WALDOBORO — The Waldo Theater at 916 Main Street will kick off the fall season with a September art gallery exhibition featuring two refreshing Maine artists who focus on the human experience and cultural identity in their work in photography and printmaking. In “Hope is a Seed,” professional photographer Sean Alonzo Harris and printmaker Elizabeth Jabar present a variety of public participation projects and print editions from the two artists.
Award-winning editorial, commercial and fine art photographer Séan Alonzo Harris focuses his work on narrative and environmental portraiture. Over the past 25 years, his photographs have been featured in numerous national publications, advertising campaigns and exhibitions. In these diverse contexts, Harris focuses on identity and representation, examining how individuals see themselves and how they are portrayed. His images bear witness to often invisible or overlooked members of our communities, creating portraits that offer a counter-image and narrative of self-worth and personal agency.
Feminist printmaker Elizabeth Jabar explores a range of personal-political themes, including cultural identity, representation, equality, and maternal ethics, in a very different medium. Her work takes place in the studio, classroom, and community, where she develops collaborative and participatory projects alongside students, colleagues, and community members. Jabar’s hybrid works on paper and fabric display a highly personal imagery that incorporates motifs from popular culture, folk art, religious traditions, and textiles. Her printed objects and environments embody the democratic tradition of printing resistance and collective power.
The exhibited works of art are for sale, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Waldo program.
The Waldo Theatre Gallery exhibit can also be viewed prior to scheduled events from August 29 to September 27, and during the Waldoboro ArtWalk on August 30 from 4 to 7 p.m.
More about the artists
This husband and wife team reflects their commitment to art and expression as a tool for social change. Together, they have collaborated on a number of social change projects that bring young, emerging, and established artists together with their community partners, including art institutions, nonprofits, corporations, and educational institutions. In 2022, the couple opened Hinge Collaborative, a printmaking studio in Waterville, Maine.
Séan Alonzo Harris has received several awards and grants for his work including: Good Idea Grant and Arts in the Capital Program from the Maine Arts Commission, the Broderson Bronze Award, and the VanDerZee Black Heritage Award from the University of Lowell. He was selected as one of Maine’s 60 Most Collectible Artists in 2010 and featured in Maine Home and Design Magazine. Harris graduated from the Art Institute of Boston and studied photography in Viterbo, Italy and at the Maine Media Workshops in Rockport, Maine. A gallery of his work can be found at seanalonzoharris.com.
Elizabeth Jabar is the Lawry Family Dean of Civic Engagement and Community Partnerships at Colby College, where she designed and implemented an innovative program to promote community-based learning and active citizenship. Previously, she was chair of the printmaking program and director of public engagement at Maine College of Art, where she designed and implemented MECA’s unique undergraduate social practice curriculum, the Public Engagement Minor. She received her BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and her MFA from Pratt Institute. Her art and community engagement can be found at elizabethjabar.com and hingecollaborative.com.
