FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:Suzanne Watson, 207-712-3016
director@meetinghousearts.org
DATE: 30 April 2024

Meetinghouse Arts presents Free Photography and Writing Workshops
Meetinghouse Arts welcomes you to attend a Photography and Writing Workshop at the
Freeport Community Library on Thursday May 9th at 6pm, featuring photographer Sharyn
Peavey and writer Jefferson Navicky.
Meetinghouse Arts is proud to bring this free workshop with Sharyn and Jefferson to the
Library as the first of three photo and writing workshops in support of Our Town: A
Community Self Portrait; a community arts documentary project funded in part by the
National Endowment for the Arts. The Self Portrait is a two-week initiative (May
25th-June 8) that invites all residents of Freeport to capture and describe the town’s
essence through photography and words. Exhibitions of participants’ work will be held at
the end of October at the Meetinghouse Arts Gallery, the Freeport Historical Society,
Freeport Community Services, Visit Freeport and the Freeport Community Library.
In Sharyn and Jefferson’s workshop, A Day in the Life: Photography and Poetry Capture
the Quotidien, they pose the question: “How often do we let slip by the small things of
everyday life? The nesting of a family of bluebirds; the way the sun strikes wet pavement
on an early spring day; the pile of muddied clothes after your child's forest adventure.”
This workshop invites participants to work to capture the stuff of daily life through
photography and poetry. Sharyn and Jefferson will provide exercises and demonstrations
to enhance and inspire your abilities to document daily life for Freeport's upcoming Our
Town NEA grant. No prior experience needed; please bring something to write on/with,
your sense of adventure, and your artistic eye.

Sharyn Peavey is a professional photographer with a studio at Pineland Farms. She began
her career in 1994 after receiving a BFA in Photography from the Maryland Institute
College of Art. Other formal training includes Parsons School of Design, NYC; Pratt
Institute, NYC; International Center for Photography (ICP), NYC; Walnut Hill School for
the Arts and Wesleyan University Summer Arts & Dance Program.
https://www.sharynpeavey.com
Jefferson Navicky is the author of four books, most recently the novel-in-prose-poems,
Head of Island Beautification for the Rural Outlands (2023), as well as Antique Densities:
Modern Parables & Other Experiments in Short Prose (2021), which won the 2022 Maine
Literary Award for Poetry. He is the archivist for the Maine Women Writers Collection.
https://www.jeffersonnavicky.com

About Meetinghouse Arts:

Meetinghouse Arts Gallery & Stage is a newly renovated, flexible, multi-use arts venue
located within the historic First Parish Church, at 40 Main Street in downtown Freeport.
Meetinghouse Arts Gallery & Stage contains a 200-seat performance venue, an art gallery,
exhibition space and gathering hall. The mission of Meetinghouse Arts is to cultivate
Greater Freeport as a vibrant center for arts and culture by fostering creative
collaboration, expanding access to arts and cultural assets, and amplifying the arts and
culture as powerful tools to create, strengthen, and connect community.

Upcoming Meetinghouse Arts Events:

Karen Montanaro in Tony Montanaro: A Love Story
May 4, 2024 at 7:00 PM

The Salon Show
May 3-June 1, 2024 in the Gallery

Yes & Co. with Nat Warren-White
May 18, 2024 at 7:00 pm

Arcadia Band
May 25, 2024 at 7:00 pm