BANGOR, Maine — There will soon be a new piece of artwork along the Bangor waterfront.
The city recently selected a Wabanaki artist to create a sculpture that will not only catch people's attention but also honor the Wabanaki people's historic ties to the Penobscot River.
Steven Hook, a welder and member of the Mi'kmaq tribe, was chosen by Bangor's commission on cultural development to make the art piece.
Hooke said he plans to create a 16-foot Wabanaki-style canoe out of stainless steel, which will be attached to a sewage exhaust pipe located along the waterfront between Hollywood Casino and the Maine Savings Amphitheater.
“It’s going to be high and tilted to kind of create the illusion it's on the water," Hooke said. "Being able to build anything in just the area I’ve grown up and lived in is kind of a huge honor."
The city received six proposals for the work.
Aubrae Filipiak who is on Bangor's commission for cultural development said Hooke’s proposal was accepted to not only showcase the art of a Wabanaki artist but also because of how large he plans to build the canoe sculpture.
“We thought the size and scale of [the sculpture] is going to be really eye-catching so that individuals getting off on 395 or driving down Main Street and also on the other end of the waterfront near the food trucks and near the Bangor Saving’s Bank headquarters would be able to see it from a distance and perhaps draw them down to this stack to interact with the piece of art and really check it out on a closer level,” Filipiak told NEWS CENTER Maine.
Filipiak said the artwork is expected to be finished sometime this October.
Bangor City Council is expected to vote Monday night to award Hooke a $10,000 grant for the creation of the sculpture.