BANGOR, Maine — Eastport artist Anna Hepler and two volunteers waded into the Kenduskeag Stream at low tide Friday and righted her floating sculpture after an initial attempt to anchor it on Thursday resulted in the sculpture overturning.
Hepler declined to comment on the piece, titled “Boat Load,” composed primarily of buoys, mooring balls and boat fenders affixed with ropes to a central float and anchored to the stream bed with concrete-filled buckets.
Volunteers assisting Hepler were City Councilor Josh Plourde and Commission on Cultural Development Chairwoman Kiersten Piccininni.
The three waded through the stream early Friday afternoon. As they righted the sculpture, a single mooring ball fell from its base.
The three carried the ball out with them along with three road cones and two signs that had apparently been thrown in the stream by vandals.
On the recommendation of the cultural commission, the City Council approved a $1,000 grant for the sculpture in January to match an additional $5,000 to $6,000 to be raised by Hepler, who is known for innovative works such as the inflatable sculpture “ Bloom.”
Hepler’s solo exhibit “Blind Spot” is slated to open June 19 at the University of Maine Museum of Art. The exhibit will feature more than 25 sculptures and two-dimensional artworks, according to museum director and curator George Kinghorn.
The works were inspired by collages made from National Geographic magazine, according to the museum, which is open to the public free of charge.
Hepler said previously she hopes to move the floating sculpture to other sites in Maine once her exhibit closes Sept. 19.
Internationally known, her work has appeared in several galleries, including the National Gallery of Art, the Library of Congress and the Tate Gallery in London.
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