furniture . fine art . pottery . jewelry . bags . linen . leather . photography . glassware . trappings 65 Washington Avenue | Portland, Maine 04101 | 207.835.0590 meadow | nicola k. hardy | mixed media on canvas | 15.75 x 15.75 S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 7 6 5 specific role but recognize that art, the arts, are inextricably woven into culture. Isartaneffectivetoolforsocialchange? Y es, but it’s only one facet or tool. Un- less the art rises to being culturally embraced beyond the art world and covered in the media, it’s scope is limited. Our society sometimes has a way of dimin- ishing the arts and their importance. How- ever, more people attend museums than professional sports events and theme parks combined, with over 850 million visitors each year to American museums, accord- ing to the American Alliance of Museums. Whatdoyouthinkisthemostimportantsocialcontent thatnowappearsinMaineart? I think it’s the breadth of the art being made here in terms of subject, concepts, and disciplines. Tellusaboutyourlatestproject. My 2015 series, “Current Wars and Con- flicts,” started with the thought: “There’s a lot of suffering due to conflicts in our world. But how much? Due to how many current wars and conflicts?” I didn’t know, so I went looking for answers. After doing some re- search, I created over 40 works that visual- ize the information on maps, atlas pages, children’s geographies, and drawings. n AIRS by Continent (2017) by Dan Mills