One of the byproducts of a bad economy and a pensive mood is the need to create community. People tend to gather when the chips are down.

Certainly, we saw that after 9/11 and other recent national tragedies. I sense we’re starting to see it again these days, as the mood in America sours.

Is it coincidental that the Portland Museum of Art drew 5,000 people to the March 7 First Friday Art Walk or that 1,000 people turned out on Sunday for the “Taking Panes” opening at the Ames Mill in Richmond?

I think not. Art brings people together. Art creates community, because it encourages people to look within themselves and to reflect.

It feels good to be with friends and neighbors. There is substance in a gathering of like-minded people.

“Taking Panes” involves nearly 100 artists from across Maine. Each took an old window from the Ames Mill on the Kennebec River and created an original piece of art. The resulting projects are displayed on the mill’s top floor through the end of March.

Christine Macchi, who heads up Maine FiberArts and is the partner of “Taking Panes” organizer Richard Lee, said the Richmond show has created a strong sense of community.

“A small cadre of worker bees now appears at the mill each morning to just hang, to talk art, and to help out. They've read through the artists' bios in the book and accompany onlookers to share a bit of background about each piece. People are loving connecting over art and are proud of Richmond, proud of Maine and of the artwork,” she wrote in an e-mail.

“Then there are the starry-eyed folks who are dreaming about what they would create for the top floor of that mill – an art gallery, artists studios, the library.”

With the downturn in the economy and a seemingly endless winter, creativity offers hope, beauty and curiosity. At this exhibition, people come to see people, Macchi said.

“That's the power of the arts, witnessed once again, in spades this (past) weekend.”

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