Musicians, Instant Portraits, and Community Presentations Fill Village Sidewalks
WISCASSET, MAINE – Two new colorful businesses in Wiscasset Village have opened their doors this month and will be greeting visitors during Wiscasset Art Walk on Thursday, July 27, 5-8pm. Both shops carry on the tradition of unique and owner-managed shops in Wiscasset’s historic district.
Angelo Santo is located at 100 Main St., the former Hasenfus Gallery. Owner Maria Vettese said she hadn’t been looking for a new shop location in Midcoast Maine after owning a shop in Yarmouth and Portland for eight years, but she had been imagining what her next shop might be. “The space presented itself and I thought my idea would be perfect in this space,” she said, crediting her friend, Erika Soule, owner of Rock Paper Scissors and the Angelo Santo building, of making the connection.
Maria said she’d been contemplating a shop that presented an artful experience to the visitors who walk through the door. As curator of this “open art studio,” Maria’s intention is that Angelo Santo is an out-of-the-ordinary space that feels like an artist’s presentation of someone else’s collection.
If people enter with “curiosity and a wandering eye,” she hopes they will be affected by the overall visual presentation and the contents, whether the flowers, the beautiful and thought-provoking books, or the hand-made items, all personal choices by the curator. Maria has created an environment in which the visual presentation emphasizes the human experience of making art while encouraging visitors to be part of that experience by seeing and enjoying.
Just around the corner, at 6 Railroad Ave., visitors will find High Tide Printing Company and owner/printer Kate Bell. This is Kate’s first brick and mortar shop although she’s been screen printing for more than 10 years. For eight of those years, she was screen printing in the basement of her Wiscasset home and also working a second job.
Although Kate began her screen-printing career quite by chance, once she started, she found it so creative and enjoyable that she returned to school to study graphic design to increase her visual proficiency.
When people ask Kate how she screen prints a T-shirt, she invites them to watch, or, even better, she’ll print a customer’s shirt while they wait.
She’s screen printing full-time now and has given up her 2nd job. Her shop on Railroad Ave. is “a dream come true in my dream location,” Kate says. She has two little boys who she’s teaching to follow their dreams, so she had to follow hers – and she did!
Wiscasset Art Walk on July 27 will also be hosting Forest Weston playing didgeridoo and Heather MacLeod on tin whistle. The sidewalk is their stage! Portrait photographer Amy Lewis will be walking around the Village making instant, take-home portraits for visitors as a WAW souvenir. Artisans and community volunteers will be lining the sidewalks to share their passions with visitors. And the hand-made raw log Amadinda and cajóns will return for the playing pleasure of the music-maker in all of us!
In 2023, the business sponsors who support the many free WAW activities and performers are Lead Sponsor Fogg and Dalton Art Restoration and Major Sponsors Ames True Value, Big Barn Coffee, Bradbury Art & Antiques, Carriage House Gardens, Cod Cove Inn, First National Bank, J. Edward Knight Insurance, Jodie’s Café, Peter Eaton Antiques, Red’s Eats, Rock Paper Scissors, Sherri Dunbar/Tim Dunham Realty, IndustrialME, BIRCH Home Furnishings & Gifts, and Water Street Kitchen & Bar.
For more information about Wiscasset Art Walk, visit www.wiscassetartwalk.org or email to wiscassetartwalk@gmail.com . Wiscasset Art Walk is a program of Wiscasset Creative Alliance.
PICS
Maria Vettese in Angelo Santo: Maria Vettese, owner of Angelo Santo, arranges items for sale in her new shop at 64 Main St. in Wiscasset Village. The shop will be open during Wiscasset Art Walk on Thursday, July 27, 5-8pm. (Wiscasset Art Walk photo)
Angelo Santo front: Angelo Santo, a new shop in the former Hasenfus Gallery in Wiscasset Village, will be open during Wiscasset Art Walk on Thursday, July 27, 5-8pm. (Wiscasset Art Walk photo)
Angelo Santo shelves: Thought-provoking books and other beautiful items are featured in Angelo Santo, a new shop in Wiscasset Village. The shop will be open during Wiscasset Art Walk on Thursday, July 27, 5-8pm. (Wiscasset Art Walk photo)
Kate poses: Kate Bell, owner of High Tide Printing Co., welcomes visitors to her new shop at 6 Railroad Ave. during Wiscasset Art Walk on Thursday, July 27, 5-8pm. (Wiscasset Art Walk photo)
High Tide Printing: High Tide Printing, a new shop in Wiscasset Village and located at 6 Railroad Ave., will be open for visitors during Wiscasset Art Walk on Thursday, July 27, 5-8pm. (Wiscasset Art Walk photo)
