UMPI Now the Hot Spot for Art From Maine Sculptor Bernard Langlais

If you dig art from Maine sculptor Bernard Langlais then UMPI's Reed Art Gallery is where it's at.

Over 800 Langlais art pieces have been gifted from the Kohler Foundation, Inc. to UMPI. There's sculptures, paintings and sketches. Did you know he used to sketch with a chain saw?

Born in Old Town, Langlais was an internationally renowned artist, who received many of the art world’s top honors, including a Fulbright grant, Guggenheim fellowship, and Ford Foundation prize, and whose work has been featured in museums throughout the country, including the Whitney Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and the Art Institute of Chicago.

Reed Art Gallery Director, Heather Sincavage, is behind all this Langlais awesomeness. The works are said to be worth more than $200,000. The Kohler Foundation invited Sincavage to the Langlais estate in Cushing in the summer of 2013 to select a few items for her exhibition. Sincavage left with more art work then she expected, including a carved wooden lion face thought to be Langlais’ self-portrait, five assemblage pieces, two scale models of The Owls, and a larger-than-life-sized Gerald Ford in an actual cast iron bathtub.

Langlais' final sculpture was his Owls piece for UMPI. It was the result of a competitive commission contest initiated in 1976.

The exhibit will become a part of the official 'Langlais Art Trail'. This art trail will provide the public with a “road map” connecting the locations in Maine and beyond where they will be able to view the works Langlais created throughout his career.

Anyone interested in viewing works from UMPI’s new Langlais Collection is invited to visit the Reed Gallery starting on May 2 when Bernard Langlais: The Man Behind the Owls officially opens.

The public is invited to view the exhibit throughout the show’s run and attend the Opening Reception on May 2 from 5-7 p.m., which is being held in conjunction with the Presque Isle First Friday Art Walk.

Sincavage will hold a Gallery Talk at 5:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be served. The exhibition will also be open for the First Friday Art Walk on June 6 from 5-7 p.m.

The Reed Fine Art Gallery is open Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The gallery is closed Sundays and University holidays. For more information about this exhibition or UMPI’s Langlais Collection, contact Sincavage at (207) 768-9442 or heather.sincavage@umpi.edu.