“...an unusual balance of rigor and inclusion…” - Melanie Essex, Artist | “At its core, Lights Out is an invitation and permission to create.” - Zoey Patarroyo, VISTA
Lights Out's mission is to connect Maine artists and their circles to a broader community. We feature emerging and established artists alongside one another to encourage conversation, collaboration, and camaraderie. Learn more about Lights Out here.
The Anatomy of Lights Out
Like the unceasing systems that compose our bodies, Lights Out is maintained and urged forward by you: artists, volunteers, donors, team members and collaborators. You are the vitality behind every effort. You are the essential force that animates our sustained life.
Your gift this year ensures Lights Out continues to thrive.
2025
Snapshot
/ Showcased
143 Artists
/ Exhibitions
6 Events
/ Visitors
5500+
/ Videos
350,000 Views
/ Donors
310
[Quote]
Whitney Gill, Maine Crafts Association
“I’ve had the pleasure of watching what began as a project dreamed up during isolation grow into something vital. In this time I’ve had the pleasure of participating in their programming and engaging with Lights Out as an artist, collaborator, and a thought partner in shaping artist-centered programming here in Maine.”
A bright red and audacious heart.
[1]
Artists are the heart of our work
There is a critical source to everything, a vital en-ergy that flows fresh and free within us, continually renewing the whole.
Our vision is to uplift and enrich the arts, drawing creative lines from our home in the Western Foothills to the salty coast and up to the County. Through archival work of over 100 video interviews and meticulously curated gallery exhibitions, we cherish and grow the heart of our work: relationships with Maine’s artists.
[Quote]
Kevin Xiques, Artist
“During my interview, a transformation took place inside of me. I became a much more confident person in real time, and I can see it when I watch the video back. That confidence has stuck with me ever since.”
[54th]
Artist Interview
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[2]
Volunteers are the hands of this organization
Volunteers meet us in the space between conceptualization and actualization. You offer expertise, knowledge, contagious enthusiasm, and your hands to realize our ambitions. Your labor is irreplaceable, the touch that turns vision into impact in our community. Ours is a partnership forged in mutual exchange and care.
[Quote]
Noah Potts, Volunteer
“When I began volunteering for Lights Out I was searching for a community. Too often do I think we cut out that human touch in society because it’s inconvenient and not profitable. No wonder the rates of anxiety and depression are on the rise. Getting to talk, move, and create with other people … is one of those foundational, yet all too often taken for granted necessities in life.”
[2026]
Earth Day Clean-up
Your gift esures these hands keep building
2,790 hours of delicate and emphatic work by over 100 pairs of hands over the past year have left their enduring fingerprints on Lights Out. Volunteers build exhibitions, the Snowshoe Factory, the Norway Maine Arts Festival, and community programming. Each of these projects holds the unmistakable evidence of your care.
Volunteer with us Wednesdays 10am - 2pm
A hand extended is another hand grasped.
[3]
You are the oxygen coursing through our veins
Without it, everything goes still. With the arts facing cuts everywhere, our grant revenue projections for 2026 are $100,000+ less than in 2025.
[Quote]
Joe Ferigno, Donor, Volunteer
“…Maine is full of artists. You can be lost on a dirt road in the middle of the countryside and find someone making incredible creations. Lights Out’s mission of showcasing and bringing artists and community together inspires me to support their work…”
Your gift is a miracle
Your generosity delivers what Lights Out cannot produce alone; your donations keep Lights Out alive and well. The oxygen you introduce into this body travels full circuit, absorbed and pushed out to the furthest reaching fingertips, touching all our work.
Your contribution reaches through Lights Out to the artists we serve: funding the exhibitions that give their work an audience, the interviews that give their practice a record, the residencies that give artistic ambitions room to expand.
Every breath is an exchange.
WITHOUT YOU, NONE OF THIS HOLDS TOGETHER.
Lights Out is a marvelous assembly of aspirations stretching to support our community’s creative growth. In our first five years, we have shown you what a dedicated and flexible organization can do. We need your support now to keep our system moving forward.
Help us meet our goal of $50K by July 4th.
Checks, Cards, Venmo, PayPal, Donor Advised Funds
All donations are tax deductible.
EIN: 87-2533294
Lights Out Gallery, 10 Tannery Street, Norway, Maine 04268
For securities donations contact Brandon Clark at treasurer@lightsoutgallery.org
For general donation inquiries contact Daniel Sipe at daniel@lightsoutart.com
Check out our 2025 Kickstarter video to learn more about Lights Out.
Check out our 2025 Kickstarter video to learn more about Lights Out.