We are taking this opportunity to welcome Jessica Goodwin to the Maine Art family. She is coming on board under the official title of Marketing Director. However, like all our staff at the gallery, she will be involved with all aspects of this wonderful little place we call Maine Art.
Even though Jessica wasn’t born in Maine, she still has the heart of a Mainer. Once surrounded by this life in Northern New England, it just becomes a part of you and you can’t help but come back. “Both my parents are from here, but the Air Force took them to Tacoma, Washington, and that is where I was born. So, while I’m not a Mainer by official terms, I did move back when I was two,” shares Jessica. “We lived at my grandfather’s camp on beautiful Bailey Island until moving to Portland when I was little.”
Upon graduation from high school, Jessica’s wanderlust kicked in. “I graduated a semester early from high school, and promptly moved to California where I lived and went to college for the next six years,” explains Goodwin. San Diego State University was her choice, and there she earned a double degree, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in both Journalism and Spanish.
Her fluent Spanish has helped Jessica in many areas of her life, especially her love of travel. Meeting new people and traveling the world is a high priority. If she can use the language she has grown to love almost as much, she is thrilled. “Most recently I traveled to Nicaragua. New places give me a perspective about the world that no other experience can render. It is humbling, enriching, and intoxicating,” says Goodwin. “To me, it’s one of the most beneficial things one can do for themselves.” Some of her favorite places are Nicaragua; Chefchauen, Morocco; Portugal, and of course, Spain, each and every corner of Spain. She even was able to live in Madrid for a little while.
Yet the lure of Maine continues to pull her back. Maine and her family. With all of her immediate family in the Portland area, it makes sense to call it home. “My mother, father, and brother are all here, as well as my significant other, Seth. It’s important to me to the people I love close by.”
Jessica also has an art career of her own. “I have an art studio space in Portland with my dear friend Mali Welch. We are best friends, but also very compatible business partners. It’s a pretty special relationship we have going on,” says Goodwin. “We make handbags and clutches out of vintage leather jackets, and textiles we print. Our business name is “El Bolso”.” In Spanish El Bolso means anything used to carry an object one holds dear. Again, her love of a language continues to feed her passion for life. “Sometimes we just go to the studio without an agenda and sometimes we go and bust out fifteen different designs. The best part, it’s still fun for both of us.”
Jessica comes to us by way of Maine Magazine. She worked at Maine Media Collective for six years. “I first worked in events, then production manager for three years. I was an advertising account manager for a year and a half, as well. I never thought I would be in sales. That was a surprise.” Overall, her passion is to create whether that be through design or an actual product. This is what prompted the career change to Maine Art.
“The authenticity of what Maine Art stands for really resonated with me. It is full of kind and passionate people,” say Goodwin “The thirty incredibly talented artists alone were a huge draw. I am excited to apply my skill sets and learn about art in a new way.”
So consider this your personal invitation to come by and visit and say hello. We all will be happy to see you, but Jessica is looking forward to meeting not only our artists and customers but the entire community.
Maine Art Paintings and Sculpture on 14 Western Ave is open at 10 am every day. We look forward to seeing you soon.