PORTLAND (AP) – The Maine Turnpike will soon be going to the dogs.
That’s because the Maine Turnpike Authority has chosen to hang original artwork of photographer William Wegman’s well-known Weimaraners at three of the highway’s travel plazas.
Turnpike officials announced Wednesday that they had selected Wegman for a public art project from a pool of about 50 artists who responded to a call last year for someone to produce art for the service plazas. Wegman is a New York artist who spends summers in Rangeley.
Wegman’s photos, which will be about 5 feet tall and 22 feet wide, will adorn walls at the turnpike’s north- and southbound plazas in Kennebunk. A third photo will be displayed in a new service plaza in West Gardiner when it opens next year.
Wegman has gained fame over the years for his photographs of Weimaraners – medium-sized dogs with short gray coats and docked tails – dressed in various costumes and poses.
Christine Burgin, Wegman’s wife, declined to comment before the unveiling on June 14, saying Wegman is still working on the pieces.
“Bill is really excited to be doing this,” she said.
Paul Violette, executive director of the authority, said hanging public art will entice more travelers to stop at the service plazas. The turnpike authority is paying Wegman $102,000 for the three pieces.
Although members of the selection committee wouldn’t give details about the photos, Violette said they will contain multiple dogs.
Another committee member, Katy Kline, director of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, said the pieces “will refer to the most beloved aspects of the Maine landscape in a very sly way.”
Violette said this is the first time that the turnpike authority has undertaken a public art project.
Donna McNeil, assistant director of the Maine Arts Commission, praised the turnpike authority for using the plazas, which serve tens of thousands of tourists and commuters each year, to promote culture.
“It’s really visionary,” she said. “Why not use the place to rebrand Maine as a cultural destination?”
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