LandEscapes Board

Nancy Manter,
artistic director

Lysbeth Ackerman

Nancy Bowen

Karen Davidson

Susan Lerner

Casey Mallinckrodt

Sam Shaw

Jody Silvio

Advisory Board:

Eduardo Bohorquez

Jennie Cline

Stephanie Cotsirillis

Niki Fox

Sue Gosin

Susan Dowlng Griffiths

Steve Kursch

Carl Little

Cynthia Livingston

Patricia Phillips

Carol Shutt

July 31, 2003 --A pink Pegasus leaping over the marsh grasses at Echo Lake, a beautiful woman dropping out of the sky in a perfect swan dive, a multicolored banner framing the view of Seal Harbor, an armada of silver sails patroling the tidal outlet at Babson Creek in Somesville. These are just some of the 15 or so unexpected sights greeting travelers as they drive, walk or pedal by various water views about Mount Desert Island. They are called WaterMarks, and have been created by local and visiting artists participating in the third annual LandEscapes Symposium. The Symposium in the Arts was founded informally in 1999 and fully organized in 2001 by artist Nancy Manter, a native Mainer who lives in New York City during the winter and West Tremont in the summer.

"Vision of Pegasus" by Claire Urbahn at Echo Lake.

The aim has been to establish an annual interdisciplinary program to bring together the arts and the sciences to explore and connect themes relating to community and global issues. Each year artists, activists and scholars are invited to the island to experience its beauty and history, as well as present their work and share their skills and expertise with the year-round and summer communities.

In addition to the displays of public art, the week has featured talks, gatherings and a variety of workshops where professional artists have shared their knowledge of such subjects as papermaking, painting, fiction writing and film with an interested public.

The outdoor water-works have also been complemented by a WaterMarks-Inside exhibition at College of the Atlantic's Blum Gallery.

Still to come is a screening and discussion by guest filmmaker Peter Hutton Thursday, July 31, at 7 p.m. at the Gates Auditorium at College of the Atlantic. Mr. Hutton has produced more than 20 films, most of which are portraits of cities and landscapes around the world. His films have been shown in major museums and festivals in the United States and Europe, and included four times in the Whitney Biennial. Mr. Hutton, who has created landscape portraits of the Hudson River, is now working on a project in China and one in Iceland.

The final workshops on Thursday, July 31, will be Mark Lipman's "Digital Filmmaking" and Ms. Andrews's "Film Animation for Adults," both at COA from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The week will end with an outdoor twilight ceremony at one of the WaterMarks-Outside venues. Gospel music and poetry readings will be part of the closing celebration.