84 Free Street | Portland, ME 04101 | 207-370-4784 | www.creativeportland.com ​

August 7, 2020

The Creative Bus Shelter Initiative: A Maine Arts-Based Community Development Investment, is launched in Portland, Maine

Creative Portland was one of 57 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Our Town Projects Selected Nationwide in 2019

Portland, ME -- Last year, National Endowment for the Arts Acting Chairman Mary Anne Carter announced ​ 57 awards totaling $4.1 million supporting projects across the nation through the Arts Endowment’s Our Town 2019 program. Creative Portland, the City of Portland’s designated arts agency, was one of the recommended organizations for a matching grant of $25,000 to support Phase 1 of a creative placemaking initiative to design artistic bus shelters celebrating the City of Portland, Maine’s racially diverse communities, ​ including immigrant and refugee populations. Two out of the three shelters are created by immigrant artists.

“These awards made to organizations across the United States are a testament to the artistic richness and diversity in our country,” said Mary Anne Carter, acting chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. “Organizations such as Creative Portland are giving people in their community the opportunity to learn, create, and be inspired.”

Creative Portland and Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG) conceived the project in early 2017 when executive directors Dinah Minot and Kristina Egan met for the first time and discovered that they grew up in neighboring towns on Cape Ann in Massachusetts. Soon thereafter, they brought Greg Jordan of GP Metro on board and with the support of each organization’s board of directors, they began to solidify an application to the National Endowment for the Arts in pursuit of an Our Town Grant, designed for municipal arts impact. The support team included Visit Portland, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree and Portland’s City Manager, Jon Jennings, Mayor Ethan Strimling, and the Portland Public Arts Committee (PPAC), as well as multiple city partners including nonprofits and community arts organizations, including Black Artists Forum, ​ Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center, the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), and the Portland Public Art Committee.

Three artists, Pigeon, Ebenezer Akakpo, and Justin Levesque, will install their unique designs approved by the volunteer review committee, which included representatives from partner organizations and expert curators Jamie DeSimone of the Portland Museum of Art, Daniel Minter of Indigo Arts Alliance and Maine College of Art, independent art consultant Fred Yaloris representing Rock Row, Zoe Miller of GPCOG, Greg Jordan of METRO, and Dinah Minot of Creative Portland.

“Launching this unique public art initiative from inception to installation has been an incredible experience because of our amazing partners, artists, curatorial team, sponsors and City support. The effort promotes the creative economy via public transit and “Creative Placemaking,” a fairly new term recognized by arts communities as an intentional endeavor for building community and for providing a place of wonder to evoke joy and a sense of belonging,” enthused Ms Minot, Executive Director of Creative Portland, the City’s nonprofit arts agency.

A $25,000 matching grant was awarded to the leadership team to implement 3-4 shelter designs and installations for what Ms Minot considers to be Phase 1 of the creative shelter initiative. Attracting local

partners and sponsors, such as Waterstone’s Rock Row, and sourcing fabricators and in-kind sponsors like American Steel and Portland Industrial Coatings, allowed the project management team to commission artists to create public art “add-ons” to existing bus shelters, on a modest budget, including a $4500 design fee for each artist.

“Bus Shelters are an important but unnoticed part of our public transportation infrastructure,” said project partner, GPCOG’s Director of Community Engagement Zoe Miller. “This project elevates the shelters so they become a wonderful canvas upon which to celebrate the diversity of our community.”

“Eventually, we imagine a whole region of artistic bus shelters created by emerging and established artists, new Mainers and old Mainers alike, who represent the high bar of excellence and artistic talent that Portland has to offer,” said Dinah Minot. “By bringing on partners as fabricators and in-kind vendors, we can provide an opportunity for artists to participate in a public art initiative with reasonable budgets.”

"Ebenezer Akakpo’s message of Hope & Friendship expressed in his artwork for the Creative Bus Shelter Initiative will be an inspiration for our Portland community. His captivating designs reflect a deep cultural history and a passion for promoting social justice. They remind us to be open to new experiences and to ask what we have in common rather than what separates us. We applaud the city’s art-centered initiative and look forward to sharing this work as an example of how the art created by MECA students, faculty, and alumni can help us navigate the challenges of our times," said Maine College of Art President Laura Freid.

"University of Southern Maine graduate Justin Levesque continues to make his alma mater proud with yet another impressive display of public art, this time on Metro’s Husky Line. We value the impact of art in encouraging discourse on climate change among students, faculty, staff and visitors on the Portland campus," said Glenn Cummings, President of the University of Southern Maine. "We also deeply appreciate Creative Portland and partners for sharing this wonderful NEA Our Town grant project with us."

The creative placemaking initiative celebrates Portland’s racially diverse communities, including immigrant and refugee populations. The goal is to encourage multi-modal transportation, to increase ridership, and to amplify the voices of diverse, underserved populations and to facilitate a discussion of social acceptance and community bonding through art installations that utilize bus shelters as the canvas for public art, on the theme of celebrating diversity, equity and inclusion, and our changing environments, due to migration and climate change.

Representatives from the three partner organizations (Creative Portland, GP METRO, and GPCOG) have been key contributors on the selection committee in response to the Open Call to Artists and on the governance and maintenance plan of the Creative Bus Shelter Initiative.

“We all get the attraction of public art and community partnerships, as a community connector and a terrific way to lure new audiences and increase ridership,” said Greg Jordan, General Manager at Greater Portland METRO. “Our Board of Directors is equally excited.”

City Councilor Tae Chong, a Creative Portland Board Member (ex-officio), announced, “I campaigned for the City Council seat on a platform of arts advocacy, recognizing the arts as a vital economic engine for our City. I love that we are collaborating to create art installations on bus shelters, and I’m particularly excited that two out of the three shelter designs are created by amazing immigrant artists who are promoting community and cross-cultural acceptance.

Local corporate sponsors include Rock Row/Waterstone, Designtex, Portland Industrial Coatings and American Steel. “We have worked with Creative Portland in the past, so we loved hearing about this public ​

2 art opportunity from the start,” said Mark Marchesi of Designtex. We are excited to be sponsors of this innovative arts-based community initiative.”

“American Steel and Aluminum has been a reliable material supplier to the Maine Artists and Industry since 1806, and we are proud to sponsor this wonderful public arts initiative to help promote public transit in our community. With our investments in laser cutting technologies, we are able to help local artists bring their dreams to life,” offered Sam Blatchford, CEO of American Steel, a proud new partner to Creative Portland on this initiative. Likewise, Chet Jordan, owner of Portland Industrial Coatings/BackwoodsBMP and also a sponsor, offered “We are excited to be working with Creative Portland on this project as a way to give back to the community and our beautiful city of Portland. A small effort in the pursuit of following my Grandfather's footsteps."

The first three public art pieces will be installed this month, with no financial appropriation from the City, and will be unveiled in public ceremonies in early September 2020. The “Our Town” public art project is a result of public/private partnerships, adhering to City regulations and historic preservation approvals, and will strengthen communities by engaging artists, private partners and arts administrators, in partnership with GP METRO, responsible for maintenance of each shelter. Collaborating with organizations such as the City of Portland’s Office of Economic Opportunity and the Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center, who advocate for public opportunities, civic engagement, social impact and systems change, is an important part of the messaging and outreach. Celebrations at each shelter will be on Sept 10th, from 2-4pm in the afternoon with details announced in late August.

Contacts: Denise Beck, Director of Marketing, GPMETRO, 207-774-0351; [email protected], Katie Page, ​ ​ ​ Program Assistant, Creative Portland or 207-370-4784; [email protected]; Dinah Minot, Executive ​ ​ Director, Creative Portland, [email protected]; Zoe Miller, Project Supervisor, GPCOG, ​ ​ [email protected]

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Creative Bus Shelter Initiative Designs & Information Sheet

Creative Portland, Greater Portland Metro (METRO) and Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG) joined forces in 2018 to implement an arts-based community initiative to strengthen communities and spotlight public transit through the arts. Two out of three of the 2020 art installations on the bus shelters are by immigrants, and all three celebrate the unique diversity of Portland’s social, economic and physical environments. Artists were selected by a curatorial team including representatives from Portland Museum of Art, Maine College of Art, Indigo Arts Alliance, Creative Portland, METRO and GPCOG. Sponsors Rock Row, Designtex, American Steel & Aluminum, and Portland Industrial Coatings championed the project with in-kind services and donations. This project was made possible by an Our Town Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Artist: Justin Levesque ​ Title: Glacial Retreat ​ Medium: Digitally sampled photographs on vinyl ​ Installation Date: August 2020 ​ Description: Circular shapes carved out of glacial imagery are pulled from data points showing the ​ mortality rate of cod in relation to unprecedented high temperatures of ocean waters off the Maine coast. Arrow shapes reference the unique ocean currents of the Gulf of Maine, one of the most rapidly warming bodies of water in the world. They also signify potential paths of human movements necessitated by climate migration. Portland-based Justin Levesque is an interdisciplinary artist. He earned his BFA in Photography from the University of Southern Maine and has exhibited throughout the United States, and internationally in the United Kingdom and Iceland. Sponsors: The Creative Bus Shelter Initiative is supported in part by the National Endowment for ​ the Arts in partnership with Creative Portland, Greater Portland Metro and Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG), with additional support from the City of Portland and sponsors Rock Row and Designtex.

Rendering of Glacial Retreat ​ 4

Glacial Retreat by Justin Levesque ​

The Interior of Glacial Retreat ​ 5

Artist: Ebenezer Akakpo ​ Title: Hope & Friendship ​ Medium: Laser-cut powder-coated steel ​ Installation Date: August 2020 ​ Description: Using the Adinkra symbols of Hope and Friendship from his native Ghana, Portland ​ artist Ebenezer Akakpo creates intricate pattern designs to instill community, casting shadows of hope on people walking by or waiting for the bus. Ebenezer Akakpo received his BFA from Maine College of Art (MECA ‘01), and his masters degree in Industrial Design from Rochester Institute of Technology. His artwork, jewelry and homegood products are represented at Maine Craft Portland (behind this bus shelter), PMA Store at the Portland Museum of Art, or online at www.akakpo.com. ​ ​ Sponsors: This Creative Bus Shelter is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts ​ in partnership with Creative Portland, Greater Portland Metro and Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG), with additional support from the City of Portland and sponsors Rock Row, Designtex, Portland Industrial Coatings, and American Steel.

A rendering of Ebenezer Akakpo’s proposed laser-cut, powder coated steel structure using Adinkra symbols of Hope & Friendship 6

Artist: Pigeon (aka Orson Horchler) ​ Title: The Mainer Project ​ Medium: Charcoal, pen, and chalk portraits printed on vinyl ​ Installation Date: August 2020 ​ Description: These portraits from The Mainer Project represent Pigeon’s personal connections ​ and friendships. Some of the subjects have resided here their entire lives, others arrived recently from abroad, and some have left after being subjected to overwhelming xenophobic speech and actions. The artist’s hope is to incite community building by inspiring discourse on identity and by confronting the attitudes that prevent us from feeling at home in the place we live. Pigeon, aka Orson Horchler, is a French street artist based in Portland who cares about belonging and sharing an intercultural space. Portraits of Mainers, in order, left to right: Viva is a prolific jazz singer and activist. She was born and raised in Maine. ​ is a Syrian rapper, presently living in Bangor Maine. He wears the shawl in honor of ﺳﺎﺳﻲ - Assasi ​ ​ working people everywhere. Ruby Cruz is from Oaxaca, Mexico. For 14 years, she blessed the state of Maine with her traditional ​ cuisine. Madhura Srinivas is a photographer who came to Maine to attend the Maine Media Workshops and ​ found safety, herself, and community. Presently living in Bangalore, she hopes to return to Maine as soon as the pandemic is over. Sponsors: The Creative Bus Shelter Initiative is supported in part by the National Endowment for ​ the Arts in partnership with Creative Portland, Greater Portland Metro and Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG), with additional support from the City of Portland and sponsors Rock Row and Designtex.

A Rendering of The Mainer Project bus shelter ​ ​ 7

The portraits that compose Pigeon’s design

CREATIVE SHELTER SPONSORS

American Steel & Aluminum: Devoted to quality and integrity, this national company has Portland ​ ​ roots. As the only metals distributor in the state of Maine, the in-kind sponsor is supplying materials ​ ​ and high-tech laser cutting services for artist Ebenezer Akakpo’s powder-coated steel design. ASA’s Portland, Maine facility is located directly off the Maine Turnpike (I-95), where American Steel & Aluminum began 200 years ago, just up the road on Portland’s Long Wharf. Today, their 80,000 square feet of space has full processing capabilities that carry on a two-century tradition of quality and service.

Designtex: Operating out of a state-of-the-art, 26,000 square foot facility in Portland, Maine, ​ DesignTex Surface Imaging Division is composed of an expert team of artists, technologists and craftspeople working together to create beautiful, engaging and one-of-a-kind environments. They are providing in-kind vinyl printing services to Creative Portland for the shelters by Justin Levesque and Pigeon.

Portland Industrial Coating: Is a team of powder coat specialists that can take on single item ​ ​ custom creations, or tackle high scale industrial contracts. P.I.C. is powder-coating artist Ebenezer Akakpo’s lasercut steel sheets.

Rock Row (Waterstone Properties): is contributing support for the Creative Bus Shelter Initiative. ​ ​ Centered around a 400-foot wide, 300-foot deep rock quarry, the 110-acre Rock Row development will attract more than 6 million guests a year from across the state, region and country— brimming with life and excitement 365-days a year with destination retail, chef-driven dining, inviting workspaces, modern residences, hip hotels, diverse entertainment and more. All in a fun, comfortable, immersive experience that fully embraces nature and green space.

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