Chances are if you were playing a game of Family Feud and the question was: “What do you expect to see on the walls of the waiting room at a car dealership?” the winning answer might be “car posters” if it’s the year 2016 and “girlie calendar” if the year was 1978.

Atlantic Motorcar in Wiscasset, however, has elevated the waiting room to a new level. Since 2003, owner Bruce Howes has offered free wall space of his business to Midcoast aspiring and established artists to hang work and sell it without any charge of a commission.

“It’s a way to give back to the community,” he said. “I’m a patron of the arts and it creates a very nice atmosphere in the waiting room and in the hallways.” Howes invites artists to submit work year-round for consideration and while he wouldn’t go so far to say he curates certain pieces, he definitely has a discerning eye about what he feels his customers want to see.

“We try to find artwork that appeals to our demographic of customers, which tend to be 60 percent women, generally in the 30-70 age range,” he said. “So I’ve had artists submit sculptures, traditional paintings, interpretive and contemporary work. What people tend to value are watercolors and oil paintings, charcoal drawing and photography.”

While the coast of Maine and all of its familiar subjects, such as boats, waterscapes, and lighthouses tend to be the mainstay, Howes enjoys showcasing certain contemporary works.

“I’m open to more than just watercolors,” he said. “I’ve had people come in with pieces that are very different from that. I had one person who submitted a kaleidoscope 3-D paintings. We had another gentleman who did these high-resolution aerial photographs and printed them on these aluminum plates. The clarity was just phenomenal and people loved those.”

Artists have nearly 2,000 square feet of wall space available to them. 

“The walls throughout the building are this peanut shell color, a historical Benjamin Moore color and it works really well with a lot of different artwork,” he said. “It’s like coming into a coffee shop, like a Starbucks.”

Howes prefers to showcase up to three artists quarterly and each artist can provide up to approximately 10 art pieces.

“Or if I pick an artist with a large body of work, then that person will have 30 or so pieces up,” he said.

Each work has an artist’s statement next to it. They also cross-promote the artists on their Facebook page. They even collect payment on the pieces for the artist as another courtesy.

“I try to give everybody a chance,” he said.

Artists can expect a high traffic area with an appreciative clientèle. Interested parties should email: art@atlanticmotorcar.com, or call Bruce at 207-882-9970.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com