The Lewiston Is Our Hope Project invites our Lewiston-Auburn community members to share their visions of hope through art and storytelling. Led by Yun Garrison at Bates College in Lewiston, over 400 community members will be invited to contribute to a collective artwork in October 2025. Stay tuned for workshops and art tables.

By participating in this project, you will create:

  1. One painted wood circle (3 x 3 inches) that will become part of a large public art installation, and

  2. A 60-second audio story that will become part of our community’s hope story archive.

The final public art installation will be on display at the Lewiston Public Library this winter.

This is a community art and research project. We’ll ask for your consent before starting.

When are the following open workshops and art tables?

Drop-in art table: Drop-in space to create at your own pace

Open workshop: Structured group session with other people

* We will update this daily

(Last updated on October 29 2025, 7:00 PM)

10/21 3:30-5:00 Gather to Grow (208 Bates St, Lewiston, ME) Open art table

10/21 5-6:30 PM  Ellard Studio (178 Lisbon St, 2nd Fl, Lewiston, ME) Open workshop

10/21 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM Le Ronji Coffeehouse (30 Frye St, Lewiston, ME) Open art table

10/23 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM YWCA Central Maine Gym (130 East Ave, Lewiston, ME) Open workshop

10/24 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM Gather To Grow (208 Bates St, Lewiston, ME) Open art table

10/25 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM Lewiston Public Library Callahan Hall (200 Lisbon St, Lewiston, ME) Open workshop

10/26 9:30 AM - 1:00 PM Lewiston Farmet’s Market (2 Oxford St, Lewiston, ME) Drop-in art table

10/26 3-4:30 PM  Ellard Studio (178 Lisbon St, 2nd Fl, Lewiston, ME) Open workshop

10/26 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM Le Ronji Coffeehouse (30 Frye St, Lewiston, ME) Drop-in art table

10/28 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM Le Ronji Coffeehouse (30 Frye St, Lewiston, ME) Drop-in art table

10/30 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM Munka Studio (221 Lisbon St, Lewiston, ME) Open workshop

11/10 1:15 PM - 2:15 PM Bates College Commons 1st Floor Lobby (136 Central Ave, Lewiston, ME) Drop-in art table

11/19 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM LA Arts (168 Lisbon St, Lewiston, ME) Open workshop. This is the final open workshop of the project.

So far, 260 people have participated in the project, with their ages ranging from 2 to 82 years old.

Team

Project Director

Yun Garrison

Community Steward

Fowsia Musse

Team Coordinator

Reynolds Huard

Team Member

Kelly Saldana

Team Member

Anna Luka

Team Member

Claudia Klingbeil

Team Member

Sophia Ramsey

Team Member

Mo Mcguire

Community Collaborators

If you are interested in collaborating for the project, please contact our team. We will create a workshop or art table for your group!

ArtVan

Bates College

Ellard Studio

Gather to Grow

Le Ronji

LA Arts

Lewiston Farmers’ Market

Lewiston Public Library

New Beginnings

Maine Community Integration

Maine Resiliency Center

Munka Studio

Spurwink

University of Southern Maine Lewiston-Auburn Campus

YWCA-Central Maine

Contact us

Do you live, work, or attend school in Lewiston?

Let our team know if you’d like to sign up as a group, such as friends, family members, students, classmates, or coworkers, to participate in a workshop together.