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Portland and Biddeford, Maine

UNE Art Galleries, SPACE partner to offer performance exploring the ultrasound

Lights mimic an ultrasound image in a stage performance
The performance is slated for 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 26, at SPACE Gallery in Portland. Performance still courtesy of Hannah Rafkin.
More information and tickets

The Art Galleries at the University of New England have partnered with Portland’s SPACE Gallery to offer “Ultrasound Dance,” a performance piece by Maine artist Amelia Garretson-Persans, on Thursday, Sept. 26.

“Ultrasound Dance” uses light, choreography, and music to elevate the intensely personal experience of the ultrasound. This human-scale representation is presented as part of the UNE Art Galleries’ current Biddeford’s exhibition, “Light and Shadow: Motherhood, Creativity, and the Discourse of Ability,” on display through Oct. 20 in collaboration with SPACE.

Though the heavy moments of medical imaging experience are often hushed and marginalized, the hypnotic experimental dance piece promises to grant viewers the freedom of reflection and the challenge of re-confrontation with shrouded somatic memories.

“Amelia Garretson-Persans’ ‘Ultrasound Dance’ is a wonderful way to let audiences reconcile with their own medical narratives, as well as to experience immersion in the artist's own story,” remarked Hilary Irons, director of galleries and exhibitions at UNE. “It is a piece that combats isolation and fear.”

The performance, directed by Garretson-Persans with choreography by Dana Dotson, will be held at 7 p.m. at SPACE Gallery, located at 538 Congress St., Portland. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. A conversation  with  Garretson-Persans, UNE Associate Professor Audrey Bartholomew, Ph.D., and poet Alisha Goldblatt, will follow the performance.

The production is co-hosted by SPACE and the UNE Art Galleries, with the support of the Kindling Fund. For more information, please visit the Space Gallery website.

“Light and Shadow,” currently viewable in the Jack S. Ketchum Library on UNE’s Biddeford Campus, focuses on creative processes as part of the family dynamic, specifically related to women’s experiences as artist-parents, in the context of a conversation around disability. 

In addition to Garretson-Persans, the collection includes artwork from Alicia Ethridge, Jodi Ferry, Celeste Henriquez, and Cozette Russell with text by art historian Virginia Rose. The exhibit highlights the creative practices of artists who are mothers of children with developmental or physical differences. 

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest private university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.