Radio Maine with Dr. Lisa Belisle

Artist Jill Hoy is at a place of artistic integration. She would be the first to say that she benefited greatly from the creative critique she once received from her husband and fellow artist, Jon Imber. When Jon died in 2014 from ALS, Jill grieved not only the loss of her husband but also of her creative partner. That emotional process, occurring over the past few years during which Jill has focu...

In 1989, Betsy Evans Hunt had an unexpected encounter with internationally acclaimed photographer Todd Webb that would prove life-changing. Her educational and professional background prepared Betsy well for the day that Todd and his wife, Lucille, walked into the Evans Gallery in Portland, Maine. Betsy’s graduate thesis about famed photographers Alfred Stieiglitz and Georgia O’Keeffe, and work fo...

Author Ed Power first became intrigued by the human interaction with nature, and the risks inherent in this intersection, growing up as a surfer and sailboat racer on the mid-Atlantic coast. A former longtime editor and publisher, Ed had previously worked as a journalist for Virginia’s largest newspaper, The Virginia Pilot, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. When Ed eventually retired, he and wife, Ma...

Elizabeth Polanksky was ahead of the curve when she started Maine’s first large-scale home staging business in 2000. The subsequent growth of the state’s real estate market has resulted in a significant demand for her skills and aesthetic sense. Elizabeth’s perseverance and business acumen have led to multiple important collaborations. Recently she helped facilitate a series of shows featuring Por...

Danielle Devine is the editor of Maine Home+Design (MH+D), a beautifully curated magazine that showcases the state’s premier interior designers, architects and builders, as well as countless trade specialties. After a short stint working in finance, Danielle put her undergraduate education in English and art history to use through her work with national and international design publications. Havin...

Artist Laura Mrazik is a person of many talents. Her educational background includes an undergraduate degree in community health education and a master’s in public health from the University of Maine system. She currently works as the manager of telehealth for one of Maine’s largest healthcare organizations. Most evenings, after her young children are in bed, she can be found in her home studio, e...

Quincy Hentzel had been leading the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce for three years when the global pandemic dramatically shifted the landscape. Previously Quincy had been highly regarded, and known to be proficient at leading the effort to support business in Maine’s largest city, but this put her leadership skills to the test. In a time of great uncertainty, multiple stakeholder groups had...

Growing up in a small town in Northern Maine, Admiral Gregory Johnson, USN, Retired, could not have foretold that he would spend more than three decades traveling the world with the United States military. With a BA in political science from the University of Maine in Orono, and an acceptance letter to attend law school in his home state, it seemed his dream of becoming an attorney was within reac...

Interior designer Brady-Anne Winn has approached her life with both unbridled optimism and unwavering persistence. Despite a few setbacks, and occasional advice from others that did not ring true, she has remained committed to her vision, and provided the space for her clients to do the same.  In naming her most recent venture Nineteen Skies, she pays homage to the global pandemic, reflecting her...

Maine native Dr. Emily Isaacson is the founder and artistic director of Classical Uprising, a group of immersive community-oriented music programs that include the popular Portland Bach Experience. Emily is passionate about creating access to classical music, and illuminating its meaningful intersection with contemporary culture. Her original doctoral work in conducting and music literature provid...

Known for his plein air landscapes, artist Cooper Dragonette has spent recent months experimenting with a different reality: that of time past. His newer pieces draw upon his unique background as an teacher and instructor, exploring Maine’s remote outer islands with the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School. Considering this contrast of approaches–integrating one’s self and memories into one’s wor...

"Philip Barter turns 83 in 2023, and the Portland Art Gallery is celebrating his 60 years of creating iconic Maine art with a solo exhibition. Much of the work presented will be from Philip’s private collection that he has meticulously stored away for decades. This is what Carl Little, Maine art critic and author, says about Philip Barter "Barter's art harks back to Marsden Hartley and other Ameri...

Julia Blake’s family and faith have had a profound impact on her art. She often returns to images of bright red poppies, which represent seasonal rebirth, and trees that represent the female deity. As a mother of six, Julia also strives to create a consistent and long lasting identity for herself as an artist. She has similarly encouraged her children to go out into the world to find their own pat...

Sheep Jones is much beloved by art collectors across the United States. Raised in Waterville, Maine, she was affiliated for many years with the acclaimed Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, Virginia. When her husband, Charlie, died in his early 60’s, Sheep returned to Maine, to be near her sister, Julie Cyr (also an artist), in coastal Belfast. Following Julie’s death due to cancer in Decemb...

Jon Foley Sherman has an intriguing academic and professional background.  A self-described “career communicator,” his formal education includes an undergraduate degree from Middlebury College in Vermont, a Diplôme from L'École International du Théàtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris, and an M.A. and Ph. D. from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Jon draws additional expertise from his backgrou...

Bibby Gignilliat had a varied career path, including more than two decades running her own business, before she decided to do something that would feed her soul. Heeding the advice of author Julia Cameron, well known for her book, The Artist’s Way, Bibby returned to doing something she loved as a child: creating art. She sought out the teachers and colleagues who supported this new journey, and sl...

Artist Bella Weidner has never been afraid of doing what she wants to do–including selling her Cumberland, Maine homestead, so that she and her young  family could travel the country in their camper.  She comes by her adventurous inclinations honestly, with parents who first came to the U.S. from Argentina, and then uprooted themselves once again as they moved with their children from California t...

Teaching is an important source of perspective and inspiration for artist Dietlind Vander Schaaf. Through her interactions with students, she has the opportunity to reflect on her own very prolific art practice, both with regard to process and outcome. Dietland continues to experiment with colors and her signature mark-making, while at the same time acknowledging that vision often comes before the...

Growing up in the Belgrade Lakes region of Maine, Emily McConnell considered Portland to be “the big city.” Though she felt a certain attraction to its urban energy, Emily did not yet have a sense that she would one day be contributing to its evolution. Maine’s largest municipality has experienced increased attention nationally in recent years, both for its liveability and for its economic opportu...

Rick Hamilton’s art brings joy to those who experience it. This is true when it is invited into the homes of those who have chosen it for their own, and also for those who are present during its creation. Such was the case recently, when Rick brought his easel, paints and a 6 x 10 foot canvas to the Portland Art Gallery, and created the piece “We’ll Always Stick Together,” with the participation o...

Artist Missy Dunaway has the unique ability to be both far-ranging and deep in her approach to her work. While attempting to convince a fellow college student of the ongoing relevance of William Shakespeare several years ago, she gave his contribution to language as one example. A known ‘word chemist,’ The Bard not only engaged in the creation of new vocabulary, he also extensively used the known...

Susan Sherrill Axelrod is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers. A former restaurant owner, she is now the Editor-in-chief for Culture (“the ultimate publication for those who love cheese”). Her love of culture goes beyond the culinary: she has an undergraduate degree in French and Italian literature, and has traveled all over the world. Now a Maine resid...

Joyce Grasso’s life experiences, and adversities, have been quietly informing her art for many years. A native of Portland, Maine, her family had a shoe store on Congress Street–across from what is now the Maine Historical Society’s Wadsworth-Longfellow House–for more than half a century. She had a front row seat to the cultural diversity of Munjoy Hill, and enjoyed weekend forays to Cape Elizabet...

Greg Day has always had an interest in lines and intersections. Early in life, Greg would lay out and draw intricate city maps at his kitchen table. After graduating from a small high school in rural Maine, Greg went on to study architecture. While his work in this profession was brief, both this and his fascination with cartography would eventually influence his art. Learn more about artist Greg...

Julia Einstein’s art is all about the details. She  seeks “gestures” in her subjects - most often flowers from her garden, or the farm where she is currently an artist in residence - and takes great care to arrange and paint them at precisely the right time of day. Previously a resident of Kennebunk, Maine, Julia made use of her extensive art history background when she worked as an educator at th...