Maine and Aomori, Japan Celebrate More Than 30 Years of Friendship through Student Art Exchange

Maine students and students from Aomori, Japan, are once again connecting across cultures through art in the 2025 Hashi-Maine exhibition, hosted by MSAD 51 at the Greely Center for the Arts this fall.

Now in its fifth year, Hashi-Maine—meaning “bridge” in Japanese—features student-created prints from both sister states using traditional Japanese block printmaking techniques. The exchange is part of a long-standing cultural partnership between Maine and Aomori, which has been celebrated for more than 30 years.

This year’s exhibition, which ran from September 10 through October 22, includes prints by Maine students from the Cumberland Community Education summer specialty camp, “Art and Culture of Japan,” led by visual art educator Lynda McCann-Olson, as well as students from Long Island Community School, Portland Public Schools, and Eight Corners Primary School in Scarborough.

The Hashi Exchange is a collaboration between the Friends of Aomori of Maine and the Aomori City Morning Rotary. Through this partnership, students in both regions create and exchange prints that highlight aspects of their daily lives and cultures. Once exchanged, the Maine prints become part of the Munakata Shiko Collection at the Aomori Museum of Art, and the Aomori prints join the Friends of Aomori’s collection in Maine.

“The exchange of artwork is an act of cultural diplomacy that encourages students to connect through creativity to build mutual understanding and personal relationships,” said McCann-Olson.

Friends of Aomori, a nonprofit organization of volunteers, works to strengthen the Maine-Aomori relationship through educational and cultural programs. The Maine-Aomori Sister-State Advisory Council (MASSAC), whose members are appointed by the Governor, advises the state on this international partnership.

To learn more about Friends of Aomori of Maine, click here or reach out to Lynda McCann-Olson at lmccann.olson@gmail.com.

This story was written in collaboration with Friends of Aomori of Maine. To submit a good news story to the Maine DOE, please fill out the good news submission form.