Norway Savings Bank Donates $20,000 to Lights Out Gallery

Left to Right: Gary Bellegarde, VP, Commercial Lender, Norway Savings Bank; Daniel Sipe, Lights Out Gallery Co-founder & Executive Director; Reed McLean, Lights Out Gallery Co-founder & Gallery Director; Dan Walsh, President & CEO, Norway Savings Bank and Melissa Rock, VP, Marketing & Communications Officer, Norway Savings Bank

NORWAY, Maine – Norway Savings Bank is pleased to announce a donation of $20,000 to the Lights Out Gallery in Norway, Maine. The Lights Out Gallery founders, along with an army of volunteers, are renovating a 117-year-old former snowshoe factory to become a contemporary art gallery and a home to many of Norway’s art-related businesses and non-profits.

Since purchasing the 15,000 square-foot building at 10 Tannery Street in February 2022, Daniel Sipe, Karlë Woods and Reed McLean have directed its transformation into a dance studio, makerspace, shared offices, studios and an artists’ gallery.

“Norway has always been a really interesting hotbed in the arts,” said McLean. “There are artists, writers, poets and there is a big performing arts scene in Norway. So, I think it is a natural place for a project like this.”

“Daniel, Reed and Karlë have a unique vision of what the Lights Out Gallery can do for Norway and the Oxford Hills,” said Dan Walsh, President and CEO of Norway Savings Bank. “When completed, this space will bring together a collection of talent, inspiration and commerce that will have a positive impact on the community.”

“It’s so important that we reach out to rural communities and help those artists realize that they can get their work shown,” said Sipe. “Because I’m originally from Aroostook County, this effort is really important to me.”

For more information on the Lights Out Gallery, visit www.lightsoutgallery.org.