Circling The Square Fine Art Press
PRINT STUDIO and GALLERY
275 Water St. Gardiner, Maine 04345
A Sense of Place/ El Sentido del Lugar
Creative Exchange
Maine and Ecuador
Estampería Quiteña (Ecuador) and Circling the Square Fine Art Press (Maine) are collaborating in a printmaking exchange entitled “A Sense of Place.” These two fine art presses will create limited edition prints that will be exhibited simultaneously in both Ecuador and Maine, with a companion catalogue documenting the project and the artwork.
Exhibition Itinerary 2016
January 18 – February 19: Danforth Gallery, University of Maine at Augusta
(Reception Sunday, January 24th, 2-4pm.)
March 4 – April 17: Emery Community Arts Center, U Maine at Farmington.
(Reception Friday, March 4th.)
March 17 – April 19: Metropolitan Cultural Center. Quito, Ecuador.
(Reception Thursday, March 17th.)
May 27 – July 15: Waterfall Arts, Belfast, Maine
(Reception, Friday, May 27th, 5-7pm.)
September 16 – November 25: Sotheby’s, Damariscotta, Maine
(Reception Friday, September 16th.)
December 3 – January 6, 2017: Viles Arboretum, Augusta, Maine
(Reception Saturday, December 3rd.)
Circling The Square Press
Circling the Square Fine Art Press opened in 2007 to offer printmaking artists in Central Maine an opportunity to share a studio, ideas, techniques, information, and to collaborate with other printmakers. This open access press is designed to combine the best of the 500-year-old traditions of printmaking with the safer, new technologies of the 21st Century.
Previous international collaborations by this collective have included the Orkney Museum in Kirkwall, Orkney, and the West Manse in Westry, Scotland. Individual members have shown their works in other national and international venues.
The Estampería Quiteña Foundation
The Estampería Quiteña Foundation is a nonprofit with a mission to create and promote the art of engraving. Founded in 1998 by a group of young writers and artists, it has grown to be one of the most respected printmaking facilities in Ecuador. It has support from the Spanish Cooperation, the Embassy of Spain, the Municipality of Quito, and the Belgian Development Cooperation.
They are investigating ways to open their doors to a wider audience in order to exchange knowledge and build community, both locally and globally.
Despite being over 3,800 miles apart members of these fine arts presses have managed to develop a cross-cultural printmaking relationship. The member-driven initiative creates limited edition prints focused on the preservation of biodiversity and the connection of local actions to global environments. Through this partnership, both communities have an opportunity to learn from each other, and share artistic and environmental insights that bridge the language and cultural distance.