MMPA Gallery is uber excited and temporarily closed while we fundraise
+ construct our new home!
A NEW HOME... Its an exciting fall for MMPA!
Yes, that’s right, MMPA is purchasing a larger space in Portland to bring you more artists, artwork, books, exhibitions, events, collaborations, education, and out reach opportunities! We are terribly excited and it’s happening so fast!
MMPA has closed our current location so that we can concentrate our efforts on our NEW home! Art and Book sales will continue online or by appointment. (All purchases shipped free of charge in the US.) We plan to continue with submissions, portfolio reviews and curation while we are closed. Visit our website for updates and details or sign up to receive progress reports from our mailing list.
Concept drawings, photographs, an outline of 2026-2027 exhibitions and collaborations will be on our site soon. Until then, follow us on Linkedin and Instagram for updates. We will announce the dates of our grand opening and the next exhibitions: Looking at You and Home and Place shortly.
Forgive us if we ask a few times for donations and help. Our need is really and our ambition is great.
Our online store is open during this transition and shipping is free in the US. This is a fantastic way to help.
Join our mailing list for more details
Off to somewhere new that supports our needs, does the most good, and speaks to our mission.
Asia Kepka and Lynn Dowling, Three Cheers Motel, From the Horace and Agnes book and portfolio, 2013, Inkjet print, 17 x 22 inches, $900.
A JAMES R. SALOMON MEMORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT
Announcement: the A Call For Works chosen artists list coming soon.
Of Home + Place
The sense of place, as the phrase suggests, does indeed emerge from the senses. The land, and even the spirit of the place, can be experienced kinetically, or kinesthetically, as well as visually. If one has been raised in a place, its textures and sensations, its smells and sounds, are recalled as they felt to a child’s, adolescent’s, adult’s body. Even if ones history there is short, a place can still be felt as an extension of the body, especially the walking body, passing through and becoming part of the landscape. - Lucy Lippard
Sense of place is the sixth sense, an internal compass and map made by memory and spacial perception together. The desire to go home that is a desire to be whole, to know where you are, to be the point of intersection of all the lines drawn through all the stars, to be the constellation-maker and the center of the world, that center called love. To awaken from sleep, to rest from awakening, to tame the animal, to let the soul go wild, to shelter in darkness and blaze with light, to cease to speak and be perfectly understood. - Rebecca Solnit
Joan Fitzsimmons, The Woods 26, 1/1, 2025, Hand toned gelatin silver print with photograms, 5.1’ x 12.6’, price TBD
The Woods are my personal reflections on the meaning of landscape. I do not relate to landscape with a grand sense of romanticism. In this landscape I have ventured into the forest, the unknown, to discover that not only is it a place of both fear and fantasy, but that its very history embodies all of that. I have walked as long as I can remember. My Father would gather me, and my siblings, and we would walk for miles. We would walk to our grandparents' home. In summers, we walked in the Michigan woods, searching for evidence of past histories. When I walk, I dream. I don't start with that intent. I just want to move, but my mind moves with my body. It moves in time to places of memory and imagination. My early landscape work began with a walk in the woods. As an artist-in-residence at the Weir Farm National Historic Site I took daily walks in the surrounding woods. Imagination came into play, both then and now, with imagined creatures and events in the extreme. While lost near twilight, I conjured everything, Bambi, deer ticks, sudden sounds weren’t necessarily animals. Some of the fantasy was Disneyesque, some was extremely frightening. I wasn’t always sure of how based in reality it was. In Poland I visited Bialoweiza, one of the last remaining bits of primeval, European Forest. This speaks to the history of the woods in Europe (and other places). The woods are rife with histories of oppression and execution. They were often places of escape from such. While there I was also introduced to the traditional cut-paper art of Wycinanki.
My series, The Woods, was inspired by my experience of frequently being lost therein. It invited new formal challenges. Breaking from the traditional small photographic rectangle, I chose to respond to the immense scale of the woods and its seemingly infinite depth by augmenting the scale of my medium. I projected negatives onto mural-sized paper that I pinned to a moveable wall and then developed in an oversized sink with sponges. I then collaged the pieces together, with regard to the movement and dynamics of line. I treated the prints in a looser, more painterly fashion by collaging and cutting negatives, selectively bleaching and toning the images, and adding inks, often recreating the act of gestural drawing that I saw performed by the winter landscape. Currently I am also incorporating photograms, handcrafted birds, bits of yarn, yard debris, informed by Wycinanki and my imaginative landscape. In this body of work, I have attempted to recreate the experience of an environment through the use of abstraction, line, and scale , inviting the viewer into a disorienting space. It may be a place of discomfort, an abstraction of reality, an other reality. I am interested in creating landscapes that confer, or imply their own meaning, their own world. - Joan Fitzsimmons
Thank you to the applicants of this exhibition. The work sent to us was so extraordinary and we realized immediately that the idea of home and Place is a
poignant and timely topic in our culture. We Have decided to open our new location with the reception and exhibition- a celebration of MMPA’s new Home too! Please forgive us for the delays and have patience with us while we finalize our arrangements. Join our mailing list for updates.
Exhibition Dates + Talks: TBD shortly
Jamie Salomon with his dog, Olive.
Jamie Salomon (1963 - 2024) was a distinguished photographer whose passion for the art began at age 12 with his father's Rolleiflex camera. He earned a BFA in photography from the School of Visual Arts in New York City and later established his career in Maine after relocating with his wife, Susan. Over more than three decades, Jamie specialized in architectural, editorial, and commercial photography, developing a unique style characterized by a keen eye and a sensitive use of light. An avid nature enthusiast, his deep knowledge of the woods, oceans, and flora and fauna often permeated his photography, bringing his passions vividly to life in his images.
It is to Jamie and his family that we owe the terrific upcoming exhibition as it was generously underwritten by the salomon family.
SUBMIT YOUR WORK
HAVE A PORTFOLIO THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE?
SEND US AN EMAIL WITH “PORTFOLIO SUBMISSION” IN THE SUBJECT LINE, A SHORT BIO (2-3 SENTENCES), AN ARTIST STATEMENT (3–5 SENTENCES ABOUT THE CONTENT OF THE WORK.) an image list, AND 24-48 JPGS (1500 PIXELS, LONG EDGE) TO CONTACT.MMPA@GMAIL.COM
PLEASE NOTE, WE REQUIRE A SMALL DONATION FOR $100 TO CONSIDER A SUBMISSION.
Every submission gets a response. Works that aren’t right for MMPA are often forwarded to curators friends in southern maine.
DO NOT SEND GOOGLE DRIVE FILES
Eugène Atget, The Ragpickers, n.d. Silver print, 10 x 8 inches, $2,500.
Eugène Atget, (1857 - 1927) a French flâneur and early documentary photographer, dedicated himself to preserving the vanishing architectural and street scenes of Paris due to modernization. Though he struggled in his earlier pursuits, including acting and painting, Atget found his calling in photography around the age of 30. He became a professional photographer, providing visual references for artists and capturing the essence of Paris pre industrial revolution. His work gained recognition in the early 20th century, thanks in part to Berenice Abbott's efforts. Tragically, Atget passed away in 1927, before seeing the profound acclaim his photography would ultimately achieve. His legacy lives on through the invaluable visual record he created of a bygone Paris.
Volunteers Wanted
Filmmaker
We need someone to film 5-10 events a year and some fundraising campaignsThis person needs to be able to work with the following platforms; LinkedIn, Squarespace, Instagram and Mailchimp.If interested, please send us a note with your qualifications to: contact.mmpa@gmail.com
Office Assistant
We need someone to help with admin. work.
Email us at contact.mmpa@gmail.com with VOLUNTEER in the subject line. Send us a resume.
A Book Feature
MMPA is proud to have offerings from Radius Books, MW Editions + Artist monographs and Book Arts
New titles are constantly coming in.
Robert David Atkinson, Silent Witness to Beauty, 2024, Limited Edition Soft bound book, 148 pages, 8.25 x 11.5 inches, $45.
A Silent Witness to Beauty is a journey through the lens and the imagination of photographer Robert David Atkinson. This unique collection combines black-and-white photographs with fictional narratives to offer a truly immersive experience. Through the intimate portraits of birds, each photograph and story invites you to pause and contemplate the beauty of nature in its rawest form. From tales of resilience to moments of quiet reflection, this collection celebrates the diverse tapestry of life and the profound connections between all living beings. R.D.A.
Robert David Atkinson Photographs (from the book)
Robert David Atkinson, The Waiting, 2025, Pigment print, 16 x 12 inches, $500.
My Fine Art portfolio consists of nature and landscape photography. It is my way of sharing the profound beauty of the natural world. Each landscape and each bird in flight has a story to tell. I strive to capture those narratives through my lens, inviting viewers to pause, reflect, and appreciate the untouched splendor surrounding us. Everything is worth observing, from the natural world to everyday objects, from the elegant flight of a songbird to urban decay exploration. To capture these things in a photograph or sound recording, to create an image from nothing, has been my lifelong work and passion. I am always looking. -RDA
Robert David Atkinson is a Commercial / Fine Art photographer based in the heart of New York City. He has recently won awards from Communication Arts and American Photographic Artists. Robert started his career in the 1980s, shooting commercial work with large format cameras, then transitioned to digital in the 90s. From the streets of New York City to the tranquil landscapes that inspire his work, his lens has become a tool for capturing the essence of subjects in all their forms. His portfolio showcases his journey, reflecting a blend of technical prowess and an artist's sensitivity. In every shot taken, whether it's a product, a landscape, or a bird in flight, He is reminded of the incredible privilege it is to share stories, evoke emotions, and spark conversations through the art of photography.
spotlight on Artist, Christine Higgins
Color, pattern, light, and movement are found in my work. I am drawn to contrast and juxtaposition – the presence of fragility and strength. Water wearing down the hardness of rock, moss clinging to untenable surfaces, the abandoned and forgotten, growth despite adversity. Present are layered elements of time in what has come before, vestigial traces of history portraying past evidence in the present. I look to the sublime in the sometimes over-looked ordinary. CH
Christine Johnson Higgins works in her woodland studio in Readfield Maine. She earned her B.A. in art from Marietta College, Ohio, and M.Ed. in Integrated Arts from Lesley University, Cambridge, Mass. Her work has been exhibited throughout the Northeast, Ohio, Ecuador and Finland, and she has been featured in various publications. Seasonally, she explores pulp painting and other fiber techniques during the summer, while taking photographs and translating them into photogravure prints year round.
