By Max Lorber

Beacon207.com is a new creative collective that began at Southern Maine Community College. Max Lorber, a former art director for The Beacon and current Communications and New Media Major, began meeting artists on campus at the beginning of the semester, viewing their work and discussing their future plans.

Olivia Orr, another Communications and New Media major at SMCC, came on board with the project as a web developer. They envisioned the website having an original aesthetic; neither Max or Olivia wanted to just use another generic template. But they had never designed or created a website before, so they put their heads down and plowed through all of the technical difficulties of pulling off such a feat. Max worked as a designer and producer, drawing sketch after sketch of each page and gathering/creating content. Olivia, with a background in coding, was tutored by Rob Korobkin, a professional web developer in Portland, Maine.

Of her experience, Olivia said, “I’m glad I was able to work closely with Max throughout this whole process; it’s wild to think about how his initial idea blossomed into something tangible and captivating. I had an amazing time learning how to use WordPress and expanding my coding skills while working on something so meaningful. I’m also impressed with the talent Max was able to put together for this showcase. I always knew Maine was full of skilled artists, but it was cool to be able to put faces and biographies to the names associated with the projects. I look forward to seeing what the future holds for Beacon207.”

Beacon207 serves as an artistic platform for college students and recent alumni, an online gallery of sorts curated by Max Lorber. On the website you will find blurbs on each artist featured, as well as interviews and original Beacon 207 productions.

Beacon207 is hoping to create a bridge between the media-studies programs of Southern Maine Community College, the Maine College of Art and the University of Southern Maine. Featuring and giving exposure to artists from all three of these schools is the goal, as well as encouraging collaboration between creative individuals.