Lupine inspire Eastporters to stage weekend arts festival

EASTPORT – They are blue, rose and white and stand like sentinels in fields, their lance-shaped flowers coloring the Down East landscape in June.

So it is fitting that Eastport is staging a festival tied to the annual lupine display. The Lupine Festival of the Arts on Saturday and Sunday will feature fine art, crafts, antiques, music, dance and theater. Activities begin at 10 a.m.

The festival is the brainchild of architect and artist Ellen Angel who, with a committee of five that includes her husband Richard, has worked for months to plan the two-day event.

“We were thinking about spring,” Richard Angel explained. “Beginning around June 20, the lupine around here come into full bloom and they are so beautiful.”

Eastport’s wild beauty has long drawn artists to the area and their painting, sculpture, photography, jewelry and carvings will be on display. Visitors can browse in local galleries such as the Eastport Gallery of Fine Arts, the Earth Forms Gallery, the Marianne James Gallery and the Crow Tracks Gallery.

There will also be tours of area museums and galleries including the Passamaquoddy Museum at Pleasant Point.

“We are trying to celebrate as many of the nine muses as possible. So we are trying to celebrate the visual arts, the musical arts … and then theater arts,” Angel said.

Beginning Saturday morning, the city will play host to several musical groups from classical to Celtic including artists such as Melissa Cushing, the Cooper Hill Band and the Machias Town Band. The Passamaquoddy Drummers also will perform.

Clothing and quilt makers and architects will give tours of their workshops.

“Part of the celebration is Eastport itself. There are 20 buildings in downtown Eastport that are on the National Historic Register,” he said.

There will be theatrical productions including a musical written and performed by Duane Ingalls. The Barbara Lara Dance Company also is scheduled to perform.

Vintage automobiles will be on view including James Blankman’s 1932 Ford coupe and 1947 Dodge woodie bus. Kenny Clark will be there to show off his 1967 Corvette while William Lawrence will be on hand with his 1966 Mustang as well as James Spinney and his 1913 Model T.