PORT CLYDE — The Blue Water Fine Arts changed its name to Barbara Prey Projects following the 15th year anniversary of the gallery in 2015. According to gallery principals, the new name aims to redefine the space as a gallery space, as well as a space for other cultural projects and events such as concerts, lectures, book signings or fundraisers. The renamed gallery lives up to National Endowment for the Arts member Prey's engagement for the arts. It also gives consideration to Prey as an artist with a broad vision working in a variety of media such as watercolor, oil and ink.

Barbara Prey Projects is a unique space in Port Clyde with a history that reaches back more than 100 years. The house used to be the Village Inn, frequented by N.C. Wyeth, and was most recently owned by artist Ken Noland and Paige Rense, when she was editor-in-chief of Architectural Digest.

Prey has been painting in Maine for 40 years and her work is a synthesis of a dialogue with the immediate surroundings and her observations on the same location's evolution over the course of the years. Prey opens the summer exhibits with the annual Print Show and New Oils, unveiling never before seen oil paintings of the area, including her sought after Village View series. Her annual exhibit In Search of America opens July 18 and runs through Sept. 5.

FMI: barbarapreyprojects.com