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May 24, 2019

Actor Ed Harris donates to Waterville art center campaign

Courtesy / Colby College A rendering of the planned arts center at 93 Main St., Waterville, by Waterville Creates! and Colby College.
By Staff

Actor Ed Harris, who spent some time in the Waterville area during filming of the HBO miniseries "Empire Falls" in 2003 and was a featured guest of the Maine Film Festival in 2004, has pledged $75,000 for the city's planned arts center.

The donation was announced by Waterville Creates!, the arts and culture organization partnering on the $18 million Paul J. Schupf Art Center with Colby College, which includes a $2 million community capital campaign by Waterville Creates!. Harris' donation is part of that campaign.

The box office at the arts center will be named the Ed Harris Box Office in recognition of Harris' support, Waterville Creates! said in a news release.

The arts center, at 93 Main St. in The Center building, will be the new home of what is now Railroad Square Cinema, which is on Chaplin Street and owned by the Maine Film Center. The center will include the film center, the cinema's screen rooms, Common Street Arts, and the Colby Museum's contemporary art gallery.

The plan also includes more of a connection between the building and adjacent City Hall, which is home to the Waterville Opera House. The two buildings now are connected by a walkway.

Courtesy / Maine Film Center
Actor Ed Harris accepts the Maine International Film Festival Mid-Life Achievement Award in 2004. Harris has pledged $75,000 to the city's planned arts center.

Harris, in announcing the donation, said his time in Waterville inspired the gift.

“Ever since living in Waterville and working on 'Empire Falls' some 15 years ago, the town and the people in it have held a fond place in my heart,” he said in the news release. "This project is such a great idea and will enrich the lives of so many that I felt compelled and honored to contribute in what I hope is a meaningful way.”

The two-part HBO miniseries was based on the 2001 Pulitizer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Maine author Richard Russo, who once taught at Colby. The miniseries also starred Paul Newman, Helen Hunt and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Harris also was Mid-Life Achievement Award winner of the Maine International Film Festival in 2004. The 10-day festival is held in Waterville every July.

Shannon Haines, president and CEO of Waterville Creates! and past director of the film festival, said that Harris was one of the "most memorable" guests the festival has had.

“Ed was not only incredibly generous with his time at the festival, but he also used the opportunity to advocate for Railroad Square Cinema and independent film programming," Haines said. "We are so grateful for his remarkable gift.”

Last month, Colby College announced the overall fundraising total had passed the halfway point with a donation from Paul J. Schupf, who increased a 2018 $2 million donation for the contemporary art gallery. The amount of the overall Schupf donation, in April, wasn't disclosed by Colby.

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