“Sunflowers” (acrylic on canvas) by Robert Gibson

The Atrium Art Gallery at the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College is displaying the work of 78 artists from Androscoggin, Franklin, and Oxford Counties in its biennial exhibition, “Area Artists 2013.”

The exhibition, which began January 18 and continues through March 21, includes paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, and works in clay, wood, fiber, metal, and mixed media. It presents works in a variety of styles, from representational to abstract, with landscapes, figure studies and portraits, still lifes, and sculptural work. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of USM’s Lewiston-Auburn campus, the Atrium Art Gallery will be offering works in the exhibition for sale, with proceeds going to the artists and the Lewiston-Auburn College Scholarship Fund.

Spiller’s president Ray Martel remarked that his company is proud of its ongoing support for the biennial exhibition series and for the advancement of the arts and artists in the tri-county area. The series, which began in 1994, has highlighted the work of hundreds of artists from Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford Counties.

The juried exhibition was open to all artists ages 18 and over, who were allowed to submit one or two pieces in any media. The gallery received 183 works from 100 artists, of which the jury selected 90 works by 78 artists for inclusion in the final exhibition. The jurors for the exhibition were Lewiston residents Dan Mills and Gail Skudera.

Dan Mills has been curating and jurying exhibitions and exhibiting his work throughout the country for over 25 years. He received his BFA from Rochester Institute of Technology in 1978 and his MFA from Northern Illinois University in 1981. He has directed academic museums since 1994, and was appointed Director of the Museum of Art and Lecturer in Humanities at Bates College in 2010.

Gail Skudera received a BFA in Textile Printing and Weaving and an MFA in Fiber from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. She is a recipient of a Visual Artist Fellowship Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and has been exhibiting her work, both nationally and internationally since 1981. Skudera has been an art lecturer, juror, and instructor and a contributing writer to Fiberarts magazine for many years.

The Atrium Art Gallery is located in the hub of the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College at 51 Westminster Street in Lewiston. The exhibition will conclude on March 21, when the Atrium will host a Chamber Business After Hours from 5 to 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Gallery hours are Mondays through Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m; closed holidays. For more information, contact curator Robyn Holman at 753-6554 or see the gallery’s website at www.usm.maine.edu/atriumgallery.