Portland, Maine – This Friday as a part of First Friday Art Walk, the Portland Public Art Committee (PPAC) will hold its fourth talk in the Art in Our Front Yard: Portland’s Public Art Collection series with a discussion of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Statue and Art Underfoot both located in Longfellow Square (photo attached). PPAC member Terry DeWan will lead a discussion of the artworks, their history and significance within the city’s collection. The public is encouraged to join the PPAC Friday and learn about the art in their front yard and share in a discussion of the unique place public art holds in our community.
Installed in September of 1888, the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Statue was designed and constructed by Maine sculptor Franklin Simmons shortly after the poet’s death. The bronze-cast statute was commissioned to memorialize Portland’s and the country’s most famous 19th century poet. The statue features an academically robed and bearded Longfellow seated and facing the downtown with his right arm resting on the back of the chair and a scroll in his left. Three bronze books are placed under his chair. Every year as the holidays approach, Longfellow can be found wearing a long red scarf and holding a wrapped present. The sculpture was funded by pennies, nickels, and dimes donated by New England children. The fundraising effort was organized by members of the Longfellow Statue Association. The names of the children who contributed a little more than $17,000 are in a metal container housed in the memorial’s base.
The granite pedestal was designed by Portland architect Francis Fassett and fabricated by Hawkes Brothers and was a gift to the city from Payson Tucker. At the time of the unveiling of the statute, State Street Square was renamed Longfellow Square. Originally, State Street passed on both sides of the statue, but in the 1970’s a landscaped pedestrian area on the east side was created, restricting vehicular traffic to the west. In 2005, additional designs were added to expand the square and improve access to the area for pedestrians (visit Portland landmarks to view a photo of the original square http://portlandlandmarks.org/Images/advocacy-Preservation.php/Congress_Photos.pdf).
Surrounding the statue and inlaid in the brick walkway is Art Underfoot, a Community Art Works project sponsored by PPAC which features collaborations between artists and community members. Artist Natasha Mayers worked with school children from Reiche School, Somali and Latino groups, city and community leaders to create tiles which would were cast in bronze by students at Maine College of Art under the guidance of teacher Anthony Tafuri. The tiles were designed to reflect what might be found in the ground in Portland including leaves, insects, shells and seeds. The pieces were installed in an area heavily trafficked by pedestrians with the intent of creating an identifiable landmark that would help foster a sense of place in a culturally and economically diverse neighborhood.
In April 2000, the City Council established the Portland Public Art Program to preserve, restore and enhance the City’s public art collection. The Portland Public Art Program commissions art that engages with the surrounding environment to create, enrich, or reveal a sense of place, and to express the spirit, values, visions and poetry of place that collectively define Portland. Currently, the public art collection contains twenty-nine works of art that are permanently installed throughout the city, including works of historical significance dating from the nineteenth century, as well as contemporary pieces that reflect the diversity and the spirit of the city. Of the twenty-nine pieces, twelve located within walking distance of the Arts District will be a part of the Art in Our Front Yard: Portland’s Public Art Collection series. For more information about the Portland Public Art Committee, visit www.portlandmaine.gov/planning/pubart.asp.
When: Friday, August 3, 2012
5:30 PM
Where: Longfellow Square
Portland
No comments:
Post a Comment