Gardiner Waterfront "Rising"
Placed at the center of Waterfront Park's Floodtide Terrace sits a spectacular sculpture by Robert Lash called "Rising." The abstract sculpture echoes the natural shapes found along the Kennebec River. With a base fabricated from cast-iron drive gears taken from the Augusta Tissue mill before its demolition, the sculpture is quite tall, featuring a vertical piece that is a curved shape at an angle.The sculpture "...sits vertically and looks like a shaft connected to the bottom gear," he said. According to the artist, the sculpture represents the working industrial waterfront, offering a historical tie to the river. Other sculptures in the park include: Dilly Dally, a milled steel sculpture from 1983 by Sasson Soffer (1925 – 2009).
The Lady with the Birds in Gardiner Common
The Gardiner Common has long been a gathering place for the community. In addition to the iconic Gardiner gazebo, visitors will find the Lady with the Birds Fountain, a beautiful flowing example of mid-1970 figurative sculpture. The fountain and its original sculpture of King Neptune were built and named in honor of Gardiner native Dr. Gideon S. Palmer. In 1942 a WWII war effort sacrificed many sculptures—including King Neptune—for the war effort. For the next 35 years, Neptune was replaced by an unceremonious pile of rocks called the "the stone volcano." Then in time for the national Bicentennial celebration of 1976, a group called Friends of the Fountain commissioned a statue called "The Lady with the Birds" by Maine artist Norman Therrien. She has graced the Commons ever since. A restoration campaign for the fountain and the sculpture are currently underway.
Viles Arboretum
Viles Arboretum offers six miles of trails traversing through 150 acres of fields and 74 acres of forest for walking, jogging, biking, nature study, bird watching, and even horseback riding. In the winter, trails are groomed for gently rolling cross-country skiing, while other trails are marked for snowshoeing. The art installations in and among the trees at Viles Arboretum create a bridge between the botanical collections and the natural environment.We invite you to explore the works by the featured artists as you walk along the outer loop (where many of the works are featured) and experience sculptural art in the unique natural landscape of Viles Arboretum. Artists represented at Viles Arboretum include Robert Lash (he also has a piece in Gardiner), Native American Artist Tim Shay, William Jacobs of Bath, Jordan Smith of Pownal, William Jacobs of Southport, and Elise Marie Faris of Richmond, to name a few. Many of the sculptures are for sale, with a portion of each piece's sale price going to the Arboretum to support its mission. The visitor's center staff can answer all questions about artwork.
Veterans Memorial in Capitol Park
There are many memorials inside and outside of Augusta's Capitol Complex dedicated to those who have given their lives in service to our country. While no one is more important than any other, the Vietnam War Memorial, erected in 1980 and located in Capitol Park—across the street from the Capitol Building—stands out as one of the crown jewels.The sculpture depicts two intersecting but detached triangles, one of concrete and the other of steel plate, featuring a reverse silhouette of three soldiers. The cut-out permits the sun to pass through, casting a dramatic shadow on the concrete triangle behind it. At least eight other markers are located within walking distance of this marker, including a World War I Memorial, a Civil War Memorial, a World War II Memorial, and a Korean War Memorial.
Head of Falls/Riverwalk
Head of Falls, overlooking the Kennebec River, is a place of celebration, relaxation, and thoughtful contemplation; over the eons, billions of gallons of water have passed by this place, and historic events have passed into history right here. The Riverwalk features interpretative panels retelling events that shaped this community.The Two Cent Bridge, the nation's only remaining suspension footbridge, takes its name from the toll it once collected.Look for Roger Majorowicz's "Ticonic," a glistening abstract sculpture commissioned in 1997. Moved and rededicated in 2018, Majorowicz submitted the following: "(The) geometric temple form symbolizes a city on the upswing with awareness of global concern (the pylon thrust form). Within the composition, the large diagonal form represents the waterfalls; the three wheels were inspired by the history of trains in Waterville. The three vertical pole forms might remind you of the stacks from paper mills. I have selected an over silver finish and surface treatment to represent the swirling movement of water in the river and falls..."
Colby Museum of Art
Founded in 1959, the Colby Museum of Art now comprises four wings, more than 8,000 works of art, and more than 38,000 square feet of exhibition space. For the outside (day or night), Sol LeWitt’s Wall Drawing #559 is on view on the east facade of the Colby Museum of Art. Installed in 2013 for the opening of the Alfond-Lunder Family Pavilion, the spectacular and brilliantly colored 1988 work sets the tone for the collection.As you approach the entrance to the museum, look for Richard Serra’s 4-5-6 (2000), a monumental site-specific Corten steel sculpture installed in the Paul J. Schupf Sculpture Court. And yes, this article is dedicated to outdoor sculpture and art. But, it would be a colossal injustice not to recommend spending the day (if you can spare it) at what many consider the finest collection of American art spanning three centuries with a massive and significant collection of major works by American Masters.
Downtown Waterville Murals
In 2007, Waterville Main Street selected Kevin James (see his new mural in Skowhegan) from a group of artists competing to create a mural depicting the heritage and history of Waterville's Lebanese-Americans. Still there today, the mural at 51 Main Street captures the hard-working spirit of the Lebanese community.However, the city's Concourse has been getting a noteworthy mural makeover. In 2018, local artist Andy Chapman started with four balloon-wielding figures floating above a skyline painted on the side of a Temple Street building. Then Chapman and his partners took on the job of updating the alley behind the Concourse. More recently, Chapman has commemorated love in the time of the pandemic. While the artist for this last mural is unknown, there is the vintage postcard-perfect WATERVILLE that has taken up residence on the side of a building along College Avenue.
Blackie Langlais Art Trail
Bernard “Blackie” Langlais (1921-1977) was a prolific Maine artist known for his impressionistic folk-art style and oversized sculptures. In addition to Langlais’s iconic 62-foot Skowhegan Indian sculpture—erected in 1969—Skowhegan currently has 21 Langlais pieces on view, providing a rare opportunity to experience a critical mass of Langlais artworks in one area. Each of the creations are within walking distance of each other (except for two pieces located at the Skowhegan Community Center). Skowhegan has the most Langlais sculptures in the state. Main Street Skowhegan has a detailed brochure and map available for those looking to find and see all these spectacular works of art.
Aluminum Shoe by Barry Norling
True to form, a walk in downtown Skowhegan will reveal a four-foot high sculpture of an aluminum running shoe in the town's municipal parking lot. The shoe, created in buffed and welded aluminum, weighs just 70 pounds and represents the town's long relationship with the New Balance Shoe Company. Skowhegan's leaders commissioned local artist Barry Norling to design and deliver a shoe sculpture as a focal point of downtown revitalization.Norling, a metal sculptor, works extensively in aluminum, copper, and bronze to create his works of art. He set to work on the shoe sculpture, designed to be "in motion" to convey a sense of fitness and support healthy lifestyles. The sculpture is light enough to be mobile, so the aluminum shoe has been displayed in multiple locations. Norling's creation calls attention to the city's historic walking tours and hiking tours showing off the natural beauty of Skowhegan's surroundings along the Kennebec River.
Route 201 Birdhouses
The retaining wall across from Lake Wyman is about a third of a mile long. This stretch of the Old Canada Road National Scenic Byway (Route 201) sits to the east of Wyman Lake and is, for the most part, unremarkable. But for the better part of a decade, the grey planks of the wall have become home to a colorful, often whimsical, and sometimes oddball collection of birdhouses. What really makes for a great story is that they have come out of thin air, as no one knows (or is willing to share) who has put them up or when the first one was hung up. Some belive it was a tiny blue one that showed up in 2011. But it's more fun to guess, and maybe pick out a favorite one of your own.If you do plan to stop, please be careful, as there is a great deal of truck traffic, and there is really no good spot to pull off the road.
Skowhegan Mural Project
In the summer of 2022, Downtown Skowhegan and the Wesserunsett Arts Council added to the community's public art collection when they unveiled three new murals. The work was completed under the direction of John Harlow and the Wesserunsett Arts Council. "It was something we wanted to do to bring the community together," Harlow said. Each painting tells a different story. James' is dedicated to the Skowhegan State Fair, the longest-running agricultural fair in the country. Gordon Carlisle created a triptych mural that focuses on the story of work and tells the story of a 1907 textile mill strike. Iver Lofving used his creation to honor Skowhegan's past, present, and future. Visitors should look for the murals at the SPACE on the River (181 Water Street) and Hight Chevrolet (29 Madison Avenue), and Skowhegan Savings (88 Madison Avenue).
Samantha Smith Statue
In December 1986 the statue of Manchester schoolgirl Samantha Smith was unveiled in Augusta to honor the young goodwill ambassador whose dream of peace with the Soviet Union took her to Moscow. The bronze life-size statue depicts Smith who sadly perished in an August 1985 plane crash. She is shown petting a dove, while a bear, symbolizing the Soviet polar bear and the Maine black bear, plays at her feet.At the unveiling of the $25,000 sculpture, Gov. Joseph Brennan compared Smith with Maine women like former Sen. Margaret Chase Smith and Olympic gold medal marathoner Joan Benoit Samuelson. As a 10-year-old girl, Smith sat at her kitchen table and wrote a letter to then Soviet Premier Yuri Andropov, telling him of her worries about Russia waging war against the United States. She became an international celebrity when Andropov answered her letter and invited her to the Soviet Union. She visited the country in the summer of 1983 but never met Andropov.
