Michael Libby’s art exhibit “Art as Medicine” is on display through Sept. 27 at the University of Southern Maine Lewiston-Auburn Campus in Lewiston. “We were all kids once,” says Libby. “It’s not that far out that we don’t remember the games we invented. The fantasies we created. … That’s the medicine.” Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

LEWISTON — According to artist Michael Libby, his artwork hanging in the Atrium Gallery at the University of Southern Maine Lewiston-Auburn Campus is watching.

“The artwork is keeping tabs. The work is a witness,” Libby said about his current show, “Art as Medicine.”

“The work whispers” as college students hustle to their next class. “That’s why my work is not in a frame or under a sheet of glass,” said Libby. “They don’t want their voices to be muffled.”

Libby’s work behaves during the day as people pass through the gallery, but after the last professor leaves for the night, the fun begins, he envisions.

“At night when no one is here, they free themselves from the tacks that hold them to the wall and misbehave,” said Libby. “It’s their secret.”

Michael Libby plays the steel cello Friday at the University of Southern Maine Lewiston-Auburn Campus in Lewiston. Libby is slated to perform Sept. 18 during the artist’s reception for his exhibit, “Art as Medicine.” “We were all kids once,” says Libby. “It’s not that far out that we don’t remember the games we invented. The fantasies we created. … That’s the medicine.” Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Imagination is one key driver behind Libby’s work.

“Imagination and fantasy is what made being a kid so fun,” said Libby. “As adults, we have lost that.”

“Throughout the making process, it is essential to pause and play,” Libby wrote in his artist statement.

Libby is an alumnus of the college. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting in 1992 and a Master of Science degree in clinical rehabilitation counseling in 2017. He is a mental health counselor and an alcohol and drug counselor, and he has an art studio in the Pepperell Mill in downtown Lewiston.

He is looking forward to the artist reception on Sept. 18 because it is then that visitors will stop to look at his art and imagine. “Maybe they will learn something about themselves,” Libby said.

“We were all kids once,” he said. “It’s not that far out that we don’t remember the games we invented. The fantasies we created.

“That’s the medicine,” Libby added.

Libby’s work will be on display at the Atrium Gallery from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through Sept. 27 at 51 Westminster St. in Lewiston.

A free artist reception and music performance is planned for Sept. 18 from 5:30-7 p.m.