by Christopher Burns
for The Maine Campus
Much of the creative process happens behind closed doors. To bring the fruits of the creative process to the public, the Downtown Bangor Arts Collaborative brought the ArtWalk to Bangor.
The fall art walk was held Friday, Sept. 13 from 5 to 9 p.m. Visitors to downtown were free to tour the galleries and studios along Main, Central, Harlow and Park Streets. Friday’s walk was the third this year, with the winter walk scheduled for Nov. 15.
Downtown Bangor has undergone many transformations over the years. There was the lumber boom of the 19th century and the Great Fire of 1911, for example. Over the last five years, the art scene downtown has taken hold and experienced tremendous growth.
The success of the arts in Bangor owes much to work done by the Downtown Bangor Arts Collaborative. Conceived in 2008, the DBAC is made up of local artists and business owners dedicated to fostering a healthy relationship between Bangor and the arts. “Our focus is to create a community focused around bringing people to see and experience art,” said Brian Monahan, member of the DBAC and owner of Monahan Design.
In 2010, the DBAC was officially recognized by the state of Maine as a nonprofit cultural organization.
The art walk is the centerpiece of the DBAC’s activities. It is a “celebration” of the work and energy brought to downtown by artists. For the fall walk, a diverse group of art was featured. Nearly one hundred artists participated along the 28 stops on the walk. A broad spectrum of art was represented among them from dance and music, to jewelry and virtual art, to interactive and installation art, to sculpture and textiles, to painting and photography.
When the art walk began in 2008, it was held once a year. As it nears the end of its fifth year, it has evolved into a quarterly event, with a walk for each season. Monahan hopes that the walks will expand further into multi-day affairs and further bridge the gap between Bangor and outlying communities.
When asked about the success of the DBAC and the art walks, Monahan credited the “willingness” of local artists and their recognizing the “value” of the walk. The value of the walk is the exposure it brings to the artists and their art.
“If you are an artist and want to succeed as an artist, you need exposure. We [DBAC] help by bringing that exposure,” Monahan said.
Additionally, “listen[ing] to the community” has been integral to the success of the walk, Monahan said. “Knowing what works for both the community and artists helps to ensure the walk will be sustainable and continue to grow.
“We are creating the ladder for the community to climb up and see what these artists are doing,” Monahan said.
New to the walk was a shuttle from Orono to Bangor. To help bring the University of Maine to the ArtWalk, Liam Riordan, a member of the University of Maine Humanities Initiative Advisory Board, organized the ride with funding from Dean of Students Dr. Robert Dana. Students boarded a Cyr Bus Lines bus at the Collins Center for the Arts at 4:30 p.m. and arrived in Bangor outside the Maine Discovery Museum. City Councilor Joe Baldacci met the students there for a reception.
At 6:30 p.m., students were given a guided tour of the University of Maine Museum of Art in Norumbega Hall by George Kinghorn, director and curator of the museum. He led them through the galleries that currently feature work by Joanne Freeman, Rachelle Agundes, Sean Downey and Emily Trenholm. The museum has many classic works of art in its permanent collection, including work by Edward Hopper, Francisco Goya, Pablo Picasso and Winslow Homer. After the tour students were shuttled back to UMaine.
Also new this year was a large-scale mural on the side of the Central Street Farmhouse at 30 Central St. The mural painting was organized by a local artist who goes by the moniker Pigeon, with the cooperation of Central Street Farmhouse who provided the side of their building. Walkers were invited to take a brush and paint the wall. The theme of the mural was “This is downtown Bangor. I love being here because…”
The mural will be left up until spring, when it will be taken down and a new public mural will be constructed. Over the next few art walks, the mural will become “a changing expression of who is in downtown Bangor,” an organizer said.
The weather turned during the walk and rain marred much of the evening. Despite the rain, the presence of the art walk remained strong and walkers gathered at each of the galleries for discussion and silent contemplation. The will of the walkers to stick it out proved a testament to the power and importance of the arts in downtown.
“The creative community is a strong community where it is possible for people to talk and collaborate,” Monahan said.
More information about the ArtWalk and the Downtown Bangor Arts Collaborative can be found at www.dbac.org or their Facebook page.