Current Collaborator: Ultraviolet Arts

June 1 to June 30


Ultraviolet Studio Project is an artist residency designed by and for trans artists. The inaugural cohort of seven interdisciplinary artists will come together at Light Manufacturing in Portland, Maine in June 2026.

Ultraviolet will provide a stipend and access to workspace, the connection of a shared studio practice, studio visits with peers, critics, and curators, and community housing placements. Artists will share with the extended community through a collective showcase at the conclusion of the program. Through dedicated time for independent work, connection with one another, and an opportunity to engage with the larger community, Ultraviolet Studio Project aims to rewrite who is built for, and who they can serve. 

Ultraviolet Arts Website

Past Collaborations

Collaborator: Transmissions Quilts
May 4 to 29, 2026

Join Transmissions Quilts, Midori Morrow and Esper Gaspardi for “Soft Edges” on view at Light Manufacturing.

“Soft Edges” is a show of trans textile+ objects out of Maine that shares quilts, tapestries and art objects from Transmissions: Quilts for Trans People, which were all made and delivered in New England. Midori Morrow will exhibit their cyanotypes, silk tapestries and other glowing orbs of light. Esper Gaspardi will bring us back to earth with plaster molded elk hooves and desert cyanotypes.

Stay tuned for a lineup of workshops and live events including sewing days, trans bodywork underneath quilts, embroidery, cyanotype and poetry workshops.

The reception on May 15th features live music from Queer Beach and food by Finoccihi.

Thank you to APE Ltd. for co-sponsoring this show. A.P.E.’s programming is made possible in part through sustained support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts. Thank you also to Space Gallery's Kindling Fund and the Coby Foundation for generous support in making this exhibit possible.

Related Events

Mon May 4th: Get to Know Your Sewing Machine with @t_bag_maine. This is a t4t event and meant for sewing beginners. Bring your own or learn on one of ours! Registration capped at 6. Register here.

Fri May 8th: Poetry Reading, 6pm to 8pm. @transpoeticsarchive’s BIPOC cohort will be sharing poetry. These poets have been gathering for the past 6 months and will be reading work underneath quilts.

Tues May 12th: Embroidery Workshop, 6:30pm to 9pm, open to all. @bally.hue will lead us in a poetry embroidery workshop featuring poems from TPA’s forthcoming anthology. Come learn to embroider or show off your skills. We’ll provide poetry and embroidery materials. No participation cap so just come through.

Fri May 15th: Exhibition Reception, 5pm to 8pm. the big one… our exhibition reception. Flirt with your friends over quilt-inspired foods both free and available for purchase, poetically divined by @__finocchi__. Groove to @queerbeach and then ask Travis how he’s able to do so much. This event will be excellent for first dates, corporate retreats or rekindling with long-lost relatives.

Sun May 17th: Cyanotype Workshop. Dreaming of summer sun? @_midorimorrow_ will be teaching us how to sun-print. Not only that, we’re gonna be trying it out on weird surfaces. Fabric and paper, sure. But also… metal, wood. Register here.

Mon May 18th: Quilted Ditty Bag Workshop. @t_bag_maine is back to teach us how to make a quilted ditty bag. Materials provided, just bring a bit of sewing know-how. This is a t4t event. Registration capped at 6! Register here.

Thurs May 21 - Sat May 23: Free Bodywork. Eben Smith and Jane Love (Trans Bodywork of New England) will be providing FREE massages to trans people! Bodywork bliss underneath trans art. Sign up for your hour long slot.

Collaborator: Tessa Greene O’Brien
Winter/Spring 2026
Reception: April 12, 3pm to 5pm

In preparation for an exhibition of large scale work to be shown in New York this spring, artist Tessa Greene O’Brien is utilizing Light Manufacturing as a studio space.

Collaborator: Speedwell “The Haunted”
October + November 2025

The Haunted—Contemporary Photography Conjured in New England is a limited edition book of photography and poetry by SPEEDWELL. Light Manufacturing is one of two venues hosting an exhibition in conjunction with the book launch.

The Haunted draws a circle around contemporary New England photography as being rich in personal narrative, particularly in the way nature, through the landscape and the human/animal relationship endures as a source of artistic inspiration. The Haunted also invokes multiple histories unique to New England, including early Puritanism with its fear of witchcraft and sorcery, as well as the rich tradition of lyric and confessional poetry created by New England poets dating back to the 17th century.

Opening party and Book Launch:
Thursday, October 30, 8 p.m.—Midnight 
Light Manufacturing, Cassidy Point, Portland - open to the public. 

Exhibitions:
The Haunted at Light Manufacturing, Cassidy Point, Portland
October 24-December 1
Shoshannah White, Pia Paulina Guilmoth, Peter Shellenberger, Caleb Charland, Cheryle St. Onge, Neville Caulfield, and Wendy Small.

Exhibition hours: Thur-Sat , 1-6pm

The Haunted at Moss Galleries, Falmouth
October 17-November 29
www.elizabethmossgalleries.com


Collaborator: Shelby Drabman
June + July 2025

Night Vision, curated by Shelby Drabman and Nick Barner
July 18 to July 25, 2025
Opening reception: July 18 at 5 to 8 pm
Closing party: July 25 at 8pm to midnight
Gallery hours July 19-24, 12PM - 6PM

“the excess of darkness
is the flash of a star”

~ Georges Bataille, L’Archangélique

Nocturnal sight – an ability possessed by animals, technology, and monsters – has shown us games of predator and prey, stories of scandal and surveillance, and the tactical evils of war. But as artists, we understand that darkness offers more than opportunities for the powerful to strike in secret.

To identify truth in especially deceptive times, thinkers from Hegel to Maurice Blanchot to Aristotle have called for humanity to look past the light of day, adopt “the eyes of bats,” and learn to see in the dark.

With Night Vision, an upcoming, weeklong show at Light Manufacturing, we asked thirteen artists to practice just this strategy for interpreting a world that presents itself as increasingly uninterpretable.

Yasmin Mazloom @yasminmazloom
Corey Riddell @coreyriddell
Margaret Kristensen @warmbutterfingers
Shelby Drabman @putitinthepizza
Naomi Moser @holyfaarts
Sammy Selin @sammyselin
Ethan Stuart @ethanjohnstuart
Tom Ryan @tomryanart
Virgina Lopez-Anido @plasterboob
Nick Barner @thelatecorntoastie
Madeline Ludwig-Leone @mludwigleone
Kelly McConnell @kellyartlifeshehersir
Anders Lindseth @anders_lindseth 

About the space

+ Studio is a 32’ x 48’ clear space with 15 foot high ceilings
+ One garage door is operational, one is fixed
+ Plywood backed walls
+ Lighting grid
+ DJ/Lighting booth
+ Concrete floors
+ Private bathroom
+ Private entrance
+ Parking
+ Wifi

Past Collaborators:
Winter 2026: Tessa Greene O’Brien
Fall 2025: Kate Hargrave
Summer 2025: Shelby Drabman
Spring 2025: The Circular with Nick Schroeder
Winter 2025: Kindling Fund info session with Space Gallery
Fall 2024: Open Studio with Aaron T Stephan and Portland Museum of Art
Summer 2024: Portland Theater Festival production of Dry Land