Staff Writer

River Tree Arts opened a fine art screen printing facility in North Dam Mill and will host a variety of community-based art programs.

Kevin Townsend, director of art programs and exhibitions, said the mill space opened this week for classes and a workshop this weekend. He said the space will serve as a space for community-based projects and educational printmaking workshops. The group’s Kennebunk space was not conducive to printmaking because of space constraints, he said. 

Director of Operations Zeke Kimball said Biddeford has an up and coming arts scene that River Tree Arts wants to be a part of. 

“It’s an exciting time and place,” he said. “The history of Biddeford has always been intimately tied to making in the mills. It’s a unique opportunity to relocate art in the mills. We’re quite excited about it.” 

On Saturday, River Tree Arts will host a workshop for area schoolchildren to develop a public art project in the mill, Kimball said. The organization was one of 10 groups statewide to receive funding from the Maine Commission of Community Service for a project honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King. 

Townsend said project participants will create a printed art piece combining images with words from King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Children will make group decisions about which images and words to use and resulting art will function as posters. 

“Printmaking allows artists of all ages and abilities to use publicly available images as well as their own creations to interpret the world in which they live,” Townsend said. “This project allows them to share their interpretations with others and to begin to dialogue about the iconography of the Civil Rights Movements.”

Kimball said the project offers a unique opportunity for children to explore King and the Civil Rights Movement.

“Our hope is a people go through the process they’ll start to think about what Martin Luther King stood for,” he said.

River Tree Arts plans to repeat the workshop format in different areas of interest.

“As we partner with different groups in different ways, this is a model we plan to carry forward,” he said.

The projects will be exhibited during Biddeford’s January Art Walk on Friday, Jan. 30. That evening will also kick off “River Tree Presents,” a monthly series of free music and spoken words performances in the mill. Monica Grabin will perform songs of protest and peaceful resistance from 5 to 6 p.m.  

“There’s a growing crowd of people who want music to happen here in Biddeford,” Townsend said. 

Townsend said he has also begun working on other projects with area schools. His first project involves a group of Biddeford Middle School art students who have been paired with local professional artists for “A Conversation in Images.” The students and artists will create art in a pen pal conversation during the next month and a half. He said students have been “absolutely ecstatic” about the opportunity to work with artists. 

“They literally got so excited,” he said. “It was far, far more enthusiastic of a response than I’d hoped.”

Townsend said the Biddeford studio will host regular tuition-driven classes and is pursuing an artist residence program. The Kennebunk facility will also remain open for classes, which are listed at www.rivertreearts.org.