Quimby reveals plans for Portland artist studios
Philanthropist and Burt's Bees founder Roxanne Quimby has bought a vacant building on Congress Street in Portland that she plans to develop as an artist residency program.
Quimby -- a controversial figure in Maine for her practice of buying large tracts of land in the North Woods for conservation -- bought the building at 660 Congress St. last spring for $350,000, according to the Portland Press Herald. Quimby plans to turn the building into gallery space and four to six studio spaces that would be offered to artists for free, along with stipends and daily meals. No one would live in the building, but artists applying for the program from outside the Portland area would be provided housing. "The whole purpose of what Roxanne is trying to do is create a nurturing, supportive and creative environment for artists so they don't have to worry about day-to-day expenses," Patrick Gilgallon, project manager, told the paper.
The Queen Anne Victorian-style building was built in the late 1880s and most recently housed Zinnia's antique shop and apartments, but has been empty for the past couple of years. Quimby plans to spend more than $1 million renovating the building, which includes addressing mold and structural problems, and repairing damage from squatters and burst pipes. Because Quimby has proposed using the former residential building for a new use, a city ordinance requires her to pay $100,000 into a fund for new housing development. However, Quimby plans to ask the city to waive that fee by declaring the artist program "a project of special merit," according to the paper.
City Councilor David Marshall, who chairs the council's housing committee, told the paper he would support the exemption, since the building has fallen into disrepair and since the project is consistent with the city's comprehensive plan goal of creating more art studios. Jessica Tomlinson, a board member at SPACE Gallery, said the artist community in Portland is supportive of the project as well. "To me, this is serving a critical need in the arts community at a critical time," she told the Press Herald. Quimby's proposal is slated to go before the city's housing committee Oct. 6.
Quimby co-founded Burt's Bees in Maine in 1984. She sold the company to Clorox Co. in 2007 for nearly $1 billion. She has faced criticism from some in Maine for barring snowmobilers, hunters and foresty companies from the thousands of acres of land she's purchased in northern Maine.
Go to the Portland Press Herald story >>
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