We are thrilled that our work inspiring and connecting our community through art, design, and education is featured in the May 2021 issue of Maine Magazine.

Highlighting our new director Jess Muise and the vibrant community of artists and makers hosted in our affordable studios, collaborative darkroom, and makerspace, writer Hilary Irons has captured Engine’s role as a catalyst in Biddeford’s transformation. Open a doorway into the creative world of artists and makers Sean Hasey, Chrystina Gastelum, Erin O’Toole of O’Terra Designs, Julie Gray, and Kifah Abdulla.

As we head out of the pandemic together, we are excited to welcome you – our community – into the creative process. Art has the power to heal, connect, and bring people together across difference. As Muise says, “People want to be creative producers and not just consumers, and want to reconnect with the innate human ability to create.”

“Art isn’t a product—it’s a behavior,” says Chrystina Gastelum, one of Engine’s studio artists and volunteers; “I think we will be able to continue to draw people—perhaps folks like me who didn’t consider themselves to be artists per se—into art-making and being artists, makers, or whatever terms people use for themselves, rather than alienate folks who are outside the machine of the art world.” Kifah Abdulla, another painter with a studio at Engine, agrees. “Art has the power to move people,” he says.

Head to Maine Magazine’s website for the full article or pick up a copy at news stand near you.

Header Image: Artists Chrystina Gastelum and Sean Hasey working in their studio at Engine.

Image Credits: Christina Wnek