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The Big Eddy in the Kennebec River, to the right of Coburn Park, will be the site of the "Kennebec on Fire" public art installation.
Updated: October 18, 2019
Call is out for artists to set 'Kennebec on Fire' in Skowhegan
Courtesy / Main Street Skohwegan
The Big Eddy in the Kennebec River, as seen from Coburn Park in Skowhegan, will be the site of a public art installation, "Kennebec on Fire."
By Maureen Milliken
Artists are being asked to submit proposals for the planned Kennebec on Fire installation in Skowhegan.
Main Street Skowhegan and the Wesserunsett Arts Council are partnering on the public art installations, paid for by grants from the Maine Arts Commission and Maine Community Foundation.
The first sculpture will have a $10,000 budget and be used as a prototype, with plans to install it on the river in the spring before other sculptures are commissioned. The total budget for the project is $50,000, and artists are asked to submit a proposal for a complete installation.
The call for artists is open to Maine residents, with preference given to local talent. Artists must also be 18 or over and be willing to work with project engineers on final base installation design, as well as attend an inaugural lighting ceremony.
Because of river access and the nature of the project, there are other strict requirements. The full call for proposals can be viewed at WesArts.org/KOF. The deadline is Nov. 8 and the commission will be granted before the end of the year.
The sculptures, inspired by WaterFire in Providence, R.I., will each include a fire brazier that can be filled with wood and lit during festivals and other events. Mounted on floating bases, the sculptures will be installed in the Great Eddy, just below the Kennebec Gorge in Skowhegan. They'll be visible from Coburn Park and U.S. Route 2 on the north side of the river, and from recreational trails on the south side.
“We’re excited to be able to inject this kind of investment into our creative economy,” said project coordinator Mary Haley. The project is funded by a $75,000 grant from the Maine Arts Commission and a $10,000 grant from the Maine Community Foundation.
She said that "installing floating sculptures in a river is a bit of novelty,” says Haley. “We’d like to work out any kinks with the first one before moving to the full installation.”
Catalyst, art and the river
Kennebec on Fire is designed to use public art as a catalyst to foster a sense of place and stimulate tourism, as well as help boost the economy.
When the grants were first awarded for the public art project, the Maine Arts Commission noted that the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis has reported that Maine’s arts and culture sector contributes $1.5 billion annually to Maine’s economy, representing 2.6% of the state’s gross domestic product.
The project is derived from the Somerset County Rural Cultural Plan, which was led by WesArts and Main Street Skowhegan and completed in 2018. Of the respondents to a survey on the plan, 95% said they are interested in experiencing the arts in nature, and 94% said growing tourism by promoting the region’s assets is important.
The research and development on the project started in March. Kristina Cannon, executive director of Main Street Skowhegan, told Mainebiz at the time that those involved in the Somerset County cultural plan were brainstorming on combining arts with natural resources, including the county’s biggest asset — the Kennebec River.
Julie Richard, executive director of the Maine Arts Commission, suggested creating a fire installation similar to WaterFire, in Rhode Island,
Cannon, Haley, Town Manager Christine Almand, and other members of the two organizations took a trip to Providence to see WaterFire in action. They were impressed.
"The braziers are cool themselves, but what you can do around them, the festival itself is just awesome," Cannon said. "We had a grand vision of what we could do if we could pull it all off.”
WaterFire Providence was created by artist Barnaby Evans in 1994, and it became a nonprofit in 1997. There are about a dozen lightings between May and October.
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