’t feel the same when returning to Portland. I walked into an empty apartment I had moved to only a few months before, still thinking about the question. I couldn’t figure out why Portland—a city included in a seemingly endless roster of best-of lists—didn’t feel like home. (But think about all those new restaurants and breweries, I told myself. Think about your walkable neighborhood!)

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I used to write monthly about Portland as editor of Old Port magazine, but since moving to Maine magazine I don’t have the regular opportunity to reflect on the city in which I live and work. I didn’t revisit the question of whether Portland felt like home until thinking about a topic for this note. When I did, I realized something had changed in the past couple months. The shift was subtle. No single event altered my perspective. Instead it came from the gradual deepening of connections—some minor, some significant—I feel to the people, places, and things around me. The familiarity of the scarred, wide floorboards beneath my bare feet in the morning. The relationship with a barista or corner store worker that develops incrementally with each transaction and thank you. Exchanging nods with the nearby tailor on my walk home. The salty smell of the ocean on

windy days. Especially vibrant sunrises through my bedroom window. Falling in love. Each is a root burrowing deeper in the world around me, like the anchors of the trees near my apartment heaving up the bricks above them. After opening myself up to those connections, Portland finally feels like home, jumbled brick sidewalks and all.

PAUL KOENIG Managing Editor pkoenig@themainemag.com

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TALENT ROSTER THE PEOPLE BEHIND OLD PORT MAGAZINE

KATY KELLEHER

Katy is a writer who lives in the woods of Buxton. She is the author of Handcrafted Maine, a book that examines maker culture through intimate profiles of 22 local craftspeople. When she’s not writing, she can be found hiking in the woods, paddle boarding along the Saco River, or teaching poetry to incarcerated teenagers. Photo by Greta Rybus

MALI WELCH

Mali is an art director at Maine Media Collective. As much as she loves summer, she equally looks forward to the offerings of fall and winter—hard cider, leather boots, bonfires, Sugarloaf— anything she can do wearing a plaid wool button down, with her hubby in tow.

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PETER HEINZ

An advertising account manager, Peter has worked for Maine Media Collective since 2008. He spent his first 12 years in Maine in Bath, before moving to Portland two years ago. Now he walks everywhere and, if he gets tired, he can hop on his Vespa. He and his wife, Ann, love the city’s food scene and enjoy trying out new places to dine.

SEAN THOMAS

The staff photographer for Maine Media Collective, Sean has been documenting with his camera for most of his life. After graduating from Savannah College of Art and Design and traveling in Morocco, he is excited to be living in Maine, and to continue telling stories about the people and places that make up the state that he loves.

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TAKE NOTICE NEWS, NOTES, AND MORE

MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY is currently exhibiting Creative Maine: Trade Banners and the Crafts That Built Maine, a collection created by members of Maine Charitable Mechanic Association (MCMA) in Portland. Originally designed as part of a march for livable wages, each banner is presented alongside a historical account of a craftsperson and an object fashioned by a contemporary maker of the same trade. Contributors include craftspeople from Angelrox, C.H. Becksvoort, L.L.Bean, Lie-Nielsen Toolworks, Standard Baking, Sea Bags, and Caleb Johnson Studio. The exhibition is on view until January 13, 2018.

ANNIE STICKNEY DESIGN, LLC INTERIOR DESIGN SOUTHERN MAINE COMMUNITY COLLEGE (SMCC) is celebrating its Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management programs with A Light on the Point, an event on November 8 featuring chefs partnered with SMCC students and faculty. Chefs from Central Provisions, David’s Restaurants, Evo Kitchen and Bar, Lolita Vinoteca and Asador, Piccolo, Sur Lie, and Union at the Press Hotel are contributing creative fare. A VIP Cocktail hour will feature mixologists from Portland Hunt and Alpine Club and Fore Street, and oysters from Eventide Oyster Co. The event will also pay tribute to the American Culinary Federation’s local chapter, the Casco Bay Culinary Association, for its many contributions to SMCC and the culinary and hospitality industry through the years. Portland-based photographer BARBARA PEACOCK has been named as one of five recipients of the 2017 Getty Images Editorial Grant for her portraiture project, American Bedroom. Including images shot in Portland, Westbrook, Sweden, and Jay, the project attempts to capture both the individuality and universality of intimate spaces. The $10,000 grant allows Peacock to photograph diverse subjects across the country.

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haval

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At their second restaurant, a Portland couple maintains a fine balance of food and family.

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DINE

W H E R E T O E AT N O W BY KAREN WATTERSON PHOTOGRAPHY BY MYRIAM BABIN

IN ITALIAN, PICCOLO MEANS “tiny.” It’s the name of the first restaurant Ilma Lopez and her husband, Damian Sansonetti, opened in Portland, in 2013. The intimate spot in the Old Port has been lauded for its modern take on the cuisine of central and southern Italy. Chaval, the Spanish word for “little kid,” is the couple’s newest venture, and an apt moniker for their second eatery. The words also describe the growth of their daughter Isabella, now four years old, from baby to preschooler. As she has grown, so has the couple’s reputation and following. “We’re older and fully focused,” says Lopez. “It’s our name, our team, and everything we do will reflect on our daughter.” Their passion and professionalism, combined with a knack for knowing what diners want, have made Chaval a crowd-pleaser since the day it opened this past July. “Knock on wood,” says Lopez. The couple need not rely on luck, having established Chaval with a solid and appealing concept. “We knew what direction it would take,” says Lopez. “We like to plan.” They envisioned a restaurant where everyone felt welcome, with personal but not overwhelming attention to diners’ needs. They took over the location in the West End where neighborhood favorite Caiola’s stood for more than a decade. A renovation gave the space new life and lightness, completely opening up the kitchen and giving the bar a more sophisticated vibe. “What you see now has been in our heads for a year and a half,” Lopez says. “We did the design ourselves, painted, polished, and sanded.” Sansonetti says he loves the open kitchen because he can watch the reaction of diners as they get their dishes. The Chaval menu is a reflection of the couple’s previous experiences and travel, especially to Spain, where Lopez has lived and worked. Last winter, she and Sansonetti took their first

Opposite page: Duck egg with North Spore mushrooms and chorizo, a savory dish from the “Stuck in the Middle” section of the menu. This page: Fideos, a dish of toasted capellini with lobster, pairs well with a Spanish Rioja.

vacation in five years there, eating, drinking, and generally reaffirming their essential ideas for Chaval. The menu offers “choose your own experience” options, ranging from starters that are no more than a few bites, to family-style dishes to be shared by the whole table. Order a drink and something from the “To Start and Esnack” section, while you peruse the rest of the offerings. (“Esnack” is a gentle tease on Lopez’s Venezuelan accent.) It might be the garlicky tomato toast, a staple at tapas bars, or perhaps the beef tartare with fried quail egg. The “Stuck in the Middle” section of the menu offers slightly larger tastes from a remarkably

wide variety of offerings. This is where you’ll find patatas bravas with spicy aioli, octopus a la plancha, house-made pâtés, and seasonal salads. The “Forks and Knives” section features entreesize dishes. The slow-baked hake with charred cauliflower is exemplary, perfectly cooked, and punctuated with queen olives from Spain, which add a pleasant hit of saltiness. Sansonetti picks up fresh fish every morning, using it in items like swordfish belly empanadas and daily specials. Coq au vin is a Sansonetti specialty, and at Chaval it’s offered “la familia” style, served in Le Creuset Dutch ovens for the whole table. It’s fun to watch servers lift the lid, letting NOVEMBER // 2017

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DINE

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Opposite page, clockwise from top left: “We’re happy to do what we love every single day,” say Ilma Lopez and Damian Sansonetti, owners of Chaval. The bar is fully stocked with a fine selection of Spanish sherries and vermouths, as any traditional tapas bar would be. Sansonetti’s deeply flavored coq au vin is served “la familia” style, as an entrée for the whole table to share. This page: In just a short time, Chaval has become a West End favorite.

loose the mouthwatering aroma. “It’s a humble dish, but presented in a more refined way,” he says, “with big, fat button mushrooms and bacon lardons.” Sansonetti will also be cooking up other family-style dishes to encourage sharing, including whole fish and more braises for the cold weather. The chef is well versed in Spanish wines that complement Chaval’s food. His current personal favorites include the Albamar albarino, from a vineyard they visited in Galicia, and Lopez gravonia, a more complex, golden-hued classic. Mas Fi is the house cava, the iconic sparkling wine of Spain. The wine list is concise and focused, as is the cocktail menu. Patrick McDonald, a Portland bartending veteran, has created drinks rooted in the classics, but “revitalized and reinterpreted, incorporating new flavor profiles that work with the cuisine.” The Spanish G and T has become a bar favorite, served in a large goblet and chilled with an oversized grapefruit cube. Much attention is paid to sherry and vermouth, the traditional aperitifs of Spain. “Vermouth is a stand-alone drink,” says McDonald, “and very popular in

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“ I F WE’RE LUCKY, WE’LL MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY.” –DAMIAN SANSONETTI Spanish culture.” Chaval is likely the only place in Maine to have Manzanilla sherry on tap, available by the glass or by the carafe. A visit to Chaval is incomplete without one of Lopez’s desserts. She was a 2017 semifinalist for a James Beard award in the Outstanding Pastry Chef category, a remarkable achievement in the ultracompetitive national arena. Lopez offers her own versions of French and Spanish classics, including crisp and hot churros with salted sugar and warm chocolate sauce for dipping. Île flottante, a dessert not often seen on local menus, is a dreamy cloud of meringue atop a sea of custard, roasted seasonal fruit, and sorbet. “And where else can you get lemony

madeleines, baked to order?” asks Lopez, rhetorically. Thanks to dedicated teams at both restaurants, the couple has been able to get Chaval on its feet while still maintaining a presence at Piccolo. “Having Luke Aberle in the kitchen and Kelly Nelson in the front of the house at Piccolo gives us the freedom to do both places and be sane,” says Lopez. “And when we go to Piccolo, we can count on Kirby Scholl, Stephanie Perkins, and the Chaval crew to make that work. We couldn’t do this without both teams and family by our side.” I’ve never been to Spain, but I imagine a tapas place might feel very similar to Chaval: a sense of community and belonging, in the kitchen and for guests, with casual but accomplished cuisine. “If we’re lucky, we’ll make everyone happy,” says Sansonetti. Chaval 58 Pine St. | Portland 207.772.1110 chavalmaine.com

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ACTIVE LIFE HOW PORTLAND KEEPS MOVING BY KATY KELLEHER PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERIN LITTLE

THE PORTLAND BOXING CLUB TEACHES TEENS SELF-CONTROL, CONFIDENCE, INTEGRITY, AND PRODUCES SOME KNOCK-OUT CHAMPIONS, TOO.

LIZ LEDDY’S FACE DRIPS WITH SWEAT AS SHE POUNDS AWAY AT A PUNCHING BAG.

She moves around the mats quickly, darting from one foot to the other, a tight circle of movement. It’s early September and the night is humid, murky, and unpleasant. But even the unseasonable heat of this late summer evening can’t stop the three-time National Golden Gloves winner from training. Nothing can. Leddy comes to the Portland Boxing Club every day it’s open, putting her compact frame through the same tightly controlled movements, over and over, a rhythm driving fast toward perfection. It isn’t easy to find this place, located behind Bruno’s Italian Restaurant down a long, weedchoked driveway off Allen Avenue. The whitepainted bricks aren’t visible from the road, though if you look closely you may be able to spot the tall brick chimney, which proclaims the building’s purpose in white block letters: BOXING. Founded by Bob Russo in 1992, the Portland Boxing Club is a hidden treasure in a city better known for more genteel sports: running, cycling, sailing. Within the boxing community, the club is respected for producing winners— three national champions so far—which is largely due to Russo himself. “Not to toot our own horn,” he says, “but I think we are one of the most successful boxing programs in the country. We’ve won 203 championships of all levels, including national championships.” And as Russo points out, he’s working with a much smaller recruiting field than his competitors

in other states. “We’re doing this in a city of 65,000 people,” he adds. “We go up against cities like Chicago and New York and we beat them.” Leddy is one of Russo’s star pupils, and although she’s been boxing for 20 years, she isn’t done soaking up her coach’s wisdom. He’s changed her life—or perhaps it was boxing itself that saved her. When she first walked into the Portland Boxing Club in 1996, Leddy was a strung-out, alcoholic teenager. She had a stick-and-poke tattoo that read “skinhead” across her chest and a thirst for destruction. “I had decided that I was going to be the best at being bad as I could be,” she says as she leans on the counter between workouts. She describes her teenage years with a frankness that is discomfiting at first, although within minutes I find myself sharing pieces of my own history, too. Like the rest of us, Leddy wasn’t born bad. She learned brutality at the hands of others, including two former felons who she says “possessed” her. In exchange for letting her live in their house, they raped Leddy repeatedly and abused her physically and emotionally. The situation came to a head when they decided to kick the 14-year-old out of the house. “They decided to swap me for someone else, and they shut my finger in the door,” Leddy explains, holding up her right hand. Her index finger is shorter than the rest; the assault crushed the bones from the joint up. “I would have fought to stay in that house,” she says. “But this guy here? He helped me get out of there.” She looks at Russo, who is working on some papers a few feet away. He doesn’t look up. He knows this story already, and he has long since accepted his role within it. Although Leddy felt an immediate connection to the sport of boxing, it took nine months of training before Russo suggested she step into the ring. “The first day Liz came in, I

didn’t notice her,” he says. “But I started to see her here all the time. She was at the gym constantly—she still is. She’s obsessed.” While Russo trains many young boxers, he doesn’t typically begin working with anyone until after they have shown that they are serious about the sport. Leddy was serious from day one; she just needed to prove it. “I knew that I was being prepared here,” she says. “I didn’t win my first fight, but I knew I wasn’t going to. Fighting was something to work towards. I knew I needed to hang on, work hard, and get better.”

Opposite page: Liz Leddy is a three-time national Golden Gloves champion boxer. Homeless as a teenager and a former alcoholic, Leddy has fought to become the sober and strong role model that she is today. This page: Boxing paraphernalia on display at the Portland Boxing Club.

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ACTIVE LIFE The Portland Boxing Club has transformed Leddy’s life in more ways than one. Russo helped her raise money to attend cosmetology school through fundraisers and boxing events, and now she makes a living styling hair (she also teaches aspiring boxers). Boxing has helped her stay sober. Although she recently won her third national title at the women’s National Golden Gloves Championships in Fort Lauderdale, Florida—a career-defining achievement for any athlete—she says staying clean has been “the most important work” of her life. “I was a smoker and a drinker, and I had to get to the point where my body was strong enough to fight,” she says. “All I want is clean air and water, man.” Boxing has also helped her come to terms with previous trauma. Leddy suffers from complex PTSD from her years of abuse. Boxing has helped her gain a “healthy disassociation from [her] body.” She says, “I can set my body to a task and my brain is free.” She likens this feeling to meditation. “Boxing is both physical and mental,” Leddy explains. “I think I have a good balance; where my mental training fails sometimes, my body picks up the slack. I have a good body for boxing. It’s been through some stuff, but it’s built to last.”

Opposite page clockwise from top: The Portland Boxing Club is tucked away behind Bruno’s Restaurant off Allen Avenue. Bob Russo founded the club in 1992 and has been a mentor to many young boxers. Leddy trains with Russo. For her, boxing is like meditation, and as she gets into the flow of the sport, her brain takes a backseat to the mechanics of her body and the rhythms of movement. This page: More paraphernalia on display at the club, which has produced three national champions so far.

“ W E DON’T WIN EVERY BATTLE IN THE RING OR WITH THESE KIDS. BUT WE WIN A LOT, TOO.”

–BOB RUSSO

Russo calls Leddy the “poster child” for the positive impact boxing can have on a young person’s life. “I don’t want to generalize too much, but boxing is a poor man’s sport,” he says. “We get kids from all walks of life, but we do get a lot of kids who are struggling.” Like Leddy, Russo is disarmingly candid and casual in conversation (he has a tendency to answer my questions before I even ask them). He speaks of his desire to teach young people self-control, confidence, and integrity. He talks about the disappointments he’s seen, the kids who can’t stay clean, who squander their talents, and worst of all, those who give up too easily. “I’m not trying to be a savior of man,” he says with characteristic frankness. “But when you’re around so many young people, you have all these opportunities to teach them.” He adds, “We don’t win every battle in the ring or with these kids. But we win a lot, too.” ALL-STAR BOXING Portland Boxing Club’s 104th Event Featuring Russell Lamour, Jason Quirk, and Casey Kramlich Saturday, November 11 Doors open 6 p.m.; bouts start 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $25 - $75, available at PortTix. com and Bruno’s Restaurant For more information: 207-761-0975

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LOOK

Y O U R G U I D E T O G A L L E RY H O P P I N G

Private collection, Houston, TX. Copyright Nan Goldin, courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery, New York

A ROUNDUP OF LOCAL SHOW FAVORITES, FEATURING ARTWORKS FROM ARTISTS EMERGING TO ESTABLISHED

0 1 Nan Goldin, Suzanne and Mark Dancing, Lexington, MA, silver-dye bleach print

0 2 Rhonda Pearle, Island Inn Poppies, pastel on paper

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0 3 Sam Brooks Walker, Untitled, Walden, ink jet print

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0 3 Ethan Hayes-Chute, Lamp #23, Beacon series, ink jet print

0 4 David Wilson, Spruce: Indian Red, acrylic and mixed material on paper

01 NAN GOLDIN | Portland Museum of Art | October 6–December 31 | portlandmuseum.org

02 A WEEK ON MONHEGAN | Bridge

Gallery | September 1–November 10 | bridgegallerymaine.com

03 WE MIGHT CLIMB A TREE, AT LEAST

Maine Museum of Photographic Arts | November 2–January 27 mainemuseumofphotographicarts.org

04 DAVID WILSON |Portland Art Gallery November 2–30 artcollectormaine.com

05 THE LIFE AND WORK OF NANCY

0 5 Nancy Hemenway Barton, Roserock (detail), alpaca, plain weave, lamb’s wool, mohair, karakul in satin, and stem

HEMENWAY BARTON |UNE Art Gallery, Portland Campus | September 28– December 20 |une.edu/artgallery

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CONDUCTING HER WAY BACK HOME

DR. EMILY ISAACSON ENERGIZES MAINEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S CLASSICAL MUSIC SCENE.

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P RO F I L E

THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE PORTLAND BY DR. LISA BELISLE PHOTOGRAPHY BY NICOLE WOLF

Opposite page: Emily Isaacson says her musical talent is her ability to communicate, both on the conductor’s podium and as an advocate for the arts. This page: Isaacson’s score of Handel’s “Messiah,” which is best known for the thunderous “Hallelujah Chorus.”

DR.

Emily Isaacson is prone to outbursts of great enthusiasm and episodes of thoughtful pause in equal measure as she discusses her time spent conducting. Gesticulating for emphasis, she leans forward and says fervently, “part of my mission has been to tear down what I see as unnecessary restrictions to incredible music.” One can easily visualize her on stage, coaxing strains of Bach from an ensemble with her baton. A fourth-generation Mainer, Isaacson’s musical education has taken her both across the country and across the pond. In 2013, she returned to her home state to become the artistic director for the Oratorio Chorale and Maine Chamber Ensemble. “In Maine you can make things happen,” says Isaacson. “I really value that about this community.”

Isaacson began her life in Brunswick. “My parents fostered creativity and curiosity in me,” she says. Her mother, Margaret McGaughey, recently retired as the Appellate Chief of the United States Attorney’s Office in Maine. Her father, George Isaacson, is a senior partner with Brann & Isaacson in Lewiston. They began their daughter’s musical education early. “I was going to the Bowdoin International Music Festival concerts in the Ergo [baby carrier] on my mom’s chest,” Isaacson says. She began participating in Maine State Music Theatre productions in fourth grade, working with former artistic director Charles Abbott. She also trained in ballet, and performed at the Theater Project in Brunswick with artistic director Al Miller and executive director Wendy Poole. “I was captivated by art and music and theater and dance, right from the get-go,” she says.

As Isaacson transitioned into adolescence, she no longer had the same opportunities. “I auditioned for all sorts of plays and I didn’t get in,” she says. “I was too young to play an adult role and too old to play a cute kid role.” Her mother persuaded her to try out for the Bowdoin International Music Festival chorus, which she reluctantly did. This turned out to be life-changing: that summer they were performing “Chichester Psalms” by Leonard Bernstein. “This gorgeous piece was important in my musical evolution, in terms of thinking about what music can do and be and sound like,” says Isaacson. “It blew my mind as a composition.” Isaacson became the youngest member of the chorus that year. She earned a solo, which enabled her to work closely with harpist June Han (who often plays with the New York NOVEMBER // 2017

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PROFILE “ PART OF MY MISSION IS TO TEAR DOWN WHAT I SEE AS UNNECESSARY RESTRICTIONS TO INCREDIBLE MUSIC.” –EMILY ISAACSON

Philharmonic) and conductor Jeff Milarsky (now on the faculty at Columbia University and Julliard). “I got access to these musicians that were in another stratosphere of creativity,” says Isaacson. She has vivid memories of working with Han and Milarsky in a tiny Cleveland Street apartment in Brunswick. “I was part of art in a way I had never experienced before,” she says. “Something transformative for myself and also expressive of something so much greater than the three people in the room.” When she performed the piece in public with the rest of the Bowdoin International Music Festival chorus, Isaacson was hooked. “During that concert I said, ‘I want to be a part of this for the rest of my life.’” Isaacson graduated from Brunswick High School and went on to Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where she explored various directions for her musical interests. “I had a lot of ideas—some good, some bad,” she says. She realized that she was not meant to perform as a singer or instrumentalist. “If I have any gifts they are not in exceptional musical talent,” says Isaacson. “They are in my ability to communicate, both as a musical leader and also as a member of the community and advocating for the arts.” She decided on a career as a conductor. “I wanted to be the one creating the vision and communicating it to other people.” Isaacson learned that getting the necessary education for her chosen career would be a challenge. Conducting requires a broad base of 44 OLD PORT

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Isaacson in her West End backyard with her children, Anna and Levi Tzuker.

knowledge: from music theory and history, to understanding multiple languages and instruments. “Music grad school is a really brutal place,” says Isaacson. “I hear people at med school and law school talk about their experiences and I can identify, except there were only two of us in my class. It’s critique on a much more intimate, heightened level.” Isaacson earned two master’s degrees: one in musicology at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and a second in conducting at the University of Oregon. She spent her summers doing programs that would improve her abilities in music. It was difficult to be female in a predominantly male field. “In graduate school and in these summer programs, I got a number of comments about my body, but I’ve never heard them make a comment about a man’s body on the podium,” she says. “I’m now trying to use it as an asset, but that was certainly a struggle.”

THIS IS SO PORTLAND.

While completing her doctorate in musical arts at the University of Illinois, Isaacson moved to Boston. She became the assistant music director of the ensemble Juventas and a conductor of the Boston City Singers, as well as a teaching artist in the Boston Public Schools. Then she learned that the Oratorio Chorale was looking for a new director. Soon after giving birth to her first child, Isaacson took over the role from Peter Frewen while still living in Boston. She commuted on the Amtrak Downeaster train to Brunswick, where her parents babysat for her daughter, Anna, while she conducted rehearsals. Isaacson has made it her mission to help people experience traditional music in new ways. For the past two years, she has codirected the Portland Bach Festival, which held this year’s popular “Bachtails” event (a combination of cocktails and classical music in a casual setting) at the newly renovated Bayside Bowl. In early November, Isaacson will conduct her first Handel’s “Messiah,” a milestone in any conducting career. “I’ve spent 10 years preparing for this seminal piece and it has been well worth the wait,” she says. “It’s epic.” Now living in Portland with her husband, Matthew Tzuker, Isaacson has added a son, Levi, to her family. This busy artist, mom, and entrepreneur continues to forge her own path as a conductor, which has led her, perhaps not surprisingly, back to the state from which she came. “I hope to be pushing music to new levels in the state of Maine for decades to come.”

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MECAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S

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For new president Dr. Laura Freid, forging community connections is a priority. by SUSAN AXELROD Photography by NICOLE WOLF

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n the first day of fall classes at the Maine College of Art (MECA) in Portland, the hallways of the Porteous building on Congress Street are thrumming with energy. There’s a fresh sense of promise and possibility at every school on the first day of a new academic year, but at MECA, it seems multiplied. The new college president, Dr. Laura Freid, has just returned from a trip to Peaks Island in Casco Bay with about a hundred new students. They are beginning work on bachelor of fine arts degrees in 11 majors, including textile and fashion design—the only program of its kind in the country—and digital media, in addition to more traditional art-school disciplines such as painting, printmaking, and sculpture. Freid is MECA’s eighteenth president and joins the college at an important time in its 135-year history. In the six years under her predecessor, Don Tuski, MECA experienced significant growth in enrollment, endowment, and physical plant, including the addition of a new residence hall, and the establishment of the Bob Crewe Program in Art and Music, made possible by a three-million-dollar grant from the Bob Crewe Foundation. “I’m standing on the shoulders of really thoughtful visionaries,” says Freid. “We’re at a transformational moment at MECA, and I’m thinking that we will have to plan carefully about what we want ourselves to look like in 10 years.” That includes not only the MECA campus, but also the city around it, she says. Her challenge as president will include identifying the community partners that can work with the college as it continues to evolve and grow. Freid’s background in journalism, the arts, and higher education gives her a skill set that seems tailor-made for her new role. In the announcement of her appointment in March, MECA Board of Trustees chair Debbie Reed cited Freid’s “demonstrated track record of engaging multiple constituencies while serving in senior leadership roles at multiple institutions.” These include Freid’s most recent post as CEO and executive director of Silkroad, a cross-cultural arts organization founded by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, chief

Opposite page: Dr. Laura Freid became president of the Maine College of Art (MECA) in July. This page: In 1993, MECA purchased the Porteous, Mitchell and Braun Company building in the center of Portland’s Arts District. NOVEMBER // 2017

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This page and opposite page: Ashley Wernher-Collins, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;16, is the studio technician for MECAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Textile and Fashion Design program. Launched in 2013, the program is the only one of its kind in the United States.

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This page: A student works to forge steel in MECA’s foundry. Opposite page: Tools of the trade in the Metalsmithing and Jewelry Design program.

“ WE’RE AT A TRANSFORMATIONAL MOMENT AT MECA, AND I’M THINKING THAT WE WILL HAVE TO PLAN CAREFULLY ABOUT WHAT WE WANT OURSELVES TO LOOK LIKE IN 10 YEARS.”

–LAURA FREID communications officer at Harvard, executive vice president for public affairs and university relations at Brown University, and publisher and editor of Bostonia magazine. “I like to make things happen,” Freid says.

based organization to incorporate education, providing arts programming for middle schools, and forming partnerships with Rhode Island School of Design and Harvard, where Silkroad’s presence continues.

At Silkroad, Freid helped shaped Ma’s vision of using music to build connections across cultures. “I thought it would be a year or two, and then 12 years later we had recorded six CDs, produced a feature-length documentary film, Music of Strangers, toured 32 countries, and reached audiences of over 20 million people with our message of building cultural bridges,” she says. Freid broadened the performance-

Among other initiatives at Harvard, Freid was instrumental in establishing the Arts and Passion-Driven Learning Institute, an annual workshop for arts educators from around the world, cohosted by the university’s Graduate School of Education. “So that’s why it all connects,” she says, of her career trajectory. “Here at MECA we are about passion-driven learning and the arts, and also about creative

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entrepreneurship—helping passion-driven learners who are artists find a way to continue a life in the arts.” An important part of MECA’s mission is to educate artists who can make a living, which involves learning how to package and present their art. “Artists are very connected to their art making, their emotions, and how they feel about the world, but they also need to help audiences understand what inspired their work,” says Freid. She believes that the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, which was integrated into MECA in 2016 and launched its inaugural graduate program at the college

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From left: MECA provides support to artists by allowing students to display artwork throughout the year on any of the Porteous building’s six floors. Students in the Bob Crewe Program in Art and Music have access to a state-of-the-art recording studio.

this fall, can play a role in that mission by training artists to create videos and podcasts. “I’m hoping for a lot of cross-fertilization here,” she says. “It’s another way of telling stories. People want to know the story behind the creativity, and I think all creators, all makers, have to learn these technical skills.” Graduate students at Salt can earn a Certificate in Documentary Studies in one of two tracks: Radio and Podcasting, or Short Film and Photography. Asked about connections between MECA and Portland, Freid points to the college’s wellestablished continuing education program, which includes classes for children and adults, in addition to a challenging pre-college program for high-school students. Courses for adults are especially varied, ranging from metalsmithing and encaustic painting to digital photography 54 OLD PORT

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and Arabic calligraphy, the latter taught by artist, activist, and former prisoner of war Kifah Abdulla. “More than 1,500 people a year come through our incredibly rich continuing education program, which is amazing for our small arts college,” says Freid. MECA and the city are “joined at the hip,” she says. “And I can only see that growing, because MECA is going to continue to be one of the nation’s most vibrant learning centers in the arts.” Freid adds, however, that there is work to be done in getting the crowds that flock to the Old Port to venture into the city’s Arts District. “It’s very attractive down by the water, but two blocks up is the future,” she says. “The more that people can walk up the street and experience the next generation of artists, I think that would be great for Portland, but Congress Street needs to step up to the challenge and

the opportunity, and we’re happy to be part of that.” Freid has settled into the East End with her husband, Dr. David Gottesman, a therapist, and their standard poodle, Alto. “I’m enjoying the intimacy of the community; it’s just what I wanted,” she says. “I feel like my personal mission statement and MECA’s are very aligned.” That said, a large part of her job so far has involved reaching out for information and to forge connections. “I’ve probably had 500 meetings since I got here,” she says. “What can we do? How can we do it better? Who can we do it with? I was quoting designer Daniel Hudson Burnham for the faculty the other day: ‘Make no little plans, for they have no magic.’ I believe we need to be inclusive, make big plans, and invite everyone to jump on board.”

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TEACHING LOCALLY, ACTING GLOBALLY WAYNFLETE SCHOOL EDUCATES STUDENTS TO BE ENGAGED CITIZENS OF THE WORLD.

by SUSAN AXELROD Photography by ERIN LITTLE

Students outside of Waynfleteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Arts Center, designed by Scott Simons Architects of Portland.

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aynflete School occupies six acres in one of the most beautiful and architecturally significant neighborhoods in Portland. The brick buildings that make up much of the campus were once stately private homes, just like their neighbors along Spring and Danforth streets in the city’s historic West End. Waynflete looks the picture of a New England independent school; what is not as obvious is that it is also one of the most progressive schools in New England, and has been since its early days. Founded in 1897 by Agnes Lowell and Caroline Crisfield, who came to Maine from a prominent Philadelphia school for girls, Waynflete offered rigorous academics as well as education in the arts. By the early 1900s, the school had adopted the progressive educational philosophy of John Dewey, who advocated hands-on learning and believed that teachers should have a love of working with children, as well as a commitment to interactive education. Today, 560 Pre-K to grade-12 students learn in an environment much like Dewey espoused, where teachers are addressed by their first names as a way of building mutual respect, trust, and connection. “This is my fifth school, and I’ve never been in a place where teachers take such an active interest in kids,” says head of school Geoff Wagg. “Every private school says this, but it’s on a different level here. It’s been part of the culture since Waynflete’s founding.” I’m meeting with Wagg in his office in Thomas House, once part of a sprawling estate that Lowell and Crisfield purchased in 1912. Wagg came to Waynflete in 2013, just as plans were ramping up for a lower school building now under construction. His first day on the job, he attended a meeting with Scott Simon Architects—who also designed Waynflete’s new arts center—two trustees, and eight teachers. “From the ground up, the building was designed by teachers to meet the needs of students and the programs we offer,” Wagg says. Waynflete’s lower school differs from traditional elementary schools in that children are grouped in vertical classrooms. Three- and four-year-olds are together, as are kindergarteners and first-graders, second- and third-graders, and fourth- and fifth-graders. “It actually works better for kids developmentally,” he says, to have a mix of ages in each class. Each grouping 62 OLD PORT

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has a four-person teaching team, and the new building was designed so they all could collaborate. “It’s probably the most professional growth-producing classroom environment I’ve ever seen,” Wagg continues. “Because in most schools you go off into your classroom and you don’t see your colleagues during the day. But here, collaboration is part of the design.” Renderings of the new lower school building show that it will be light-filled and open,

with a stunning library, a teaching kitchen, amphitheater, and an expansive art studio. “We have an imagination space that is meant for kids to be able to tinker and build things,” says Wagg. “And the connection between the indoors and outdoors is something we’ve been very thoughtful about—kids get two recesses a day here.” The first-floor façade will be red brick, to match the older buildings on campus, and the rooflines mimic traditional open gables, while variously sized windows add a modern, whimsical note. The

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Opposite page: Geoff Wagg has been Waynfleteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s head of school since 2013. This page: Middle school students head to class at Cook-Hyde House.

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This page: Science teacher Carol Titterton works with tenth grade chemistry students in the lab. Opposite page, clockwise from top left: Art teacher Mimi Olins in ceramics class. Arts Center aprons. Students work collaboratively on problems in a science class.

Portland-based firm Wright-Ryan is doing the construction on the environmentally efficient building, which will be finished in time for the beginning of the 2018 school year. Waynflete’s upper school has the largest number of students—285. The lower school has 150, and the middle school, which goes from sixth through eighth grade, has 125. Middle school students follow a classic liberal arts approach, says Wagg, with a strong emphasis on writing. “You talk to any Waynflete graduate, and the thing that they will tell you is that they learned to write here,” he says. The sixth-grade curriculum focuses on the ancient world, so all sixth graders study Latin. Beginning in seventh grade, students can choose Mandarin Chinese, French, Spanish, or stay with Latin; the world language requirement continues through their senior year. “Part of my goal is to make sure that our graduates could be dropped from a helicopter anywhere in the

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world, and would be able to thrive wherever they are,” says Wagg. Educating kids to be global citizens is part of Waynflete’s mission, and I ask Wagg about the challenges of that effort in today’s world. “Before the recent election, and before some of the stuff that has bubbled up since, we were convinced that one of the foundational skills that people need to have is the ability to converse across difference,” he says. “And we really thought about: ‘What does that mean?’” Several years ago, Waynflete and the global organization Seeds of Peace launched the New England Youth Identity Summit (NEYIS), an annual gathering of high school students to explore identity issues, including racial differences, sexual identity, and mental health. The initiative has helped kids learn how to talk about difficult topics, Wagg says. At one NEYIS session last year, two Waynflete high school students interviewed the Portland police chief. “Here are two kids asking him really hard questions

about policing and police brutality, and he was right with them, in front of 250 highschool students,” he says. “The way they respectfully asked tough questions came out of the work that we’re doing.” Activities outside of the classroom are not considered “extra” at Waynflete. In the upper school, students must participate in athletics every trimester, and their class schedules include time for cocurricular activities, most of which involve service. In one longstanding initiative, teens mentor third- to fifth-grade students at Reiche Elementary School. Senior Nick Jenkins leads two service groups: Ethical Leadership and Service, which cooks breakfast at the Preble Street shelter once a month, and RAAW, Racial Awareness at Waynflete. Friendly and engaging, Jenkins says he likes to read and write—his favorite class last year was Ethics in Literature and Film—but plans to study aviation in college. He’s wanted to be a commercial pilot since he was 12, and just

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Opposite page, clockwise from top left: Waynflete’s first “green” building, the Arts Center was awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver certification. A studio in the Arts Center. Cubbies at the Lower School. This page: Senior Nick Jenkins is planning to study aviation in college.

“ THIS IS MY FIFTH SCHOOL, AND I’VE NEVER BEEN IN A PLACE WHERE TEACHERS TAKE SUCH AN ACTIVE INTEREST IN KIDS.”

—GEOFF WAGG got his private pilot’s license this summer, after working for four years to pay for it. “I have teachers at Waynflete who have had their licenses, and they encouraged me,” Jenkins says. “It was a big deal when I took my math teacher up this summer.” Josh Broder, president and CEO of the Portland-based tech company Tilson attended Waynflete from kindergarten through twelfth grade. His wife, Eliza Ginn, is also an alumna, as is his brother and his wife’s brother. “Playing with the jazz combo and running with the cross-country team helped teach me that it was not all about me, but rather everyone else,” Broder says. “Waynflete was a place that supported me in the things that were different about me, and taught me to appreciate what was different in others.” The Broders’ son, Clayton, is now in kindergarten at the school, having started in the early childhood program. “Many of the same teachers that I had are now teaching Clayton,” he says. “My best friend since first grade, Matt Marston, has a son in the lower school as well. It’s wonderful to see the cycle repeating.” The first of Waynflete trustee Vin Veroneau’s eight children entered Waynflete in sixth grade, when he and his wife, Nancy, were looking for an alternative to traditional middle schools. Six of their kids have now graduated; one is a senior and the youngest is a freshman. “The education and commitment of the faculty and the staff is what makes the place,” says Veroneau, the president and CEO of the commercial real estate developer J.B. Brown and Sons. “And the mutual respect that the students have. The students appreciate the effort and the commitment of the faculty, and for that the faculty receive the students’ best efforts.” Wagg describes a recent encounter with a group of graduates now in medical school, asking them how Waynflete’s science curriculum prepared them. “And of course the first thing they said was, ‘Carol and Wendy.’” Carol Titterton and Wendy Curtis are two upper school science teachers. “They specifically named these two teachers as the NOVEMBER // 2017

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This page: The neighborhood around Waynflete includes historic homes, such as these on Fletcher and Spring streets. Opposite page, from top: Upper school director Lowell Libby has been at Waynflete for 26 years. The Lower School construction project.

defining experience that got them to pursue medicine.” While calling teachers by their first names may seem discomfitingly casual, Wagg says that the practice helps promote relationships that benefit both teachers and students. “What provides the boundaries here is that kids don’t want to disappoint adults, which, as it turns out, is a much more powerful social contract than detentions and demerits.” Kate Jeton’s son, Luke, graduated from Waynflete four years ago, but she remains

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“ IT HAS THIS REAL TENSION BETWEEN BEING A RIGOROUS PLACE ACADEMICALLY AND A COMFORTABLE PLACE.” –KATE JETON

passionate about the school, serving as president of the board of trustees. “It has this real tension between being a rigorous place academically and a comfortable place,” she says. “When Luke visited as a prospective student, every teacher whose class he went to knew his name.” Jeton and her husband live on a farm in Acton on the New Hampshire border, 50 miles from Waynflete. “It was a real commitment, particularly his first year,” she says. “I think that we were not alone in that. There were other families bringing their children from equally huge

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distances.” By the end of that first year, Jeton was getting calls to be involved in the parents association. “I quickly realized that there are families from all walks of life. It’s a school that is very diverse.” Diversity is among the reasons parents like Jeton send their kids to Waynflete, which is more racially diverse than any school in the area, except for the Portland public schools, says Wagg. Waynflete also strives to be socio-economically diverse—with nearly forty percent of students receiving financial aid—and the school serves Portland’s refugee population through the Global Community

Scholars program, started 20 years ago, which invites refugee children to join classes at several grade levels. Like the community service groups and the socially aware curriculum, these initiatives help anchor Waynflete firmly in the city that surrounds it. The kindergarten-first grade class spends a year discovering their urban environment, riding the Greater Portland Metro bus and learning about city services, while upper school students studying marine biology use Portland’s coastline as a primary resource. “We feel part of the fabric of the city,” says Wagg. “It’s an important part of our identity to be here.”

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VICTORIAN TRANSFORMED Dual artistic sensibilities share space in a Parkside townhouse.

by DEBRA SPARK Photography by MYRIAM BABIN

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In the dining room, an Audubon bird poster hangs above a West Elm credenza, on which sits a duck decoy and vintage Moroccan food baskets. NOVEMBER // 2017

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ulie Mattei-Benn was an art director at J.Crew when a headhunter tapped her for a job at L.L.Bean. At the time, she and her husband, painter Leon Benn, were living in Brooklyn. They hadn’t been thinking of making a move, but the opportunity was intriguing, especially given Leon’s previous experience with Maine. When he was in college at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), he had a classmate and close friend who brought him several times to a family camp on Sebec Lake, northwest of Orono. Leon had found the place magical. What’s more, despite his Brooklyn address, the outdoors was a significant source of inspiration for Leon’s work, which often dwells on the relationship between humanity and nature. Leon and Julie had a baby, Georgia, who could also benefit from life outside of the city. As soon as L.L.Bean reached out to Julie, she began scouring online real estate listings. Initially, she had the fantasy of living on the water, but quickly realized that was costprohibitive. Then she came across a listing for the Victorian townhouse she and Leon eventually purchased. She thought, “This is the Brooklyn brownstone we would never be able to get in Brooklyn.” Though wood-shingled, the duplex had other features of New York brownstones: three high-ceilinged floors, a basement, steep half stairs to the front door, and a bay facade. Despite the appeal, Julie thought the house might be too big and in some ways “not exotic enough,” reminiscent as it was of the city they were leaving behind. But then she and Leon reversed their thinking. With its Parkside address, their transition would be less jarring than if they moved to the woods. In Portland, they could more readily meet people, tap into the art community (which includes many RISD alums), and walk to places they liked. Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market is now a favorite destination, as are Hot Suppa, Tandem Coffee, and Salvage BBQ, which Georgia loves for its

This page, from top: Julie Mattei-Benn has grouped art work by family and friends up the wall of her home’s front staircase, including a bird in profile (by Julie) and a monoprint of two figures on a peach-pink ground by husband Leon Benn. Fell, Stumbled, and Walked In, Leon’s painting of flowers on an abstract ground, hangs above a guestroom bed. Opposite page: The dining room with paintings by Leon, a West Elm chandelier, IKEA chairs, and a table from Nightwood in Brooklyn. In the Victorian era, less valuable wood was often used under a dining table, because the floor there was going to be covered with a rug. The Benns liked the contrast between exposed and hidden wood, so left the dining room floor as is.

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This page: A view from front parlor to back parlor with art work by Leon and (on the upper left) by a classmate at UCLA. The chair at left and the lamps are from West Elm. The Danish chair on the right was found on eBay, and Julie’s mother upholstered the ottoman. Opposite page, from top: The Benns and daughter Georgia enjoy a book on a couch by West Elm. The coffee table and rug are IKEA. The Benns’ bedroom with its L.L. Bean bedframe is surrounded by artwork by Leon and artist friends, including Pierre Célice, Robert Quenioux, and Andrew Scripter.

video games and finger food. The basement became Leon’s studio. Despite its age, the house had been renovated in 2007, so the Benns could simply move in. Inside, the house has a double parlor on the first floor with a kitchen in back, as well as two staircases to the second floor, one leading to back rooms, which were likely once maid’s quarters, and are now bedrooms. Period detailing includes a curved staircase with turned balusters, fireplaces, moldings, and hardwood floors. The back parlor floor has a rectangle of dark wood surrounded by lighter wood. The original 1890 inhabitants would have put a 78 OLD PORT

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rug over the darker area, thus the decision to use less costly wood there. The Benns like the contrast and have left the floor uncovered. Not every house feels like a neat expression of its occupants’ lives, but Julie and Leon’s does. Within the historic shell, the furnishings and light fixtures are contemporary, purchased from IKEA, West Elm, and Room and Board. Everything else is one-of-a-kind, as the walls are filled with art, either Leon’s paintings, pieces by friends, cherished purchases, or gifts. Bookshelves (one of which Leon built) hold books about artists, poetry, and literature in French and English.

Julie was raised in Paris and came to the States to attend California Institute of the Arts, drawn to study in this country because she grew up watching American TV and had “a fantasy of the American vernacular in the 1980s.” The couple met two months after Julie moved to New York for work. Friends introduced them at a Bastille Day party. Leon makes large-scale, vibrant paintings with flat shapes and partially abstracted imagery from the natural world. His process is unusual, as he dyes canvas with color or bleach then transforms his surfaces with a faux batik

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Opposite page: Leon works in his basement studio on paintings for Field of Visions, a solo exhibition at David B. Smith Gallery in Denver, Colorado this past October. This page: Leon’s palette holds dabs of the brightly colored oil paints he uses in his work.

process, all before he begins to paint in oil. “It’s sometimes fun to paint the negative space with a pattern and have that be a counter-play to the landscape,” he says. This tension is evidenced in two dining room paintings, which are of birdhouses. The surroundings suggest the kind of textile or wallpaper-derived design that you might see in a Matisse. Julie’s parents now live largely in Morocco, which accounts for the house’s textiles and colorful vintage food baskets, as well as many of Leon’s canvases. On a trip to Morocco, he found a master weaver who produces a hybrid of linen and polyester, a material that Leon now imports, stretches, and paints. Her parents also gifted Julie four small paintings of a dark abstracted figure on a flat plain of somber color. The paintings, by the French artist Robert Quenioux, hung in Julie’s girlhood home, and Leon was taken with them when he first saw them. Another gift is a sculpture of colored pencils stacked in a large block of clear resin by the French artist Arman, a family friend. Julie’s father gave the sculpture to her when she was

accepted into art school. Julie’s work is graphic in nature and less on display in the house. She has hidden a bird’s head, done in pen and ink with wash, among a variety of small framed works that hang, salonstyle, on the stairs between the first and second floor. Similar groupings of small framed work are in the upstairs hall.

by Andrew Kuo of Queens illustrating how to waste time. Its full title is Anatomy of a Wasted Work Day on October 9, 2008 (Stuffed Up Nose Face). The Benns had their wedding party at Taxter and Spengemann, a (now defunct) Chelsea gallery. A show of Kuo’s work was up at the time. Julie’s best friend was the gallery director and managed to secure the piece as a wedding gift.

A few pieces reference Maine, if only slyly, as with a vintage French schoolroom vocabulary poster that hangs underneath the front staircase. Julie’s cousin is an antique dealer, and she and Leon picked this particular educational poster because it depicts a lobster. Another nod to their new home is an Audubon bird poster in the dining room, under which sits a decoy they found at Cabot Mill Antiques in Brunswick. Though all the ducks they saw while shopping were beautifully painted, they chose one with a dull finish, because Leon appreciated the focus on form.

As for wasting time, the couple seem to be doing little of it, kept busy as they are by their respective jobs, visiting places like Ferry Beach and Mackworth Island (for the fairy houses), and finding new items for their house at places like Portland’s Flea for All. The couple’s approach to hanging art might be a metaphor for their approach to their lives in general. “Julie was the mastermind for organizing the artwork on the walls,” says Leon. “I was the one not rushing, letting it simmer in the mind, so we can be conscious of what we do. Then we will realize where we need to put things.”

A particularly fun artwork is a playful chart

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Full of character and custom amenities, this stunning home in the Woodlands Country Club was completely renovated in 2010. The two-story entrance hall boasts a saltwater aquarium set in one wall that looks through to the living room and home office. A large, yet warm and inviting cook’s kitchen is the heart of the main floor, equipped with professional-grade appliances, double islands, and a stonefronted gas fireplace—one of five in the house. A second catering kitchen includes double ovens, sink, and dishwasher. Off the kitchen are a spacious dining room, sunroom, and family room/game room with cathedral ceiling and bar,

complete with refrigerator and beer tap. On the second floor, four bedrooms each have their own bath, including the luxuriously appointed master suite. A guest wing features two additional bedrooms, sitting room, bathroom, and sauna. Additional custom amenities include a home theater with stadium seating and surround sound, gym, massage room, craft room, a Harry Potter-themed media/play room, home security and central vacuum systems, and central air. Set on 1.66 wooded acres, with a deck, patio and fire pit, this distinctive home feels like a private estate, yet is within easy walking distance of Falmouth schools.

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PORTLAND MUSEUM OF ART DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE SUMMER LAWN PARTY Photography by Dave Dostie

The Portland Museum of Art invited Director’s Circle members and their guests to join Judy and Leonard Lauder Director Mark Bessire for an annual end-of-summer celebration, held in the David E. Shaw and Family Sculpture Park in the Joan B. Burns Garden. Director’s Circle members strengthen the museum’s permanent collection, special exhibitions, and educational and public programming. 01

“This is one of my favorite annual events because it demonstrates the passion of our community, and specifically this philanthropic group, has for the arts in our region. Director’s Circle members chart the course for the Portland Museum of Art, and I am grateful to work with a group of dedicated individuals who are committed to the success of the museum.” 04

–Abegail Baguio, Director of Leadership Circles at Portland Museum of Art

05 01 Jeff Kane, Portland Museum of Art (PMA) trustee, and Mark Bessire, PMA Director 02 Danielle Conway, dean of University of Maine School of Law, and Maggie Fleming, special assistant to the dean at University of Maine School of Law 03 Paul Koenig, managing editor of Maine magazine; Elizabeth Jones, PMA deputy director and director of external affairs; Emma Wilson, managing director of Art Collector Maine; and KC Hughes, co-owner of LT’s 04 PMA Director’s Circle members Bill Stoloski, Leslie Oster, and Bonnie Stoloski 05 Rowan Wagner, Maine Street Design Co.; Brett Johnson, owner of Maine Street Design Co. and member of PMA Director’s Circle Steering Committee; Isabella Stumpf, MaineHealth; and William Williams, MaineHealth and PMA trustee 06 Abegail Baguio, PMA director of Leadership Circles, and Ashleigh Hill, PMA special events and stewardship associate 07 Jack Thomas and Kevin Thomas, CEO of Maine Media Collective 08 View from the inside of Jonathan Borofsky’s Digital Man.

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EATING ON THE WILD SIDE CHEFS CHALLENGE Photography by Liz Caron

The Wild Blueberry Association of North America invited ten esteemed corporate chefs from across the country to participate in a 90-minute culinary challenge at Fork Food Lab. Betta Stothart of Ethos Marketing and chef David Levi of Vinland selected a collection of native Maine ingredients for the chefs, including wild blueberries, lobster, kelp puree, Abenaki flint cornmeal, blue oyster mushrooms, and duck eggs. Tom Gumpel of Panera Bread and Nico Sanchez of Firebird Restaurant Group won the competition with grilled lobster served over arepas, accompanied by wild blueberry-steamed bladderwrack, a micro-green salad, and wild blueberry reduction dressing. 01

02 04

–Betta Stothart, event organizer and senior public relations advisor at Ethos

03 05

“We hope chefs recognize that wild blueberries—because they are grown commercially in vast quantities and because of superior freezing technology— are not only delicious and full of complex flavor, but they’re one of the few wild foods that are abundantly available year-round.”

01 Jay Hinson, corporate operations manager at Cheesecake Factory; and Neil Doherty, corporate executive chef at Sysco 02 David Levi, chef and owner of Vinland; Karen Watterson, food editor at Maine Media Collective; and Josh Berry, executive chef at Union at the Press Hotel 03 Natalie Gale, marketing intern at Ethos; Belinda Donovan, public relations director at Ethos; and Deb Collins, trade marketing manager at Wild Blueberry Association of North America 04 Betta Stothart, senior public relations advisor at Ethos 05 Michael Collins, senior marketing strategist at Ethos 06 Jason Cotton, regional director of operations at the Olympia Companies 07 The chefs discuss their creations 08 Tom Hugill, director of sales at Wyman’s of Maine; and Tollef Olson, president at Ocean’s Balance

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INSIDER PICKS L O C A L S G I V E T H E I R R E C O M M E N D AT I O N S PHOTO BY SHELBI WASSICK

Maine Media Collective staffers answer the question: What are your favorite fall activities?

The foliage vistas from Bradbury Mountain’s summit are well worth the easy trek. For a more colorful drive, I like to ditch I-295 for Route 9 on my way north. —Paul Koenig, managing editor, Maine magazine

There’s something particularly charming about the Monument Square Farmer’s Market in the fall. I love bundling up and heading to the square to fill my tote bag with fresh from the farm pumpkins, squash, mums, and more. —Shelbi Wassick, online editor

“Fall is one of my favorite times to take a walking tour of the breweries and distilleries in the Bayside neighborhood; Lone Pine Brewing Co.; Rising Tide Brewing Co.; Maine Craft Distilling, Oxbow Blending & Bottling; Maine Mead Works; Urban Farm Fermentory; and Hardshore Distilling.” —Joel Kuschke, production manager, interim art director

“Picking up apple cider doughnuts at The Holy Donut.” —Karen Watterson, food editor

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“Pumpkin hayrides at Wolfe’s Neck Farm. After picking out a pumpkin you can also hit up the farmstand and look at the farm animals.” —Jen DeRose, managing editor, Maine Home + Design

“A full day of on-foot, fallfashion shopping with girlfriends from upper Congress Street all the way to the Old Port with a pit stop at Gritty’s for Halloween Ale and soft pretzels.” —Mali Welch, art director, The Brand Co.

“Exploring the coast by boat all bundled up to see the foliage from the water. “

—Laura Bryer, gallery manager, Portland Art Gallery, Art Collector Maine

“Beaches are back for doggies, and our fave thing is taking our Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever, Stella, for a run at wonderful Willard Beach, then a breakfast stop at 158 Pickett Street Cafe for the Salmon Bagel and the Hippie. On everything bagels of course.” —Chris Kast, brand strategist, The Brand Co.

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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2

5PM–9PM

10AM–5PM

Find the perfect gift made by MECA students, alumni, faculty and staff. We invite you to share an experience beyond shopping–connecting with the arts community, celebrating with your family, and buying local.

Give the gift of art!

Maine College of Art, Porteous Building 522 Congress Street Portland, Maine

FREE Admission, All Ages! For more info, visit: meca.edu/holiday-sale OPM_NOV17.indd 89

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10/5/17 10:35 AM

Welcome back.

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Before “foodie” was a thing.

PORTLAND DAVID’S davidsrestaurant.com

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SOUTH PORTLAND

KENNEBUNKPORT

DAVID’S 388 davids388.com

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10/5/17 10:36 AM