The Bollard Bulletin for July 17, 2025
Fabulous concerts, an entire festival of comedy & art all over the place!
Highlights
J.D. Pinkus was 17 when he joined the Butthole Surfers on bass and mayhem, which explains a lot, and later became a member of The Melvins before releasing some surprisingly heartfelt solo banjo material. On last year’s Grow a Pear, he’s back in the psychedelic sludge, and tonight’s he’s at Geno’s (625 Congress St., Portland) for a show with Sexless Marriage and BÜZÊM (featuring grindcore/noise project WEH-PEN) at 8 p.m. Tix: $25 (21+).
Don’t just take our word for it. Take Maine finger-style guitar master Sean Mencher’s. He’s the one who hipped us years ago to Darren “Lightning” Thiboutot Jr., a young cancer survivor who plays the blues like he’s made some sort of supernatural bargain with a notorious underworld figure at a major intersection. His blistering blues band, Memphis Lightning, plays Cadenza (5 Depot St., Freeport) at 7 p.m. Tix: $35-$40 ($12 students).
The world-famous South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo will sound especially stunning inside the intimate space of Stone Mountain Arts Center (695 Dugway Rd., Brownfield) at 8 p.m. Tix: $75 (all ages).
The free Thursday night concert series in downtown Westbrook’s Vallée Square continues tonight with the only act they booked that plays original music, Maine blues-rock singer/songwriter King Kyote. I blame Live Nation. Starts at 7 p.m.
The Granite State Rock concert series (not really a thing) continues tonight at Oxbow Blending & Bottling (49 Washington Ave., Portland) following Tuesday’s stupendous show by New Hampshire’s Jon Spencer. This time it’s Seacoast indie-folk upstarts Sneaky Miles, with Portland slacker-rockers otis. and Boston roots artist Nick Prato opening at 8 p.m. Tix: $15 (21+).
Little Wings, the musical moniker of California singer/songwriter Kyle Field, plays the kind of surreal West Coast indie-folk local fans of Wildflower have grown to appreciate. They’re at Johnson Hall Opera House (280 Water St., Gardiner) at 7:30 p.m. Tix: $20 (all ages).
The Portland Maine Comedy Festival, a series of shows mostly at local breweries and hard-seltzer joints and such, kicks off tonight at Rising Tide Brewing Co. (103 Fox St., Portland) with a showcase headlined by Dick Ruse and featuring seven other funny folks at 8 p.m. Tix: $20 (all ages).
Visual Art
82Parris The Mountain Stood Still, drawings by Midori Morrow, and Mystics of Home, a photography show curated by Kat Miller, show through July 25. 82 Paris St., Portland. Hours: Fri. & Mon. 4-6:30 p.m., Sat. & Sun. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. 82parris.com.
Art House Picture Frames The Painted Ladies of Maine: A Celebration of Women's Artistic Voices, a group show of work in various media, shows through July 31 during business hours. 61 Pleasant St., Portland. 221-3443. View more at addisonwoolley.com.
Bates College Museum of Art Ralph Steadman: And Another Thing shows through Oct. 11. Olin Arts Center, 75 Russell St., Lewiston. Hours: Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 786-6158. bates.edu/museum.
Belleflower Brewing Co. Shape & Form: EMERGE Artists in Residence 2024-25 Cohort, work by Running With Scissors Art Studios, shows through July 27. 66 Cove St., Portland. Hours: noon-8 p.m. daily. belleflowerbeer.com.
Bowdoin College Museum of Art
• Poetic Truths: Hawthorne, Longfellow, and American Visual Culture, 1840-1880 shows through July 20
• Hello, Stranger: Artist as Subject in Photographic Portraits since 1900 shows through Aug. 10
• Painted Time: Moons, paintings by Ann Craven co-created with curators, shows through Aug. 17
• As Maine Goes, photography by John McKee, shows through Nov. 9
• Herklas Brown and Maine, 1944, photography by Gordon Parks, shows through Nov. 9
• Three Maine Films, shorts by Rudy Burckhardt, shows through Nov. 9
• Flora et Fauna: Nature in Ancient Mediterranean Art and Culture shows through March 7, 2026
Free admission. Hours: Tues., Wed., Fri. & Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Thurs. 10 a.m.-8:30 p.m., Sun. 1 p.m.-5 p.m. 245 Maine St., Brunswick. 725-3275. bowdoin.edu.
Casco Bay Artisans Opening reception for paintings by Paul Brahms, Anastasia Gatto, Jaclyn Janis and David Lazerus, and sculpture by Treg Silkwood, Thurs., July 17, from 5-7 p.m. Shows through August. Hours: Mon., Thurs. and Sun. 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Fri. and Sat. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. 68 Commercial St., Portland. 536-1577. cascobayartisans.com.
Casco Bay Frames & Gallery The 27th Annual Employee Art Show is on view through August. 295 Forest Ave., Portland. Hours: Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 774-1260. cascobayframes.com.
Center for Maine Contemporary Art
• the shape of memory, sculpture and installation by Carlie Trosclair, shows through Sept. 7
• Leaf Litter, composite sculpture by Elizabeth Atterbury, shows through Sept. 7
• Cheek to Cheek, paintings by Nicole Wittenberg, shows through Sept. 14
Hours: Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun. noon-5 p.m. Admission: $10 ($8 students and seniors, under 18 free). 21 Winter St., Rockland. 701-5005. cmcanow.org.
Colby Museum of Art
• Love Your Langlais: A Community Curates shows through Oct. 20
• Hors-champs, a video installation by Stan Douglas, shows through Aug. 24
• Alex Katz: Repititions, paintings by Katz, shows through March 29, 2026
• Some American Stories, works from the museum’s Lunder Wing, shows through Sept. 26, 2026
Free admission. Hours: Tues., Wed., Fri. & Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Thurs. 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Sun. noon-5 p.m. 5600 Mayflower Hill, Waterville. 859-5600. colby.edu.
Cove Street Arts
• Liminality, paintings by David Barnes, Lydia M. Kinney, Nicholas Anthony Mancini and Catherine Scala, shows through July 19
• What Stays, paintings by Annie Anderson, shows through July 19
• Phenomena, photography by Adam Ekberg and Sarah Szwajkos, shows through Aug. 9
• Three Curiosities, paintings by Ed Valentine, shows through Aug. 16
• Passing Through, assemblage by Kitty Wales, shows through Aug. 16
Hours: Tues.-Fri. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Sat. 10 a,m,-5 p.m. 71 Cove St., Portland. 808-8911. covestreetarts.com.
Dowling Walsh Gallery Correspondence, abstract paintings and prints by Will Barnet, and Time After Time, paintings by Sarah McRae Morton, show through July 26. Call for hours. 357 Main St., Rockland. 596-0084. dowlingwalsh.com.
Farnsworth Art Museum
• Capturing Her Environment: Women Artists, 1870-1930, shows through July 20
• Manors, paintings and murals by Anne Buckwalter, shows through Sept. 21
• Home Places: Andrew Wyeth in Chadds Ford, paintings and watercolors by Wyeth, shows through Oct. 19
• Re-Indigenizing Sacred Landscapes: From the Wigwam at Catawamkeag, shows through Jan. 4
• Ann Craven: Painted Time (2020-2024) shows through Jan. 4
Hours: Wed.-Sun. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Admission: $20 ($18 seniors, $10 students, under 16 free). 16 Museum St., Rockland. 596-6457. farnsworthmuseum.org.
Greenhut Galleries On Balance, paintings by Tina Ingraham, shows through Aug. 2. Hours: Tues.-Fri. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 146 Middle St., Portland. 772-2693. greenhutgalleries.com.
Maine Historical Society
• Of Note: Maine Sheet Music shows through July 28
• Lapsed Time: Portland in the 1980s, photographs by David Etnier, shows through Dec. 31
• Stitches: Quilt Handiwork at Maine Historical Society, shows through Dec. 31
• Notorious: Maine Crime in the Public Eye, 1690-1940, photographs, prints and other historic materials, shows through Dec. 31
Hours: Tues.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission: $10 ($5 kids 6-17). 489 Congress St., Portland. 774-1822. mainehistory.org.
Maine Jewish Museum
• Return to the Garden, paintings and sculpture by Eric Finzi
• To Rome and Beyond, photography by Jack Montgomery
• Seeing Torah: A Visual Midrash, a visual diary by Anita Rabinoff-Goldman
All on view through Sept. 4. Hours: Mon., Wed.-Fri. and Sun. noon-4 p.m. Free admission. 267 Congress St., Portland. 773-2339. mainejewishmuseum.org.
Maine Museum of Photographic Arts The New Abstraction, a group show of abstract photography, shows through July 26. Hours: Tues., Thurs.-Sat. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Donations encouraged. 15 Middle St., Portland. 808-8919. mainemuseumofphotographicarts.com.
Merrymeeting Arts Center Late Bloomer, mixed-media work by Rachel Robbins, shows through Aug. 16. Hours: Sat. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. 9 Main Street., Bowdoinham. merrymeetingartscenter.org.
Moss Galleries Falmouth Gallery (251 Rte. 1; 781-2620): Beate Wheeler’s Abstract Rhythms: 1960s on 10th Street, paintings by Wheeler, and Between Our Worlds, paintings by David Rankin and Claire Seidl, show through Aug. 9. Portland Gallery (100 Fore St., 804-0459): Dialogical Narratives, paintings and works on paper by Samira Abbassy, shows through Aug. 30. Hours: Tues.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (both locations). elizabethgmossgalleries.com.
Nadra Clark Gallery Summer Drift, work by Anne Stuer, Jen MacDonald, Lucille Holt-Sottery and David Allen, shows through Aug. 15 by appointment. 256 U.S. Rte. 1, Scarborough. 332-1659. nadraclarkgallery.com.
Ocean House Gallery Cairns in Ink, new work by Jeff Badger, shows through July 18. Hours: Tues.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 93 Ocean St., South Portland. 956-1988. oceanhousegallery.com.
Ogunquit Museum of American Art
• A Sailboat in the Moonlight, paintings by Nicole Wittenberg, shows through July 20
• Where the Real Lies, work by 19 contemporary artists, shows through Nov. 16
• Henry Strater’s Ogunquit, local landscape paintings by Strater, shows through Nov. 16
Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Admission: $15 ($13 seniors, students and vets, kids under 12 free). 543 Shore Rd., Ogunquit. 646-4909. ogunquitmuseum.org.
Portland Museum of Art
• Skin Deep, photograms by Jo Sandman, shows through Aug. 17
• Painting Energy: The Alex Katz Foundation Collection at the Portland Museum of Art shows through Sept. 14
• Spotlight: Ann Craven, paintings by Craven, shows through Sept. 14
• Passages in American Art, works from the museum collection, is ongoing.
Hours: Tues.-Sun. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. (Fri. 10 a.m.-8 p.m.). Admission: $20 ($18 seniors and students; under 21 free). 7 Congress Square. 775-6148. portlandmuseum.org.
Richard Boyd Art Gallery Curator’s Choice, a group show, is in view through July 29. Hours: Fri.-Sun. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. 15 Epps St., Peaks Island. 712-1097. richardboydpottery.com.
SPACE Artist reception for The Pencil of Nature, photography by Maya Tihtiyas Attean, Elizabeth Atterbury, Tad Beck, Neville Caulfield and Shaina Gates, Fri., Aug. 1, from 5- 8 p.m., Shows now through Aug. 23. Hours: Thurs. and Fri. noon-6 p.m., Sat. noon-4 p.m. 534 Congress St., Portland. 828-5600. space538.org.
Ticonic Gallery + Studios Dark the Night and Bright the Stars, an exhibit of work in various media curated by Lights Out Gallery, shows through Oct. 12. Hours: Wed.-Mon. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. 93 Main Street., Waterville. watervillecreates.org.