[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 130 (Thursday, July 27, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E735]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         CELEBRATING LOIS DODD

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. CHELLIE PINGREE

                                of maine

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 27, 2023

  Ms. PINGREE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate Lois Dodd's 
contribution to Maine's artistic record and her legacy as an acclaimed 
American oil painter. The painter's understated, observational scenes 
of farmhouses, forests, quarries and winding roads recall days spent 
along the coast and invoke feelings of nostalgia in anyone who has 
spent time in Maine. Admired for her plein-air paintings and 
appreciation for moments of understated importance, Dodd is credited 
with an alluring capacity to capture the character of her subjects.
  When Dodd visited Maine for the first time in 1951, she was taken 
with the pace of life--so different from that of her home in New York 
City. The dynamic landscape and, what Dodd describe as, ``American 
ruins''--weathered farmhouses and barns, cracked windowpanes, shingled 
outhouses--provided the painter with an abundance of inspiration for 
her work. Even her bedroom window proved to be the perfect subject. For 
those native to the state, her work speaks to Maine's rich 
architectural, agricultural, and ecological history. For those yet to 
know Maine, Dodd's work invites them in and inspires them to visit the 
state to see the painter's subjects for themselves.
  Among a group of avant-garde artists from New York, Dodd found 
creative respite along the coast in the summer months. Dodd co-owned a 
home in Lincolnville for many years with other New York artists. In the 
1960s, she purchased her own property in Cushing. It is in this home 
that Dodd painted her well-known bedroom mural which provided later 
inspiration for pieces on view at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland.
  The painter even found that some of her subjects became more vibrant 
when she was in the state. ``In Maine, the figures would be involved 
with something interesting--climbing a tree, using an axe, working. She 
is not just lolling there. It is more alive that way,'' Dodd said.
  Dodd is an elected member of the American Academy and Institute of 
Arts and Letters and the National Academy of Design. Her work is 
included in the collections of Bowdoin College, Colby College, the 
Farnsworth Art Museum, the Portland Art Museum, The Museum of Modern 
Art and more. The painter also spent over 50 years in the classroom, 
lending her knowledge and talent to countless students. Dodd's work 
offers an impressive testimony to the rich landscape and history of 
Maine--cementing the state's legacy as an influential and significant 
contributor to the fine arts.

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