On Saturday, May 5th we will open the gallery and encourage you to go for a bike exploration and see what you find. Bring it back to SPACE and help contribute to the “blank canvas” that is our gallery exhibit. We will have free coffee from Matt’s and treats from One Fifty Ate for those who contribute. E-mail your photos to jenny@space538.org and we will print them in black and white and pin them to the wall (field recording style).

from the collection of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission

The following Saturday, May 12th from 11AM-2PM we host Betsy Sheintaub of Bobbin Studio and Bobolink, who will teach a bike tool bag workshop. We will provide all the tools you need to design, cut, stitch and take away a custom bag that can hang on your bike and use for whatever you like. Spots for this workshop are limited so reserve your ticket early here!

Later in the afternoon on the 12th, from 3:00-5:00PM we are excited to hear Sam Shupe, a Ph.D. student in the American Studies program at Boston University, talk about Maine’s bicycle history. Sam is a Portland native and daily cyclist who, for his undergraduate thesis at USM, studied turn of the century architect John Calvin Stevens and his love of bicycles. He will present visual ephemera, talk about bicycle club history and give other insights into cycling’s origins in Maine.

from the collection of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission

Pilar Nadal, an M.F.A. candidate at Maine College of Art, is working on a project called The Tired Press, which will debut in early May. The Tired Press is a bicycle that is outfitted with a small relief press, pannier cabinets for supplies, a gallery for exhibition of prints made on the press, as well as a volunteer post office service. This mobile printmaking studio, along with Pilar, will be situated at the Deering Oaks Farmer’s Market on Saturday, May 19th from 9AM-12PM and will be open for visitors to come and make a postcard for free! We hope you will visit Pilar, make some postcards and bring one back to SPACE to add to our exhibition.

Keep your eyes peeled for the Alley Cat Race on May 26th from 2:00-4:00PM, which invites *skilled* riders to race through the streets in a messy, fast paced scavenger hunt across town. Complete with check points, prizes and probably some whipped cream, this race is not for the faint of heart, but will provide a welcome sight for sore eyes. If you’re not up for the race, but still want to get in on the action, come to the after party at 8:00PM, where we will be giving out awards, dancing and debuting a bike themed beer from the newest local brewery, Bunker Brewing Co.

Local artist and designer Emily Walsh keeps herself busy interviewing artists for her blog, designing posters and making prints at Pickwick Independent Press, but was gracious enough to create this awesome image and identity for Bike Month. She will be printing a limited edition silkscreen of this image, which will be for sale at the gallery during May, so grab one while you can, they will go fast!

We hope to see you and your bike at SPACE and out in the streets soon.

Our faithful correspondent Alex Steed sent us this post:

The Perennial Plate is coming to Portland and my excitement is boundless.

As it is described on its website: “The Perennial Plate is an online weekly documentary series dedicated to socially responsible and adventurous eating. The episodes follow the culinary, agricultural and hunting explorations of chef and activist, Daniel Klein.”

I produce Food Coma TV, a show that is similar in its mechanics, though somewhat oppositional in its message and delivery. We eat adventurously, but we do so in a way that is alcohol-soaked and arguably socially irresponsible. Our expeditions are culinary, but our content does not serve as an advocate for sustainability. We are the N.W.A. to Klein’s Tribe Called Quest.

This said, my interest in food stems from a love for sustainability movements. I ran for the Statehouse in Western Maine a few years back on a platform that was built around a reverence for food and the communities responsible for its cultivation and creation. Klein and camerawoman Mirra Fine have created a compelling, engaging body of work around these movements, opening access to many of these concepts in a digital, interconnected world.

In order for causes to be understood, accepted and adopted in this ever-evolving digital media sphere, they require charismatic, digital literates to evangelize for them, and this must be accomplished in as organic and entertaining a fashion possible. This is the role that Daniel and Mirra so elegantly play.

In most popular media, food has been stripped down to a mere commodity (with some exceptions, of course). The mainstream media has done to it what mainstream pornography has done to women over all of these years: the product has by and large been stripped of the context, complexities, and idiosyncrasies that make it beautiful. In its presentation, its role as a social dignitary, a cultural diplomat, has been minimized and in some cases stripped away altogether. As divergent as our topics are, I feel an affinity for the Perennial Plate because we are both, in our own ways, resisting this.

Of Perennial Plate, Food & Wine Magazine wrote that they produce “a level of culinary cinema verité that television can’t (or wouldn’t dare) match.” In this way, it accomplishes something radical that the Internet is allowing for in a post-cable society. It allows us a complex and non-prescriptive way of looking at a subject we all share a love for, but has been trivialized by the gatekeepers of the entertainment industry for too long. In this sense, Daniel and Mirra are liberators, and I welcome them to Portland.

The Perennial Plate Episode 76: Seaweed Man from Daniel Klein on Vimeo.

Good work everyone! Thanks for coming!

More & Co. w/ Girl Walk All Day

Thanks to our pals at More & Co. for their photos from last night’s Girl Walk // All Day film screening dance party. Check it out: http://blog.alittlemorelikethis.com/?p=2778

Here’s a list of tonight’s presenters:

Greg Marley // Mushroom Appreciation // Greg describes himself as a mushroom forager, medicinal mushroom expert, teacher, author, husband, father, clinical social worker, creative procrastinator. Check out his site Mushrooms4health.com.

The Classic Red Fly Agaric of Western US and Europe

David Wade // by the way…// David is a photographer who has traveled all over the U.S and throughout Japan, New Zealand, Asia and the Pacific. See some of his photography here.

Catherine Callahan & Bet LeBleu // Landscape Architecture // Callahan & LeBleu believe that good design and good ecology go hand in hand. Come listen to them talk about their landscape designs and view some of their work here.

Amy Robbins-Wilson // Healing Lullabies // Amy Robbins-Wilson makes putting your child to bed an enjoyable experience (!), and will teach you how to create your own healing lullabies. Her website can be found here.

Kara Larson // Portland Performing Arts Festival // We are excited to hear Kara talk about Portland’s new summer festival presenting nationally-renowned performances in dance, music and theater. Check out the PPAF website and start getting pumped!

Sean Wilkinson // Redesigning municipal landscapes // Sean’s design and branding company, Might & Main, has placed it’s imprint all over Portland. Using “smart, beautiful design to help companies and organizations build a reputation, market products and connect with people.” Might & Main’s website is just plain cool.

Eva Goetz // 108 Angels Fly // “This inspired project by artist and energy worker Eva Goetz took flight when she realized that her work and vision could spread joy, create connections, and help organizations grow. The 108 Angel Project is here to help non-profits realize their missions through a unique fundraising initiative that taps into the healing spirit of angels.” 108 angels website.

Malley Weber // Digging Maine Clay // Malley’s pottery is made from clay she harvests right here in Maine! Her work is made with a devotion and consciousnesses of sourcing local materials and working within nature to produce her arts. She is “trying to be as green as possible”. Malley’s website and blog have more info.

Harlan Crichton // Post War America // Harlan is a photographer and a Senior at Maine College of Art. His recent work paints intimate portraits of the “post war America”, and are eerily beautiful and accurate depictions of this era. Take a look here.

Photograph by Harlan Crichton

Mary Schmaling-Kerns // Eye of Henna // Mary will “guide you through hands, or feet first!”For 10 years Mary has practiced the hand drawn art of Mehndi   She has taught various workshops in schools and has traveled to festivals, fairs, and craft shows across the North East and the South Coast. theeyeofhenna.com

Alex Steed // Food Coma TV // Alex could be described as a Renaissance man. Producer of the increasingly popular local food gorging show Food Coma TV, Alex helps star Joe Riccio tell his story about eating in Maine restaurants to a coma-inducing extent.  Watch some Food Coma TV episodes here.

Alex Steed w/ Joe Riccio

See you tonight!

TV SHOW Episode 4 TRAILER from TV SHOW on Vimeo.

Click here to listen to the May 2011 NPR Echoe’s interview with Sumner McKane.