On Thursday, September 8, the Portland community came together to celebrate the thoughtful, site-based work completed by Maine College of Art & Design and other Portland artists to help improve our city’s bus shelters. Creative Portland, the group to organize the local Creative Bus Shelter initiative, hosted the artists, Portland mayor, and other representatives for a ribbon cutting ceremony to recognize the work.
Starting next to the Portland Public Library (5 Monument Square) at 10:00am, Graphic Design Professor Zenab Bastawala and fellow artist Karen Merritt will showcased their shelter, entitled “We the People,” which pays homage to the 63 different languages actively used throughout Portland.
Then at noon, alumnus Carter Shappy ’15 – recently named the first winner of the Epic Grant awarded by Maine College of Art & Design and Canopy Portland Waterfront – unveiled the latest work in his Ghost Gear series near the roundabout at the intersection of Deering and Brighton Avenues. This shelter installation uses consumer and industry plastic waste found in the ocean to create unique prints.
Other shelters highlighted throughout the day included: The Reason We Come Together by Titi de Baccarat (11:00am at 575 Congress Street), Oxbow by Ben Potter (1:00pm on Fore River Parkway by the Northern Light Mercy Hospital entrance), and Youth in Bloom by Jocelyn Lee (2:00pm at 377 Stevens Avenue).
Original source can be found here
Alerts Sign-up