What could be the best Art in ME! Exhibition at Boothbay Region Art Foundation opened Oct. 16 with 69 pieces of diverse work in as many media.

Juror Keith Oehmig, artist and founder/director of Wiscasset Bay Gallery in Wiscasset, began with 108 pieces submitted by 59 Maine artists. In selecting art for the show, Oehmig focused on each artist’s choice of color, their confident handling of media, and the originality of the subject matter.

Artists with work in the show are from Arundel, Bath, Bridgton, Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Bristol, Brunswick, Casco, Center Lovel, Cumberland Foreside, Damariscotta, East Boothbay, Edgecomb, Falmouth, Freeport, Georgetown, Gorham, Lagrange, Lewiston, Litchfield, New Harbor, Newcastle, Nobleboro, Orrington, Pemaquid, Phippsburg, Round Pond, South Freeport, Southport, Tenants Harbor, Waldoboro, Walpole, Waterville, West Boothbay Harbor, Westport Island, West Gardiner, Wiscasset, Windham, Winthrop and Woolwich.

One of the first observations one makes walking into the gallery (masked, of course) is the color and large canvases, some 5 ½ feet tall. The media include gouache, oil, pastel, acrylic, ink, stained glass, glass mosaic, wood, clay/ceramic, and found objects. One artist used aluminum for her canvas.

A few eye-catching, thoought-provoking, delightful pieces include Ramone Hanley-Warren’s “A Moment In Time,” an acrylic vertical painting of an autumn forest, trees reaching up to a sky where the sun’s light is captured in paint as it often appears in cell phone photos with multiple rays of light stretching out over, in this case, the forest. The tree trunks have a surreal quality to them, but that could just be the influence of the season affecting these impressions! Still, you might get the feeling the gray-grayish-white trunks and branches are going to fade out of view. The tree crows, each on its own perch, are all looking at something to their right. What has their attention?

Mary Gardner’s stained glass and acrylic paint window “Come Sail With Me” is divided like a triptych but appears to be a window from the top of a door divided into three. The mists in the sky are borealis-like, and there is curling sea smoke from the water. There is a lone little boat, and the islands jutting out from each side are brown, an earthy, grounding force to prevent the viewer from getting lost in the mist.

Helen Warner painted a triptych, “Evolution,” in alcohol ink. The work is a colorful depiction of life stages below the sea. Above Warner’s piece is Lara Max’s “Maine Coast” on aluminum, an atypical canvas choice to be sure. The detail in this work is quite fine.

Cynthia Smith’s “Visceral Torso” wood sculpture will stop you in your tracks, that’s how compelling it is. This twisted torso attracts and repels simultaneously. This one has to be experienced.

Andre Benoit’s “Picking Up Posies” is as entertaining as it is enchanting – the posey gatherer stretching out beyond the frame.

Sarah Greenier’s oil “Knubble Bay Lobstermen” has a calming affect, and welcome it is, too!

Winslow Meyers of Nobleboro has two 5 ½ foot vertical paintings in the show, one of which Oehmig awarded the First Place for “Overpass & River.” Meyers’ other large work, “Traffic Light” is a standout, lifting the viewer off the ground to meet the lights, affording a view of the water, and a tease about what’s around the corner. It’s a painting that literally invites you to walk in, but if you do, be careful. You never know what could be coming around the corner!

Board member, former president of BRAF and artist Mark Coates hung the show with Susie Porter and Sarah Wilde. “Hanging the show involved pairing pieces that compliment each other by color or subject matter. The largest artworks were placed first and the smaller artworks filled in between them,” Coates explained. “This show was particularly difficult to hang due to the diversity of the artwork. There is everything from traditional paintings (to) weavings, abstract paintings and sculpture.”

The exhibition runs through Sunday, Nov. 14 at Boothbay Region Art Foundation’s gallery at 1 Townsend Ave., Boothbay Harbor. The gallery is open Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information, call 633-2703 or visit www.boothbayartists.org