Artist Kerry Hallgren Rodriguez of Damariscotta, a volunteer shopkeeper at the Skidompha Secondhand Book Shop, is the next artist whose works will be displayed in the shop’s new “Book Shop Artists” series.

Several local artists are members of the shop’s all-volunteer staff. This new series gives them an opportunity to display and sell their work at the shop.

Kerry’s paintings will be on display from Friday, Aug. 29 through Sunday, Aug. 31, during the book shop’s regular hours, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Skidompha Secondhand Book Shop is located at 17 Backstreet Landing in downtown Damariscotta, off Elm Street and behind Elm Street Plaza.

Kerry grew up in a Vermont community of Swedish immigrants, which inspired her interest in other cultures. “Being among hard-working families who were struggling to ‘belong’ in a new country and culture, had an enormous, life-long impact on me,” she said.

For many years, she taught art and language arts at a Friends elementary school in Pennsylvania, where lesson plans about people of other cultures were incorporated into the curriculum. During her teaching career, she received several grants to spend summers among Inuit people in Nunavut, in the Eastern Canadian Arctic, where she worked as a volunteer researcher for Canadian documentary filmmaker John Houston. Her experiences with the Inuit are reflected in much of her work.

Kerry’s paintings have appeared in several juried exhibits at River Arts Gallery in Damariscotta.

The Skidompha Secondhand Book Shop is a major fundraiser for Skidompha Public Library. It offers thousands of books in dozens of categories, as well as music CDs (which are currently on sale at four for $1) and records; movies on DVD; and games and puzzles. All items are donated, all staff members are volunteers, and all proceeds support the library’s programs and collections. A purchase at the shop is a direct contribution to the library.

Donations are welcomed whenever the shop is open, up to four bags or boxes per donor per day.

For more information about the shop, please visit skidomphabookshop.org or phone the shop between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.  at 207-563-7807.