Good, affordable place in Maine if you're an artist (Portland: house, buy)

[tapestry]

Hiya everyone! I'm fairly new to this board. My husband and I and our teenaged son live outside of Reading, Pennsylvania now and are thinking of moving to Maine possibly next summer.

We, luckily, do not have to worry about finding a job as my husband is on retirement disability and I work at home on the internet doing medical transcription, so this would allow us to move anywhere in the country we want without having to worry about finding a job.

My husband does art work at home on the side as a hobby. Reading, PA is not exactly a mecca of artists and his art work is very difficult to sell here, although he is very, very talented. He belonged to the only gallery in the area and did sell some pieces, however, it just closed down recently.

So my question is: where in Maine would be a good place for an artist to live and sell artwork that would also be affordable and have low property taxes (if there is such a place as usually art communities are also very expensive to live in). By affordable, at least compared to this area, I mean a home around $200,000 and property taxes $3000 or less per year.

Thanks so much for your help.

I have a million other questions about Maine, but am finding a lot of answers from other posts, however, I didn't find much about this topic.

Hope you don't mind seeing me again as I may be posting more frequently other questions I have about Maine.

Thanks again,

...Sue

[dmyankee]

The Maine Highlands Guild | Education

Start here. Maine has a long history of artists and many organizations! There is usually no shortage of shows, galleries and outlets for selling.

[tapestry]

Originally Posted by dmyankee

The Maine Highlands Guild | Education

Start here. Maine has a long history of artists and many organizations! There is usually no shortage of shows, galleries and outlets for selling.

Thanks for the info.....if we are ever lucky enough to move to Maine, that would be a good organization for my husband to join...

Any ideas on small towns and/or villages in Maine, tho, that would be affordable to live in and would have a good art community or is there no such animal? There seems to be no such animal in Pennsylvania....any of its art communities are *extremely* expensive to live in such as New Hope, for example....had heard Maine was different, tho....

P.S. My husband does paintings such as oil, water and colored pencil usually of landscapes and/or people....thought this info may help in your helping determine a good place in which he could sell his work......

Thanks,

...Sue

[ljotis]

I would consider somewhere around Portland/Augusta area, close to those two cities, there are colleges, and more people, and from what I remember there are a great number of artistic events. Further north, where I lived, there was less in the way of art, too cold, too many people scattered too far apart ect. But if your husband is still very ambulatory, you can make good money on paintings from Mt. Kahtadin (spelling?) and selling them localy as well as putting up an internet site to sell the paintings from the local area. It is alot like Penn., as far as a lot of wilderness and scenic places to photograph/paint. I'm sure more will chime in about the small communities in the southern part of the state, but its a beautiful place, and almost anywhere you'll be able to find a pretty good sized house in a small town for that price (in the north I paid 35k for a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom and 4 acres)....good luck and welcome!

[7th generation]

A photographer friend of mine was at Sunday River (Bethel) this weekend for a show and said the event drew quite a large crowd. Rumford has the Pennacook Arts building that showcases local art and has a featured artist every month.

[tapestry]

Originally Posted by ljotis

I would consider somewhere around Portland/Augusta area, close to those two cities, there are colleges, and more people, and from what I remember there are a great number of artistic events. Further north, where I lived, there was less in the way of art, too cold, too many people scattered too far apart ect. But if your husband is still very ambulatory, you can make good money on paintings from Mt. Kahtadin (spelling?) and selling them localy as well as putting up an internet site to sell the paintings from the local area. It is alot like Penn., as far as a lot of wilderness and scenic places to photograph/paint. I'm sure more will chime in about the small communities in the southern part of the state, but its a beautiful place, and almost anywhere you'll be able to find a pretty good sized house in a small town for that price (in the north I paid 35k for a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom and 4 acres)....good luck and welcome!

Thank you sooo much for the welcome and the helpful advice! I forgot to mention, tho, that my husband and I would really, really like to have a home that has a view of the water -- any water -- so that would probably negate the cheaper priced home that you mentioned, but it's something that we really want and have always dreamed of having....I had heard it was cheaper in the northern part of the state to get a home with a view of the water than the southern part....is that true? And, if so, are there any art communities in that part of the state?

Thanks, everyone, for your help....

...Sue

[dmyankee]

You will find that all summer long, you can attend juried and informal shows every week. There are literally hundreds of craft fairs and flea markets. Heck, you can even set up at the Arundel market in the dead of winter and sell stuff!

It really doesn't matter where you live that counts, but how far you want to travel.

[ljotis]

Where we live, mars hill, housing is cheap, as it is anywhere in the northern part of the state. The downsides, not as many bigger bodies of water up there (we have a few near Presque Isle) and the art community isn't as big up there. Two reasons, not a whole lot of money, and art isn't in a whole lot of the schools anymore. A place I would suggest you look, somewhere near lincoln/lee area. Not too far from Bangor, and only a few hours from Augusta/Portland for the bigger festivals. Lincoln has great pricing (usually under 150k) housing, a small town feel to it, and its near the water, I'm sure you could find a place on the water as well. Its middle of the state (about that) and I've been there a few times, friendly people! If you'd still like a place up north, you can always find a "camp", a little place you can buy with a few acres and a small place to live to relax in. Many people from the south have little camps around the lakes to get away, or to hunt at. Again good luck!

[tapestry]

Originally Posted by dmyankee

You will find that all summer long, you can attend juried and informal shows every week. There are literally hundreds of craft fairs and flea markets. Heck, you can even set up at the Arundel market in the dead of winter and sell stuff!

It really doesn't matter where you live that counts, but how far you want to travel.

Yes, that's true about the travel part....I guess I should have clarified the fact that we don't want to have to travel too far to show his work.....we mainly wanna live in a small village where places are close by to walk to, where we can get a cuppa coffee and where people are friendly and he can show his art in the same community....we are in our late 40's, are very laid back type people, are liberals (it could be said that we're old hippes), and seek the slower pace of life that Maine seems to offer (we don't even have use for a cell phone!)....not to lump everyone together but, for the most part, people in our area are not very friendly at all and mostly tend to keep to themselves.....we also really want a home with a view of the water....

Sorry for the stream of consciousness rambling above, but I guess I just wanted to get my thoughts out about what we're looking for...

Thanks all,

...Sue

[dmyankee]

Affordable water view in a artist community is almost an oxymoron in Maine now. Think Bucks county. Portland and the coast is where it's happening for anything resembling steady art sales.

That being said you might be able to get way Downeast or up north in towns above or around Bangor, or a tourist trap in the central or northwest part of the state. $200k will get you a halfway decent lake lot in a lot of places.