BANGOR, Maine — The city’s cost for a floating sculpture anchored in the Kenduskeag Stream is less than half of the $1,000 grant approved by the City Council in January.
Municipal officials confirmed this week the city has cut a check for $499.19 to Eastport artist Anna Hepler as reimbursement for the cost of materials used in her sculpture “Boat Load.”
Hepler is the first recipient of the city’s Individual Artist Grant, part of the Commission for Cultural Development’s mission to promote Bangor as a regional arts center and nurture artistic and cultural expression.
Community and Economic Development Director Tanya Emery said she does not anticipate additional reimbursement requests related to the sculpture. Individual artists are eligible only for reimbursement of actual costs for supplies and materials incurred for completed works under city code.
Receipts that Hepler submitted to the city show expenses of $151.06 for paint, $191.81 for rope, $87.61 for concrete, foam and lumber used in its installation, as well as $68.71 for miscellaneous items including anchor fittings, cutting blades and masking tape.
The resulting sculpture — 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 — differs somewhat from Hepler’s initial proposal to the Commission on Cultural Development in December.
At the time, Hepler said she planned on constructing the sculpture out of fiberglass and that it would be fairly brightly colored. She added that, since it was a new process for her, there would be a lot of experimentation.
“One of the things that I love about that location is that in the low-tide times, the sculpture will be kind of like a secret and then at high tide it will sort of peek up and grab visitors, hopefully,” she told the commission.
Asked by commissioner Thomas Avila how she would gauge execution, Hepler responded, “I think this is where you have to trust me.”
Hepler said in January that it was very likely the final piece might not look like her initial proposal.
The costs submitted for the sculpture also varied from the initial proposal. In her Dec. 2 grant application, Hepler sought $1,000 and said her total fundraising goal for the project was $6,000.
City code requires that recipients of art grants match all city funds dollar for dollar with funds that can come from revenue generated by the art, other grants, sponsorships or donations.
Hepler’s reimbursement request did not include details of fundraising related to the sculpture. Cultural commission Chairwoman Kiersten Piccininni said fundraising details are not part of the reimbursement process, but they will be part of Hepler’s final report.
City code requires that recipients of art grants submit a post-project report of accountability, comparing actual results to the quantifiable and subjective goals identified in the grant application.
The code does not specify when that report is due, but it says no additional funding will be granted to any applicant who does not provide the report.
Hepler, who is known for innovative works such as the inflatable sculpture “ Bloom,” declined an interview request Wednesday.
The placement of her sculpture “Boat Load” coincides with her solo exhibit “Blind Spot,” which opened on June 19 at the University of Maine Museum of Art and is set to close Sept. 19.
Hepler said previously she hopes to move the floating sculpture to other sites in Maine once her exhibit closes.
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.
Follow Evan Belanger on Twitter at @evanbelanger.