Portrait of a place: BHPL fundraiser celebrates local arts
Artist and writer Marilyn Eckberg is one of 93 participants in this year’s ‘Paint the Peninsula’
150 recently created pieces are on display at the library, and most of the paintings are plein air peninsula landscapes. Photo courtesy of Blue Hill Public Library.
July 16, 2026
By Marilyn Eckberg
BLUE HILL—Paint the Peninsula is an annual call to artists by the Blue Hill Public Library. Once a year, the library asks for donations of original artworks—all created within a specific time frame—to be auctioned off online, with a percentage of the proceeds benefiting the library. Now in its 15th year, the popular show has become Blue Hill Public Library's biggest fundraiser. Behind the scenes, artists, volunteers, designers, publicists and organizers work to ensure a successful art exhibit and the online sale of over 150 recently created pieces.
This year, after an application process, 93 artists were instructed to work on the Blue Hill Peninsula, from Surry to Stonington, and to make one artwork at a time, one day at a time, in any medium, of any subject, during a designated week. At week’s end, up to two finished works could be submitted, one for the art show, and one held in reserve but available for viewing and auctioning.
As a painter participating in this year's event, I can attest to the challenge, effort and hope of making something with enough aesthetic or conceptual value that it could be purchased at the auction, a piece that holds its own when displayed next to paintings by established and emerging artists.
Paint the Peninsula results can be seen and bid on at the Blue Hill Public Library and on the auction website from July 13-18. I found it fascinating to see how the water, trees, rocks, boats, buildings and skies of our beautiful region can be expressed by 93 artists in 150 imaginative ways. Not surprisingly, most of the paintings are plein air peninsula landscapes.
The exhibit and auction will culminate in a reception at the library on July 18. There will be with music, wine and food from 5:30-8:00 p.m. For more information, call the library at 374-5515 or visit www.bhpl.net.
