LESLEY Jones, Portland , MAINE

Media Artist

I began my work in media with photography. Taking still pictures gave me a good understanding of lighting, composition and subject matter. Soon I went back to school for interior design; and then discovered video. I made several documentaries about architecture, furniture and local historic homes, including the Tate and Longfellow Houses. I had always appreciated great architecture when traveling in the US or Europe. These projects seemed like a culmination of my interests in photography, videography, interior design and the beauty of architecture.

I worked as an Interior Designer for over three years, but left to pursue a self-designed degree in Media Studies at USM. In 1999, I began working at the Community Television Network in Portland, where I produced a variety of programs about important social topics including education, health care, arts, music and public affairs. For six years, I worked as a television producer for this nonprofit television station serving 16 towns and 70,000 viewers. It was here that I discovered I am really a journalist at heart. I like to help people tell their stories whether through photography or video documentaries. This was an amazing time to discover the beauty in human stories.

I was the producer of several music shows including RACKET, Maine Stage and the three-year running, SHINE. I have worked with dozens of musicians from Maine and New England to promote local music through television. SHINE was my favorite baby – it went out live, over the air Friday nights. I worked with very talented people to get this show out month after month. It was crazy and hectic, but many of the shows are still some of the favorites I have produced. This past year, I worked to co-produce a new program, The Singer/Songwriters Showdown, which is airing currently.

Working in television allowed me to help tell the stories of the people in Maine and New England. I was able  to develop my skills and talents for telling those stories, now with moving pictures and words. At CTN, I felt like I was building community with citizen access to the medium of television. Also, an informed populace can support democracy. These ideals sustained me. 

Three years ago, I moved on to working with the Time Bank movement in Washington, DC, and then to Portland, Maine. Here I felt I was building community - one hour at a time, by working with people who helped each other in the Time Bank model using the currency of Time. 

For over a year now, I have been working as a Curator for the TIME Galley in Portland. I launched this project as a micro-enterprise/ fundraiser for the Portland Time Bank (www.portlandtimebank.org), where I work as Creative Director. This is one of my tasks there. Other tasks involve creating marketing and publicity materials, producing a TV program, and running the AmeriCorps*VISTA Service program.

Last year, I won the First Annual Kathryn Lasky Public Service Award for my work in the community and for creating a video for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Maine. Working with a team at USM, we created a 12-minute promotional video used to recruit volunteers and donors to this worthy cause. It was a great honor to be recognized for my work in the community and in videography. Coincidentally, Kathryn was my first mentor and advisor at USM. My very first volunteer work in video was working on her TV program. Kathryn passed away two years ago, and the Media Studies Department instituted this award to remember and honor her work and life.

.With my skills in media, production, and event planning coupled with my own love of the arts, I have been able to create and offer a forum for other artists to showcase their work. For over a year now, all of us at the Time Bank have enjoyed this collaborative relationship with others in the Creative Economy. We have worked with dozens of artists, many of whom have never shown their work before. We also host musicians, poets, storytellers, cooks, including a chocolatier, and caterers at our events.

Each person brings his or her special gifts to our First Friday Art Walk events, and together we all celebrate our creative endeavors. Running a gallery is a lot like being a television producer. Event management skills are needed, and often I feel like a conductor of great and varied human activity. It is a choreographed event that celebrates our artistries.

Again, this position at the PTB seems like a culmination of my current interests in creating community, working with people, the arts, music, and events -  and just being creative. I have been able to pull all the creative threads running through my life into one beautiful tapestry of experience.

Lately, I have returned to my photography in an attempt to tell my own stories through my eyes. My work focuses on subjects found in nature, in my travels, in my own backyard; and on the images of friends and family or people I meet for the first time, and perhaps never again. It seems that I have come full-circle, back to my roots in photography, and it has been a wonderful journey to rediscover photography.

Soon, I hope to have my own exhibit at the TIME Gallery, and I will be one of the artists showing her work publicly for the first time. It is time for me to step fully into the circle of Creative Economy in a new way, highlighting my latest creative endeavors. I wonder where it will all lead me next…