Maine Fare Presents “A Taste of Place”

For the first time ever, Maine Fare 2015 is pleased to present “A Taste of Place” in conjunction with Belfast Art’s Fourth Friday Art Walk on June 26^th in Belfast, Maine.

Maine Fare celebrates the farms and fisheries vital to the future of food in our state. We also recognize that art and food, both key aspects of culture, have a lot to offer each other. This is evident in Maine Farmland Trust’s Gallery, capturing the vibrancy of Maine’s farms and farmers; Maine Fare takes a broader swath of both food producers and galleries. With “A Taste of Place,” we wanted to combine the spirit of Maine Fare with the energy of Belfast’s thriving art scene, and have paired local food producers with each gallery for the evening’s art walk.

As we began coupling local producers and galleries, it became clear that many already have deep connections. What follows is an excerpt from Dina Petrillo at Belfast Bay Shade Company, who will feature jams and baked goods from Ewald Farm and Table and spring veggies from Freedom Village Farm the evening of June 26^th. We hope that more such relationships can be forged through this association.

We are proud and grateful that two Waldo Co. farms will be joining Belfast Bay Shade Co. for the Maine Fare gathering: Freedom Village Farm of Freedom and Ewald Family Farm and Table of Belfast.

My husband Ryan and I have known Polly and Prentice [of Freedom Village Farm] for 15 years since moving to Waldo County in 2000. Their friendship, the joy we’ve experienced as they’ve raised their boys and grown Village Farm has been an inspiration. Polly and I have reveled in hours of making prints together and it’s been awesome to see the prints she’s made over the years with Joe, Abe and Benny and neighborhood kids.

Ashley of Ewald Farm, who I first came to know as my aqua yoga instructor at the YMCA, has since become a dear friend and a great asset to our work at BBSC. She writes, “Eating and Living well is not a privilege, but a vital component for the betterment of our communities and the strengthening of our culture. We add to this joy with the adventure of raising wholesome and thoughtful children.”

At Belfast Bay Shade Co., our lighting and fabric designs emerge directly from our experience of living here – with these folks, the creatures, plants and soil – and the activity of cultivating our small patch in Thorndike. We hope our illuminated prints “lampshades” do a good job of celebrating this life we hold dear. We are delighted to share Village Farm’s spring veggies and Ewald Farm’s baked delicacies and dips here at Belfast Bay Shades on June 26th…just walk right up Main Street from the waterfront to the top of the hill and enjoy a spread of local food and design on the top floor of the Belfast post office.

This is just one of many “enduring relationships that evolve with a reverence for place and hard work,” as Dina puts it. Look forward to more exciting pairings and tastes at the June 26^th Belfast Arts Fourth Friday Art Walk, 5:30-8pm in downtown Belfast. Find out more: http://www.maine-fare.org/event/a-taste-of-place-at-belfasts-art-walk/

Over 15 downtown galleries participate in the Fourth Fridays Art Walks in downtown Belfast, Maine. The Art Walks take place from 5:30 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. on the Fourth Friday of each month from May through October with a Holiday Art Walk on Dec. 4th. belfastcreativecoalition.org/placecategory/friday-night-art-walks/