BANGOR, Maine — Bangor city councilors will decide Monday night whether to provide a new grant to help fund a proposed floating piece of art in the Kenduskeag Stream that has generated some visceral — and vulgar — reactions.
“It’s just a proposal, so it’s very likely that the final piece might not look like that,” Anna Hepler, the Eastport-based artist behind the project, said. She was referring to a pair of renderings submitted with her grant application to the city that stirred lively commentary on social media after they were published by the Bangor Daily News.
Many commenters said they felt the renderings — which showed only one angle of the three-dimensional, abstract, floating fiberglass monument — brought to mind female genitalia.
“I’m not concerned about what people read into my proposed sketch or see there,” Hepler said, adding that her design was an “interesting, abstract form.”
Hepler said during a recent interview that her project is still in the very early conceptual stages and could change based on anything from the amount of funding she secures and available materials to how she’s feeling while she’s building it. That means the color, shape, size and other details could evolve — or not — between now and the time the piece would go in the water in June.
Both the city’s Commission for Cultural Development and Government Operations Committee have recommended that the city council approve the $1,000 Individual Artist Grant, which would be the first approved by the city.
Hepler estimates she’ll need to raise another $6,000 for the project through other grants and funding sources.
In her application, Hepler describes her piece as a buoy that would “appear and disappear from ground level, with the rising and falling 16-foot tides.” It would stay in Bangor for about four months before moving on to a new display location.
Hepler will have a solo exhibition on display from June through September at the University of Maine Museum of Art, which flanks the Kenduskeag Stream between Central and State streets. The piece will be part of that display, and Hepler said she hopes it will draw people to the museum. Her pieces are frequently abstract forms produced in bright colors.
Her work has appeared in galleries across Maine, as well as nationally — including the National Gallery of Art and Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. — and internationally — at Tate Gallery in London.
“She is known in the arts community as a creative risk-taker and a true professional,” said Jamie Ballinger, chairwoman of the Commission for Cultural Development, which has a $10,000 budget this fiscal year — down dramatically from past years because of the city’s fiscal challenges.
“I am proud that our city has a long history and promising future supporting public art,” Tanya Emery, the city’s director of Economic and Community Development, said. “Many people didn’t care for the ‘Continuity of Community’ sculpture, many people didn’t care for folk music when the city began support of the American Folk Festival on the Bangor Waterfront, and many people didn’t support large concerts when Waterfront Concerts began.”
“Continuity of Community” is the twisty stainless steel sculpture that was in West Market Square for nearly 40 years. When it was first installed, city officials said it was unpopular. When the city moved it to the waterfront in 2012, many people in the community were upset.
“The beauty of Hepler’s works is both in its form and in the thoughtful discussion it provokes,” Ballinger said. “I am excited that Hepler’s proposal has sparked our community’s collective imagination.”
Ballinger said the commission is continuing to seek out artists interested in creating public artwork in Bangor. Next month, it’s hosting a free workshop on how to put together a grant proposal to fund public arts projects. Applications for the new grant program are available on the city’s website, bangormaine.gov.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter @nmccrea213.