The retaining wall on the north end of Caribou’s downtown mall has for decades been a drab, uninspiring mix of concrete and metal. A local artist is bringing it to life.
Caribou native Felicia Blackstone has spent much of the last month painting a mural on two of the wall’s panels, the beginning stage of a process she hopes will transform the more-than-350-foot-long wall into an art piece that captures the city’s history and culture.
“The community feedback has already been so amazing,” Blackstone said Friday. “People have said that it’s really nice to have something so beautiful on such a boring-colored wall. This has been cracked cement forever.”
The first section, which is nearly complete, features a produce truck parked next to the Aroostook River, where a group is floating down on inner tubes. Caribou’s iconic Aroostook River Bridge stands in the background. The truck is inspired by Skonieczny’s Farm Fresh Vegetables, who frequently sell their produce on the roadside in Caribou and Presque Isle.
“What’s more Caribou than a market truck?” Blackstone said.
Blackstone pitched the idea to the Caribou City Council in July, who commissioned her to begin the mural using $8,200 of downtown infrastructure funding. That money is revenue from a tax increment financing district and not general taxpayer funds. The full mural will likely take years to complete, she said.
The idea of covering the wall with art has floated around in municipal circles for years. A 2008 comprehensive plan for Caribou’s downtown described the structure as an “eyesore” and suggested that murals could turn it into an attractive feature.
“My hope is that this mural will bring new energy, joy, and a stronger sense of place to the Lyndon Square District,” City Manager Penny Thompson said. “By depicting scenes from Caribou’s past and present, it will celebrate our community’s history while also reflecting who we are today.”
Blackstone envisions the mural capturing Caribou’s history from its beginning, starting with the Mi’kmaq, the Wabanaki tribe native to the region, and moving in chronological order, capturing the city’s nature, wildlife and people through the years and seasons.
The English word “caribou” comes from the Mi’kmaq word “qalipu,” which literally translates to “snow shoveler.”
“I love that people are going to come by and just see something that hopefully inspires them to do something or feel something in some kind of way,” Blackstone said. “I’ve always just done art kind of for myself … it’s nice to have people come and be impacted by something like that.”
After graduating from college, Blackstone was bartending in Portland when a customer asked her to paint a mural. She did not go to school for art, but had painted all her life, so she agreed. Her first project is at Jones Landing on Peaks Island.
“I fell in love with the process of setting up a mural and how amazing it looks, large and beautiful and full of detail,” Blackstone said. “I realized that that’s what I wanted to do.”
She quit her job to become a full-time painter, bought a camper and moved back to Aroostook County. Along the way, she found a new appreciation for her hometown.
“Growing up I thought this was such a boring place that there was nothing to do,” Blackstone said. “And now, [after] going away for a little while and seeing a little bit of different parts of the country, I come back home and I realize, ‘This is great. This is an amazing place full of such a loving community.’”
“I didn’t realize as a kid how lucky I was to grow up in such a small town.”