Swan's Island art project is page turner

One of the regrets of my job is the inability to tell and write about all the Maine art stories worthy of attention. One story that deserves more attention than it has received is the "New Pages" exhibition and auction, set to begin Wednesday afternoon at Northeast Harbor.

"New Pages" is a great story, because of its community connections. Last summer, the library at Swan's Island was struck by lightning, and burned to the ground. As you might imagine, it was a devastating blow to the island community.

But thanks to the efforts of artist Liz Awalt and the community at large, the spirit of the Swan's Island library is alive and well. A few days after the fire, Awalt began collecting book pages from the fire site. She asked islanders to commemorate the library by drawing on the burned pages and creating artwork from the remnants of the fire. She got about 200 responses, which is a huge number by any measure.

Simultaneously, she also asked 25 established Maine artists to create work on a scorched page. Those works by the professional artists will auctioned to raise funds to help rebuild the library.

An open house, where people can view the work, begins at noon Wednesday at the Neighborhood House in Northeast Harbor. A silent auction will begin at 5:30 p.m., and a live auction will follow at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for the reception and auction cost $25. For info, call 526-4430.