Newburyport Art presents The Maine Idea exhibition.

January 17, 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                       

Contact: Kelly Page, Lead Gallery Associate 

kelly@newburyportart.org 

65 Water St, Newburyport MA

978-465-8769

Newburyport Art presents 

The Maine Idea

Thursday, January 18, 2024 – Sunday, January 28, 2024

Newburyport, MA - Newburyport Art (NAA) presents The Maine Idea, an exhibition inspired by themes of Maine in honor of NAA Past President Jean Trim and her dedicated service to Newburyport Art, with a special posthumous show of artwork by her mother-in-law, Christa Trim. The Maine Idea features some of Jean’s favorite NAA artists who have also been inspired by the beauty of Maine. Participating artists include Sara Demrow Dent, Amy Conly, Rick Hamilton, Ryan Kelley, Chirstine Molitor Johnson, and Cara Gonier. The NAA is so grateful to Jean for all that she has done for Newburyport Art throughout the years! Please join Jean and the artists on Friday, January 19th from 5:00 to 7:00pm for a reception and thank you party for her. A portion of proceeds from The Maine Idea sales will go to establish the Jean Trim Legacy Series Fund, which will support future NAA member celebrations of life and posthumous exhibitions. 

Jean first joined the NAA board in April of 2019. Just a month later, her mother-in-law Christa Trim was diagnosed with a glioblastoma and passed six months later. As Jean reflected on the legacy of her NAA Presidency, she remembers it as a time when art, family, and Maine became forever connected. Christa Trim was born in Schierke, Germany, and moved to Islesboro, Maine, with her husband Richard in the early 1960s, later settling in Littleton, Massachusetts. With a strong appreciation of nature, a love of all things Christmas, and love of animals, especially dachshunds, Christa expressed her creativity through her breath-taking gardens and gourmet cooking. Only after life slowed down in her 50’s did she start to paint. A self-taught artist, she focused on flowers and Christmas-themed pieces, especially Saint Nicholas himself. Her work is on view in the Mini Gallery, where viewers can see many variations of Saint Nick in her work, and the progression of her artistic abilities over the ensuing three decades. During the pandemic, Jean Trim and her husband Chris bought a home in Isleboro, where Christa and Richard first lived in the 1960’s, and where members of the Trim family have lived since the 1790’s. Art, family, and Maine are deeply intertwined in Jean’s life.