Lady Lamb and Greg Jamie at Penn Landing, Norway, Maine

Saturday, September 12

Doors open at 6:00 PM – Concert starts at 7:00 PM

GET TICKETS

Lights Out presents an evening of live music inside a site-specific art installation, featuring performances by Lady Lamb and Greg Jamie, in partnership with SPACE.

Set at Penn Landing, a former industrial cannery on the shores of Lake Pennesseewassee in Norway, Maine, the concert will unfold at the center of an immersive environment created by artists Danny Couch, Matt Demers, and Dyer Rhoads in collaboration with Spindleworks Gardiner. Get your tickets today – you won’t want to miss this!

GET TICKETS

Learn More

Upcoming Events

Life Drawing

Wednesday evenings Long Pose, 5-8 pm with Haid Tanous. Same model, same pose for 6 weeks. Admission is $12 per session and will be held upstairs in the Dance Studio.

Community Day

Wednesdays from 10 am-2 pm, free luncheon at 1 pm. Come volunteer at Lights Out and help us with a variety of fun projects. Georgia makes a delicious meal every week!

Community Art Night

Join our Community Art Night every Sunday from 2-5 pm at Lights Out. With materials provided by Lights Out and donated by the community, we make sure you have what you need and are there to encourage your creativity and share in your excitement, whether we are engaging in a group project or you’re working solo. Come create!

Norway Maine Arts Festival

Mark your calendars for this year’s arts festival in downtown Norway, Maine, happening Saturday, September 12th, 2026, from 10 am-4 pm

Penn Landing Concert – “All my fans are electric”

After the arts festival, Lady Lamb and Greg Jamie will be joining us at Penn Landing in the center of a site-specific art installation for our first-ever concert in partnership with SPACE and Spindleworks Gardiner. Saturday, September 12th, doors open at 6:00 pm and the concert starts at 7:00 pm.

Donate

Become A Member

In the spirit of the August harvest’s beautiful bounty, we gathered our community of supporters, the people whose generosity keeps this work possible, for an evening of celebration at the Alan Day Community Garden. And in Lights Out fashion, the evening opened with a summer deluge, nearly 4 inches of rain in under an hour. What could have dampened the mood instead charged it.

Soggy shoes and all, we waded through the garden’s damp grounds for a fabulous meal prepared by local chef Jessica Labonte. The center table was piled high with thoughtfully prepared local dishes, opulent flower arrangements and antiques, as well as finished pieces and works in progress by artists and this summer’s studio incubator residents. We shared stories and gratitude for our community, who show up again and again, rain or shine.

To everyone who has given time, money, art, or belief to Lights Out this year, we thank you! And to the staff, board, volunteers, family, and friends who helped us create a beautiful evening in spite of the weather, you made it a serious splash!

Introducing Studio Incubator Resident – Kye Christensen-Knowles

Kye Christensen-Knowles (b. 1993) is an American artist whose practice explores the evolving relationship between technology, cognition, and classical image-making. His work draws influence from sources as varied as the outsized legacy of French Symbolism, the pop idiom of contemporary graphic culture, and the spatial experiments of Analytic Cubism. His paintings reflect an uncertain present in the service of something ecstatic and alien.

Kye is one of 11 artists joining us in Norway this summer for our Studio Incubator program. Made possible by support from the Maine Arts Commission, the Onion Foundation, and donations from folks like you!

Lady Lamb and Greg Jamie at Penn Landing, Norway, Maine

Saturday, September 12, at 7:00 pm

GET TICKETS

Lights Out presents Lady Lamb at Penn Landing, in partnership with SPACE.

Set at a former industrial cannery on the shore of Lake Pennesseewassee in Norway, Maine, Penn Landing sits on six acres of waterfront overlooking Ordway Grove, home to Maine’s largest white pines. The concert will take place in the center of a site-specific installation in collaboration with Spindleworks, Matt Demers, Dyer Rhoads, and Danny Couch.

Upcoming Events

Life Drawing

Wednesday evenings Long Pose, 5-8 pm with Haid Tanous. Same model, same pose for 6 weeks. Admission is $12 per session and will be held upstairs in the Dance Studio.

Community Day

Wednesdays from 10 am-2 pm, free luncheon at 1 pm. Come volunteer at Lights Out and help us with a variety of fun projects. Georgia makes a delicious meal every week!

Community Art Night

Join our Community Art Night every Sunday from 2-5 pm at Lights Out. With materials provided by Lights Out and donated by the community, we make sure you have what you need and are there to encourage your creativity and share in your excitement, whether we are engaging in a group project or you’re working solo. Come create!

Norway Maine Arts Festival

Mark your calendars for this year’s arts festival in downtown Norway, Maine, happening Saturday, September 12th, 2026, from 10 am-4 pm

Penn Landing Concert

After the arts festival, Lady Lamb and Greg Jamie will be joining us at Penn Landing for a concert in partnership with SPACE. Saturday, September 12th, doors open at 6:00 pm and the concert starts at 7:00 pm.

Donate

Become A Member

Lady Lamb with Greg Jamie at Penn Landing, Norway, Maine

Saturday, September 12, at 7:00 pm

GET TICKETS

Lights Out presents Lady Lamb at Penn Landing, in partnership with SPACE.

Set at a former industrial cannery on the shore of Lake Pennesseewassee in Norway, Maine, Penn Landing sits on six acres of waterfront overlooking Ordway Grove, home to Maine’s largest white pines. The concert will take place in the center of a site-specific installation in collaboration with Matt Demers, Dyer Rhoads, and Spindleworks. Yesterday, Aly visited the Lights Out team at Penn Landing to see the progress on the stage installation.

“From her early days, staying late after-hours at her video rental store job in Maine to record songs, to co-producing and arranging her four studio records, Aly Spaltro has remained focused on music that connects, empowers and builds community.”

More details on the full experience are coming soon, but trust us – you’re going to want to be there. Get your tickets today!

GET TICKETS

Norway Maine Arts Festival

Saturday, September 12, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Join us for this year’s Norway Maine Arts Festival – bigger and better than ever and always free to the public. This festival has proudly been a part of Norway’s downtown history since 1972. It celebrates art and community in the foothills of Western Maine and across the state, showcasing artisans of all kinds through art and craft vendors, live demonstrations, performances, keynote speakers, musicians, and farmers, all set within the historic buildings of downtown Norway. We can’t wait to spend the day with you!

Learn More

Upcoming Events

Life Drawing

Wednesday evenings Long Pose, 5-8 pm with Haid Tanous. Same model, same pose for 6 weeks. Admission is $12 per session and will be held upstairs in the Dance Studio.

Community Day

Wednesdays from 10 am-2 pm, free luncheon at 1 pm. Come volunteer at Lights Out and help us with a variety of fun projects. Georgia makes a delicious meal every week!

Community Art Night

Join our Community Art Night every Sunday from 2-5 pm at Lights Out. With materials provided by Lights Out and donated by the community, we make sure you have what you need and are there to encourage your creativity and share in your excitement, whether we are engaging in a group project or you’re working solo. Come create!

Norway Maine Arts Festival

Mark your calendars for this year’s arts festival in downtown Norway, Maine, happening Saturday, September 12th, 2026, from 10 am-4 pm

Penn Landing Concert

After the arts festival, Lady Lamb and Greg Jamie will be joining us at Penn Landing for a concert in partnership with SPACE. Saturday, September 12th, doors open at 6:00 pm and the concert starts at 7:00 pm.

Donate

Become A Member

My name is Caroline Sheets, and I am a second-year design intern here at Lights Out! My job this summer is primarily to work alongside Karlë on projects such as our recent Annual Appeal campaign, branding and marketing for our upcoming concert with Lady Lamb and the Norway Maine Arts Festival. My favorite project has been to help design our beer labels, which we are brewing in collaboration with Norway Brewing Company! Outside of work, I am going into my senior year at Colby College, where I study Psychology and Art. Like Emily, I grew up and currently live in Hebron.

I am so excited to be back again this summer working with this team. The care and support everyone has for each other here is truly beautiful, and sets it apart from other teams I’ve been a part of. The highlight of my summer here has definitely been working with old friends and making new ones in the office. I’ll be sad when my time here ends, but I can’t wait to participate in future Lights Out events!

Lady Lamb and Greg Jamie are coming to Norway this September!

After the arts festival, Lady Lamb and Greg Jamie will be joining Lights Out at Penn Landing for our FIRST EVER concert in partnership with SPACE.

Saturday, September 12th, doors open at 6:00 pm and the concert starts at 7:00 pm.

Set at a former industrial cannery on the banks of Lake Pennesseewassee in Norway, Maine, Penn Landing sits on six acres of waterfront overlooking Ordway Grove, home to Maine’s largest white pines. The concert will take place in the center of a site-specific art installation built inside the space. More details on the full experience are coming soon, but trust us – you’re going to want to be there!

GET TICKETS

Emotional Value Auction

Something burning a hole in your heart?

We’re proud to announce that at the 2026 Norway Maine Arts Festival on Saturday September 12th, artist, activist, and experience broker Adriane Herman will conduct her 7th Emotional Value Auction from 10am to 4pm on the historic Main Street of Norway, ME.

The Emotional Value Auction is a participatory artwork and non-monetized auction created and facilitated by Maine artist Adriane Herman. It is an exercise in mutually empathetic transactions between people without the ordeal of capital. Participants are invited to unburden themselves of deeply sentimental possessions that have become equally difficult to hold and to part with, whether they are haunted by passions tender or harsh.

At the Auction, attendees witness uniquely raw expressions of vulnerability through the stories behind each submitted item. They are then invited to “bid” on any item with their words and sentiments alone, sharing why they wish to engage in this exchange and what the item would mean to them. The item’s owner receives these bids and chooses whom they wish to entrust their possession based on whose words move them the most. Herman serves as a compassionate proxy throughout the exchange, releasing the owner of their item’s weight and passing it on to someone who will cherish it as the next steward in its story.

This occasion for emphatic release models accepting generosity without shame or expectation. It is an opportunity to bare ourselves to each other, to challenge, console, and participate. The Emotional Value Auction is a moment in which one story can end, another begins, and many others continue, transformed through care and the meaningful bonds we forge together through publicly shared vulnerability.

If there is something you are ready to let go of, email an image and description of the item, along with your reason for parting with it, to emotionalvalueauction@gmail.com. Once invited, you’ll receive instructions for dropping off your submission at Lights Out Gallery in Norway, ME by Saturday August 29th.

If you need alternate arrangements such as mailing or pick-up of your item, please include that information in your submission email.

Join us at the 2026 Norway Maine Arts Festival on Saturday September 12th from 10am to 4pm to witness the power of witnessing!

Yarn Bombing Workshop

It’s Happening Again!

Join us for our second Yarn Bombing Workshop at Lights Out's Community Art Night on Sunday, August 16th, as we continue our work on creating a colorful community art installation that will transform Main Street in downtown Norway for the 2026 Norway Maine Arts Festival. Whether you joined us for our first workshop or are jumping in for the first time, we'd love to have you! No experience is required. If you've never knitted or crocheted before, come learn, lend a hand, meet fellow makers, and help bring this collective public art project to life.

What to bring:
Knitters: Needles (sizes 8–17)
Crocheters: Hooks (sizes G–Q)
Everyone: Scissors and a bag to bring home yarn to continue working on pieces between workshops.

The installation of the Yarn Bombs on Norway’s Main Street will be on Sunday August 30th! Fiber & Vine will have a limited supply of knitting needles, crochet hooks, scissors, and sewing needles available, so if you have your own tools, please bring them along if you can. Thank you to everyone who attended the previous workshop and we're excited to have you and others again at the next!

Now seeking: Volunteer desk-cleaners

Lights Out is seeking volunteers for a desk cleaning operation. Daniel and Zoey have been disorganized and disgruntled to the point that some of their team members are becoming discombobulated. Since they clearly do not have the tenacity and tact to resolve this problem themselves, we are seeking volunteers to help our staff solve this issue. Experience with hazardous chemical waste preferred, but anyone with perseverance and face masks will suffice!

Upcoming Events

Life Drawing

Wednesday evenings Long Pose, 5-8 pm with Haid Tanous. Same model, same pose for 6 weeks. Admission is $12 per session and will be held upstairs in the Dance Studio.

Community Day

Wednesdays from 10 am-2 pm, free luncheon at 1 pm. Come volunteer at Lights Out and help us with a variety of fun projects. We’ll have pizza for lunch this Wednesday!

Community Art Night

Join our Community Art Night every Sunday from 2-5 pm at Lights Out. With materials provided by Lights Out and donated by the community, we make sure you have what you need and are there to encourage your creativity and share in your excitement, whether we are engaging in a group project or you’re working solo. Come create!

Norway Maine Arts Festival

Mark your calendars for this year’s arts festival in downtown Norway, Maine, happening Saturday, September 12th, 2026, from 10 am-4 pm

Penn Landing Concert

After the arts festival, Lady Lamb and Greg Jamie will be joining us at Penn Landing for a concert in partnership with SPACE. Saturday, September 12th, doors open at 6:00 pm and the concert starts at 7:00 pm.

Donate

Become A Member

Hello everyone!

My name is Emily Sanborn. I am the youth program coordinator intern here at Lights Out. I live in Hebron, and I’m a rising sophomore at Colby College studying elementary education. My job revolves around organizing and managing the Little Sparks Art Camp and the Ignite: Teen Art Intensives.

The overall community that Lights Out has offered me has been an incredible experience. Community Days and Wednesday lunches have helped me make connections in the area that I wouldn’t have otherwise made. Getting to know my co-workers and my camp kids has been the highlight of my summer, and I am so thankful for this opportunity. Although my time here has been short, I’ve made some lifelong friends through this internship, and I’ve appreciated every second of it.

Lights Out Spotlight at Alan Day Community Garden this Friday!

“Join Co-Founders Dan and Reed for a roundtable Q&A on what it takes to build and run a statewide arts nonprofit right here in Maine. Hear their story, ask questions, and get an inside look at the vision behind one of Maine’s greatest galleries.”

Norway Maine Arts Festival Co-Directors and Lights Out team members Ben Troutman and Zoey Patarroyo will also be tabling at the Farmers Market for market-goers to learn more about this year’s Festival, what’s in store, and how to volunteer!

Come by this week’s Farmers Market on Friday from 5pm to 8pm to learn more about Lights Out and the Norway Maine Arts Festival and enjoy the food, people, and atmosphere of the Alan Day Community Garden!

Lady Lamb and Greg Jamie are coming to Norway this September!

After the arts festival, Lady Lamb and Greg Jamie will be joining Lights Out at Penn Landing for our FIRST EVER concert in partnership with SPACE.

Saturday, September 12th, doors open at 6:00 pm and the concert starts at 7:00 pm.

Set at a former industrial cannery on the banks of Lake Pennesseewassee in Norway, Maine, Penn Landing sits on six acres of waterfront overlooking Ordway Grove, home to Maine’s largest white pines. The concert will take place in the center of a site-specific art installation built inside the space. More details on the full experience are coming soon, but trust us – you’re going to want to be there!

GET TICKETS

Upcoming events

Life Drawing

Wednesday evenings Long Pose, 5-8 pm with Haid Tanous. Same model, same pose for 6 weeks. Admission is $12 per session and will be held upstairs in the Dance Studio.

Community Day

Wednesdays from 10 am-2 pm, free luncheon at 1 pm. Come volunteer at Lights Out and help us with a variety of fun projects. Georgia makes a delicious meal every week!

Community Art Night

Join our Community Art Night every Sunday from 2-5 pm at Lights Out. With materials provided by Lights Out and donated by the community, we make sure you have what you need and are there to encourage your creativity and share in your excitement, whether we are engaging in a group project or you’re working solo. Come create!

Norway Maine Arts Festival

Mark your calendars for this year’s arts festival in downtown Norway, Maine, happening Saturday, September 12th, 2026, from 10 am-4 pm

Penn Landing Concert

After the arts festival, Lady Lamb and Greg Jamie will be joining us at Penn Landing for a concert in partnership with SPACE. Saturday, September 12th, doors open at 6:00 pm and the concert starts at 7:00 pm.

Donate

Become A Member

Hi everyone,

I am happy to introduce our new series for our next three newsletters! For the next few weeks, me and the other summer interns at Lights Out will be ‘taking over’ the newsletter to chat about our own experiences working at Lights Out. I’m Henry, one of the two design interns and a rising senior at Bowdoin studying Visual Arts and English. I’ve spent most of my time at Lights Out working on the website and designs for new events, alongside taking video of our operations for content coming later. My favorite project so far has been working on can designs for the beers we are creating with Norway Brewing Company— it’s helped me hone in on my collaboration skills while being loads of fun! I’ve had a great time getting to know Lights Out as a community; being here has taught me a lot about the nuts and bolts of running an arts organization and how to contribute to that every day. It’s been amazing to see Norway as well, the nature out here is spectacular and I’ve loved exploring the rivers and mountains surrounding it.

But that’s enough about me— onto events we want you to know about happening this week:

Jewish Museum Review: Rose Marasco, Jeffry Ackerman, Kathy Weinberg

By Reed McLeen

ROSE MARASCO

Affection is a kind of bulging outwards

Rose Marasco’s show at the Jewish museum spans years of work, plus new intaglio impressions of pieces from recent years. The most exciting though, since most of the show I’ve seen before, are the ones done recently. First, they are images of birds resting where birds might rest. Postcard images of birds perched on rocks, nestled into windowsills, wedged between tree branches.

What is that bulging out of her pictures? It isn’t simply the postcard warped between points of contact, this feeling extends to the full plane — look at the sill of the window — it is the lens itself. Marasco makes us aware of the malleable quality of the lens, or actually, reality being bent by the lens; that it morphs and creates images rather than revealing objective reality. Her photos never feel like straightforward representation. This bulging is the instinctive response of an artist whose medium is indistinguishable from her agency. This is a long way of saying Marasco makes pictures that come towards you. This same bulging quality you feel when your heartbeat quickens. A little image of a bird bulging outward. Now think of flight, imagine the bird flying; how it feels to fly, to fall. Acceleration feels like a kind of bulging in the stomach.

Marasco never said any of this. She works “purely by instinct.” It just happens heart and mind are measured equally in her actions. Here, through familiarity with her lifelong medium, she wills still images to move by force.

KATHY WEINBERG

The most interesting house in maine

Many have said that Ackerman and Weinberg — their work shares many similarities — are the same artist in two bodies: one more disposed to painting and the other to sculpture, like fraternal twins. They are partnered and within each other’s worlds, so none of this should be surprising.

Weinberg’s work is distinctly informed by interiors and the domestic. If that statement would indicate plainness, It is worth mentioning that their house is a preservationist’s cottage fantasy. Scraps of cracked wallpaper, plastic chandeliers — once a bargain option for a rural homestead, now a collector’s item — and antique bronzes are given equal weight. No design magazine would profile this house, and that is because it is more interesting, more rich and textured than anyone who reads those magazines. It is this background we find in Weinberg’s paintings. Lightswitches are repeated in series, serving to highlight the ephemeral: changing light, shifting patches of sun through a window warming a wallpaper scene of bucolic tree and pasture. The best of these paintings are glittering and lush with color without being garish. Moments of eerie whimsy intrude here too, a moth silently floating into a window, as a forest sprouts up from the wooden floor in an exquisitely painted room. They are lush, brainy, and patient. Full of dreams and illusions.

JEFFRY ACKERMAN

Fantasy doesn’t need to mean escape

There is one painting that isn’t brushy, looks tight, more planned, much more vibrant. The other paintings are all tinted with white, with imagery that seems discovered in the act of painting. This one feels condensed and it is apt as a cabinet, like the spot where artifacts from all the other paintings are collected. Other worlds are arranged here with more finality than their native lands.

Jeffrey’s work is genre-bending, a kind of simulation which includes sci-fi, fantasy, ancient history, and references from scripture. All of this can be called fantasy if we think of fantasy not as a literary genre but the capacity to imagine things, ourselves, as different from what they, we, actually are. They seem totally beyond rigid principles in painting, which is what makes them genuinely fun. Considering his innocent, slightly (or more than slightly) nerdy intelligence, they give the impression of someone living in his paintings, although not entirely vicariously. His sculptures are notable. Some of them are cracked, but it doesn’t matter much. They seem to implicate history, so it is no problem to see cracks in the foundation. They are sculpted from porcelain and terracotta deliberately, delicately, with not just a little sensuality. They are practically erotic. They induce imaginary adventures within their architecture: little rodent beings carrying torches on some obscure but very important quest.

When first meeting Ackerman and Weinberg, they jokingly referred to themselves as the “greying avant-garde.” Really, they remain consistently two of the most fantastically inclined artists in Maine.

New Scholarship in collaboration with Maine photography legend Rose Marasco

Maine-based photographer & professor Emeritus Rose Marasco is launching a new scholarship dedicated to the visual arts! As a longtime resident of the state, Marasco was inspired to create the scholarship because of the role that scholarships played in her own ability to pursue art school. The scholarship is the only one of its kind in the state of Maine and is designed to support all visual arts students regardless of medium. Our curator, Reed Mclean, wanted to express his support for the scholarship:

“When Karlë Woods and I graduated high school, we were extremely lucky to be the final recipients of the Pearl Starbird Scholarship, a fund remarkably similar to the one Rose has launched. It granted us both a life changing amount of money, allowing us to pursue arts education without massive debt. For this we will both be forever grateful. This scholarship fills a void that has been missing in Maine since our own educations. We are both so proud of Rose, and know this fund will be transformative for those it supports.”

— Reed McLean, Curator

Studio Incubator Highlight - Carol Marsh

Our Studio Incubator highlight for this week is Carol Marsh, a ceramicist. Marsh began working with clay in when she was in her early twenties, then later became an architect, and found her way back to clay a year and a half ago. Major sources of inspiration for Marsh include the physical forms of living things, as well as how the relationship between time, space, and perspective can change the objects she creates. As a part of Lights Out’s studio incubator program, Marsh is creating ceramic sculptures in our shared studio alongside several other artists. When reflecting on her time at Lights Out, Marsh said she felt a strong sense of inspiration from the sense of community in the shared studio. Alongside the community aspect, she also mentioned that the ability to go back to the same place everyday gave her a more intimate relationship to her process of creating art.

The studio incubator program is made possible by support from the Maine Arts Commission, the Onion Foundation, and donations from folks like you!

Lady Lamb and Greg Jamie concert

Set at a former industrial cannery on the banks of Lake Pennesseewassee in Norway, Maine, Penn Landing sits on six acres of waterfront overlooking Ordway Grove, home to Maine’s largest white pines. The concert will take place in the center of a site-specific art installation built inside the space. More details on the full experience are coming soon, but trust us – you’re going to want to be there.

Purchase tickets here

Upcoming events

Life Drawing

Wednesday evenings Long Pose, 5-8 pm with Haid Tanous. Same model, same pose for 6 weeks. Admission is $12 and will be held upstairs in the Dance Studio.

Community Day

Wednesdays from 10 am-2 pm, free luncheon at 1 pm. Come volunteer at Lights Out and help us with a variety of fun projects. Georgia makes a delicious meal every week!

Community Art Night

Join our Community Art Night every Sunday from 2-5 pm at Lights Out. With materials provided by Lights Out and donated by the community, we make sure you have what you need and are there to encourage your creativity and share in your excitement, whether we are engaging in a group project or you’re working solo. Come create!

Norway Maine Arts Festival

Mark your calendars for this year’s arts festival in downtown Norway, Maine, happening Saturday, September 12th, 2026, from 10 am-4 pm

Penn Landing Concert

After the arts festival, Lady Lamb and Greg Jamie will be joining us at Penn Landing for a concert in partnership with SPACE. Saturday, September 12th, doors open at 6:00 pm and the concert starts at 7:00 pm.

Check out more upcoming events at Lights Out on our community calendar.

Get tickets now for our first ever concert at Penn Landing in Norway, Maine – Saturday, September 12th, after the Norway Maine Arts Festival!

Get Tickets

Lights Out presents Lady Lamb with Greg Jamie at Penn Landing, in partnership with SPACE.

Set at a former industrial cannery on the banks of Lake Pennesseewassee in Norway, Maine, Penn Landing sits on six acres of waterfront overlooking Ordway Grove, home to Maine’s largest white pines. The concert will take place in the center of a site-specific art installation built inside the space. More details on the full experience are coming soon, but trust us – you’re going to want to be there.

Make a weekend of it! The Norway Maine Arts Festival runs 10am-4pm just down the street before the show, and campsites are available for reservation.

There will be on-site camping available so you can stay over after the show! Flat, grassy 15’x15’ tent sites right on the grounds. Porta-potties on site; no running water or power, so come prepared and bring your own gear. Set up starts at 4pm on the 12th, you must be off premises and cleaned up by 11am on the 13th. Campers also get a $10 breakfast voucher to use at local restaurants Sunday morning! Camping sites are $35 per spot, up to 4 people per site.

Get Tickets

Introducing Studio Incubator Resident – Mattie Rose Templeton

Mattie Rose Templeton, a Mainer born and raised in blueberry country, is inspired by the living and natural world that surrounds us all. Through art, she explores our connection to nature, including the undeniable fragility that is found there. And the importance for us to protect it. Art, since the beginning, has been a way to record history through visual storytelling. Mattie Rose attempts to produce art that moves the viewer beyond the piece itself, and into that storytelling place. Using an “old fashioned” ink well, with variously-sized nibs, she is able to add different texture and line. She often uses a limited pallette, because she loves the drama that contrast brings. While the subject matter of her work is based in realism, there is a conceptual quality added through geometric shapes and patterns, and a certain magic that will keep the viewer asking “is this real?”

Mattie is one of 11 artists joining us in Norway this summer for our Studio Incubator program. Made possible by support from the Maine Arts Commission, the Onion Foundation, and donations from folks like you!

The Little Sparks Art Camp is off to a great start!

Tomorrow, we wrap up our first week of Little Sparks Art Camp in partnership with Creative Oxford Hills. Our ‘Little Sparks’, volunteers, and instructors have all had a blast!

Upcoming Events

Little Sparks Art Camp

Little Sparks Art Camp will run Monday through Friday from July 6th through July 17th. Learn more and register your “Little Spark” today!

Life Drawing

Wednesday evenings Long Pose, 5-8 pm with Haid Tanous. Same model, same pose for 6 weeks. Admission is $12 and will be held upstairs in the Dance Studio.

Community Day

Wednesdays from 10 am-2 pm, free luncheon at 1 pm. Come volunteer at Lights Out and help us with a variety of fun projects. Georgia makes a delicious meal every week!

Community Art Night

Join our Community Art Night every Sunday from 2-5 pm at Lights Out. With materials provided by Lights Out and donated by the community, we make sure you have what you need and are there to encourage your creativity and share in your excitement, whether we are engaging in a group project or you’re working solo. Come create!

Norway Maine Arts Festival

Mark your calendars for this year’s arts festival in downtown Norway, Maine, happening Saturday, September 12th, 2026, from 10 am-4 pm

Penn Landing Concert

After the arts festival, Lady Lamb and Greg Jamie will be joining us at Penn Landing for a concert in partnership with SPACE. Saturday, September 12th, doors open at 6:00 pm and the concert starts at 7:00 pm.

Check out more upcoming events at Lights Out on our community calendar.

Community Calendar

Donate

Lights Out presents Lady Lamb at Penn Landing, in partnership with SPACE.

Set at a former industrial cannery on the banks of Lake Pennesseewassee in Norway, Maine, Penn Landing sits on six acres of waterfront overlooking Ordway Grove, home to Maine’s largest white pines. The concert will take place in the center of a site-specific art installation built inside the space. More details on the full experience are coming soon, but trust us – you’re going to want to be there.

Get Tickets

Make a weekend of it!

The Norway Maine Arts Festival runs 10 am to 4 pm just down the street before the show, and campsites are available for reservation.

There will be on-site camping available so you can stay over after the show! Flat, grassy 15’x15’ tent sites right on the grounds. Porta-potties on site; no running water or power, so come prepared and bring your own gear. Set up starts at 4 pm on the 12th; you must be off premises and cleaned up by 11 am on the 13th. Campers also get a $10 breakfast voucher to use at local restaurants on Sunday morning! Camping sites are $35 per spot, up to 4 people per site.

Get Tickets

Introducing Studio Incubator Resident – Timothy Owen

Timothy Owen is an artist working in collaboration with nature. In tune with the various mycelial networks that interweave the forest floor, he works to reimagine a world in terms of connections and associations instead of “me” and “my.” Currently, in relation to Reishi, he questions if waste is even a possibility. Through woodworking, mushroom cultivation and composting he’s developed a practice of building, creating and stewarding living sculptures that are breathing, growing, living processes.

Timothy is one of 11 artists joining us in Norway this summer for our Studio Incubator program. Made possible by support from the Maine Arts Commission, the Onion Foundation, and donations from folks like you!

Upcoming Events

‘The Verdant Line’ – Mattie Rose Templeton

Visit our satellite gallery to see Mattie Rose Templeton’s solo exhibition, “The Verdant Line” at The Commons, 15 Main Street, Belfast, Maine. The exhibit is on view now through July 11th with a lovely collection of Mattie’s original illustrations, prints and cards! The gallery is open Wed-Friday, 12pm-5pm and on weekends by chance or appointment.

Little Sparks Art Camp

Little Sparks Art Camp will run Monday through Friday from July 6th through July 17th. Learn more and register your “Little Spark” today!

Life Drawing

Wednesday evenings Long Pose, 5-8 pm with Haid Tanous. Same model, same pose for 6 weeks. Admission is $12 and will be held upstairs in the Dance Studio.

Community Day

Wednesdays from 10 am-2 pm, free luncheon at 1 pm. Come volunteer at Lights Out and help us with a variety of fun projects. Georgia makes a delicious meal every week!

Community Art Night

Join our Community Art Night every Sunday from 2-5 pm at Lights Out. With materials provided by Lights Out and donated by the community, we make sure you have what you need and are there to encourage your creativity and share in your excitement, whether we are engaging in a group project or you’re working solo. Come create!

Norway Maine Arts Festival

Mark your calendars for this year’s arts festival in downtown Norway, Maine, happening Saturday, September 12th, 2026, from 10 am-4 pm

Penn Landing Concert

After the arts festival, Lady Lamb will be joining us at Penn Landing for a concert in partnership with SPACE. Saturday, September 12th, doors open at 6:00 pm and the concert starts at 7:00 pm.

Check out more upcoming events at Lights Out on our community calendar.

Community Calendar

Donate

You’ve helped us take this first breath, awakened our systems, and ensured that Lights Out is here right now, serving Maine artists and their work. Now we’re asking for a second wind.

With grant revenue down more than $100,000 for 2026, $50,000 keeps us breathing. Stretching our goal to $75,000 will grow this year’s programming beyond expectations.

If you’ve already given, thank you. If you haven’t yet, this is the moment. We need everyone to show up for these next 25,000 dollars.

Give Today

Introducing our first Studio Incubator resident – Brian Trelegan

Brian is spending two weeks with us on a break from getting his MFA at Ohio State.

“I’m an artist from Maine, born in Massachusetts, and currently living in Columbus, Ohio while I get my MFA in art and technology at The Ohio State University. I collect old toys, electronics and media and sometimes make art with them. I find common ground with and humor in these objects through their flaws and glitches.”

Brian is one of 11 artists joining us in Norway this summer for our Studio Incubator program. Made possible by support from the Maine Arts Commission, the Onion Foundation, and donations from folks like you!

Upcoming Events

‘The Verdant Line’ – Mattie Rose Templeton

Visit our satellite gallery to see Mattie Rose Templeton’s solo exhibition, “The Verdant Line” at The Commons, 15 Main Street, Belfast, Maine. The exhibit is on view now through July 11th with a lovely collection of Mattie’s original illustrations, prints and cards! The gallery is open Wed-Friday, 12pm-5pm and on weekends by chance or appointment.

Little Sparks Art Camp

Little Sparks Art Camp will run Monday through Friday from July 6th through July 17th. Learn more and register your “Little Spark” today!

Life Drawing

Wednesday evenings Long Pose, 5-8 pm with Haid Tanous. Same model, same pose for 6 weeks. Admission is $12 and will be held upstairs in the Dance Studio.

Community Day

Wednesdays from 10 am-2 pm, free luncheon at 1 pm. Come volunteer at Lights Out and help us with a variety of fun projects. Georgia makes a delicious meal every week!

Community Art Night

Join our Community Art Night every Sunday from 2-5 pm at Lights Out. With materials provided by Lights Out and donated by the community, we make sure you have what you need and are there to encourage your creativity and share in your excitement, whether we are engaging in a group project or you’re working solo. Come create!

Norway Maine Arts Festival

Mark your calendars for this year’s arts festival in downtown Norway, Maine, happening Saturday, September 12th, 2026, from 10 am-4 pm

Check out more upcoming events at Lights Out on our community calendar.

Community Calendar

Donate

Donate

Donate

Donate

This is a really exciting time of year! We’re halfway through our annual fundraising campaign. Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed so far. We have raised over 26% of our goal. As we head into another beautiful week in our art loving state of Maine, I urge you to make a contribution to keep momentum as we reach for our goal of 50K by July 4th!

Right now, we have a really special opportunity from an anonymous donor to match every donation that comes in before this Friday up to 10 thousand dollars!

Donate

“During my interview, a transformation took place inside of me. I became a much more confident person in real time, and I can see it when I watch the video back. That confidence has stuck with me ever since.” – Kevin Xiques, Artist

Our vision is to uplift and enrich the arts, drawing creative lines from our home in the Western Foothills to the salty coast and up to the County. Through archival work of over 100 video interviews and meticulously curated gallery exhibitions, we cherish and grow the heart of our work: relationships with Maine’s artists.

✰ Help us meet our goal of $50,000 by July 4th ✰

Make A Contribution

Love to write and want to take your craft to the next level? Join the Telling Room for a three-day creative writing conference developed in partnership with Ignite, Lights Out’s new arts education initiative. Meet other writers, generate new stories, play writing games, and dig into revision.

Sign Up Today

Yarn Bombing Workshop: Community Art Nite Sunday June 28th

At Lights Out’s Community Art Nite on Sunday June 28th, we are hosting a Yarn Bombing Workshop in collaboration with Fiber & Vine where we will work together to learn about guerilla knitting/crocheting and creating a community art installation of colorful and whimsical yarn designs along the Main Street of Norway, Maine for the 2026 Norway Maine Arts Festival.

Sign Up Today

Upcoming Events

‘The Verdant Line’ – Mattie Rose Templeton

Visit our satallite gallery to see Mattie Rose Templeton’s solo exhibition, “The Verdant Line” at The Commons, 15 Main Street, Belfast, Maine. The exhibit is on view now through July 11th with a lovely collection of Mattie’s original illustrations, prints and cards! The gallery is open Wed-Friday, 12pm-5pm and on weekends by chance or appointment.

Little Sparks Art Camp

Little Sparks Art Camp will run Monday through Friday from July 6th through July 17th. Learn more and register your “Little Spark” today!

Life Drawing

Wednesday evenings Long Pose, 5-8 pm with Haid Tanous. Same model, same pose for 6 weeks. Admission is $12 and will be held upstairs in the Dance Studio.

Community Day

Wednesdays from 10 am-2 pm, free luncheon at 1 pm. Come volunteer at Lights Out and help us with a variety of fun projects. Georgia makes a delicious meal every week!

Community Art Night

Join our Community Art Night every Sunday from 2-5 pm at Lights Out. With materials provided by Lights Out and donated by the community, we make sure you have what you need and are there to encourage your creativity and share in your excitement, whether we are engaging in a group project or you’re working solo. Come create!

Special YARN BOMBING WORKSHOP - Sunday, June 28th, 2-5 pm at Lights Out.

Norway Maine Arts Festival

Mark your calendars for this year’s arts festival in downtown Norway, Maine, happening Saturday, September 12th, 2026, from 10 am-4 pm

Check out more upcoming events at Lights Out on our community calendar.

Community Calendar

Donate

Like the vital systems that compose our bodies, Lights Out is maintained and urged forward by you: artists, volunteers, donors, team members and collaborators. You are the energy behind every effort. You are the essential force that animates our sustained life.

Your gift this year ensures Lights Out continues to thrive.

DONATE

Our team has grown to meet expanding needs. Fair wages and benefits put people at the center of our work. Help support the humans who make Lights Out possible.

2025 Snapshot

Last year we showcased 143 Maine artists in 6 exhibitions, attracting over 5,500 visitors. Our keystone interview series had 350,000 views on YouTube and social media. 310 donors generously supported us.

“I’ve had the pleasure of watching what began as a project dreamed up during isolation grow into something vital. In this time I’ve participated in their programming and engaged with Lights Out as an artist, collaborator, and a thought partner in shaping artist-centered programming here in Maine.” – Whitney Gill, Maine Crafts Association

A bright red and audacious heart.

There is a critical source to everything, a vital energy that flows fresh and free within us, continually renewing the whole.

Our vision is to uplift and enrich the arts, drawing creative lines from our home in the Western Foothills to the salty coast and up to the County. Through archival work of over 100 video interviews and meticulously curated gallery exhibitions, we cherish and grow the heart of our work: relationships with Maine’s artists.

“During my interview, a transformation took place inside of me. I became a much more confident person in real time, and I can see it when I watch the video back. That confidence has stuck with me ever since.” – Kevin Xiques, Artist

This summer, the Snowshoe Factory opens its doors as a working studio residency, offering 3,000 square feet of space to makers hungry for creative growth. Thanks to your donation, this opportunity is free to the artists.

DONATE

A hand extended is another hand grasped.

Volunteers meet us in the space between conceptualization and actualization. You offer expertise, knowledge, contagious enthusiasm, and your hands to realize our ambitions. Your labor is irreplaceable, the touch that turns vision into impact in our community. Ours is a partnership forged in mutual exchange and care.

“When I began volunteering for Lights Out I was searching for a community. Too often do I think we cut out that human touch in society because it’s inconvenient and not profitable. No wonder the rates of anxiety and depression are on the rise. Getting to talk, move, and create with other people … is one of those foundational, yet all too often taken for granted necessities in life.” – Noah Potts, Volunteer

2,790 hours of delicate and emphatic work by over 100 pairs of hands over the past year have left their enduring fingerprints on Lights Out. Volunteers build exhibitions, the Snowshoe Factory, the Norway Maine Arts Festival, and community programming. Each of these projects holds the unmistakable evidence of your care. Volunteer with us Wednesdays 10am - 2pm.

DONATE

Every breath is an exchange.

Without it, everything goes still. With the arts facing cuts everywhere, our grant revenue projections for 2026 are $100,000+ less than in 2025.

“…Maine is full of artists. You can be lost on a dirt road in the middle of the countryside and find someone making incredible creations. Lights Out’s mission of showcasing and bringing artists and community together inspires me to support their work…” – Joe Ferigno, Donor

Your generosity delivers what Lights Out cannot produce alone; your donations keep Lights Out alive and well. The oxygen you introduce into this body travels full circuit, absorbed and pushed out to the furthest reaching fingertips, touching all our work.

Your contribution reaches through Lights Out to the artists we serve: funding the exhibitions that give their work an audience, the interviews that give their practice a record, the residencies that give artistic ambitions room to expand.

DONATE

Without you, none of this holds together.

Lights Out is a marvelous assembly of aspirations stretching to support our community’s creative growth. In our first five years, we have shown you what a dedicated and flexible organization can do. We need your support now to keep our system moving forward. Help us meet our goal of $50K by July 4th.

DONATE

Studio Incubator Open Call closes tonight!

We have space, and we want you to use it. The Lights Out Studio Incubator is an open call for an artist or group of artists who will use over 3,000 square feet of warehouse space to realize big projects this summer. This is not an exhibition opportunity or a live/work situation; it’s for people with specific goals who need a workspace to accomplish them. If that’s you, learn more below, and apply today.

Apply Today

Sign up for a class today!

This summer, Lights Out as part of our new arts education initiative, Ignite, is launching its first Arts Intensive Series for high schoolers ages 14-18 — three hands-on courses designed for teenagers who are serious about their creative practice and ready to work alongside working artists and writers. Made possible by a youth arts education bloc grant from the State of Maine, the 2026 intensives bring together three distinct disciplines: a writing conference, sketchbook exploration, and a photography intensive. All three courses are offered on a sliding scale, with full scholarships available thanks to support from the Onion Foundation, Arts in Maine, Maine Health, New Balance, and Norway Paris Soft Serve, and the Equal Housing Opportunity.

Sign Up

Yarn Bombing Workshop: Community Art Nite Sunday June 28th

Calling all fabric artists, hobbyists, and casual enjoyers!!

At Lights Out’s Community Art Nite on Sunday June 28th, we are hosting a Yarn Bombing Workshop in collaboration with Fiber & Vine where we will work together to learn about guerilla knitting/crocheting and creating a community art installation of colorful and whimsical yarn designs along the Main Street of Norway, Maine for the 2026 Norway Maine Arts Festival.

Knowledge of crocheting, knitting, and sewing will be helpful but, if you’re unfamiliar, please feel free to come help, learn and socialize, your creativity and support is needed here!

• Knitters, bring a set or two of needles, size range 8-17

• Crocheters, bring a few hooks, size range G-Q

• Everyone, bring scissors and a bag to bring home yarn to work with!

Limited knitting needles, crochet hooks, scissors, and sewing needles will be provided by Fiber & Vine so if you have your own and are able to bring them, that would be helpful!

We’re still receiving donations for yarn bombing materials including:

• Yarn (any kind, any color)

• Unused swatches

• UFOs (unfinished projects)

• Wool sweaters with holes in them

• Any kind of yarn based product!

You can drop off donations either at Lights Out or Fiber & Vine.

Please scan the QR code or visit secure.lglforms.com/form_engine/ to sign up for the workshop and tell us about your experience and interests! We can’t wait to see you there!

Upcoming Events

‘The Verdant Line’ – Mattie Rose Templeton

Visit our satallite gallery to see Mattie Rose Templeton’s solo exhibition, “The Verdant Line” at The Commons, 15 Main Street, Belfast, Maine. The exhibit is on view now through July 11th with a lovely collection of Mattie’s original illustrations, prints and cards! The gallery is open Wed-Friday, 12pm-5pm and on weekends by chance or appointment.

Little Sparks Art Camp

Little Sparks Art Camp will run Monday through Friday from July 6th through July 17th. Learn more and register your “Little Spark” today!

Life Drawing

Wednesday evenings Long Pose, 5-8 pm with Haid Tanous. Same model, same pose for 6 weeks. Admission is $12 and will be held upstairs in the Dance Studio.

Community Day

Wednesdays from 10 am-2 pm, free luncheon at 1 pm. Come volunteer at Lights Out and help us with a variety of fun projects. Georgia makes a delicious meal every week!

Community Art Night

Join our Community Art Night every Sunday from 2-5 pm at Lights Out. With materials provided by Lights Out and donated by the community, we make sure you have what you need and are there to encourage your creativity and share in your excitement, whether we are engaging in a group project or you’re working solo. Come create!

Special YARN BOMBING WORKSHOP - Sunday, June 28th, 2-5 pm at Lights Out.

Norway Maine Arts Festival

Mark your calendars for this year’s arts festival in downtown Norway, Maine, happening Saturday, September 12th, 2026, from 10 am-4 pm

Check out more upcoming events at Lights Out on our community calendar.

Community Calendar

This summer, Lights Out as part of our new arts education initiative, Ignite, is launching its first Arts Intensive Series for high schoolers ages 14-18 — three hands-on courses designed for teenagers who are serious about their creative practice and ready to work alongside working artists and writers. Made possible by a youth arts education bloc grant from the State of Maine, the 2026 intensives bring together three distinct disciplines: a writing conference, sketchbook exploration, and a photography intensive. All three courses are offered on a sliding scale, with full scholarships available thanks to support from the Onion Foundation, Arts in Maine, Maine Health, New Balance, and Norway Paris Soft Serve, and the Equal Housing Opportunity.

Creative Writing Conference with The Telling Room, instructed by Jude Marx

June 22- 24 | 9:30AM – 1:30PM

Love to write and want to take your craft to the next level? Join the Telling Room for a three-day creative writing conference. Meet other writers, generate new stories, play writing games, and dig into revision. We’ll spend time on character development, setting, and creating new stories, then engage in revision strategies to hone language, description, and dialogue. You’ll leave with a complete piece of writing and strategies you can use to generate and revise in the future. Poets and novelists are welcome, but this workshop is also for anyone who has been curious about writing.

Photo Workshop: What’s your story? Instructed by June Kim

July 22- 24 | 9:30AM – 12:30PM

In this workshop June Kim will share her techniques and methods for photographing both people and places, as well as discuss her sources and influences. The course will cover the experiences, strategies, and influences that form and shape a body of work. She will review portfolios and teach participants how to think about editing and sequencing a group of
photographs. Each student will receive personalized feedback and tasks for improvement, and touch on the elusive questions all photographers ask themselves: Where does my work come from? What does it say? What does it mean—and how important is that? How can I express myself more effectively?

*bring examples of work, digital cameras (iPhones ok), and laptop if you have one

Watch June’s Interview

Sketchbook Exploration, instructed by Abbeth Russell

July 22- 24 | 9:30AM – 12:30PM

A sketchbook is a place to record, process, and transform our internal and external worlds. It is a companion to rant to, rave to, and hide between the pages of. It can help us connect with and learn about others. A sketchbook allows you to practice your craft, and plant seeds of thoughts and ideas without the pressure of a finished product. It can be a work of art in its own right. We will explore and be inspired by the outer reaches of the ways artists have used their sketchbooks throughout history and discover, through a variety of prompts and activities, what yours can be for you.

Watch Abbeth’s Interview

SIGN UP TODAY

Volunteer at this year’s arts festival!

It’s time again to sign up to volunteer for the 2026 Norway Maine Arts Festival! Volunteering at NMAF is a wonderful way to meet new people from all over Maine, as well as get to know the Norway community more intimately.

Descriptions of roles and responsibilities and our volunteer sign up form is available on our website! Sign up today to be a part of a passionate and ambitious crew.

Become A Volunteer

Studio Incubator Open Call

We have space, and we want you to use it. The Lights Out Studio Incubator is an open call for an artist or group of artists who will use over 3,000 square feet of warehouse space to realize big projects this summer. This is not an exhibition opportunity or a live/work situation; it's for people with specific goals who need a workspace to accomplish them. If that's you, learn more below, and apply today.

Apply Today

Upcoming Events

‘The Verdant Line’ – Mattie Rose Templeton

Visit our satallite gallery to see Mattie Rose Templeton’s solo exhibition, “The Verdant Line” at The Commons, 15 Main Street, Belfast, Maine. The exhibit is on view now through July 11th with a lovely collection of Mattie’s original illustrations, prints and cards! The gallery is open Wed-Friday, 12pm-5pm and on weekends by chance or appointment.

Little Sparks Art Camp

Little Sparks Art Camp will run Monday through Friday from July 6th through July 17th. Learn more and register your “Little Spark” today!

Life Drawing

Wednesday evenings Long Pose, 5-8 pm with Haid Tanous. Same model, same pose for 6 weeks. Admission is $12 and will be held upstairs in the Dance Studio.

Community Day

Wednesdays from 10 am-2 pm, free luncheon at 1 pm. Come volunteer at Lights Out and help us with a variety of fun projects. Georgia makes a delicious meal every week!

Community Art Night

Join our Community Art Night every Sunday from 2-5 pm at Lights Out. With materials provided by Lights Out and donated by the community, we make sure you have what you need and are there to encourage your creativity and share in your excitement, whether we are engaging in a group project or you’re working solo. Come create!

Special YARN BOMBING WORKSHOP - Sunday, June 28th, 2-5 pm at Lights Out.

Norway Maine Arts Festival

Mark your calendars for this year’s arts festival in downtown Norway, Maine, happening Saturday, September 12th, 2026, from 10 am-4 pm

Check out more upcoming events at Lights Out on our community calendar.

Community Calendar

Donate

Become A Member

Our summer 2026 art camp, hosted in partnership with Creative Oxford Hills, is returning for a third season at the Norway Grange! Little Sparks Art Camp will run Monday through Friday from July 6th through July 17th. Hands on art practices will be held in the morning and afternoon over the two weeks, as well as dance circus classes offered during the first week. The program tuition is a sliding scale with scholarships available. We're excited to host a number of art campers this year!

Learn more on our website and sign up your ‘Little Spark’ today!

SIGN UP

Congratulations, Norway Maine Arts Festival Poster Design Contest Winner, Atalie Campbell!

We’re thrilled to unveil the 2026 Norway Maine Arts Festival poster, designed by Atalie Campbell, a 3rd year graphic design student at Oxford Hills Technical School and graduating senior of Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School! Atalie created the original illustration, design, and color approach, working within the framework of the contest developed by Lights Out Gallery‘s Creative Director, Karlë Woods, and facilitated in the classroom by instructor Virginia Valdes. Her design stood out among 17 submissions from students across Oxford County as part of the annual NMAF poster design contest organized by Lights Out Gallery. The contest was made possible with the generous support of Norway Savings Bank. Her design will also be available as a T-shirt for festival attendees and volunteers. Thank you to all of the students who participated, and to the faculty and adults who help support the future of arts and design.

Join us for the 55th annual Norway Maine Arts Festival on Saturday, September 12th from 10am-4pm in downtown Norway, featuring fine art and craft, music and performance, local business, talks from Maine artists and arts administrators, and community activities.

Attendance is free!

For more information visit maineartsfestival.org

LEARN MORE

Undercurrent at Lights Out!

Undercurrent is a gathering for artists and thinkers living and working in Maine, a space for intimate dialogue, shared practice, and mutual support. Through conversation, exchange, and creative reflection, they explore and reinforce the networks of creativity that flow through Maine's art community. Recently, Undercurrent came to Lights Out, facilitated by Ian Trask, as part of their five-part ‘Voice’ series. These intimate conversations explore the creative process. Each topic unfolds across five gatherings, documented with photos, audio recordings, and reflections. Tune in with the link below!

LEARN MORE

Upcoming Events

‘The Verdant Line’ – Mattie Rose Templeton

Join us from 4-7pm on Friday, May 22nd for the opening reception of Mattie Rose Templeton’s solo exhibition, “The Verdant Line” at The Commons, 15 Main Street, Belfast, Maine. The exhibit will be open through mid-July with a collection of Mattie’s original illustrations and prints!

Life Drawing

Wednesday evenings Long Pose, 5pm-8pm with Haid Tanous. Same model, same pose for 6 weeks. Admission is $12 and will be held upstairs in the Dance Studio.

Community Day

Wednesdays from 10am-2pm, free luncheon at 1pm. Come volunteer at Lights Out and help us with a variety of fun projects. Georgia makes a delicious meal every week!

Community Art Night

Join our Community Art Night every Sunday from 2-5 pm at Lights Out. With materials provided by Lights Out and donated by the community, we make sure you have what you need and are there to encourage your creativity and share in your excitement, whether we are engaging in a group project or you’re working solo. Come create!

Check out more upcoming events at Lights Out on our community calendar.

Community Calendar

Donate

Become A Member

Studio Incubator Open Call – Summer 2026

We have space, and we want you to use it. The Lights Out Studio Incubator is an open call for an artist or group of artists who will use over 3,000 square feet of warehouse space to realize big projects this summer. This is not an exhibition opportunity or a live/work situation; it's for people with specific goals who need a workspace to accomplish them. If that's you, learn more below, and apply today.

Artists working in any medium may apply. A strong application will demonstrate concrete goals that align with Lights Out’s facilities.

The incubator is free for participating artists. Artists should expect lots of unencumbered time and space and occasional visits from other artists, curators, and community members. A public lunch is provided every Wednesday at 1 pm. A group artist salon is held Sundays 2-5 pm. Figure drawing is held Wednesdays, 5-8pm. All community activities are optional.

The studio will be available from June 15th to October 16th. Artists may choose to occupy the studio for all or part of that time.

This is not an exhibition opportunity or a live/work opportunity. It is for artists with specific goals who need a workspace to accomplish them.

The studio is a metal girder construction, with tall, sloped ceiling and plywood floors. The walls are plywood and MDF. Lighting is LED tracks and overhead fluorescent.

Meet the jury – Ashley Page, Sarah Bouchard, Virginia Valdes, and Reed McLean

Studio Incubator Open Call will receive submissions between May 4th and June 4th, 11:59 pm. All applicants will be notified by June 12th.

Learn More & Apply Today

“The Verdant Line” opens May 22nd with illustrated works by Mattie Rose Templeton

Join us from 4-7pm on Friday, May 22nd for the opening reception of Mattie Rose Templeton’s solo exhibition, “The Verdant Line” at The Commons, 15 Main Street, Belfast, Maine. The exhibit will be open through mid-July with a collection of Mattie’s original illustrations and prints!

Website

Yarn Bombing Downtown Norway!

We’re teaming up with our friends downtown at Fiber and Vine to do something special for this year’s Festival: a community yarn bombing of Norway’s Main Street.

To make it happen, we’re starting a donation drive for materials, and we’d love your help! If you’ve got any of the following tucked away and are willing to part with it, we’ll gladly take it off your hands:

• Yarn (any kind, any color)

• Crochet hooks

• Unused swatches

• UFOs (unfinished projects)

• Wool sweaters with holes in them

Donation drop-offs can be made at Fiber and Vine or Lights Out.

This donation drive will culminate in a free, hands on workshop at Lights Out during our Community Art Nite on Sunday June 14th. Whether you’re brand new or a seasoned fiber artist, we would love to have you join us to learn and teach how to knit and crochet as part of a large scale, collaborative installation.

Then, a few weeks before the Festival, we’ll gather for a Community Day to bring it all together and yarn bomb Norway’s Main Street!

Have Questions? Email nmaf@lightsoutgallery.org

Global Scream: Voices Within Oppression

This solo exhibition of Norajean Ferris’s work opens June 5th at the Reed Art Gallery at the University of Maine at Presque Isle and runs through August 7th, 2026.

Upcoming Events

Life Drawing

Wednesday evenings Long Pose, 5pm-8pm with Haid Tanous. Same model, same pose for 6 weeks. Admission is $12 and will be held upstairs in the Dance Studio.

Community Day

Wednesdays from 10am-2pm, free luncheon at 1pm. Come volunteer at Lights Out and help us with a variety of fun projects. Georgia makes a delicious meal every week!

Community Art Night

Join our Community Art Night every Sunday from 2-5 pm at Lights Out. With materials provided by Lights Out and donated by the community, we make sure you have what you need and are there to encourage your creativity and share in your excitement, whether we are engaging in a group project or you’re working solo. Come create!

Check out more upcoming events at Lights Out on our community calendar.

Community Calendar

Donate

Become A Member

“The Pinkies” are a striking trio of large-scale sculptures by Maine artist Pamela “Posey” Moulton. Standing 11-14 feet tall and built on steel frames, these vibrant works are made from recycled marine plastics pulled from the ocean and coastlines. They’re bold, interactive, and impossible to ignore!

These sculptures are a powerful reminder: plastics don’t disappear. They persist, travel, and ultimately find their way into our waters.

Hosting “The Pinkies” at Shepard’s Farm Preserve is part of an ongoing collaboration between the Western Foothills Land Trust and Lights Out Gallery. They’ll be on display in our outdoor sculpture garden for the next two years.

While the sculptures are interactive (and hugs are encouraged), please do not climb on them!

Good art sparks good conversation—and we’re excited to see what conversations The Pinkies inspire here in the Maine woods.

Learn More About Posey!

“The Verdant Line” opens May 22nd with illustrated works by Mattie Rose Templeton

Join us from 4-7pm on Friday, May 22nd for the opening reception of Mattie Rose Templeton’s solo exhibition, “The Verdant Line” at The Commons, 15 Main Street, Belfast, Maine. The exhibit will be open through mid-July with a collection of Mattie’s original illustrations and prints!

Meet the Artist

Sign Up!

Upcoming Events

Life Drawing

Wednesday evenings Long Pose, 5pm-8pm with Haid Tanous. Same model, same pose for 6 weeks. Admission is $12 and will be held upstairs in the Dance Studio.

Community Day

Wednesdays from 10am-2pm, free luncheon at 1pm. Come volunteer at Lights Out and help us with a variety of fun projects. Georgia makes a delicious meal every week!

Community Art Night

Join our Community Art Night every Sunday from 2-5 pm at Lights Out. With materials provided by Lights Out and donated by the community, we make sure you have what you need and are there to encourage your creativity and share in your excitement, whether we are engaging in a group project or you’re working solo. Come create!

Check out more upcoming events at Lights Out on our community calendar.

Community Calendar

Donate

Become A Member

A thank you to our volunteers

This past Wednesday, nearly twenty people from across Maine showed up at the Snowshoe Factory to mark Earth Day. It was a beautiful spring day for work in the backyard. Together we raked leaves, cut saplings, cleared brush and invasive plants, swept sand, and rebuilt a section of the rock wall out front.

Afterward, we gathered in the community room to warm up and enjoy a delicious taco lunch and watermelon punch made by Georgia.

Volunteer Noah Potts said it better than we could: “The question I always feel when volunteering is, ‘how can our actions best benefit our community and neighbors?’”

We are genuinely grateful for every person who gave their Wednesday to this place. Work parties like this one bring our vision of Lights Out to life, and we look forward to a busy summer season of folks enjoying our backyard.

Interested in volunteering?

We gather every Wednesday from 10 am-2 pm at Lights Out, 10 Tannery Street, Norway, Maine, to tackle ongoing projects. Georgia always serves a delicious free luncheon at 1 pm.

2030 Vision: Resilient Roots, Joyful Shoots

Climate Convergence, May 15th-16th at the Celebration Barn in Paris, Maine

Each year, the Center for an Ecology-Based Economy convenes around a common cause to learn from one another and celebrate the collective wisdom of a diverse and dispersed climate movement in Maine and beyond. Hallmarks of each convergence include workshops, roundtable discussions, hands-on activities, as well as great food, music, art and poetry to energize the urgent work of climate justice. It is designed to be inclusive, interactive, and welcoming to anyone.

Learn More & Register

Life Drawing Nights

Monday evenings from 5pm-8pm at Lights Out. The Western Maine Art Group has moved its nude figure modeling sessions (typically hosted in the Lajos Matolcsy Art Center) to Lights Out for the winter months. Admission is $12 and will be held upstairs in the Dance Studio. Wednesday evenings Long Pose, 5pm-8pm with Haid Tanous. Same model, same pose for 6 weeks. Admission is $12 and will be held upstairs in the Dance Studio.

Community Day

Wednesdays from 10am-2pm, free luncheon at 1pm. Come volunteer at Lights Out and help us with a variety of fun projects. Georgia makes a delicious meal every week!

Community Art Night

Join our Community Art Night every Sunday from 2-5 pm at Lights Out. With materials provided by Lights Out and donated by the community, we make sure you have what you need and are there to encourage your creativity and share in your excitement, whether we are engaging in a group project or you’re working solo. Come create!

Check out more upcoming events at Lights Out on our community calendar.

Community Calendar

Donate

Become A Member

It’s time again to sign up to volunteer for the 2026 Norway Maine Arts Festival! Volunteering at NMAF is a wonderful way to meet new people from all over Maine, as well as get to know the Norway community more intimately. It can also be a learning experience for those interested in the ins and outs of programming and producing arts-based events, learning about what it takes to really make things happen through clever marketing and facilitating community collaboration.

Descriptions of roles and responsibilities and our volunteer sign up form is available on our website! Sign up today to be a part of a passionate and ambitious crew.

Your commitment as a volunteer is integral to our endeavors and we are grateful to you!

Volunteer

West Paris Old Home Days

West Paris Old Home Days is looking for vendors!

The 2026 West Paris Old Home Days is the first year in the revival of this beloved West Paris tradition after a hiatus since 2014. Over a decade later, community members look to breathe new life into this celebration of Maine heritage and hometown pride. If you’re a food, craft, or local goods vendor, or volunteer looking for an opportunity to celebrate rural community, visit their website to apply today!

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The Norway Maine Arts Festival is also made possible by the generous support of donors each year. Consider contributing today! All donations are tax-deductible.

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Every year we have a big clean up party at Lights Out to prepare the grounds for the coming season. Last year, we demoed our office. This year, we’ll be working in the backyard, which is perfect timing because our Wednesday community day lands on Earth Day!

The property is looking a bit drab from winter. Let’s work together to help the spring beauty pop 🌷 Please wear durable clothes and be prepared to spend time outdoors.

Georgia will be serving up a fabulous free lunch at 1pm! See you at Lights Out next Wednesday, 10 Tannery Street, Norway, Maine, from 10am-2pm.

Let us know if you’re coming! Email hello@lightsoutgallery.org

We’re looking for a new long pose model on Wednesday nights at Lights Out!

Join us for our next 6-week long-pose nude life drawing session at Lights Out. We’re looking for models of all shapes and sizes. Sessions are held every Wednesday from 5pm-8pm. Please contact Haid Tanous via email if you’re interested in modeling: regardinghaid@gmail.com

Upcoming Events

Life Drawing Nights

Monday evenings from 5pm-8pm at Lights Out. The Western Maine Art Group has moved its nude figure modeling sessions (typically hosted in the Lajos Matolcsy Art Center) to Lights Out for the winter months. Admission is $12 and will be held upstairs in the Dance Studio. Wednesday evenings Long Pose, 5pm-8pm with Haid Tanous. Same model, same pose for 6 weeks. Admission is $12 and will be held upstairs in the Dance Studio.

Community Day

Wednesdays from 10am-2pm, free luncheon at 1pm. Come volunteer at Lights Out and help us with a variety of fun projects. Georgia makes a delicious meal every week!

Community Art Night

Join our Community Art Night every Sunday from 2-5 pm at Lights Out. With materials provided by Lights Out and donated by the community, we make sure you have what you need and are there to encourage your creativity and share in your excitement, whether we are engaging in a group project or you’re working solo. Come create!

Check out more upcoming events at Lights Out on our community calendar.

Community Calendar

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