Maine MILL’s permanent exhibit is closed as we prepare to move to our new space. “Drawn in Light: Charlie Hewitt” remains open through the end of May and is free to the public. Opening weekend in our new building will be June 26-28.

Donate

Maine MILL Announces A Common Bond: The Brick Journal as Inaugural Rotating Gallery Exhibition

Sam Finkelstein, brick vessel, 2022. Carved brick and mortar wall fragment, 8 x 3 x 7 1/2 in. Image courtesy of the artist.

On view June 27th – October 25th, 2026

As Maine MILL prepares to open the doors to its new, purpose-built museum in late June 2026, the museum is also announcing the inaugural exhibition for its rotating gallery, titled A Common Bond: The Brick Journal. The exhibition is guest curated by Alexis Iammarino, showcasing the collaborative publication which gives its attention to brick. The show reflects the museum’s broader mission to connect art, history, industry, and community through exhibitions rooted in the stories and materials of Maine.

Drawing on Lewiston and Auburn’s legacy as centers of brick production, A Common Bond explores the intersections of craft, labor, industry, and community through the work of contemporary artists. The exhibition combines visual art, archival material and production artifacts to examine how place, historical memory,   material culture and the built environment shape collective identity.

Visitors are invited to experience The Brick Journal as both a text and image-based art object and an ode to printed matter with the technical story of its material production as an offsetnewspaper, printed in Newcastle and Lewiston, Maine. The 148 page, eight-section publication (printed in 2023) is displayed in the gallery alongside artworks, production samples, and historical documents featured within its pages.

The exhibition includes selected works by Shane Charles, E. Saffronia Downing, Sam Finkelstein, Tara Morin, Will Quam, Luis Vasquez La Roche, Reniel Del Rosario, Jennifer Schmidt, Colin Sullivan-Stevens, Janis Vogel, and Emma N Young. These artists work across themes of historical memory, ecological thought, place, the human body, belonging, collective knowledge, poetics, satire, and imagination. In addition to the many visual artists featured in the publication, The Brick Journal also includes oral histories, interviews, essays, and design contributions by Calvin Dodge, Janyce Denise Glasper, Douglas W. Milliken, Maeve O’ Regan, and Scott A.Sell.

A Common Bond: The Brick Journal will run June 27th-October 25th, 2026. For more information about Maine MILL, its opening weekend, and its events and exhibits, visit www.mainemill.org, email info@mainemill.org or call 207-333-3881. The museum’s new location is at 1 Beech Street in Lewiston. Opening weekend will be June 26-28, 2026. Once open, regular museum hours will be Wednesday through Sunday, 10am-4pm.