Page 12 - CulturalAdventures3 final

Blue Hi Bay Ga ery

a treasure trove for art lovers

By L ri Eschholz
Phot s by Peter LaF eniere

Tucked inside the Dodge House, a 1820s brick cape on Blue Hill’s main street, is the Blue Hill Bay Gallery, a haven for American,
Canadian, and European art works that reflect the natural beauty of Maine and New England. Named for Mrs. Dodge who in the
1950s ran a boarding house for students at Kneisel Hall – a chamber music school and festival – the house has seven large rooms dedi-
cated to showing the permanent collection and an ever-changing selection of contemporary artists.

Shows change monthly and featured artists have included Maine-based Mary Byrom, Valerie Aponik, Mark Haltof, and Richard
Roflow.
“We open the season with a show of 19th Century paintings featuring Hudson River School artists. Later we will be featuring single
artists in monthly shows – so far Bonnie LaBelle and Phillip Laughlin,” said Peter LaFreniere, director of the gallery and the face you
will see when you drop by.

Laughlin is a Vermont-based artist whose work includes paintings of New England landscapes and game fish. LaBelle is a Maine
artist who studied oil painting under Edward Harrigan of Rockport, Mass., who in turn was mentored by Paul Strisik.

Peter, a lover of art and nature, has been involved in the art world as a collector and artist much of his life, including as a Fulbright
Scholar at the Sorbonne in Paris in 2000. He is a award-winning professional wildlife photographer whose works have been in mag-
azines, books, and galleries and are on display on the second floor of the Blue Hill Bay Gallery. His subjects include the Acadia,
Midcoast and Downeast regions; Maine in its four seasons; and Maine birds and other wildlife. He founded Nature Art in 1996 to “
promote the appreciation and protection of wild creatures and places.”
Originally from Michigan, Peter moved to Maine more than 25 years ago and taught at the University of Maine at Orono until recently.
He founded the Blue Hill Bay Gallery in May 2003, starting with five rooms of artwork before expanding to what you see now.

Recent acquisitions at the gallery include several landscape paintings by Paul Strisik, Donald Allen Mosher, and William Lester Stevens.

The Blue Hill Bay Gallery
located at 11 Tenney Hill
Drive in Blue Hill.

Peter LaFreniere
Owner/Director of
the Blue Hill Bay Gallery

10