The Wiscasset Bay Gallery is hosting a reception on Thursday, July 5 from 4 to 7 p.m. which coincides with the opening of their exhibition entitled "Expanding Horizons in 20th Century Maine Art." The event is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be served.

Featured in the exhibition is a dramatic and thickly painted oil painting by Andrew Winter (American, 1893-1958) , entitled "The Morning After," which captures a group of Monhegan fishermen on the island's iconic cliffs, their forms highlighted against the turquoise water churning with waves. The men look out over a shipwreck along the island's edge, as light spills down through the clouds above. Also on display is a collection of paintings by John Fulton Folinsbee (American, 1892-1972). "Coast Guard Station" is painted in deep earthen tones, the reds and grays of the rocky shoreline of Seguin Island depicted with swift and bold palette knife strokes, offering a contrast to Folinsbee's impressionistic rendition of Sheepscot Bay in "View of Wiscasset," painted using bright colors and loose brushstrokes.

The exhibition will also highlight a number of turn-of-the-century watercolors, pastels and etchings. A 1908 pastel by Walter Griffin (American, 1861-1935) portrays the field in the center of Monhegan Island, with sheep grazing amongst the swaying golden grasses. "Quiet Morning, Somes Sound," a delicate watercolor by SPR Triscott (American, 1846-1925) depicts the edge of an inlet along Somes Sound on Mt. Desert Island, while Sears Gallagher's (American, 1869-1955) etching, "Two Girls at the Beach," is a subtle rendering of two young children, their heads bent together as they share secrets at the water's edge. Paintings by other prominent American artists will also be represented, including plein air oil paintings by New England artists Jay Hall Connaway, Abraham Bogdanove, and Edmund Ward, as well as watercolors by William Zorach, William Thon and George Howell Gay.

Contemporary highlights include bold still life paintings by Geer Morton, Tom McCobb and Joan Plummer, and coastal and inland Maine views by Keith Oehmig, Michael Graves, Don Stone, Guy Corriero, Marjorie Moskowitz, Tom Curry, Diana Johnson, J. Thomas R. Higgins, Paul Niemiec, Judith Magyar, John Gable and Carlton Plummer.

"Expanding Horizons in 20th Century Maine Art" will be on display through Wednesday, August 8. For more information, call 207-882-7682, or visit the gallery's website at www.wiscassetbaygallery.com. The Wiscasset Bay Gallery is open daily from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., and is located at 67 Main Street (Route One) in historic Wiscasset village.