A new outdoor sculpture park is slated for installation adjacent to University of Southern Maine’s Crewe Center for the Arts in Portland.
The USM Foundation said the park was initiated by a gift of $500,000 from 1976 graduate David Shaw to the Crewe Center, along with the donation of Shaw’s own bronze sculptures, the Amaras, to anchor the new space.
Shaw’s gift was the opening contribution to the USM Foundation’s recently launched Crescendo Campaign, a fundraising initiative designed to putCrewe on the map for creative education and performance.
The campaign marks the final phase of fundraising for Crewe, which previously attracted more than $25 million in philanthropic support. The $5 million Crescendo phase offers naming rights for several Crewe spaces.
USM last year opened the $63 million Crewe Center for the Arts on the Portland campus.
Sculptor in bronze
The David E. Shaw Family Sculpture Park will serve as an open-air extension of the Crewe Center. Shaw’s bronze Amara sculptures have been installed at universities and public spaces across Maine and New England.
Shaw’s artistic endeavors began in a college sculpture course. Years later, he rediscovered one of his early works, Amara, and began expanding it as a series. Today, groups of Amara sculptures are sited across the Northeast. Installation of the Amaras is expected to begin this year.
Shaw is the CEO of Black Point Group, a private investment partnership headquartered in Portland, and co-founded and led businesses including IDEXX Laboratories Inc. (Nasdaq: IDXX), Ikaria Pharmaceuticals and Covetrus. He has served on the faculty of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, the advisory board of the Center for Public Leadership and as chair emeritus of the Jackson Laboratory.
“David’s gift is a reflection of our vision for the arts and humanities at USM,” said Jacqueline Edmondson, USM’s president. “The Crewe Center was never meant to simply be a building. It was meant to become a living creative force for Maine, and one that continues to grow, evolve and inspire new acts of generosity.”
