2026 | Maine Artist Fellowship | Media Arts Fellow

Artist Statement:

Bethany Engstrom's creative practice is embedded in a curiosity and a questioning of the spaces we encounter every day, both physical and temporal and the states of being and experiences they evoke; often resulting in anxieties produced by current social and environmental concerns. Mining sources including philosophy, sociology, psychology, pop culture, among others, she aims to connect through these investigations. Currently, her work has focused on time, place, labor, care, and motherhood, merging digital and traditional media. Examining the overlapping work of motherhood and art-making, her practice uses durational tasks with materials equal in weight to her young daughter as metaphors for care and responsibility. The settings of the videos look to both the natural and constructed landscapes as a means to interact with and reflect on both, culminating in new considerations of how video is viewed and expanding on methods of presentation.

Bio:

Bethany Engstrom is an artist, curator, and educator living and working in Belfast, Maine. She received a BA in Art History 2002, her MFA in Intermedia in 2011 and Interdisciplinary PhD in Intermedial Collaborative Practices in 2014, each from the University of Maine.

Bethany's recent work utilizes objects, installation, audio, and video, focusing on how these materials can express ideas of time, care, environment, labor/work, and motherhood. She has participated in residencies at the Volland Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, Hewnoaks Artist Colony, Ellis-Beauregard Foundation and Mildred's Lane. She recently had a solo exhibition at the University of Maine Farmington Art Gallery and her work has been included in group exhibitions at the Newport Art Museum, Newport, Rhode Island; Gallery 263, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Collar Works in Troy, New York; Parsonage Gallery, Searsport, Maine; Speedwell Contemporary and Cove Street Arts in Portland, Maine; Asymmetrick Arts and the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockland, Maine; Waterfall Arts in Belfast, Maine and the University of Maine. Engstrom is the recipient of the Kindling Fund, part of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Arts' Regional Regranting Program.

Bethany Engstrom is a part-time Assistant Professor of Art in the Intermedia MFA program at UMaine and an adjunct Lecturer of Visual Arts at the University of Maine Augusta and has taught at Bowdoin College and Unity College. Formerly Associate Curator at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockland, Maine, and recently the Managing Director of SPEEDWELL Contemporary in Portland, Maine, she is co-founder and director of the Performance Art Initiative in Maine.

On winning a Maine Artist Fellowship:

"Receiving the Maine Artist Fellowship in Media Arts is both an immense honor and a deeply meaningful recognition of my dedication to my work. This recognition reinforces my commitment to pursuing creative growth and innovation within my practice. With the fellowship's support, I look forward to developing new projects, refining my craft, and embracing bold creative directions. I am also eager to continue engaging with the arts community-sharing my work, fostering dialogue, and contributing to the broader cultural landscape. I am deeply grateful for this opportunity and the encouragement it offers to keep growing and evolving as an artist."

Artist Image Gallery: