BANGOR MURAL
Bangor, Maine
Bee’s Eye View
In the summer of 2023, Bangor Beautiful partnered with Bangor Greendrinks to create a large bee-themed mural in Downtown Bangor across from Bangor City Hall and the Zillman Art Museum. This project was not only the tallest of the murals so far (60 feet), it was the most northern mural in the US as well.
Annette Dodd, one of the founders of Bangor Beautiful bangorbeautiful.org in Bangor, Maine, had worked on a project with an old friend of mine from art school (Pete Walls). It was a conversation between them that led Annette to reach out to me. It only took about a year and I found myself heading up to Maine. I grew up in New England, mostly in Massachusetts, but my grandparents and cousins were in NH and we would ski in Vermont and go up to Ogunquit Maine and the beaches in the summer. Despite having lived in New York (the city and upstate) for over 20 years at this point, everything about New England still feels like home to me. I have tried many times throughout the years to land in a northern state during the hottest months of the year and I finally did it in July of 2023 with this mural. I was ready for warm days and sweatshirts in the evening. But it is Maine, so it didn’t cooperate. I was sweltering on a southern exposure wall until about 3:30pm as if I was in North Carolina and the heat never seemed to let up. I had to have the lift maxed out to reach the highest point and suddenly (and without warning) the wind would gust causing the lift to sway unexpectedly. I have zero fear of heights, literally zero. But this freaked me out more than a few times!
The Community
With all of that said, this quirky community known for being Stephen King’s hometown, was as warm and inviting as I have ever experienced. They are a relatively small town, but have the incredible Zillman Art Museum, an over the top library supported by Mr. King and amazing restaurants. The way the river runs through town is beyond charming. But it is the people that make this place so awesome. I don’t think I met an unkind person the entire time I was there.
I went to a dance party at the museum, they held a super cool celebration of the project when it was complete.
Since the mural was painted Bangor Beautiful has continued the mission of their commitment to pollinators becoming a Bee City USA member and planting trees and pollinator friendly plants all over the city.
And of course, their mission of creating public art has continued abundantly!
Along with the mural, I installed the Swarm Installation at Zillman Art Museum while I was there.
I also want to add a special “thank you!” to 11 year-old beekeeper Elizabeth Downs, Maine’s most celebrated beekeeper. She raised over $3500 toward the mural project and even came and painted with me! Never underestimate the power of this young generation coming up. They are doing things we never dreamed of when we were kids! One of the most heartwarming parts of the project has been watching the town take their pollinator game to the next level when they became a Bee City certified city and started planting pollinator gardens and trees throughout Bangor. Go team! That is what is it all about.
