Everyone is invited to join us for our annual commemoration of the library's benefactor Adelaide Pearson. This year we are hosting the second annual Adelaide Pearson Arts Festival in the library's Howard Room, Britton Gallery and Teen Area on second floor and on the front lawn! On Saturday, August 9 from 10AM-2PM local artists will present their work with live demonstrations and displays, while also providing fun activities for kids of all ages. Joining us will be ceramicist Mark Bell, sumi-e painter and calligrapher Frederica Marshall, textile artist Jude Hsiang, wood craftsman James Hsiang, and painter Penny Ricker. There will also be a fascinating display of objects collected by Miss Pearson during her years of travel, a craft and coloring area for kids of all ages, and a special display of sculpted woodland creatures from our artist in residence Holly Bertrand.

Mark Bell has been making pots for over 45 years. He has an M.F.A. in ceramics from Arizona State University in 1986. His pottery has been featured at the Smithsonian Craft Show, Portland Museum of Art and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. His works is included in the permanent collections of the Currier Museum of Art in Concord, NH and the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, CA. Mark has taught ceramic workshops throughout the country including California, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Arizona, Wisconsin and Maine. Mark has a home and studio in Blue Hill, ME where he lives with his wife Martha.

James Hsiang grew up a city boy and after many years of YMCA camp and Scout camp became hooked on boats. College and graduate school led to marine biology and more boats, and eventually reading a book on strip building canoes led to mastering building them and then Greenland kayaks. James has built 25 of these paddled boats in the traditional style and is passing his experience to a new generation by hosting workshops across the state of Maine.

Mainer Jude Hsiang was born knitting, then added sewing, weaving, and natural dyeing to her fiber explorations. Inspired by the real artists in the family, she has begun making inks and paints from natural sources.

Frederica Marshall sensei, BFA in Painting, MA, artist, author, teacher, researcher, lived 28 years of her life in Japan. Frederica studied Asian Brush Painting for ten years in Japan.  She is a Master Brush Painter. She has been a professional artist for forty-seven years. More than 23,000 students have studied art with her. She has exhibited and won awards in more than 100 group shows and 24 solo shows in Japan and the US. She has written three books on sumi-e; "Sumi-e Basics and Birds", "Sumi-e Landscape Painting" and "Advanced Sumi-e Techniques". Frederica also attained a BFA in Painting from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and an MA in Art Education from Michigan State University. She presented her cross-cultural study of Japanese and American children’s mandala drawings and color and design preferences using the MARI test at Johns Hopkins in 1995. Frederica’s studio and gallery are on Deer Isle, Maine where she uses Sumi-e and watercolor techniques to paint the beauty of the coast of Maine. She recently won awards for her paintings “Guardian King” and “Tree Chi” in the 2023 and 2024 National Sumi-e Exhibits on view at sumiesociety.org.

Penny Ricker is a lifelong resident of Blue Hill. She is an artist, photographer, gardener and teacher, and has been the art teacher at Blue Hill Consolidated School for 17 years. She has 5 grown children and 6 grandchildren. Her favorite subject is portraits, but she dabbles in many styles and mediums. Penny spent many years of her youth at Rowantrees Pottery where her grandmother, aunts and mother all worked. Her dedication to the teaching of the arts was inspired by Adelaide Pearson’s free art classes.

Artist in Residence Holly Bertrand retired from a forty year art teaching career and now spends her days hiking the Blue Hill Peninsula collecting natural objects to incorporate into her sculpture projects. The base of her sculptures consist of recycled materials and paper-mache. Once the base is completed, the surface textures consisting of tree lichen, feathers, pine cone pieces and seed pods are applied. Holly also creates cigar box dioramas and bespoke books, and enjoys exploring relief printmaking . Many of Holly’s books and shadow boxes were created while working with a group of talented local women BOOK artists who have encouraged and inspired one another for the past twenty-two years. 

This event is sponsored by the library and all are welcome. A full schedule of activities is provided below or can be picked up at the library. All materials will be provided, though some activities will have limited space and are first come first serve.   If you have any questions please contact Teen Services and Outreach Librarian Kendall Chapman at kendall.chapman@bhpl.net or by calling 374-5515.

The annual Adelaide Pearson commemoration is made possible by a generous donation from the Purvis family.