UMPI and Wintergreen Arts Center prepare for “12×12” art auction

Another May is fast approaching and the University of Maine at Presque Isle and Wintergreen Arts Center are making their final preparations for the Third Annual 12×12 Art Auction. The auction will feature original works from approximately 50 artists from Aroostook County, the nation, and Canada. 12×12—a fundraiser that will help officials support arts programming in the downtown—will be held Friday, May 2, from 6-9 p.m. at the Wintergreen Arts Center during the May 2014 First Friday Art Walk. The community is invited to attend this free event. Light refreshments will be served.

The University of Maine at Presque will host the 2nd Annual Safe Homes Aroostook “Move to End Homelessness” fundraiser on Sunday, May 4, 2014, from 1-5 p.m. The 5K fun run/walk, which will be held rain or shine, will start and end at Gentile Hall and wind along the city’s sidewalks and bike path.

The staff of the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s literary journal is celebrating the publication of its latest issue with an official Upcountry Reading and Launch Party at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 1 in the Normal Hall Faculty Lounge.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle is pleased to announce the next speaker in its 2013-2014 University Distinguished Lecturer Series—Noah Hutton, a documentary filmmaker and neuroscience enthusiast who will deliver a talk titled Engaging Minds: The Blue Brain Project and the Race to Understand the Human Brain on Tuesday, April 15, at 7 p.m. in the Campus Center. His talk is free and the public is invited to be a part of this special evening.

From witch hunts and trips to Tanzania to oceanography and honey bees, students at the University of Maine at Presque Isle will showcase their academic research, scholarly work and community service on Wednesday, April 16, during University Day. The theme of this year’s event is Engaging Minds for Student Success.

The Brigham Young University-Idaho Sinfonietta, a 38-member chamber orchestra from Rexburg, Idaho, will present a spring concert in the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Wieden Auditorium on Thursday, April 17 at 7 p.m. The Sinfonietta’s performance is part of a two-week tour through Québec, the Maritime Provinces, and locations in Massachusetts and Maine during April. This concert is free though donations will be accepted at the door for The American Cancer Society.

A growing interest in triathlon and run/walk events in Aroostook has brought together four County organizations, each working to improve the health and wellbeing of area residents, to present a series of activities in northern Maine this summer for all ages and ability levels.

With more than 30 businesses and governmental agencies from across the region and throughout the state planning to participate, the University of Maine at Presque Isle is preparing to host its biggest career fair in recent years and expanding the event to include information on attending graduate school. UMPI’s Career, Job & Grad School Fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, April 10, in the Campus Center.

Officials with the University of Maine at Presque Isle and C-A-N-C-E-R are pleased to announce that the 8th Annual Planet Head Day raised more than $21,000 for the local cancer organization. Dozens of community members shaved their heads (or donned bald caps) and had them painted as planets, moons and comets for the region’s most unique fundraiser, which brings together space science education and cancer awareness into a single package.

The UMPI Library will be full of Aroostook County history, County-themed refreshments, and even a little singing when the Friends of the Aroostook County Historical Center and the University of Maine at Presque Isle mark the 175th anniversary of Aroostook County’s incorporation on Sunday, March 16, 2014, from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. The community is invited and encouraged to attend this free event, sponsored by KeyBank and the County of Aroostook.