This is the summer of public art in Portland. There are public commissions, private commissions and private projects all hitting the streets. This week saw the installation of “Rustle” by Vivian Beer, an abstract steel sculpture that boldly greets oncoming traffic at the gateway to the Back Cove. The tall, bright red, modern piece sits on a slight hill, on a triangular piece of land. In any other city, this would be the primo spot for a statue of a forefather or soldier. By specifically commissioning this piece of modern work, Portland is sending the message that art is our past and our future. This is the Portland Public Art Committee’s second foray into commissioning a site specific piece. “Tracing the Fore,” in Boothby Square was met with great criticism as a modern sculptural installation that never saw completion due to landscaping gone awry. Sure it looks like a bumper crop of tablesaw blades in a field of weeds, but I give the committee credit for trying to go modern.
This week was also the deadline for the Art All Around competition, a project that aims to have an artist’s design painted on oil tanks in South Portland. One winner will be selected to have their design applied to eight of the tanks visible from the peninsula. The first tank is slated to be painted by Fall 2008.
In other public art news, Aaron Stephan was selected as the finalist for the P.D. Merrill memorial sculpture. Merrill was a long time champion for Portland and his family and coworkers have commissioned Stephan to commemorate his advocacy for the working waterfront. “Boom” will be made of eight cranes welded together, rising into the sky of the western waterfront, looming larger than most buildings. This is the piece I am most excited for. I love the cranes in the harbor and welcome a mammoth sculpture that will permanently incorporate them into the landscape.
This groundswell of public art activity is a positive counterbalance to the highly debated sculptures placed in front of Hadlock Field two years ago. The owner of the Portland Sea Dogs decided to give the city a gift of a commissioned bronze sculpture of a family attending a ball game. In doing so, he circumvented the process by which the city places art in public spaces. Poorly rendered and disproportioned, it was jarringly out of place. At a city council meeting, Rob Elowitch, of Baridoff Galleries, offered the following testimony, “I am the self appointed art snob for the city of Portland. I don’t know much about the process. I do know a lot about art and this is bad art. It’s ugly.”
Portland Public Art Committee
http://www.portlandmaine.gov/publicart.htm
Art All Around tank farm project
http://www.artallaround.com/competition_home.php
Posted on Monday, July 7, 2008 in Permalink
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Reader Comments:
great post. i think its exciting to see so much activity around public art this summer. i just rode by winslow park this morning and am really pretty excited about the pieces there. i posted some pics on my blog-- blog.portcitystudios.com.
i'm also really excited about the larger-scale privately-funded pieces in the works. the city is going to be in a tough financial position for the foreseeable future.
sally