Art in Nature: An outdoor sculpture tour of Maine

By Bob Keyes

In Maine, sculpture gardens and sculpture tours have become a popular way to see a variety of work,  often grand in scale and made from Maine’s natural ingredients: granite, basalt, marble and wood, and also from forged steel, cast iron, bronze and found objects.

Outdoor art interacts with the weather and the natural environment. Wind and light affect how people see it, and well-placed sculpture accents a place. In the right setting, a piece of art along a trail might prompt a hiker to appreciate a natural feature he might not have seen otherwise. Along the water, a hand-carved piece of granite might complement an outcropping.

Maine is full of great sculptors and great places to see their work—in museum gardens, library courtyards, airports, city streets and along highways, from York County in the south on up to Aroostook County in the north. Here we present 11 of our favorite sculpture destinations.

OGUNQUIT MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART

Since it hosted its first exhibition in 1953, the Ogunquit Museum of American Art has prided itself as much for what’s on the outside as on the inside. The manicured grounds are luscious, green and inviting, drawing visitors from the parking lot to a perch on the rocks above Perkins Cove.

Museum director Ron Crusan has invigorated the 3-acre grounds with landscaping, improved signage and clearer vision. The grounds are scattered with dozens of sculptures in a variety of media by some of Maine’s most accomplished artists. There’s a breaching whale by Cabot Lyford, a woman’s torso by William Zorach, named Victory, which also names the garden where it is situated, and a stone carving, Mother and Daughter, by Robert Laurent, also in the Victory Garden. Laurent beautifully represents a nude female figure kneeling, as she casts a sideways glance toward the water with her daughter draped lovingly on her back, arms cast tightly around her mother’s neck.

The signature pieces are a horse, lion and rhinoceros by Bernard Langlais, a Maine native from Old Town who did most of his work at his studio in Cushing. Langlais made dozens of large sculptures of wild animals. The three at Ogunquit have been refurbished, and re-installed along the side of the museum.

PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL JETPORT

There may be no better place in Maine to view contemporary sculpture than the Portland International Jetport.

Since 2011, the Jetport has placed several granite and steel pieces on the airport grounds, most courtesy of an art lover from Yarmouth. The goal is to enliven the airport, welcome visitors with majestic, eye-grabbing art and calm fliers who may be stressed about their imminent departures.

William D. Hamill of Yarmouth and his family made the first gift in 2011, with the installation along the approach road of more than a half-dozen welded steel animals by Wendy Klemperer, including porcupine and deer. They are tucked away among the trees and grass, and meant to catch traveler’s eyes in a moment of startled surprise.

Closer to the terminal are two pieces by Steuben sculptor Jesse Salisbury, as well as sculpted benches where visitors can relax. Tidal Moon sits on a grassy knoll outside baggage claim. The 14-foot-tall piece includes two granite columns, with a single granite sphere nestled between. Similar in its aesthetics is Beach Pea, which towers outside the ticketing doors. The Jetport serves about 1.7 million passengers a year, making these pieces among the most viewed in all of Maine.

This spring, the airport installed a steel sphere on a tall pedestal by Warren sculptor Jay Sawyer. It is on the road into the airport along the runway, and will be seen by people coming by ground transportation as well as those in airplanes, if they pay close enough attention.

THE PORTLAND PENINSULA

Portland is known for its pleasant parks, cobblestone streets, vibrant waterfront and interesting architecture. It is also known for its great art, and in recent years, the Portland Public Art Committee has invested time and money to polish, interpret and promote the city’s collection of public art, which numbers about two dozen pieces. There is a great range in the collection, from monuments, memorials and statues to a handful of contemporary pieces.

Here we highlight five of our favorites, from the West End to the Eastern Promenade. We start at Longfellow Square, at the corner of Congress and State streets. It is so named because of a magnificent cast bronze statue of native son and world-famous poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Made by Portland native Franklin Simmons, this is a portrait of the bearded poet seated casually; looking east toward downtown of the city he loved.

At the awkward convergence of Fore, Pleasant, York and Center streets is a statue of another famous son, the great filmmaker John Ford. He was born in Cape Elizabeth, and lived for a short time near the statue, on Danforth Street. He grew up on Munjoy Hill, and made his name as an Oscar-winning movie director. This piece, made in bronze and granite by George Kelly, shows Ford sitting in his director’s chair, with his ever-present pipe in hand.

Nearby, in a courtyard across from the One City Center office building is Michael, a welded Cor-ten steel piece by sculptor John Raimondi. The piece loosely resembles the letter M, and though it was named for a friend, the sculptor was inspired by the Archangel Michael, an angel of courage, strength and integrity.

The fountain at Lincoln Park is one of the unheralded art gems in all of Maine. Situated in a park that was dedicated to President Lincoln in 1867, the tiered fountain is made of granite and features carvings of children. As had the park itself, the fountain was neglected many years, finally receiving attention in 2012 with a plumbing upgrade. Additional work is planned that will allow the main bowl to fill with water.

The Stone Dragon by Maine sculptor Carole Hanson sits outside the East End Community School at the edge of Portland’s Eastern Promenade. It was originally sited in Congress Square near the Portland Museum of Art, and moved to the school in 2008. It consists of 10 carved granite stones, giving the appearance of a dragon, and is part of a larger landscaped garden. The Eastern Prom offers a spectacular vista of Casco Bay. Visitors can enjoy a walk along the promenade, and take in memorials, gardens and other pieces of public art.

UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND SCULPTURE GARDEN, PORTLAND

In 2001, the late Maine art curator Grant Jacks acted on a long-held idea of making the University of New England Art Gallery off of Stevens Avenue more accessible and interesting when he created a small sculpture garden among the trees and greenery behind the gallery. Every year since, the UNE gallery has hosted an exhibition by inviting sculptors to make and show new work.

This year’s invitational is open June through October 31. About two dozen artists will show work, including a few who have participated many times: Constance Rush, Anne Alexander and Nancy Nevergole. The sculpture garden and the invitational have become a high point of summer art season in Portland.

Gallery director Anne Zill also likes to place work on the college lawn adjacent to the high-traffic Stevens Avenue, to call attention to the exhibition and the gallery, which sits on the backside of the campus. It’s a quiet spot, and attracts members of the UNE community and the community at large, who eat lunch outside, meditate and walk the grounds.

GILSLAND FARM, MAINE AUDUBON, FALMOUTH

When it comes to sculpture placed in natural settings, few spots in Maine are better suited than Gilsland Farm, home to Maine Audubon in Falmouth. This summer, Audubon hosts “A Celebration of Art and Nature,” curated by longtime sculpture ambassador June LaCombe.

The exhibition marks LaCombe’s 25th year placing art in nature. With all of her installations, LaCombe’s goal is to site sculpture where people can visit throughout the day and through the change of seasons so they can see art in different light and circumstances, and at their own pace.

For this exhibition, which opened in May and remains on view through September, LaCombe will place sculpture along the road leading to Maine Audubon buildings, among the gardens and along hiking trails. More than 30 artists will show work, and many created new pieces for this show so they relate directly to the land and the specific environment at Gilsland Farm. John Bowdren will show a series of alewives, made of dense wood and painted in gold leaf and placed high atop stakes, with the Presumpscot River as a backdrop. Gary Haven Smith’s Undula, a large granite piece with a cored-out center, will be placed so the rising sun can be seen through it.

COASTAL MAINE BOTANICAL GARDENS, BOOTHBAY

The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay are enticing because of the calming nature of the pathways and the glorious plants and gardens, which activate the senses and stimulate the mind. Each year, the gardens also feature a sculpture exhibition. This year’s is called “Pollinators,” and it runs June 19 through September 30.

The artists and the work vary year to year, but constant is the visual curiosity of curator June LaCombe, who works with the botanical gardens staff to create an exhibition that feels different each season. This year, she has brought together work from across New England to complement the gardens’ season theme of pollinization. Visitors will see birds, bees and flowers in bronze, wood and a variety of metals and other media from Christopher Russell, Andreas von Huene, John Bowdren and others. The pieces are placed on pathways throughout the lush central gardens, providing an easy and rewarding stroll for visitors. Families enjoy the outing, because it’s fun for kids to see how many pieces they can identify.

The gardens offer a multi-sensory experience. Visitors see brilliant colors alongside dramatic stone work. Sculpture introduces a third element, and helps people interpret nature from a different vantage point.

STEMWINDER SCULPTURE WORKS AND GARDEN, WARREN

Jay Sawyer is a welder by trade. He learned his skill as a marine engineer, and adapted it to his salvage business, which he operates from his home in Warren. As part of his business, Sawyer comes across a lot of industrial debris, which over the past decade he has turned into art. A burly man with a big beard, Sawyer makes all manner of free-standing sculptures, which he has placed along a finely manicured pond and garden on his property bordering Route 90, which connects Warren to Rockport and Camden.

His gardens are filled with metal mushrooms, oversized letters of the alphabet and other heavy-metal concoctions, which spring from his imagination — forged and turned by hand and heavy equipment. Sawyer opens his gardens each Sunday and Monday through the fall, offering visitors a uniquely-Maine art experience.

COLBY COLLEGE MUSEUM OF ART, WATERVILLE

The Colby College Museum of Art has two significant pieces of sculpture on its grounds that make a visit worthwhile. And while you are there, it’s a good idea to visit the largest museum in the state, which has one of the most significant collections of art of any small college in the United States.

On its terrace just outside the main entrance, the museum boasts Richard Serra’s 4-5-6. The three-part sculpture made from Cor-ten steel is scaled to the museum walls that surround it, and the title refers to the dimensions – 4-feet by 5-feet by 6-feet – of the three 30-ton masses. By design the material has oxidized over the years, creating a warm color. Each block rests on a different face so each looks to be a different size, but all are identical.

In the field in front of the museum is Sol LeWitt’s Seven Walls, a concrete-block wall that bends and turns slightly. A conceptual artist, LeWitt emphasized ideas over execution, and Seven Walls is a prime example. He designed the sculpture for the museum, and turned the design over for masons to build. It was vandalized in 2011, with the spray-painted words “Why” and “Is This Art?” The piece has been refurbished and maintained, and is back on view. It’s worth noting, a colorful LeWitt wall drawing inside a glass wall of the museum is visible from this spot, offering viewers a double-vision of LeWitt.

SCHOODIC SCULPTURE SYMPOSIUM, SCHOODIC PENINSULA

The Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium has become a signature event for the state of Maine, and arguably the most significant art development in Maine over the past decade. It binds artists with communities across eastern Maine, permanently endowing those communities with large-scale sculptures created by visiting artists. It was the brainchild of Steuben sculptor Jesse Salisbury, who crafted the Schoodic Symposium on a European model that began in the late 1950s.

The biennial symposium, scheduled for August 3 to September 14 in Prospect Harbor, brings artists to the coast, where they work in residence for six weeks to create sculptures from Maine rock. When the sculptures are finished, they are distributed across the region in communities that sponsor the symposium.

As a result, there are 27 large pieces of public art from Deer Isle to Eastport, as well as Bangor, Orono and Old Town. This year, the communities of Surry, Lubec, Calais, Harrington, Jonesport, Bucksport and Castine will receive sculptures.

The public is welcome to watch the artists as they create their pieces from large chunks of native rock. The process takes several weeks, and visitors enjoy returning to gauge the progress and observe as the work progresses.

To see all the existing pieces, visitors should plan to spend more than a day touring. The tour covers many miles, and takes visitors to remote and beautiful parts of the Downeast coast, in addition to the Bangor area.

VILES ARBORTEUM

No longer can we call the sculpture trail at Viles Arboretum in Augusta a hidden gem. People have discovered it, and it’s fast becoming one of the most popular destinations for viewing outdoor sculpture in the state.

The arboretum, with 224 acres, has been open more than 30 years in the capital city, and in 2013 christened its half-mile sculpture trail that winds through orchards and across rolling hills. Along with a spreading butternut tree, heritage apple trees and the arboretum’s vast display of plants and flowers, visitors will see nearly 20 stone sculptures by many of Maine’s best-known artists, including Roy Patterson, Mark Herrington, Andreas von Huene and Jesse Salisbury. As such, it the largest permanent display of outdoor sculpture in Maine.

These are permanent installations that enhance the natural environment by depicting shapes and designs inspired by nature, said executive director Mark DesMeules. The pieces allow visitors the chance to see sculpture in its natural setting where the native stone is most at home. As time goes on, the landscape will grow up around these pieces, returning them and, in a sense, interring them, back to the earth where they were conceived.

PLANET TOUR OF AROOSTOOK COUNTY

It’s formally known as the Maine Solar System Model, but we like to call it the most unusual collection of sculpture in all of Maine. The scale model, which is spread out along U.S. Route 1, from Topsfield in the south to Presque Isle, includes the sun, nine planets, seven moons and three dwarf planets. The sculptures are replicas of the actual planets, and are spaced to scale based on their distance from the sun. The scale for the solar system model is one mile per astronomical unit, which is the distance from the earth to the sun.

The sun is in Presque Isle. From the southern terminus in Topsfield, visitors should follow U.S. Route 1 through

Danforth, Houlton, Littleton and Mars Hill, all the way to Presque Isle. There are turnouts at each planet, with information about the solar system and the Maine model.

 

Bob Keyes writes about the arts in Maine for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. In addition to visiting museums and galleries and attending plays, musicals and concerts, he enjoys watching and participating in sports. His favorite place on earth is an island off the coast of Phippsburg. He lives in Berwick with his partner, Vicki.

 

SCULPTURE TOUR RESOURCES

Ogunquit Museum of American Art
543 Shore Road, Ogunquit
207-646-4909
ogunquitmuseum.org
10 am to 5 pm daily, May 1 – Oct 31. Museum admission is $10 adults, $9 seniors and students, and free 12 and younger, though the sculpture garden is free. The museum asks that visitors not bring a picnic lunch into the gardens.

Portland International Jetport
1001 Westbrook Street, Portland
207-874-8877
portlandjetport.org
Open 24 hours. There is no cost to visit the Jetport, but one must pay to park. Hourly parking rate is $2. Portland Peninsula; all exterior public art in downtown Portland is free and can be viewed anytime. The best resource for information about all public art owned by the city of Portland can be found at publicartportland.org.

Art Gallery at the University of New England
716 Stevens Avenue, Portland
207-221-4499
une.edu/artgallery
The gallery is open 1 – 4 pm Wed, Fri, Sat and Sun and 1 – 7 pm Thu. The sculpture invitational is open Jun 6 – Oct 31. Admission is free.

Gilsland Farm, Maine Audubon
20 Gilsland Farm Road, Falmouth
207-781-2330
maineaudubon.org.
Property and trails are open free of charge from dawn to dusk daily; nature center is open 10 am – 4:30 pm Mon-Sat, 12 – 4 pm Sun. “A Celebration of Art and Nature” is open May 30 – Sep 30.

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens
132 Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
207-633-4333
mainegardens.org
9 am – 5 pm daily. “Pollinators” is open Jun 19 – Sep 30; admission is $14 adults, $12 seniors, $6 ages 3-17 and free 2 and younger, free.

Stemwinder Sculpture Works and Garden
131 Camden Road (Route 90), Warren
207-273-3948
jaysawyer.com
Sculptor Jay Sawyer opens his gardens for public tours from 10 am – 5 pm Sun and Mon, Jun 8 through Oct; $10, but five opportunities for free admission. Beginning Jun 7, the garden will host an open studio on the Saturday following the first Friday of the month.

Colby College Museum of Art
5600 Mayflower Hill Drive, Waterville
207-859-5600
colby.edu/academics_cs/museum
The museum is open 10 am – 5 pm Tue-Sat and 12 – 5 pm Sun, and admission is free.

Schoodic Sculpture Tour
The self-guided tour involves 27 large-scale sculptures in two dozen communities across eastern Maine. A map and details are available at schoodicsculpture.org. The driving tour is free; all the sculptures are located outside and are readily accessible.

Viles Arboretum
153 Hospital Street, Augusta
207-626-7989
vilesarboretum.org
It is open dawn to dusk, seven days a week and offers a leisurely hiking trail, where visitors will see more than a dozen large-scale sculpture installations. Admission is free.

Maine Solar System Model
Aroostook County
The self-guided tour of the scale models of our solar system runs from Topsfield to Presque Isle. Details are available at visitaroostook.com/things_to_do/family_attractions/the_solar_system_outer_space/. The driving tour is free.