Downtown Bangor 2022
Downtown Bangor 2021
13 designs were selected in 2021 and installed at locations across downtown Bangor. The project theme of “unity” challenged artists of all backgrounds and experience levels to create pieces that elicit conversation and inspiration around uniting and connecting our community.
Individual descriptions of installed pieces from 2021 are below.
Mural 02: Run by Peter Walls – “Inspired by the Spring fish migrations here in Maine my original design incorporated a plaid background referencing the fabric of this wonderful state in which we live. The design, modified for the project, is a tumbling of migrating fish shifting in color. I LOVE that it is on the Waverly building!”
Mural 03: Grumpy Goldfish by Siobhán Gildea – “Part of a black and white alliterative Animalia series (2021). Inside this small bowl, where it’s insisted I sleep. Though I yearn for the cold, the vast, and the deep. And as I float around toy castles, of myself I often dream. A leviathan of gold under fathoms of the sea.”
Mural 04: The High Priestess by Hailee Winter – “In tarot, the High Priestess represents intuition and stillness, associated with the zodiac sign Virgo and ruled by the moon. There are only a couple of cards I feel strongly drawn to, the other being The Moon, and I was compelled to translate my feelings into an artistic vision. I chose the Secretary Bird, in her calm and commanding feminine power, as the subject for which to carry this message. Application of the final product in mind, I melded two styles I associate with art I expect to see on buildings: a graffiti-style looseness, and the half-tone dots of old posters. I hope you get the chance to spy her as she spreads her wings in Downtown Bangor.”
Mural 05: Acceptance by Samantha Bullard – “I created it back in July 2019, this was a time when I was still mostly a closeted queer person, but starting to come out to close friends. I found comfort in my found family and the LGBTQ+ community within Bangor, and I wanted those feelings to resonate within my art. With this piece I began to slowly reveal myself through my art to the rest of the world. The following year it was featured in my first Pride Art Show at West Market Square Artisan Coffeehouse, where I finally came out publicly as a queer person. This piece means a lot to me and represents the unity I found within my community.”
Mural 06: Kindness by Amanda Gray – “As my daughter calls it, this is the rainbow snail. It was inspired by an overwhelming theme in our lives to spread kindness through actions, as well as a friend of mine who has pet snails who are absolutely adorable.”
Mural 07: Can We All Get Along? by Please Use Other Door – “Unity does not merely involve accepting one lifestyle that is different from your own, but embracing a wide array of cultures. I wanted to express this by having a diverse group of people drawn with colors from various pride flags.”
Mural 08: Love Around the World by Wendy Lorigan – “Seeing beauty and unity in light of recent events. I believe that together we can make a difference in our lives and for the lives of future generations.”
Mural 09: Safe Travels by Tori Grindle – “Tori Elyce spent the majority of her spare time at home chipping away at Safe Travels, which was completed near the end of 2020 as a tribute to her late companion Mortis. Although the darker imagery suggests a moment of sorrow for the viewer, the painting gives us an insight on the delicate and beautiful reality of life and death.”
Mural 10: Linked Love by Izzy Nutter – “Unity to me means people who are joined together as a community. People should love and respect one another and being joined together as a whole is what this drawing represents. I wanted to bring happiness to everyone by bringing bright and bold colors to my mural. When in the process of creating my mural I wanted to use something to represent Unity, so I used birds. There are so many different types of birds in the world that are all so beautiful and especially different and in the drawing they are all joined by love, peace, and are all united.”
Mural 11: Bee Endangerment by Kaitlyn Helfen – “This piece that was chosen to be installed in Downtown Bangor was taken out of my concentration created for my AP Art Portfolio in high school. Through each artwork of my concentration, I wanted to tell a story by showing the endangerment of bees. My intention was to show how our society is responsible for the killing of bees through multiple means of attempt. I started off by using gelatin printmaking as the basis of all my artworks and finished off with paint, ink, colored pencils, and collage. I wanted to show the significance of bees and how they keep us, humans, thriving through their pollination, gradually showing that humans are a key factor in the endangerment of bees. Although you are unable to visualize the progression of my concentration, you can see how it might play out based on this key piece I call “Bee Endangerment”. Through the process of creating this piece and many others, I was enlightened by multiple reliable resources about this ongoing issue. Most people find bees to be harmful and dangerous, rather than realizing how much of an impact they have on agriculture. I wanted to create a progression of the damage we humans have on the bee population, and possibly inspire some to do their research and be a part of “Saving the Bees”. I hope to continue educating myself on the impact bees have on our everyday life, and pass it on to my future elementary students.”
Mural 12: Flowers by George Smith – With this piece I strove to create a representation of nature that compared and contrasted serenity with energy, as I feel that these are both intrinsic with the natural world. I tried to include as few human-made representations as possible, instead using the flowers, stars and foliage to encompass the figure. Most of the images are from a flower catalogue, while the stars and the figure are cut from advertisements.
Mural 13: Maine’s Backbone by Evan Nadeau – “The thought process I had while drawing this piece was to simply depict a big part of Maine’s history. Growing up in Maine, specifically right along the Penobscot River, we always learned about Bangor’s history with lumber. At one point, Bangor being known as the lumber capital of the world, this small Maine city made a name for itself. It wasn’t fancy or flashy, but it showed what hard work and grit means to the people of this area. My art recognizes this by showing the state of Maine as the head of an axe, splitting a log.”
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Mural 02: Run by Peter Walls – “Inspired by the Spring fish migrations here in Maine my original design incorporated a plaid background referencing the fabric of this wonderful state in which we live. The design, modified for the project, is a tumbling of migrating fish shifting in color. I LOVE that it is on the Waverly building!”
Mural 03: Grumpy Goldfish by Siobhán Gildea – “Part of a black and white alliterative Animalia series (2021). Inside this small bowl, where it’s insisted I sleep. Though I yearn for the cold, the vast, and the deep. And as I float around toy castles, of myself I often dream. A leviathan of gold under fathoms of the sea.”
Mural 04: The High Priestess by Hailee Winter – “In tarot, the High Priestess represents intuition and stillness, associated with the zodiac sign Virgo and ruled by the moon. There are only a couple of cards I feel strongly drawn to, the other being The Moon, and I was compelled to translate my feelings into an artistic vision. I chose the Secretary Bird, in her calm and commanding feminine power, as the subject for which to carry this message. Application of the final product in mind, I melded two styles I associate with art I expect to see on buildings: a graffiti-style looseness, and the half-tone dots of old posters. I hope you get the chance to spy her as she spreads her wings in Downtown Bangor.”
Mural 05: Acceptance by Samantha Bullard – “I created it back in July 2019, this was a time when I was still mostly a closeted queer person, but starting to come out to close friends. I found comfort in my found family and the LGBTQ+ community within Bangor, and I wanted those feelings to resonate within my art. With this piece I began to slowly reveal myself through my art to the rest of the world. The following year it was featured in my first Pride Art Show at West Market Square Artisan Coffeehouse, where I finally came out publicly as a queer person. This piece means a lot to me and represents the unity I found within my community.”
Mural 06: Kindness by Amanda Gray – “As my daughter calls it, this is the rainbow snail. It was inspired by an overwhelming theme in our lives to spread kindness through actions, as well as a friend of mine who has pet snails who are absolutely adorable.”
Mural 07: Can We All Get Along? by Please Use Other Door – “Unity does not merely involve accepting one lifestyle that is different from your own, but embracing a wide array of cultures. I wanted to express this by having a diverse group of people drawn with colors from various pride flags.”
Mural 08: Love Around the World by Wendy Lorigan – “Seeing beauty and unity in light of recent events. I believe that together we can make a difference in our lives and for the lives of future generations.”
Mural 09: Safe Travels by Tori Grindle – “Tori Elyce spent the majority of her spare time at home chipping away at Safe Travels, which was completed near the end of 2020 as a tribute to her late companion Mortis. Although the darker imagery suggests a moment of sorrow for the viewer, the painting gives us an insight on the delicate and beautiful reality of life and death.”
Mural 10: Linked Love by Izzy Nutter – “Unity to me means people who are joined together as a community. People should love and respect one another and being joined together as a whole is what this drawing represents. I wanted to bring happiness to everyone by bringing bright and bold colors to my mural. When in the process of creating my mural I wanted to use something to represent Unity, so I used birds. There are so many different types of birds in the world that are all so beautiful and especially different and in the drawing they are all joined by love, peace, and are all united.”
Mural 11: Bee Endangerment by Kaitlyn Helfen – “This piece that was chosen to be installed in Downtown Bangor was taken out of my concentration created for my AP Art Portfolio in high school. Through each artwork of my concentration, I wanted to tell a story by showing the endangerment of bees. My intention was to show how our society is responsible for the killing of bees through multiple means of attempt. I started off by using gelatin printmaking as the basis of all my artworks and finished off with paint, ink, colored pencils, and collage. I wanted to show the significance of bees and how they keep us, humans, thriving through their pollination, gradually showing that humans are a key factor in the endangerment of bees. Although you are unable to visualize the progression of my concentration, you can see how it might play out based on this key piece I call “Bee Endangerment”. Through the process of creating this piece and many others, I was enlightened by multiple reliable resources about this ongoing issue. Most people find bees to be harmful and dangerous, rather than realizing how much of an impact they have on agriculture. I wanted to create a progression of the damage we humans have on the bee population, and possibly inspire some to do their research and be a part of “Saving the Bees”. I hope to continue educating myself on the impact bees have on our everyday life, and pass it on to my future elementary students.”
Mural 12: Flowers by George Smith – With this piece I strove to create a representation of nature that compared and contrasted serenity with energy, as I feel that these are both intrinsic with the natural world. I tried to include as few human-made representations as possible, instead using the flowers, stars and foliage to encompass the figure. Most of the images are from a flower catalogue, while the stars and the figure are cut from advertisements.
Mural 13: Maine’s Backbone by Evan Nadeau – “The thought process I had while drawing this piece was to simply depict a big part of Maine’s history. Growing up in Maine, specifically right along the Penobscot River, we always learned about Bangor’s history with lumber. At one point, Bangor being known as the lumber capital of the world, this small Maine city made a name for itself. It wasn’t fancy or flashy, but it showed what hard work and grit means to the people of this area. My art recognizes this by showing the state of Maine as the head of an axe, splitting a log.”