Hashi-Maine 2025, a show of student-created block prints exchanged between Maine and Aomori Japan, is now on view at the Greely Center for the Arts, connected to Greely High School, in Cumberland Center, Maine. An opening reception was held on Thursday, September 18th, 2025 and the show will be open to the public until Wednesday October 22nd, 2025. For questions and open hours, please contact the Greely Center for the Arts.
We hope that you will take the opportunity to view the student work and spread the word about this fantastic partnership between Maine and Aomori!
On July 29th, 20205, the Portland Sea Dogs baseball team partnered with Friends of Aomori for a fantastic night of fundraising, celebration, and baseball.
Friends of Aomori board members at the SeaDogs Japan Night, 2025. From left to right: Lynda McCann-Olson, President; Don Hudson, Treasurer; Jeff Badger, board member.
Japan Night was also an opportunity to celebrate the long history between Maine and Japan through the sport of baseball that was introduced to Japan by Gorham, Maine native Horace Wilson in the late nineteenth century. There are many sources that dive into this history, and we encourage you to research them!
As a fundraiser for Friends of Aomori, the Sea Dogs auctioned off Masataka Yoshida’s game-worn Scooby Doo jersey from his rehab appearance with the Sea Dogs on July 6th. (SeaDogs, July 17, 2025). The auction was a great success and raised over $1,000 for Friends and we are very thankful for this donation, the support from game attendees, and for this fantastic collaboration with the Sea Dogs.
Photo of the flier promoting the auction of Masataka Yoshida’s Scooby-Doo baseball jersey.
Below is a photo of the donation presentation at the final Sea Dogs home game of the season, to Friends of Aomori from the auction of Masataka Yoshida’s (Red Sox dedicated hitter) July 6th, game-worn Scooby-Doo shirt. Pictured, from left to right: Reo Miyake, from the Portland restaurant Aomori (opening this holiday season in East Bayside); Vera King, Bath-Tsugau Sister City Exchange; Lynda McCann-Olson, President, Friends of Aomori; and Chris Cameron, Sea Dogs Vice-President of Communications & Fan Engagement.
Presentation of the donation check on the Sea Dogs field.
Below is a group of enthusiastic supporters of Japan’s love for baseball and Sea Dogs’ generosity towards Friends of Aomori.
Friends of Aomori President, Lynda McCann-Olson (center, in yellow), with a group of enthusiastic supporters and Slugger, the Sea Dog’s mascot!
We look forward to another Japan Night at the Sea Dogs in the 2026 season, and we hope to see you there!
Instructors: Lynda McCann-Olson (President of Friends of Aomori and former art educator) and a guest teaching artist.
Ever wish you could travel to Japan? This summer, you can! Join experienced travelers and teaching artists for a virtual tour while making art and learning about Japanese culture. During this week-long art studio session, you will enjoy working with various materials while learning about Japanese design and aesthetics. Did you know a teacher from Maine introduced baseball to Japan? You will also learn about Maine’s many connections to Japan. Activities may include : sumi brush painting, gyotaku, ceramics, wabi-sabi collage, printmaking, temple building, and origami. Printmaking will be an important part of our exploration. You will have the chance to create a print for the Hashi Exchange. The 2025 exhibition of prints created by students in Aomori and Maine will be at the Greely Center for the Arts at the start of the school year.
Grades: 2nd-5th (Fall 2025) … or permission from the instructor
Dates: Monday, July 28- Friday, August 1st, 9am-3pm
Fee: $325, includes materials, Mable I. Wilson School, Tuttle Rd., Art Room.
Friends of Aomori and the Lewis Gallery at Portland Public Library is pleased to present a retrospective exhibition of the prints in the MAPS (Maine-Aomori Printmaking Society) for a retrospective exhibition in September of 2021. The exhibition will feature 105 prints by artists from Maine and Aomori, Japan collected and exhibited throughout the state and prefecture during the MAPS project from 20015-2020.
A full-color catalog will accompany the exhibition. Receive a copy of the catalog as a gift with your tax-deductible donation to Friends of Aomori. Please see details below.
The catalog essay reads:
MAPS – Maine-Aomori Printmaking Society – is a project born out of tragedy. On a stormy night in October of 1889 the ship Cheseborough from Bath, Maine was caught in a fierce storm and ran aground off the coast of Shariki, Japan, now a part of Aomori Prefecture. The ship was destroyed, but some of the crew were rescued and cared for by Japanese villagers. The memory of this event launched a unique and long-standing relationship between Maine and Aomori that has lasted for more than 130 years. The relationship was formalized in 1989 in an official sister state agreement, and the people of Maine and Aomori have continued to developed and enrich their communities through the power of intercultural and personal connections.
The artistic medium of printmaking has deep roots in both Maine and Aomori. MAPS was launched by Friends of Aomori – the all-volunteer nonprofit organization that supports the relationship in Maine – as a vehicle to connect printmaking artists from both countries through exhibitions, workshops, and delegation visits. For the first five years of the project the enthusiasm and dedication for MAPS led to a robust schedule of exhibitions in communities throughout Maine and Aomori, delegation visits by artists to both countries, and a second printmaking exchange program for K-6 students.
Now at the end of its fifth year, MAPS has grown into a multi-tiered project, presenting printmaking, American and Japanese culture, and the fascinating history of the Maine-Aomori relationship to our communities, connecting artists, patrons, and exhibition venues across the sea. “Six years have passed between us, and the solid course of the relationship continues to find rewarding steps forward,” writes Jiro Ono, President and Director of Munakata Shiko Memorial Museum of Art, who manages the project in Japan, “who could have predicted the voluminous benefit at the beginning of the project?”
At its core, MAPS is the dynamic collection of 105 prints included in this catalog, generously donated by participating artists. This collection serves as a snapshot of the state of contemporary printmaking in Maine and Aomori, and as a map for future cultural projects in our enduring relationship.
Jeff Badger, President, Friends of Aomori 2021
MAPS is supported by the Consulate-General of Japan in Boston, the Rines Thompson Fund, the Expansion Arts Fund of Maine Community Foundation, and individual donors. MAPS is made possible by the contributions of the artists, exhibition venues and is organized and curated by Friends of Aomori, and Jiro Ono, President and Director of Munakata Shiko Memorial Museum of Art.
The MAPS retrospective exhibition will be accompanied by a 76-page, full-color catalog featuring all of the prints in the MAPS collection. Get a copy of the catalog as a gift with your tax-deductible donation of $25 or more. Donate with Paypal or credit card by clicking below now. Include your address in the note for your complimentary copy.
As we are reaching a new, more controlled phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Board of Friends of Aomori are returning to programming and outreach! All programming, fundraising, and events to benefit Friends had been on hold while the United States was in the midst of the pandemic, but we are excited to begin reaching out to the community once more. We will be updating our website and Facebook page with upcoming events we are planning, so please stay tuned!
Maine – Aomori Printmaking Society (MAPS) Call for Submissions
Calling all Maine Printmakers!
The Maine-Aomori Printmaking Society (MAPS) has an Open Call for prints for this years exchange. We welcome submissions from any artist currently residing in Maine, including artists already included in the MAPS collection. The form will close on July 2nd, and artists will be notified of their acceptance status by July 9th! Three submission per-artist are accepted.
Join the Friends of Aomori President, and Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) Art Instructor, Jeff Badger on Wed, December 2, 2020 from 12:15 PM – 1:00 PM EST to hear about the overlapping projects between SMCC, the State of Maine, and Aomori, Japan.
From the Event Brite posting:
“Jeff Badger, Fine Arts Department Co-Chair and Global Studies Center Coordinator, will give a presentation about MAPS (Maine-Aomori Printmaking Society), an ongoing cultural exchange project with Aomori, Maine’s sister state in Japan. MAPS is a multi-tiered exchange project developed to share prints, exhibitions, and artist residencies between Maine and Aomori on an ongoing basis. This project has led to over twenty-five exhibitions, publications, and multiple delegation visits since it began in 2015.
Jeff will discuss the fascinating history of the relationship between Maine and Aomori which began with a shipwreck in 1889, and show images of the delegation visits, exhibitions, and woodblock prints by artists from Maine and Japan. He will discuss how his passion for cultural exchange informs his teaching and led to the founding the Global Studies Center at SMCC.”
Friends of Aomori is thrilled to announce that the 5th Collection of the Maine Aomori Printmaking Society (MAPS) is on display at the Monson Arts Gallery in Monson, Maine from now until January 15th, 2021. Just over one year ago these prints were shown in Aomori, which feels like a world away!
Monson Arts is a new artists residency and gallery located in Northern Maine at the edge of the Maine North Woods and nearby the Appalachian Trail. This is the first collaboration between Friends of Aomori and Monson Arts, and certainly not the last! While we cannot gather at the gallery together due to the on going COVID-19 pandemic, the gallery is open for visitors by appointment or, if you live in the area, you can walk by and see if it is open by chance.
2020 has brought challenging times for all of us, and Friends of Aomori is no exception. Plans for workshops, exhibitions, exchange programs, and future delegation visits have been postponed or cancelled, and even with continued warm communications from our friends in Japan we feel more disconnected than usual from our work in supporting the Sister State relationship. Despite these challenges, the bonds between Maine and Aomori remain strong, and in time will be strengthened by our common experiences.
As we look toward the future, it is important to recognize the current moment in our own country. As a community of volunteers who study, teach, write about, advocate for, and create experiences that bring together diverse communities, Friends of Aomori is committed to learning from our shared humanity.
We believe that Black Lives Matter, and we condemn and reject systemic racism and discrimination.
For our friends in Japan, we recommend that you reach out to the Black Lives Matter movement happening in your part of the world, such as Black Lives Matter Kansai which has rallies, marches, and educational materials. They can also be found on Twitter.
Friends of Aomori 
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