ROCKLAND — The Center for Maine Contemporary Art (CMCA) has been awarded a lead project grant of $7,500 from the Maine Bicentennial Commission. The grant will support the presentation of the exhibition, “S.B. Walker: Nor’east” at CMCA in summer 2020.

The exhibition, a photographic portrait of Maine, is part of CMCA’s celebration of the state’s 200th Anniversary.
 
Since early 2014, photographer S.B. (Sam) Walker has traveled more than 100,000 miles throughout Maine, a well-used DeLorme atlas at his side, in an attempt to render a truly nuanced visual record of contemporary American life. On the face of it, Walker’s project appears to be a rational, census-like undertaking akin to the vast photographic surveys conducted in the 19th and early 20th centuries, according to CMCA, in a news release. In reality though, the photographer said, “it is a windy road dictated by intuition, serendipity, and strange happenings.”
 
“We are thrilled this project and exhibition has received a Bicentennial Community Grant,” said CMCA director Suzette McAvoy, in the release. “Sam Walker’s work celebrates the diversity and complexity of Maine today, and in its sweeping scale, will serve as an important historical document in years to come.”
 
S.B. Walker (b. 1987) lives and works in Portland. His photographs have been exhibited internationally and can be found in public and private collections including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Fitchburg Art Museum; Smith College Museum of Art; David Winton Bell Gallery at Brown University; Houston Museum of Fine Arts; Peabody Essex Museum; The Thoreau Institute; and Paul Sack Photographic Trust.

His projects have been featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Smithsonian Magazine, Photo District News, Lens Culture, Hyperallergic, and Aperture, among other publications.
 
About Maine Bicentennial Commission
Formed to ring in Maine’s 200th Anniversary, the commission has a mission centered on three goals: 1) to explore Maine’s history from the many perspectives of its multiple past and current populations; 2) to celebrate Maine’s present people, places, institutions and economy; and 3) to envision the public and private actions that will enhance Maine’s future prosperity. For more information, visit maine200.org.

About CMCA

CMCA is a contemporary arts institution presenting year-round exhibitions, engaging events, and educational programs for all ages.