h D a n i e l M i n t e r h S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 7 6 1 tique of our government’s policies, but al- so an artist’s coping mechanism for liv- ing with the onslaught of depressing news. My challenge is to make a symbolic image that expresses both personal and universal feelings, to avoid clichés, to get under your skin, and not turn you off. To help you con- nect the dots between events and issues. Art can help you feel your feelings when things are scary. It allows us to reflect on who we are and what we’re doing as a na- tion. When you view my work, I hope you’ll get more in touch with your unease about what’s going on and sense the emergency and the madness of it. Grief can open the heart to courage and compassion, and outrage can move you to an active and moral response. Denise Levertov articulated this idea in the introduction to her poetry anthology, Making Peace: “A poetry articulating the dreads and horrors of our time is necessary in order to make readers understand what is happening, really understand it, not just know about it but feel it.” and culture. The show featured works by Da- vid Driskell, Lebanese artist Elizabeth Jabar, Haitian-American Rafael Clariot, Ebeneza Akapko, Titi de Baccarat, and Hi Tiger front- man Derek Jackson. Following its opening, “A Distant Holla” was lauded as “a deeply spiritual show on hallowed ground” by the Portland Press Herald. F rom painting exhibitions to perfor- mances, Minter is a leading commu- nity figure who, despite his broad-tent appeal, engages with an outspoken edge. He was one of the few local figures who spoke out publicly on social media in sup- port of British artist Hannah Black’s criticisms of Dana Schutz’s contentious painting of Emmett Till in this year’s Whitney Biennial. While Minter’s work often features uncom- fortable truths, he presents past difficulties in the light of spiritual healing rather than bitter shadows. Outrage, his toughest works remind us, can and should motivate us all to be better people. Outrage is a tool for guid- ing the future away from past wrongs. Daniel Minter is a painter who has never shied away from difficult subject matter. Take, for example, the ghastly history of Mal- aga–a coastal Maine island that was home to a mixed-race fishing village. In 1912, the state purchased the island, forced the inhab- itants to leave, seized mixed-race children from their families, and even exhumed the bodies from the local cemetery (See our story, “Shudder Island,” October 2004). This shameful slice of history was brought to life by Minter through a series of paintings of the island’s former inhabitants. In 2012, “A Shallow Home” went on exhibition at the So- ren Christensen Gallery in New Orleans. Earlier this year, Daniel Minter organized an exhibition entitled “A Distant Holla” at Portland’s Abyssinian Meeting House. Built in 1828 by free blacks, Portland’s Abyssinian Meeting House is the third oldest African American meeting house in America. Mint- er’s highly attended exhibition and perfor- mances celebrated the driving power of the Abyssinian Meeting House and its attending black communities as facets of local society Rollover (2014) featured in “Men in Suits: Paintings by Natasha Mayers,”an exhibition at the MaineJewish Museum in Portland in 2015. ADistant Holla (2017) by Daniel Minter