Find us during citydrift if you’d like to participate or have questions!

Advisors: Peter Hopkins, Katie Grace McGowan
Curators: Jenna Crowder, Greg Bem, Mariah Bergeron, Rob Lieber, Irina Skornyakova

citydrift/Portland is collaborating with Kelly McConnell’s Alternative Settings for Art Education class at Maine College of Art with 10 MAT candidates: Shaun Aylward, Aimee Carmella, Ashley Earl, Tess Hitchcock, Adrienne Kitko, Meredith Leoni, Ceri Nichols, Lia Petriccione, Kate Sanders-Fleming, and Debbie Shaeffer.

Bios

Jenna Crowder, Executive Curator

Jenna Crowder is an artist and designer based in Portland, Maine. While citydrift/Portland is her first foray into curating, she works primarily in installation, printmaking, drawing, and social practice, often incorporating text and poetry. Jenna has worked internationally on public art, design, and collaborative projects, including Public Space: Cairo (a series of workshops and panels) and independent arts research while she was living in Cairo from 2012–2013. This winter, Jenna worked with writer Douglas W. Milliken in the Maine College of Art storefront space for a series of time-based performative installations, and she attended Hewnoaks Artist Colony earlier this summer. She is currently working on a book about her time in Egypt as well as a few collaborative arts projects in Portland.

Jenna is a member of the Portland Public Art Committee, a board member of MENSK, and a member artist at Pickwick Independent Press.

Greg Bem, Curator 

When not writing and presenting his own poetry, Greg Bem is looking for poetry created by others in their everyday lives all around the globe. In 2013 he left Seattle, his current place of residence, for Cambodia, where he volunteered and worked for various libraries, the Nou Hach Literary Association, FCC Hotels and Restaurants, Sokimex, and The Advisor. In June, 2014, Greg graduated from UW’s iSchool with an MLIS, and then spent a month in Maine exploring digital preservation. His current interest in artistic endeavors is aligned with establishing relationships between people and places via digital media.

Mariah Bergeron, Curator 

Mariah Bergeron is an artist, writer, and actress living and working in Portland, Maine for ten years now. She is a co-founder of PortFringe Theater Festival, member of Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective, and an arts writer for the Portland Phoenix. She likes her art immersive and her theater collaborative, and best when those two concepts collide.

The potential magic of citydrift is the titillating concept of art as inclusive mischief, the kind of work that winks at you knowingly, offers a warm secret handshake. It can make a world special not by class station, vip invitation, or academic achievement, but by sheer creation coupled with brave curiosity. Mariah is looking forward to seventy-two hours of low-sleep art saturation.

Irina Skornyakova, Curator 

I received my BFA in Printmaking from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Although I started out as a traditional printmaker, my making process now combines digital fabrication techniques, installation and traditional craft. Currently enjoying our lovely city of Portland, I’ve had the pleasure of many travels including living in Tsukuba, Japan and Moscow, Russia. Frequent relocation as a child has made me keenly aware of our global connectivity and very passionate about bringing talented and creative people together to achieve wild and fantastic experiences. Some recent forays into this role include aiding in an organizational role for the exhibit Surface Tension at Space Gallery, some unorthodox happenings while living in Boston, and great, fun adventures with friends.

Rob Lieber, Curator

Robert Lieber engages fluidly in visual art making, culture and politics of human rights. He has taught art and its history for 10 years at area undergraduate programs. He has previously curated over the years at the Sacred and Profane which takes place on Peaks Island in a WWII defense installation.

Peter Hopkins, citydrift Creator/Director & citydrift/Portland Adviser

Bio forthcoming.

Katie Grace McGowan, citydrift/Detroit Curator and citydrift/Portland Adviser

Bio forthcoming.