Dawnland
> Commissioned for the William S. Cohen School in Bangor, Maine, through the Maine State Arts Commission's Percent for Art Program
Located at 304 Garland Street, Bangor, Maine
The largest of three bronze wall relief sculptures created for the Cohen School, Dawnland was installed in the school's main corridor on the first floor. It depicts images from the history, geography, industry and environment of Maine. Like a story, it is intended to operate on a variety of levels, acknowledging the unique perspective of the individual viewer.
The sculpture's title is based on the collective name for various indigenous tribes of the Northeast — Wabanaki, or "people of the dawn" — which gave rise to the region being called "Dawnland". It was seen as a land of great riches and hope by native peoples as well as newly arriving Europeans.
Dawnland is made up of more than 50 separate castings and more than 100 images. The central image is a circular sawblade, a representation of the sun, sliced by the Penobscot River. Other images include the jigsawed coast of Maine, blueberries, a lobster claw, a light bulb representing the nation's first lighthouse, a Civil War soldier, an apple core, a bullfrog and the footprint of a dinosaur.
Its companion work is titled Sightseers.
Dawnland, 1993
bronze, aluminum, paint
29" x 57" x 5.5"
120 lbs.
Located at 304 Garland Street, Bangor, Maine
The largest of three bronze wall relief sculptures created for the Cohen School, Dawnland was installed in the school's main corridor on the first floor. It depicts images from the history, geography, industry and environment of Maine. Like a story, it is intended to operate on a variety of levels, acknowledging the unique perspective of the individual viewer.
The sculpture's title is based on the collective name for various indigenous tribes of the Northeast — Wabanaki, or "people of the dawn" — which gave rise to the region being called "Dawnland". It was seen as a land of great riches and hope by native peoples as well as newly arriving Europeans.
Dawnland is made up of more than 50 separate castings and more than 100 images. The central image is a circular sawblade, a representation of the sun, sliced by the Penobscot River. Other images include the jigsawed coast of Maine, blueberries, a lobster claw, a light bulb representing the nation's first lighthouse, a Civil War soldier, an apple core, a bullfrog and the footprint of a dinosaur.
Its companion work is titled Sightseers.
Dawnland, 1993
bronze, aluminum, paint
29" x 57" x 5.5"
120 lbs.