PRESQUE ISLE .- The University of Maine at Presque Isle will host the debut exhibition in Maine of recently gifted Andy Warhol photographs with the exhibition Andy at UMPI, which will be on public display through October 11.

Last spring, the University received 153 silver gelatin prints and Polaroid photographs – valued at more than $100,000 – from the Andy Warhol Photographic Legacy Program. The University is one of three institutions in Maine, along with the University of Maine and Colby College, to receive such a gift. The Reed Fine Art Gallery will be the first in Maine to put these photographs on display for public viewing.

The Andy at UMPI exhibit includes 22 framed Warhol photographs, including portraits of Wayne Gretzky, Warhol’s treasured assistant Pat Hackett, and the transvestite Holly Woodlawn. Fittingly, Warhol’s black and white print “Owl” also will be on display – an owl serves as the University’s mascot.

Presque Isle Savings Bank of Maine donated $2,500 to the University for the framing of these photographs.

“This exhibition wouldn’t have been possible without the generous support of the Presque Isle Savings Bank of Maine,” Keith Madore, Director of Development and Alumni Relations, said. “Because of their sponsorship, we have been able to get these photographs framed much more quickly than we anticipated, which means that the public is getting its first chance to view these original Warhol photographs just months after we received them.”

The University also received framing support for the project from UMPI arts alumna Jane Caulfield, owner of Morning Star Art and Framing of Presque Isle.

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., has donated more than 28,500 original Warhol photographs – valued in excess of $28 million – to 183 college and university art museums across the U.S. through its Photographic Legacy Program, in honor of the foundation’s 20th anniversary. The aim of the Photographic Legacy Program is to provide greater access to Warhol’s artwork and process, and to enable a wide range of people from communities across the country to view and study this body of Warhol’s work.