The film will be screened at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 12, in the Androscoggin Theater of the Lepage Arts Center at Hebron Academy, 339 Paris Rd. Then at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 13, there will be a repeat performance at the Bingham Auditorium, Gould Academy, 45 Church St., Bethel. On Jan. 14, students of the Telstar Regional Schools will be presented two assemblies with this award-winning composer, musician and filmmaker.
In a custom-made wagon that he towed behind his horse, Isaac Simpson kept his tools for blacksmithing, mechanics, carpentry and hair cutting; he also fit his handmade violin, woolens to sell which were knit by his wife Effie, and he always fit his large box camera and glass-plate negatives.
Simpson traveled throughout northern Maine doing blacksmith and mechanics work in logging camps and farms. His skills brought him through the far reaches of the Maine frontier at the turn-of-the-century, and were the means to help support his family of 13 children. Everywhere Simpson traveled he would take photographs of the families and workers in the camps and farms. By extensively photographing everything and everyone he came in contact with, he created a quintessential social history of northern Maine at a pivotal time.
“The Maine Frontier” is an illustration of family, work, community and culture in northern Maine at the turn-of-the-century, exemplified via Simpson’s extensive photographic collection of logging camps, farms, “Shack Hill” and “Little Italy” in Millinocket, railroad tie camps, shoe-last camps, and of the pioneering families who sustained a life on the Maine frontier.
Employing Simpson’s exemplifying photographs, “The Maine Frontier” investigates the unique geographical circumstances of a pioneering people in a region virtually disconnected from the rest of the state and country. As a “Docu-Exhibit,” McKane’s “The Maine Frontier” combines the projection of archived film and photography with authentic sound design, oral histories, and a live musical soundtrack to tell this historical story via an innovative live presentation.
For more information, visit www.mahoosucarts.org, email info@mahoosucarts.org or call 207-824-3575.
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