Will Barnet, at age 101, is among America's premier artists searching for a place to leave his life's work and create a legacy.

A recent recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Barnet is carefully considering key museums and collections to place his work for perpetuity. He has worked with family, accountants and lawyers to create a foundation to handle his art.

Scenic and rural Maine, where Barnet has ties, attracts many artists in their primes and until life's end. Currently, the coast and inland forests are populated with such artists as Robert Indiana and Richard Estes, Alex Katz and Beverly Hallam.

Maine also attracts artists as a place with progressive tax laws that encourages donations to state museums in lieu inheritance taxes.

Museums in Maine have long-standing relationships with local artists, from the Farnsworth in Rockland and its ties to the Wyeth family to the Portland Museum of Art with its collections of Winslow Homer and recent restoration of his studio on Prout's Neck.

Where dozens of leading artists in Maine leave their legacies, such as the 84-year-old Indiana, remains to be seen.