Lack of funding slows tank art project
By Suzanne Hodgson
Staff Writer
The Maine Center for Creativity has started painting the first of 16 oil tanks in the Sprague Oil field in South Portland, but a lack of funding has pushed the $1.2-million project into the chilly season and it may be difficult to paint even that tank before the end of the year.
Sprague Oil is working with the non-profit organization to paint the tanks after an international design competition. The center’s executive director, Jean Maginnis, put the first brush strokes on an oil tank last Thursday.
The center started its Art All Around design competition in 2008 and received 560 entries from around the world. The project will cover eight oil tanks and 16 tank tops, making it the largest permanent art display in the world, according to Maginnis. The work will cover 261,000 square feet, or five and one-half football fields, and will use approximately 3,000 gallons of paint, Maginnis said.
Painting the tanks could not be started earlier because the center lacked funds. All five of the design finalists received $7,500 in prize money and a $2,500 stipend. The winner of the competition, Jaime Gili, also received a $20,000 cash prize. The project still needs to raise another $600,000 to complete the painting.
The rest of the money will come from fundraisers through the center and donations.
The mustard yellow smile Maginnis painted on the first oil tank could be seen from I-295, the Portland International Jetport and waterfront.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Katherine Greenleaf, the vice president for the center. “This will make something unusual and have some impact on how people see the city or see the state.”
Maginnis started the project after a bike ride in Bug Light Park. “I saw lots of white tanks and I immediately envisioned paintings I saw the night before at an art gallery opening and thought ‘Eureka!’”
After a breakfast with Burt Russell, vice president of operations at Sprague Oil, she got a green light for the project, but it still needed a design.
Out of the five finalists chosen for the competition, two were from Maine.
“I knew Maine artists would compete well,” said Maginnis, “ Maine artists are doing amazing work and they’re doing it at the highest caliber level.”
Gili, of London, won the competition with his abstract triangle design. The Venezuelan-born artist was not on hand to help paint the first strokes, but is in constant contact with Amex Inc. the Acton, Mass.-based paint contractor that will turn Gili’s design into points on a grid that will make work easier for the painters.
Maginnis hopes Maine will one day be seen along the same creative lines as London, Paris and New York. The large-scale design is already known around the world after the worldwide design competition, and will be able to be seen on Google Maps when the search engine updates its pictures, Maginnis sid.
“It is intended to point out to the world Maine is a place for creativity,” said Maginnis.
Staff Writer
The Maine Center for Creativity has started painting the first of 16 oil tanks in the Sprague Oil field in South Portland, but a lack of funding has pushed the $1.2-million project into the chilly season and it may be difficult to paint even that tank before the end of the year.
Sprague Oil is working with the non-profit organization to paint the tanks after an international design competition. The center’s executive director, Jean Maginnis, put the first brush strokes on an oil tank last Thursday.
The center started its Art All Around design competition in 2008 and received 560 entries from around the world. The project will cover eight oil tanks and 16 tank tops, making it the largest permanent art display in the world, according to Maginnis. The work will cover 261,000 square feet, or five and one-half football fields, and will use approximately 3,000 gallons of paint, Maginnis said.
Painting the tanks could not be started earlier because the center lacked funds. All five of the design finalists received $7,500 in prize money and a $2,500 stipend. The winner of the competition, Jaime Gili, also received a $20,000 cash prize. The project still needs to raise another $600,000 to complete the painting.
The rest of the money will come from fundraisers through the center and donations.
The mustard yellow smile Maginnis painted on the first oil tank could be seen from I-295, the Portland International Jetport and waterfront.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Katherine Greenleaf, the vice president for the center. “This will make something unusual and have some impact on how people see the city or see the state.”
Maginnis started the project after a bike ride in Bug Light Park. “I saw lots of white tanks and I immediately envisioned paintings I saw the night before at an art gallery opening and thought ‘Eureka!’”
After a breakfast with Burt Russell, vice president of operations at Sprague Oil, she got a green light for the project, but it still needed a design.
Out of the five finalists chosen for the competition, two were from Maine.
“I knew Maine artists would compete well,” said Maginnis, “ Maine artists are doing amazing work and they’re doing it at the highest caliber level.”
Gili, of London, won the competition with his abstract triangle design. The Venezuelan-born artist was not on hand to help paint the first strokes, but is in constant contact with Amex Inc. the Acton, Mass.-based paint contractor that will turn Gili’s design into points on a grid that will make work easier for the painters.
Maginnis hopes Maine will one day be seen along the same creative lines as London, Paris and New York. The large-scale design is already known around the world after the worldwide design competition, and will be able to be seen on Google Maps when the search engine updates its pictures, Maginnis sid.
“It is intended to point out to the world Maine is a place for creativity,” said Maginnis.
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