I have been engaged in making visual art all my life. I live in Kennebunkport, Maine am a mother and grandmother; a wife, a sister and a friend. Along with art, community is a focus and both have informed the decisions I have made along the way. My guiding principle or belief is that I am connected, that we are all inseparable; from each other, from all life and the world around us.
I have always found joy, comfort and satisfaction from making things and treasure quiet moments privately absorbed in crafting a visual solution to a question or need.
Collaboration is equally compelling although sometimes not as easily developed.
In 1976 my husband, Richard, and I founded Community Partners, a private non-profit organization serving people with developmental disabilities. It continues to thrive today.
For 20 years I was an art teacher in the Biddeford public schools. Throughout I maintained my studio practice, did occasional artist-in-residence programs, displayed work in galleries, events, installations, community and touring exhibitions.
Layout and graphic design are skills I have picked up and used along the way.
Currently all these threads still feature in my life. I am a long time member of the Union of Maine Visual Artists and find many avenues for collaboration through my involvement with the UMVA. I am a co-editor for the Maine Arts Journal, UMVA Quarterly which can be found at maineartsjournal.com .
The Artists Rapid Response Team! is another project of the UMVA of which I am founding member. ARRT! and LumenARRT! provide progressive non-profits and community groups with visuals to communicate their messages to the broader public. They can be explored at arrteam.org and lumenarrt.org . The UMVA website can be found at theumva.org .
As an artist/activist/community member, many themes recur in my life and art, the boundaries are less visible and on a good day, all flows together!
I will try to keep updates about events, exhibitions, new projects and the production of the collaborations I am joined to in the blog section titled Current on the menu of this site.
Thank you for your interest,
Nora Tryon
Nora Tryon 