September 3, 2024 - September 30, 2024

The Blue Hill Library is co- hosting a new art exhibit with the Jonathan Fisher House at the library for the month of September, a group show by local artists, Maine Artists Explore the Legacy of Jonathan Fisher. The Jonathan Fisher House sent out a call to artists for works inspired by the first settled Congregational minister of the small village of Blue Hill, and 19 artists responded, some with multiple works.

Besides a minister, Jonathan Fisher (1768-1847) was also an artist, farmer, scientist, mathematician, surveyor, and writer of prose and poetry. Fisher’s artistic legacy includes his use of the camera obscura to create “A Morning View of Blue Hill Village,” the incredible personality and specificity of his “Scripture Animals” (woodcuts), botanical illustrations, and bookmaking skills. “A Morning View of Blue Hill Village,” painted in 1824, is owned by the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland. Other paintings of Fisher’s may be seen at the Fisher House and the Blue Hill Library.

The Jonathan Fisher House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and open for tours. At the charming homestead he designed in 1814 for his large family, you may see the life’s work of this “Versatile Yankee,” as he is referred to in the title of a book by Alice Winchester about his art. The show is organized and curated by artist and Fisher House board member, Christopher Scott Brumfield. The show is available for viewing during library hours subject to the Howard Room meeting schedule.