Ambitious Congress Square redesign has found its artist
Photo / James McCarthy
Congress Square at the corner of High and Congress Street in downtown Portland.
Following a unanimous vote from Portland’s Public Art Committee, New York-based sculptor Sarah Sze bested a field of 97 artists from across the globe to create a permanent public art installation within Congress Square.
Sze, who has family ties in Maine, was chosen for “Her use of color, mixed materials and scale, expertise in both two and three-dimensional artwork and her ability to create work that combines elements of intimacy and discovery,” according to a release from the City of Portland.
“The Portland Public Art Committee is looking forward to bringing this outstanding, internationally known artist to Portland,” Portland Public Art Committee member Pandora LaCasse said in a statement. “We were impressed with Sarah Sze’s point of view, her ability to analyze the site, her collaborative spirit, and of course her creativity and aesthetic.”
Sze will now work in collaboration with the Philadelphia-based WRT, the design team selected in May that will create a concept for Congress Square as a whole.
Artist fees for the project total $75,000 which comes from the Portland Public Art Committee budget.
According to The Forecaster, as much as $300,000 to $400,000 total could be spent on public art for the redesign; the concepts developed by WRT and Sze will be used to help raise the necessary funds to implement the project.
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