Reception for Lora Whelan: 'Echoes of Place'

EAC’s Washington Street Gallery will feature Echoes of Place, a one-person show by Lora Whelan, August 2-September 25. A reception will be offered Saturday, August 3, 6-7:30 pm, with a brief artist talk and Q&A at 6:30 pm. Refreshments will be served.

An artist strongly inspired and influenced by place, Whelan created her show around the theme of echoes. “Each of us carries around with us the memories of special places, places that resonate and influence how we interact and react with the built and natural world,” notes Whelan. “Those echoes can be full of color, or bleached to almost nothing. They can be rich in scent or in sound. They can be still or a riot of movement.” Echoes of Place features paintings that illustrate the translation into art of places that are compelling and/or important to Whelan. Her work tends to abstract landscapes to emphasize pattern and emotion. Lines, patterns, shapes and the history of a place deeply resonate and inspire her to capture an essence, especially of man made objects and infrastructure as they rest and collide with the natural world.

Whelan is self-taught and revels in the exploratory nature of learning through the process of experimentation. One- and two-person shows have included: Islands, 2017; Endangered/Extinct, 2018; Angels and Furies, 2019; a one-person show in 2024, Echoes of Place, at the Washington Street Gallery in Eastport, and Ocean Land Lines at Gallery Sitka in Shirley, Mass. She is represented by Full Fathom Five Gallery in Eastport, and Gallery Sitka, in Shirley, Mass., and Newport, RI.

Born in New York City, Whelan graduated from Bennington College in Vermont with a BA, and from Mercy College in New York with a MS. She lives year-round in Eastport, Maine.  She works as the assistant publisher of the Washington County, Maine, newspaper, The Quoddy Tides.

Washington Street Gallery, open during EAC events or by chance or appointment (email wsg@eastportartscenter.org to inquire) is on the first floor of Eastport Arts Center, at 36 Washington Street, Eastport, and is handicapped-accessible.