As summer comes to a close, so does the Sunderland Public Library’s seasonal concert series.

Maya Sharpe is taking the stage at 6:30 p.m. this Friday, Sept. 1, as she caps off a summer of music in the library’s Down by the River concert series with her band, The Natural. On the same evening and through the end of October, the library will also be hosting “The Walls are Postcards,” a photo exhibit put together by Sharpe.

A Leverett native, Sharpe formed her band in 2015 and has been performing around the Northeast in various roles as she explores a variety of genres and musical styles.

“I would say that it is soul and folk, with influences from jazz, psychedelic and rock … it shows up in different aspects,” Sharpe said. “I get a lot of my inspiration from my own poetry and in my melodic lines, I think classical music has inspired me.”

The free concert kicks off at the Sunderland Public Library, 20 School St., 6:30 p.m. and is open to the public. Lawn chairs and blankets are recommended and food will be served.

Sunderland acting Library Director Aaron Falbel said the concert series is a long-standing tradition at the library and putting on events like this is just one of the many functions a library can take on.

“It’s a community event that brings people out in the summer to enjoy this area and all the valley has to offer,” Falbel said. “We’re not just a repository of books, we’re a community center of sorts.”

The photo exhibit, while separate from Sharpe’s music, is an extension of her creative personality, which is fueled by a drive to keep creating things using the human imagination.

“I think I have a very poetic heart by nature and want to express that. I definitely believe in the limitlessness of human capacity,” she said. “You’re never at the pinnacle, you’re never at the apotheosis of what you’re trying to do — there’s always another peak, there’s always another direction.”

“The Walls are Postcards” is an exploration of how the simple composition of a photograph can tell a story or convey a feeling, much like how sending a postcard conveys the story of a location.

“A postcard has a clear agenda, which is what makes it a postcard,” Sharpe said. In her photos, she said she takes this thought and applies it to the exhibition, with an emphasis on point of view, depth, lines, shapes, color and framing.

In particular, Sharpe is focusing on the collective art-making that happens on walls in public and exploring how works of public art come together.

“The subject is what the collective has made and I’m a pure observer of that,” she said.

“The Walls are Postcards” will open before the concert at 5 p.m. on Sept. and will remain in the Lane Family Reading Room through the end of October.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com