Courtesy / Heart of Ellsworth
Heart of Ellsworth’s design committee.
Updated: June 30, 2023
NEA selects Ellsworth for rural design and placemaking assistance
Courtesy / Jim Imbrogno, Heart of Ellsworth
A mural was completed last year as a public art work in Ellsworth.
The city of Ellsworth was one of 17 communities nationwide to be selected by the National Endowment for the Arts for a program that training in rural design and creative placemaking, coaching on facilitation techniques, assistance navigating funding opportunities, and one-on-one technical assistance on community design.
The Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design is a program of the NEA and the Washington, D.C., nonprofit Housing Assistance Council.
The 17 communities were chosen for the institute’s Design Learning Cohort.
“Heart of Ellsworth is excited to be part of the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design,” said Cara Romano, executive director of Heart of Ellsworth, a group that promotes artistic, economic, educational, environmental, cultural and historic activities in the downtown area.
“After completing the Water Street Mural project in 2022, we are ready for our next public art project,” Romano said. “The Design Cohort will assist us with the tools and training necessary for the next downtown design challenge.”
Additionally, she said, the program is expected to help the Ellsworth community connect with National Endowment for the Arts funding opportunities.
The mural project was driven by a committee of artists, business owners and Heart of Ellsworth board members, who met for two years to plan and develop the project. One committee member, Lori Chase, donated a 3,000-square-foot exterior wall of her downtown building for the mural’s canvas.
The project received support from the Davis Family Foundation, Onion Foundation, Maine Community Foundation, Maine Arts Commission, Coastal Maine General Contracting, Lumenarrt, Ellsworth Historical Society, Good to Go Studios, Benjamin Moore, Columber Law, Hammond Lumber Co., Zeppas Piz, Straight Cut Painting, Steamy Buddha, Flexit Café, Rooster Brother, Downeast Graphics, R.F. Jordan Construction and the community.
Through the Ellsworth Historical Society, members provided historical images of Ellsworth’s history to inspire the piece. In 2021, a local artist, July Taylor, was commissioned to paint the mural. The painting began in the spring of 2022 and was completed that fall.
Nine area high school students participated in the project, along with 24 volunteers. Final touches were made by Maliseet visual artist Mihku Paul, who painted a Wabanaki double curve as part of a birch bark canoe reveal.
“These projects, including Heart of Ellsworth in Ellsworth Maine, exemplify how communities can come together to leverage design, enhancing quality of life, economic vitality and civic infrastructure,” said Maria Rosario Jackson, chair of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Heart of Ellsworth’s design committee is “constantly working on new public art projects,” Romano told Mainebiz.
Current and future public art projects include a collaboration that’s just finishing up with Desert Harvest — a developer of aloe vera-based nutritional supplements and skin care products — to create an additional downtown outdoor public space in front of the company’s building at 192 Main St.
“Desert Harvest wanted to partner with us to give back to the community,” said Romano. “They donated the patio space for the committee to transform by providing a gathering space for community members.”
The committee that is attending the year-long workshop sessions with Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design is made up of design committee members, downtown business owners and a staff person from the Cultural Alliance of Maine.
In the early stages is a public art project in partnership with sculptor Robert Haskell of Bar Harbor and the Ellsworth Public Library, to create a sculpture trail downtown.
The committee is also working on a grant to install power in Merrill Park to create a light public art insulation for the winter season.
Since 1991, the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design has worked in communities with populations of 50,000 or less to enhance the quality of life and economic vitality through planning, design, and creative placemaking. To date, the NEA has engaged more than 120 communities in all regions of the country.
The design learning cohort will meet online monthly over the course of 14 months.
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