Portland, Maine - The Portland Public Art Committee (PPAC) received the final four proposals for the new roundabout art commission. The four artists under consideration are:
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Anna Hepler www.annahepler.com
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Quincy Owens + Luke Crawley www.owensandcrawley.com
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Mark Pettegrow www.pettegrowstudio.com
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Will Vannerson www.willvannerson.com
The proposals may be viewed online at the Public Art Committee’s website, in City Hall on the monitors, and at the monthly Public Art Committee meeting on June 19th where public comment will also be taken. A comment form is also available on the City website to provide comment – the deadline is June 20th.
The selection committee is scheduled to meet on June 20th to consider the four proposals. The
committee developed a vision statement, project parameters, and selection criteria to help guide the decision. At a public meeting in March, interested stakeholders were invited to weigh in on that vision and selection criteria.
Vision Statement: The Roundabout artwork will be a significant addition to the neighborhood, University of Southern Maine and University of Maine Law School Portland campuses, and greater Portland community. The site is surrounded by many interconnecting neighborhoods inhabited by students and residents with a diversity of race, age, culture, education, and socio-economic backgrounds. The artwork potentially highlights this location as a gateway to Portland and the importance of the location as a site of learning both historically and currently. The proposal
can be thematic or decorative to highlight a community that is forward-thinking while having an appreciation for its historic landmarks – consider the artwork to be a new landmark. The work must be of a height and mass appropriate to the location in a way that commands the space and creates a noticeable presence. The selected work should create a profile visible via sightlines down streets that feed into the roundabout. This profile should be visually interesting while not distracting to drivers in cars but is should also be engaging to pedestrians. The artwork will be constructed of durable materials and of a design that considers all seasons and times of day.
The PPAC has a goal to use public art to enhance City of Portland infrastructure projects – a recent example is the Luminous Arbor sculpture recently placed at the improved Woodfords Corner intersection. In 2018, the committee proposed the Brighton Avenue roundabout site as the next major acquisition for the public art collection and the City Council approved the project with a starting
budget of $30,000 to come from the dedicated public art fund (the public art program receives a half a percent of the approved Capital Improvement Plan budget each year). A selection committee was formed in January to set the criteria and a budget for the project and to research potential artists or artworks according to the adopted guidelines. The committee will make its final recommendations to the Public Art Committee in the summer of 2019 in order to coordinate with the design and construction of the overall roundabout project. The selection committee is comprised of five members with representation from the Public Art Committee, University of Southern Maine, University Neighborhood Organization, the design consultants for the roundabout project, neighborhood residents, and visual arts.
The public meeting is Wednesday, June 19th @5:00pm at the Portland Public Library, Room 5.
To view the proposals, vision statement, or provide online comment visit the website:
For more information about the City of Portland Roundabout project:
Contact
for the public art selection process is Caitlin Cameron, Urban Designer, City of Portland
ccameron@portlandmaine.gov
or (207) 874-8901
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