ART SPOTS

[cs_drop_cap letter=”1″ color=”#000000″ size=”5em” ] Well proportioned and nicely glazed, Elaine Xenelis Fuller’s ceramics fill this unassuming Federal-style studio gallery just blocks from the heart of Foreside. Find elegantly ornamented teapots, handsome dishes, and sturdy mugs, along with a scatter of collectibles and gifts from other local artists. 44 Government St., Kittery. 207-439-5671.

[cs_drop_cap letter=”2″ color=”#000000″ size=”5em” ] Perched alongside the York River, this three-story, former 19th-century general store (a property and program of the Old York Historical Society) shows contemporary paintings, sculpture, photography, and more, primarily by New England artists. This summer’s gems include found-object sculptures by Dan Dowd and colorful and mildly impressionistic landscape paintings by Ann Trainor Domingue. Openings are festive affairs — often under the stars, riverside — so check the gallery’s events calendar. 140 Lindsay Rd., York. 207-351-1083.

[cs_drop_cap letter=”5″ color=”#000000″ size=”5em” ] Twenty-five years ago, Corey Daniels transformed a stately 19th-century colonial and adjoining barn into a mod, expansive exhibition space, with art spread across 6,000 square feet in seven rooms. Artists include Rockport photographer Shoshannah White, whose encaustic landscape (and seascape) photos are hauntingly beautiful, and Kennebunk native and designer Miles Spadone, whose experimental, often plasticky sculptures play with notions of utility. The big gallery accommodates large-scale installations too. A painter himself, Daniels also collects antiques and artifacts, and some of his finds share space with the art. 2208 Post Rd., Wells. 207-646-5301.

[cs_drop_cap letter=”6″ color=”#000000″ size=”5em” ] A set of whirling, copper wind sculptures at the entrance to this gallery complex has a tendency to stop traffic in Kennebunk’s lively Lower Village. They’re made by Lyman Whitaker, one of 35 Maine painters and sculptors represented inside the gallery. Check out the skewed-perspective, slightly cartoonish fishermen portraits by David Witbeck or Jill Valliere’s moody, textured landscape paintings. Across the street, on Chase Hill Road, a sister set of micro-galleries, new this spring, hosts weekly pop-up exhibits. 14 Western Ave., Kennebunk. 207-967-2803.

[cs_drop_cap letter=”7″ color=”#000000″ size=”5em” ] One block up from Kennebunkport’s bustling Dock Square, in a quieter neighborhood of period homes, Jean Briggs’s group gallery represents more than 70 artists. Find paintings, sculpture, graphic art, jewelry, furniture — you name it — along with some less classifiable stuff, like Lindley Briggs’s fantastical copper medallions and Kate Cheney Chappell’s found-object collages. The Greek Revival gallery space also hosts frequent and intimate jazz concerts. One Mast Cove Ln., Kennebunkport. 207-967-3453.

[cs_drop_cap letter=”1″ color=”#000000″ size=”5em” ] You can’t swing an easel in downtown Rockland — where the lamppost banners read “arts capital of Maine” ­— without hitting a gallery. (There are some 25 stops in 10 blocks on the First Friday art walks.) Among the best are Dowling Walsh Gallery (365 Main St.; 207-596-0084), which reps contemporary, sometimes provactive painters, photographers, and sculptors (including this month’s cover artist, Greta Van Campen), and Harbor Square Gallery (374 Main St.; 207-594-8700), where painting and sculpture share space with mod jewelry and pottery, worth a visit for its rooftop sculpture garden alone.

[cs_drop_cap letter=”2″ color=”#000000″ size=”5em” ] This summer’s highlight, opening June 30, is American Steel by Brunswick’s John Bisbee, who hasn’t had a solo show in Maine in a decade. The sculptor uses forged and welded nails — and that’s all — to create minutely rendered objects that are at times instantly recognizable (a tree, a bathtub), at times writhing and abstract. Also this summer, installation artist Tom Burckhardt’s life-size cardboard rendering of an artist’s studio literally turned upside down (you can walk right in) and the environmental portraits and still-life photography of Jocelyn Lee. 21 Winter St. 207-701-5005.

[cs_drop_cap letter=”3″ color=”#000000″ size=”5em” ] Anchoring the Rockland scene, the Farnsworth celebrates its 70th anniversary this summer by trotting out highlights from its permanent collection, including work by American masters like George Inness and Winslow Homer. Another exhibit, N.C. Wyeth: Poems of American Patriotism, shows off 16 paintings by the eldest Wyeth artist, imagining scenes from early American history. On the Cushing peninsula, the museum administers the Olson House (384 Hathorne Point Rd.), the lonely and evocative farmhouse made famous by Andrew Wyeth’s Christina’s World (and a couple hundred other Wyeth works). It’s open to the public, with docent-led tours. 16 Museum St. 207-596-6457.

[cs_drop_cap letter=”4″ color=”#000000″ size=”5em” ] At the north end of St. George, it’s worth pulling over for a trio of charming home galleries. First Light Gallery (1174 River Rd.; 207-372-1515) features painter Lucinda Talbot’s colorful abstract landscapes. Down the road, at Ibis Arts (1011 River Rd.; 207-372-8055), fiber arist Pat Kamlin offers hand-dyed wall art and textiles in cool geometric patterns out of a renovated chicken barn. Across the street, George Pearlman Pottery (1012 River Rd.; 207-372-9671) shows off the master ceramicist’s pots, vases, and dishes, all with his trademark abstract botanical designs.

[cs_drop_cap letter=”5″ color=”#000000″ size=”5em” ] At the tip of the St. George Peninsula, a handful of neat galleries cluster around tiny Port Clyde. Among them is the Port Clyde Art Gallery (5 Cold Storage Rd.), a fun, funky co-op (in the attic of the town’s Barn Café) of a dozen artists working in oils, watercolors, mixed-media assemblage, and more. Also, Barbara Prey Projects (855 Port Clyde Rd.; 207-372-8087) is the gallery of the prolific painter and seller of prints. Though usually a watercolorist, Prey exhibits a rare series of small-format oil paintings the first half of July.

[cs_drop_cap letter=”6″ color=”#000000″ size=”5em” ] Opening for its 50th anniversary season on June 24, the small museum housed in the former Monhegan Light Station presents the best of its collection, including works by Edward Hopper, Rockwell Kent, Andrew Wyeth, and other noted artists who’ve helped turn this weatherbeaten rock into a storied art colony. Ferries leave from Port Clyde (also New Harbor and Boothbay Harbor). Check the website for a schedule of commemorative lectures, films, and special events. 1 Lighthouse Hill. 207-596-7003.

[cs_drop_cap letter=”5″ color=”#000000″ size=”5em” ] This harborside gallery is a must-stop for collectors looking for blue-chip Maine art. Proprietor Peter Rudolph offers an engaging array, from 19th-century drawings of MDI by Hudson River School landscape artist William Trost Richards to Carroll Tyson’s remarkable Birds of Mount Desert Island lithographs. Also in the mix this summer: a stunning watercolor view of Baker’s Island, circa 1910, by landscape painter Harold Warren, one of the “Three Islesford Painters” who frequented the Cranberry Isles in the early 20th century. 46 Clark Point Rd., Southwest Harbor. 207-244-0920.

[cs_drop_cap letter=”6″ color=”#000000″ size=”5em” ] Perhaps best known for her mural dedicated to the history of labor in Maine (now on permanent display in the Maine State Museum), Judy Taylor is also a fine landscape painter and portraitist. Her studio gallery is open by chance or appointment, and she often leads plein air outings, plus drawing and portraiture workshops. 1517 Tremont Rd., Seal Cove. 207-244-5545.

[cs_drop_cap letter=”7″ color=”#000000″ size=”5em” ] If you’d rather practice art than look at it, try this arts center in the Bar Harbor village of Town Hill. Run by a collective of professional artists, ArtWaves offers affordable, approachable courses in everything from watercolors to contemporary dance. Friday’s “Create and Sip” nights offer laid-back intros to embroidery, stained glass, printmaking, and more. 1345-A State Hwy. 102, Bar Harbor 207-266-0010.