Tag: Camden Public Library

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Camden Public Library’s Art in the Stacks

Southern Island: Afternoon Sun, 16X20, Björn Runquist for Art in the Stacks

Camden, ME was Edna St. Vincent Millay’s childhood home; that’s why the opening lines of her first major poem are inscribed across the rotunda at the Camden Public Library:

All I could see from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood;
I turned and looked another way,
And saw three islands in a bay.

It seems like artists have lived here ever since, and the same views that inspired Millay inspire us today.

Landscape, 11X14, Eric Jacobsen for Art in the Stacks

Camden Public Library was founded in 1796, when the town had fifteen houses. It was built by local public subscription, a tradition that continues. Today, the library board is responsible not only for the library but for the amphitheater and Harbor Park. That’s a pretty big chunk of the town’s most visible real estate. These three areas are important not only locals but visitors from all over the world. That is one reason why Maine artists are glad to help the library raise money to continue their programming.

The Colors of a Gray Day, 12X16, Ken DeWaard for Art in the Stacks

Art in the Stacks is a new summer fundraiser based on Camden on Canvas, but with a fresh look and feel. This two-week silent auction is being held from July 20 to August 3. The artwork of 30 well-known artists is on display in the library, with bidding taking place entirely online.

Early Spring Beech Hill, 12X16, Carol Douglas for Art in the Stacks

If you’re in the area, stop in and visit. Art in the Stacks gives library-goers a chance to engage with art as they do their everyday errands. There is of course no admission fee, but you will be tempted to sit down and read in this most beautiful of libraries.

Autumn Meadow, 12X16, Stephen Florimbi for Art in the Stacks

Whether you’re an art lover, a casual browser, or just someone stopping in to pick up your next summer read, Art in the Stacks offers something unexpected and enriching. It reminds us that art isn’t confined to museums and galleries. It lives everywhere (including within the pages of books).

Dam Falls, 14X19.5, Mary Ann Heinzen for Art in the Stacks

Art in the Stacks will close with a small reception in the historic Reading Room on Sunday, August 3, 2025 from 4-6 PM.

Quiet Sidewalks, 18.5X22, Colin Page for Art in the Stacks

How to see all the pieces

I had a very tough time choosing paintings for this blog post, so go to the auction website here to see all 30 pieces. These artists are donating all proceeds to the Camden Public Library. That means every penny raised goes directly to the library fund.

Schooners, Camden Harbor, 12X16, Doug Smith for Art in the Stacks

All bidding takes place online and all bids are final. Winning bids will be automatically charged to your chosen payment method; choose either credit card or PayPal as you check out.

Registration is now open for workshops in 2026! Reserve your spot:

Can’t commit to a full workshop? Work online at your own pace:

Seven Protocols for Successful Oil Painters

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The last fun time

Iris Blossoms, by Peter Yesis, courtesy of the artist.

On March 6, 2020, Peter Yesis had an opening at the Picker Room of the Camden Public Library. That night, Ken DeWaard introduced us to the elbow bump, which was supposed to replace handshakes and hugs and keep us safe from this new disease from China. It was a dark winter’s night and we were a party of close friends. We laughed and joked and practiced bumping elbows. I wasn’t overly worried; we’d seen this with SARS and Ebola-a whole lot of fuss over nothing.

I flew off to Argentina with my pal Jane Chapin and all hell broke loose (proving that I can’t leave you kids alone for fifteen minutes). Among the first casualties was Peter’s solo show-closed down a day after it opened. After that, we weren’t bumping elbows; we weren’t even allowed in the same room. The library shut down all art shows for the foreseeable future.

A Clear Day, by Peter Yesis, courtesy of the artist.

An abrupt closure is painful for an artist, since we work for a year or more for the materials for a one-month show. The library staff understands this; they offered Peter a reprise date in November, 2021, when life had begun its slow, sluggish return to normalcy.

Cellar Dweller, by Peter Yesis, courtesy of the artist.

Unfortunately, life intervened in another cruel way. Peter was slammed by cancer. He was in the depths of treatment and in no condition to be hawking paintings.

But today he is in remission, and we’re all celebrating with another opening. Let Peter’s annus horribilis end, and let this be the start of his annus mirabilis.

Light on the Water, by Peter Yesis, courtesy of the artist.

Every Canvas Has a Story opens this Saturday, Nov. 5th, from 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM. Enter on the Atlantic Avenue side of the Camden Library; there’s ample parking on the street and in the library lot. The show will be up for the month of November, but I always encourage people to show up for the party.

Still Waters, by Peter Yesis, courtesy of the artist.

Peter’s wife, Kim Yesis, will also be giving a book talk on Tuesday, Nov. 29th at 6:30 PM. She’s the author of Side by Side: Tales from Behind the Canvas. It talks about Peter’s decision to give up engineering for painting. They were in early middle age, which for people with children is a terribly expensive phase of life. Come ask Kim why she didn’t just kill him for the insurance money.

Tried and true, by Peter Yesis, courtesy of the artist.

Peter’s a crackerjack painter; for example, there is nobody around who paints flowers so well. I’m so glad to see him back up and punching his full weight. The paintings in this show are beautiful, and I encourage you to come out and see them in person.

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Gone Native

Update: here is a link to all the paintings in this sale.

Camden Amphitheater, 11X14, oil on canvasboard, Carol L. Douglas, $1,087 framed

Camden Public Library is co-sponsoring the Camden Native Plant Celebration & Sale – A Wild Seed Project, on the grounds of the Camden Amphitheatre Sunday, Sept. 18, from 9 AM to noon.

I asked ten of my students to create art for this project. Their only limitation was that they were restricted to native species; they could work in any medium they chose. Proceeds from the sale of their work will be split between these emerging artists and the library. This is just a very small selection of the work that will be available.

Milkweed and Butterfly, 5X7, watercolor, Rebecca Bense, $150, matted.

Fundraising is important because Camden library’s remit extends beyond its building. The library maintains Camden’s amphitheater and harbor park in addition to its own magnificent grounds. All three were designed with an eye towards the natural environment. That was an unusual approach a century ago.

In 1928, architects Parker Morse Hooper and Charles Greely Loring chose to slip the library under the shade of existing elms and maples on the site, angling it toward the community rather than the picturesque harbor below. Today, traffic and parking have rendered the Main Street portico almost obsolete; patrons use a new ground-floor entrance on Atlantic Avenue. That has an upside; its facade is undisturbed in its austere, symmetrical, colonial beauty, despite the very modern library within.

Common Milkweed, 8X10, acrylic on board, Rebecca Bowes, $50. The artist has designated 100% of this sale to go to the library fund.

Immediately adjacent to the library is Camden’s amphitheater. It’s a confection of fieldstone, brick, grass native trees and shrubs, with Art Deco wrought iron rails, light standards, gates and arches. It’s all carefully orchestrated to marry sophisticated garden theater with the wilds of Maine.

Across Atlantic Avenue, Harbor Park extends the views from the amphitheater down to busy Camden Harbor. This was designed by the Olmsted Brothers and is less formal and more naturalistic. It also relies on native plantings.

Caltha Palustris/Marsh Marigold, mixed media collage with hand-colored botanical print and vintage map 12 x 16, matted, $150, Lori Capron Galan

Once this fabulous complex of gardens was completed in 1931, the whole mess was given to Camden Library by arts patron Mary Louise Curtis Bok. Here choice of stewards wasn’t misplaced; they’re approaching their centenary in great nick.

In addition to my painting above, I’ll be painting en plein air during the event.

Blueberries on the Summit, 9×12, watercolor, $250, matted, Cassie Sano

But honestly, the event is mostly about the plants. They’re available for pre-sale here. They’re from local native plant nurseries and are grown without the use of pesticides, herbicides, and neonicotinoids. “Native plants are low maintenance and normally do not require watering, fertilizer, herbicide, fungicides, or pesticides,” said Amy Thomsen, organizer, restoration ecologist, and my buddy.

If I can sneak away, I’ll be looking for a tree to replace the not-native sequoia seedling in my front garden. It only lasted two years before it dropped dead from cold. Imagine that.