Great Falls Forum: Public Art in LA – Maine’s Newest Canvas

This event is past.

  • Jan 20, 2022

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The 2021-2022 season of the Great Falls Forum continues on Thursday, January 20th, with a panel discussion entitled “Public Art in LA: Maine’s Newest Canvas,” featuring Beckie Conrad, Co-Chair, Lewiston Auburn Public Art Working Group; sculptor Hugh Lassen; and multimedia artist and sculptor Andy Rosen. This free, public program will take place from 12 noon to 1 PM virtually via Zoom and streamed to the Lewiston Public Library Facebook page.

Public art is not an “art form.” Its size can be huge or small. It can tower fifty feet high or call attention to the paving beneath your feet. Its shape can be abstract or realistic (or both), and it may be cast, carved, built, assembled, or painted. It can be site-specific or stand in contrast to its surroundings. What distinguishes public art is the unique association of how it is made, where it is, and what it means. Public art can express community values, enhance our environment, transform a landscape, heighten our awareness, or question our assumptions. Placed in public sites, this art is there for everyone, a form of collective community expression. Public art is a reflection of how we see the world – the artist’s response to our time and place combined with our own sense of who we are.

In this Great Falls Forum panel discussion, Conrad will provide an update on the next phase of the public art plans for Lewiston and Auburn and lessons learned over the last three years during the implementation of the $75,000 Creative Communities = Economic Development grant awarded by the Maine Arts Commission in 2019.

The panelists will reflect on their experiences being selected to create public art commissions for Lewiston Auburn and then speak about the overall value of public art to develop a sense of community as well as serve as economic drivers.

Admission is free to all Forum events.

For more information, please contact the Lewiston Public Library at 513-3135 or LPLReference@lewistonmaine.gov.

The Great Falls Forum speaker series is co-sponsored by Bates College, Lewiston Public Library, and the Sun Journal.