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Updated: 19 min ago / 40 Under 40 Honorees of 2024

40 Under 40: Documentary maker Reed McLean is shedding light on Maine artists

PHOTO / Tim Greenway Reed McLean is a co-founder of Lights Out Gallery in Norway.
Reed McLean, 28 Founder and co-director, Lights Out Gallery Read about the other 40 Under 40 honorees and a special event to recognize them.
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Significant professional accomplishment: Directing and editing 86 documentaries (and counting) on Maine artists, to raise the profile of these brilliant people living and working in one of our nation’s more secluded states.

Current state of mind: Focused and watchful.

Passion project: A life lived in art is a life full of passion. Aside from that, I love to cook.

‘Lightbulb’ moment: When I was 19 I saw a dance performance on top of a hill in a field. The dancers were accompanied by a flock of sheep as well as herding dogs.

As the sun set, the dancers moved through the field and the sheep wheeled about them. A woman in a long, red felt cape slowly walked through the performance and away into the distance. As the dancers, the sheep, the dogs, the sun, the woman all moved together I could suddenly see the space between all of them.

This understanding I use as an artist and a curator.

Audacious goal: I have no great goals I am striving for in my life. I feel that kind of ambition is unsustainable, and I prefer instead to remain detached and relaxed. It is a state of unlimited possibility.

Favorite quote: “You look ridiculous if you dance, you look ridiculous if you don’t dance. So you might as well dance.” — Gertrude Stein, “Three Lives”

Influential book: Either “My Brilliant Friend,” by Elena Ferrante, or “The Ice Palace,” by Tarjei Vesaas

Favorite movie, podcast or TV show: Recently I’ve been watching “Alone” in the evenings. I also love the documentary “As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty,” by Jonas Mekas.

Best way to recharge: Reading, walking, swimming, drawing, sleeping

At age 60: Just getting started.

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