By Nate Jones
Staff Writer
    It was a dreary, snowy day last week when Rick Longo walked into the River Tree Center for the Arts in Kennebunkport for the third time since being named their executive director.
    “I obviously still have a lot to learn about snow days,” he said when he found the building was still empty at 10:45 in the morning. “You can tell I’m the new guy.”
    While Longo and his wife, Joanne and their 14-year-old triplets, are still adjusting to living in Maine, Longo couldn’t be more comfortable with his new position as new executive director of the River Tree Center for the Arts, a nonprofit organization focused on enhancing and increasing the availability of art programs in the Kennebunks and all of southern Maine.
    “It’s not just clean air here, there’s a very strong creative community,” Longo said.
    Longo said River Tree does not focus on any particular medium of art, as they offer classes in music, dance and writing in addition to their visual arts programs.
    “I’ve found that as different as they all may seem, they all share the notion of story telling and communication,” Longo said. “Art can be a way to foster independence.”
    Longo said he believed the challenge of any artist is to believe stories told by your own art, no matter what the medium. He said often it is an artists’ belief in themselves that gives art meaning, rather than just the notes played, words written, dance steps taken or the picture drawn.
    “The magic of the arts is that is provides people with the ability to reconnect and find that core again from when they were kids,” Longo said.
    Originally from New York, Longo earned his bachelor of fine arts degree in communication design from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1982, where he would go on to become the assistant director of admissions after graduation.
    “I didn’t even know what that was,” Longo said. “I just knew that I loved to work on campuses.”
    Longo also spent some time as the director of admissions for the Swain School of Design in New Bedford, Mass., where he practiced skills he learned during his undergraduate study.
    “I did the garage band thing while I was in Massachusetts,” he said. “I went to an art school to keep doors open rather than to pursue a career as an artist.”
    It wasn’t until after serving as the manager of public programs at the Brooklyn Museum of Art and the executive director of admissions and student affairs at the School of Visual Art in New York City that Longo accepted a position as the vice president for enrollment management at Portland’s Maine College of Art in 2005.
    Longo said he and his family realized how much “extra stuff” they had to put up with living in and working in a major metropolitan area only after they moved to Maine.
    “People are so much nicer here. It sounds corny but it’s true,” he said. “Students at the Maine College of Art can really learn to be a working artist. In New York so many people watch the art world from the outside; here people are on the inside. It’s just a different sized pond.”
    Southern Maine is also very supportive of the arts, Longo said. The River Tree Center for the Arts relies on its endowments from the community for operation, which he said has been significant in allowing the center to re-evaluate its role in the surrounding communities.
    “It’s a rare opportunity to be in a situation where we can take a step back and say ‘what do we do?’” Longo said.
    It has been a year since the center has had an executive director, and at one point they had discussions of merging with the Heartwood College of Art, Longo said.
    “Right now that’s no longer being pursued,” he said. “Both organizations are taking a closer look at themselves.”
    Part of River Tree’s self assessment includes conducting a study of the local artist community to “figure out what’s there, and what’s not,” Longo said. As one of Longo’s first tasks as executive director, he said he is looking forward to figuring out different ways River Tree Center for the Arts can contribute to the community.
    “It could be a lecture series, or a theatre group,” he said. “We’re interested in what we can do to connect people rather than compete with them.”
    The River Tree Center for the Arts currently has two art galleries at its location on Western Avenue; the Irving Gallery, which features a single artist selected by the center, and the Performance Hall, a public gallery featuring local artists who apply for the space, free of charge, although should their work sell, Rivertree accepts a percentage of the sale, Longo said.
    In addition to the art galleries, the ground level of the Rivertree building has several music rooms where musicians can practice. The basement of the building is the heart of Rivertree’s ceramic program, with several pottery wheels and kilns.
    “We have quite the span of ages here,” Longo said. “From 5-year-olds in our ceramic classes to 50-year-olds in some of our music courses. I will live vicariously through this place, I’m sure.”
    Longo said the center will continue to assist artists of all ages in any new programs.
    “We need to be all inclusive,” he said. “Some of the programs might be for professionals, some might be for beginners. Our goal is to be the center for the arts, all of them.”
    River Tree Center for the Arts also hosts two annual fundraisers; the Food as Art banquet, scheduled for April 24, and the Summer Dream event in June.
    “Our events give people the chance to have a good time and help support our programs and the scholarships we provide,” Longo said.
    For more information on the Rivertree Center for the Arts call 207-967-9123 or visit their website www.rivertreearts.org.
    To contact Nate Jones call 282-4337 x233 or email news@kennebunkpost.com